No. Usually more volume also means more mass: greater volume may come with more "sail area" and "more push" but greater mass means more inertia and takes longer to accelerate.
How do I stop the current sweeping my past my DM?
- Thread starter CapnBloodbeard
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No. Usually more volume also means more mass: greater volume may come with more "sail area" and "more push" but greater mass means more inertia and takes longer to accelerate.
OP
CapnBloodbeard
Contributor
There is no magic method with currents, since each site is different. while some practices like staying close to the sand on shallow dives do work (current is weakest) on walls this might not be the case. On submerged reefs the wall might offer some protection if you're in the lee - but move out into the blue, then water coming over the top may have different effects including down currents. As you near the end of a wall or a corner you might be entering the split and again teh current changes once again.
The constants you always needs are good buoyancy and trim. Currents can change at different heights in the water column even go in different directions. - While it doesn't apply to someone following a guide, often I will hunting a depth where the current is weakest when it gets particularly fierce (especially when trying to kick through)
Positional kicks are an important tool. Trying to kick against a current is for the most part an exercise in high air consumption and fatigue, but being able to make adjustments to direction or use the occasional back kick to get yourself a better position is important - again try to follow the precise path of your guide
Failing around sculling is not.
Be aware. Currents can be a sensory overload. The issue is you need those senses to determine what's going on, looking at soft coral, seeing the speed you're drifting past the reef, - having the spatial awareness to keep your position and distance from each other.
Also not getting blinkered so that you are just focusing on yourself, but keeping an eye on your buddy and your gas. There can be a lot going on, and mental bandwidth gets used up fast - hence the reason basic fundamental skills need to be good but also automated even instinctive.
The one piece of equipment I suggest for currents is a pointer stick.
Hold it between your hands to keep them still, and if you need to stop etc you can find a little hole in the reef.
I'm not a fan of reef hooks for the novice, sine you need to be able to hold position in current while you find a good and sturdy hole to hook into - often people flail about doing untold damage while they find what they think is a good hold, let out their line and then in pings off suddenly they're in mid water in a panic.
You should also have a dsmb, and spool with decent amount of line, if you get blown off you need to be inflating it asap not waiting until you get to a SS. Again decent buoyancy skills where you can focus on the dsmb without havign a change of depth (corking to the surface)
IMO too many drift dives are organised trust me dives, okay when everything is going to plan, but if not then both the diver and the guide gets overwhelmed which is a recipe for disaster. Current seem easy and generally they are, but if a divers starts feeling out of control and starts using their air at a high rate etc - simple issues then just become something much worse.
An extra tip for current dives (drift or non drift) : relax -
The more tense you are, the more current affects you.
The more relaxed you are, the heavier you are in the water and the less current affects you.
As an illustration, remember that old parlour trick taught by contemporary dancers or aikido practitioners: it's much easier to pick up another person if they tense all their muscles, as opposed to if they relax and keep balance. Same goes in the water.
I'm pretty convinced this, along with trim, is why guests often drift faster than their guides.
The more tense you are, the more current affects you.
The more relaxed you are, the heavier you are in the water and the less current affects you.
As an illustration, remember that old parlour trick taught by contemporary dancers or aikido practitioners: it's much easier to pick up another person if they tense all their muscles, as opposed to if they relax and keep balance. Same goes in the water.
I'm pretty convinced this, along with trim, is why guests often drift faster than their guides.
You are correct. The less streamlined you are, the more the current will affect you. And vice versa.
It's the same whether you are facing upstream or downstream. The only time streamlining is neutral is when you are exactly matching the speed of the current, e.g. motionless if there is no current.
So get everything squared away to slow down: gear in tight, trim good, movement minimal.
If that's not enough and you can't move out of the current, you'll need to kick against it. Back kicks if you can or turn around and face upstream for a bit or use Angelo Farina's sit method of torso upright and legs facing downstream. If just a small adjustment is needed, you can use your hands and sort of push the water away.
Pay attention to how the sealife is dealing with it. Keep you eye on what any fan coral is doing in terms of being swept over. this will give you an indication of how fast the current is in different locations. If you see little fishies hiding behind formations, hide behind formations.
Let it flow, let yourself go
Slow and low, that is the tempo
Let it flow, let yourself go
Slow and low, that is the tempo
Just keep singing that to yourself.
Let it flow, let yourself go
Slow and low, that is the tempo
Let it flow, let yourself go
Slow and low, that is the tempo
Just keep singing that to yourself.
First, you can ignore all the physics talk... drag force formulas, inertia, acceleration... completely irrelevant to this situation.
If you're in a current, you're going to move with that current... streamlining or flaring won't matter. Unless you swim against it (which is a strategy that some have suggested here, and it works... but it can get tiring): if you're going to swim against it, you want to be as streamlined as possible. Otherwise, the water really doesn't care what shape you are if you are just flowing along with the current.
Why do you move faster and get ahead of your smaller DM? It has nothing to do with size. It has everything to do with your DM's experience, both with diving in general with with the dives sites specifically. They're familiar with the currents at the sites and they use this knowledge subconsciously (just as experienced divers control their buoyancy without even thinking about it) to control their speed in the current.
As has been pointed out here, the closer you are to either the bottom or the wall, the slower the current will move (in general) due to the current dragging on the bottom or wall. I'd bet if you carefully watch what your DM is doing, you'd see they're spending a bit more time closer to the wall, which causes them to move slightly slower than you.
Just an idea: ask your DM for advice in between dives. They can give you pointers specific to the actual dive, and during the dive they'll be aware of your concern and can hopefully give you some real-time direction.
Out of pure curiosity, was that dive site Police Corner by any chance? Profile sounds very familiar.
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