Thanks, Crowley. Your point about buddy separation is a good one -- the last dive I did was led by a DM and I was buddying with one of the students. Two others were buddied together, and Peter was diving cleanup. One of the buddy team had to go to the surface rather suddenly and Peter took him there, leaving the other diver trailing us. I saw her alone and went back to join her, unsure what had happened. This of course left MY "buddy" by himself to a degree, although he was only a few feet behind the DM. I could see him looking kind of confused for a moment, until he swam forward to join the DM.
I'm learning all kinds of things happen, and can happen quickly, when you have brand new divers in drysuits
Of course, Peter got let go by the shop tonight, so it looks as though most of my DMing will be in the smaller types of classes he'll have as an independent.
I'm learning all kinds of things happen, and can happen quickly, when you have brand new divers in drysuits

Of course, Peter got let go by the shop tonight, so it looks as though most of my DMing will be in the smaller types of classes he'll have as an independent.