Losing a Dive Buddy?

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Hostage

Contributor
Messages
219
Reaction score
12
Location
Rochester, NY
# of dives
50 - 99
Had a scare this weekend, two buddies all three of us were "Rescue Divers", we took the class last last fall together. While we were on a small charter tied next to a larger dive boat. The first diver went in the water vanished for close to half an hour. We checked the "meet point" on the wreck and he was not there. I felt completely useless, I thought people would go into high gear. Even though we didn't have a DM with us, there was a boat full of them next to us, but it was frustrating as they seemed more interested in eating their hotdogs. Our charter didn't have a long enough rope to do a search in the lower visibility and moderate current. We eventually got one from the larger boat next to us, though that is when our buddy finally surfaced with a SMB. TBH, I think even for taking a rescue class our response was poor IMHO. I think I will take a rope with me in my dive bag for a situation if it ever occurs again. Also I will take the initiative quicker as I seemed to think that being around more experienced people gave me a false sense that they would actually do something. It also didn't help that we didn't mention to the charter that we were rescue divers. I think he was rightfully concerned about putting us in danger looking for the lost diver.

The problem the diver had was being over weighted, he has been having issues with his Whites Drysuit, which I will call nothing more than a lemon and that was the thing I was cursing the most at during this accident. He has never had a dry dive in it before and was renting one from the dive shop as his was being repaired again... We gave him a larger tank 100+ CU tank so he could stay down longer with us. He didn't make weight adjustments for the change from a 80AL to a 100+ steel. He sank rapidly and had some issues leveling out, he went to 102ft the bottom. He did not panic, but he did finally took control and made sure to gain control and do a safety stop. We learned a few things, he will make sure to properly account for weight changes and carry a thumb reel as will I for using the SMB at depth. Next I will take a rope for Search and Rescue for places with lower visibility and with currents. Lastly I will not count on others and will take lead if I don't see anyone more experienced stepping up to the plate.
 
Glad to hear that your buddy came up okay. That could have turned bad, very quick.

I have a few comments about some of the information you gave. I'm not trying to be critical, but honest about how I see this.

1. All three are "Rescue Divers": From what I remember about my rescue diver class, it focused more on how to help a fellow diver in distress, than it did actually performing search patterns in limited vizibility. One thing to remember is that you never want to risk becoming the rescuee, due to attempting to be the rescuer, and getting in over your head. If the situation calls for specialized search/recovery skills, then as a Rescue Diver you should activate emergency services as necessary. Conducting a brief search for your buddy at/near the meet point on the wreck was a good idea, and knowing that you didn't have the proper equipment for an extensive search show good judgement.

2. Over-Weighted Diver: Prior to becoming certified as a Rescue Diver, your buddy should have been certified an an OWD and AOWD. Both of these certifications deal with proper weighting, and how different equipment can affect your bouyancy. Since you say that "We gave him a larger tank", why didn't "WE" remind your buddy to adjust for the additional weight? A quick weight check at the surface would have told him he was way too heavy, but this should be done in water that's not 102 feet deep. Luckily, it was ONLY 120 feet deep. What if it had been a wall dive, or 200 feet to the bottom of a planned 120 foot dive? At least he didn't panic at depth.


3. Borrowed Dry Suit: One issue could be the familiarity with the borrowed equipment. Did it have the same controls as his faulty suit? In the same locations? It's hard to imagine how a diver, with a proper BCD, and in a dry suit, could not use those inflators to offset some extra weight. A fully inflated dry suit is like a damn lift bag.

4. Rescue Equipment: I commend you on wanting to be better prepared next time with the additional equipment, but in addition to the new equipment, also add the training neccessary to properly use that equipment. I would recommend a specialty courses in "Search and Recovery", and Wreck, and Limited Vizibilty. ERDI-Level 1 Diver is a good course.

5. Divemasters: Was your charter boat affiliated with the larger boat that was "full of" DMs? If not, then those DMs are probably working for the owner of that vessel, and their insurance covers them for that company's work. Only if the DM carries his own insurance would they be covered while acting as a DM for you. The other part of this is how you seem to believe that the DMs are qualified to perform a search and recovery if needed. DMs are certified Rescue Divers, just like you and your buddies, but they are not neccessarily trained for specialized search/recovery. Did you directly notify all of those DMs that you had a missing diver, or a diving emergency?

I am a certified Public Safety Diver, and I am currently working towards my Divemaster certification, so I can say that they are two very different skill-sets.
 
I have questions...

You say he went into the water and then you and the other person went to the rendezvous point and he wasn't there. How much time was there between him getting into the water and you two? More importantly, why did he take off before you guys? Sounds like the separation between you guys occurred pretty much at the boat while topside. Once I have that information, I'll follow up...
 
I have questions...

You say he went into the water and then you and the other person went to the rendezvous point and he wasn't there. How much time was there between him getting into the water and you two? More importantly, why did he take off before you guys? Sounds like the separation between you guys occurred pretty much at the boat while topside. Once I have that information, I'll follow up...
Sounds like the first guy went in the water over-weighted and unprepared (properly inflated bc) and promptly sank like a...well, like an overweighted diver.. then the other two went in at pretty much the same time as the first guy, they assumed the first guy headed down to the meeting point and they didn't really realize there was a problem until the first guy didn't show up at the meeting point....it's kind of hard to follow the op's chain of events clearly....
 
I agree -- I'm confused about what happened. It sounds like the first guy went in, went down, and the others were still on the boat and worried about him for a half hour.

If that's the case, there are a lot of things to talk about other than the length of the rope available for doing searches.
 
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