Going it alone?

[Scuba65]

Man, he does look like Frazier! weird.....
Gidds..are you saying that if we don't see you on here for at least 5 days then that means something happened??

 

[Gidds]

If you don't see me for five days and if my dive buddies and/or snorkel partners (you know who you are) don't know where I am or they are also not here then yeah it might be a good idea to call the Coast Gaurd and tell them to go looking for shark bait/my earthly remains
However there is the off chance that all of my buddies will tick me off at the same time and I will desist communicating with them and my computer will then die. Alternately I may be ticked off at my buddy or buddies enough to drown one or all and then my computer will die. You never really know

 

[Dylan Murray]

This might sound mildly silly or paranoid but here goes: I often snorkel alone in the ocean. When I say alone I mean sans buddy and nobody knows where I am. I usually stay where it's shallow but it occurred to me that this probably isn't the safest thing in the world since anything can happen in the water. Getting closer to my point: I live alone and I don't have a family so nobody would notice if I went missing for at least five days. I was thinking I should start leaving some sort of document in my car indicating who I am and what I was doing in the event that my car was parked overnight. I figured this would be the most sensible thing to do since the places I like to snorkel don't allow overnight parking and they'd probably tow my car if I drowned and it was left there. Does anybody else find themselves in this situation and how do you handle it?

I often find myself not only snorkeling alone, but spearfishing alone in Bahamian water that are infested with sharks, and of course freediving bringing another factor for incidents. I always try and let someone know when I go and what time I plan to get back. Make it a habit! Happy touring.

 

[jkcb]

A simple suggestion from another loner [wife is somewhere on the beach, wherever that is]: Do stop every so often and look down. If you can tell that you are drifting, decide if that is a good idea. I.e., are you thus going the right way?
And remember to swim across a rip tide, not against it.

 

[wkyongae@aol.com]

I to used to snorkel alone years ago when stationed on an island in the Med. call Menorca, Spain the island is 30 miles long and 15 miles wide. To which I snorkeled all most all of the coast line. Just something deep in my memory as I teach my daughter the joys of snorkeling.

 

[Lisa0825]

I have snorkeled alone many times. The only times I got a little spooked were:

once in Hawaii when I came to an abrupt end to the reef, and saw how deep the water was. It felt so shallow with the reef under me! I looked back and saw how far from shore I was and immediately turned back, figuring if I did get into trouble, I may be too far out for anyone to hear me.

other time was in Cozumel. I was the only snorkeler among a party of divers. I couldn't see the boat, and all the divers were way down beneath me. I felt very isolated suddenly. That was the last time I snorkeled alone. It just feels better being around another person. Sometimes just strangers, but at least they are nearby and would likely assist another person.