Incident with a new diver

[OldNSalty]

Did you guys talk about what to do should someone become separated during a pre-dive check?

Leaving your buddy to go find the missing diver was a mistake, either of you could have gotten hurt but now I hope you learned that mistake. If the new diver did not have enough air to go with you to look for the lost diver then you should have stayed with the new diver and surfaced IMO.

Diving in groups of 3 is perfectly OK as long as all of you are practicing buddy skills. See, you had a backup buddy when your buddy went missing

Keep diving. Keep learning.

 

[emoreira]

I agree that the predive check and procedures were not fully done.
I have to realize that nothing can be taken for granted.

 

[aquaregia]

See, you had a backup buddy when your buddy went missing

Two is one and one is none, and three is somewhere in between?

 

[OldNSalty]

Two is one and one is none, and three is somewhere in between?

No.

Solo (one) is perfectly safe for the experienced diver.

Two is the standard because, well, new diver are taught to be independent?

Three is idea in 'buddy' diving because, as you can see, when one diver got separated you didn't have 2 people without a back-up.

Groups larger then three? Now that is where it gets confusing.

 

[openmindOW]

Thank you, Emoreira, for your post.

There are a lot of issues here. There are three key issues that I would like to comment on. First, as you have noted yourself, pre-dive planning is important. Second, buddies should stay together.

Third, there is the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) build-up. When CO2 builds-up too much, a diver might get the sensation that he is not getting enough air even though he is getting enough air. In English, we call this hyperventilation (hyper = too much). I don't know what the Spanish word for hyperventilation is, but I would like to know.

Thank you again.

 

[emoreira]

Thank you, Emoreira, for your post.

There are a lot of issues here. There are three key issues that I would like to comment on. First, as you have noted yourself, pre-dive planning is important. Second, buddies should stay together.

Third, there is the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) build-up. When CO2 builds-up too much, a diver might get the sensation that he is not getting enough air even though he is getting enough air. In English, we call this hyperventilation (hyper = too much). I don't know what the Spanish word for hyperventilation is, but I would like to know.

Thank you again.

Hyperventilation = hiperventilación (in spanish).

 

[bowlofpetunias]

emoreira seems like you did a pretty good job of analyzing what went wrong on the dive. You certainly didn't spare yourself in the analysis either Don't take too much responsibility on yourself tho... there were 2 others making choices too!

I am going to try to add something different. It is great you are willing to take new divers under your wing so to speak but by some standards you are a fairly new diver yourself. I would suggest that you limit the number of new divers you buddy with to one per dive until you have more dives up yourself.

There is nothing wrong with diving in groups of 3 .. it is the experience and skill level of the 3 that make it safe or unsafe. That said...I have seen divers with heaps of certificates and dives who still don't have the skill to take charge of themselves never mind 2 other new divers. Be as honest about your skill level as you were in your self analysis of this dive... seems to me you have a lot to offer as a dive buddy.

 

[emoreira]

emoreira seems like you did a pretty good job of analyzing what went wrong on the dive. You certainly didn't spare yourself in the analysis either Don't take too much responsibility on yourself tho... there were 2 others making choices too!

Yes, that's what makes me wonder why, if I'm guiding the dive, the fellow divers do not take the part of following the group leader or the group.

I am going to try to add something different. It is great you are willing to take new divers under your wing so to speak but by some standards you are a fairly new diver yourself.

Yes, but if someone wants to dive with me, I'll go to dive. Getting a dive buddy, here in my country, sometimes is hard. The most of my dives have been with insta-buddies.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Yes, but if someone wants to dive with me, I'll go to dive. Getting a dive buddy, here in my country, sometimes is hard. The most of my dives have been with insta-buddies.

I Know how lucky I was in the beginning. My hubby was an experienced and competent diver before we met so I seldom have to rely on instabuddies. We have built up a group of people that is large enough to usually have someone willing and able to dive. my hubby says he needs a stable of dive buddies to keep me happy I think he exaggerates a little but he is happy to have our regular group so he doesn't feel pressured when I want to dive (most of the time) and he doesn't want to dive (more often for him than me). We do mostly shore dives locally.

We dive with new divers occasionally as well but we are able to be selective where we take them to dive to keep things safe.

I hope you will be able to build up a list of people who are close enough that you can get wet as often as you want with safe buddies

 

[Blastman4444]

Emoreira I'm assuming when you mean you controlled your air you meant that you were not using it as quickly as the less experienced diver. What was your pressure when you made your ascent? I don't understand how he got so low on air did you monitor his air when his pressure reached half way that would be the turning point to head back. I'm also new to diving but I remember my training the one that runs lowest on air is the one that turns the dive group to head back. My first encounter with a reef shark I got so excited I used up 1000 lbs watching. I hired a private DM because I felt being new I didn't want to slow the group down or return sooner then they did. I'm sure the new diver felt like you were in control of the dive so he let his air get lower then he should of. I can see how this could happen on a dive boat where one doesn't want to look bad or ruin the dive of more experienced divers.