Navigation tips?

[The Chairman]

Forgive the stupid question, but how does this work? Do you treat it as a normal ascent (safety stop and all), look around, then descend again, swim to the boat, and do the same thing? Does this not screw up the calculations versus if you'd just stayed down?

If you don't have a mandatory deco obligation, signal your buddy to "stay" and ease on up and find out where your boat is at. It takes just a moment to take a bearing on your boat with a compass. Like up the Lubber line between yourself and the boat and rotate the bezel so that the N of the Needle is in the N of the bezel. I check it twice in a "measure twice, swim once", kind of deal and return to your buddy at depth. Make sure your lubber line bisects YOU, and keep the N of the needle is in the N of the bezel. Again, the lubber line has to run down your center and not to your left or right in order for you to go straight.

As far as I'm concerned, the only "stupid" question is the one not asked.

 

[Steve_C]

Reality check. If you are at 80 ft even with only a slight current and viz is say 20ish feet and you do the go to the surface thing you have lost your group and will not find them when you descend unless one of them has shot a DSMB and is holding on to it from the bottom. The only time I see this in NC is when the whole group decides to thumb the dive and make a controled ascent with safety stop at the surface. And then I have only seen it done a couple times. Their dives were over.

Your dive computer can easily keep track of the NDL issue. That is not the problem.

 

[The Chairman]

and viz is say 20ish

The joys of living and diving in Florida is that we often have 100 ft of vis.

 

[Steve_C]

The joys of living and diving in Florida is that we often have 100 ft of vis.

Agree it is nice. But it takes some of the surprise out of diving if you can see so far.

Have seen it that way a few times in NC but they were few and greatly appreciated.

 

[Steve_C]

Of all the posts above the ones about going to the anchor and checking that area out first and noting some landmarks is some of the most useful information here. It took me a couple of free ascents to firmly instill that into my dive practice. One I spent 15 minutes at 100 ft looking for the anchor on a ledge in 5 ft viz. An easy ledge. Turns out that if I would have done that I would have known that the anchor was not on the ledge but in a hole just over the top of the ledge. Now I do it every dive.

 

[txgoose]

If you're diving from a boat, head into the current at the beginning of the dive.

For new navigators, what he said.

Last year in the Keys, my son and I got a bit big headed and wanted to try to navigate cross current. We did NOT have the skills for that. We had the skills to watch our distance traveled so we never seal peaked more than 100-ish yds from the boat. But still, it was an eye opener. Hoping to go back this summer. We WILL be swimming into the current and drifting back.

 

[Alan Browne]

You don't mention your compass/map skills.

Unless proficient already, you might start by joining in a few orienteering events in your area and learn basic orienteering (which is very similar to the compass course for diving).

I haven't taken the diving compass course but I've listened in on others who were taking it.

I have begun setting my compass to give me the course back to the boat. And I guesstimate changes to that as the dive progresses.

Above you mention the "Navy Seal Peek" and that came in handy when a night dive went sideways last year and we got separated from the DM's core group. We signalled "let's take a look" (we were on a reef at about 15') and went up. I had borrowed a wicked powerful flashlight from a diver (who wasn't on that dive). With that I spotlighted the boat[1] set the compass and back down and to the boat we went.

[1] boat was not operating its lights.

 

[60plus]

Like the previous poster I suggest doing some orienteering, do you have any events like Dragnet in USA, this teaches navigation. These two are how I learned my navigation along with being in the Air Training Corps, air navigation being very similar to diving except the fluid is different. In addition to correct compass skills be observant, look for features, current and learn how much distance you actually cover in a given time with a certain finning effort. Plan the dive, dive the plan and repeatedly look back so you can recognise your way back to a known point if you get lost.

 

[MichaelMc]

+1 on the Seal nav check. In lower vis Nor Cal reefs, a collective ascent, spot check, descent keeps us more on track for the return. Good ascent practice as well.

I wear my compass not on my wrist but on my hand back/side during the dive. The rear bungee on my wrist, the front bungee over my index and middle fingers. I flop the compass over the web of my thumb. With my hand rotated a bit, it is level and always in my view. That gives my more constant awareness of our orientation. It is not the super accurate of tbone's slate, which have their place as well. Our horizon might be 4-8' or it might be 15', so clipped off some where is not as useful, unless you have a strong terrain feature.

Also if you wear it on your arm behind a light with a magnetic implemented push switch and wonder why reversing your contour following hasn't affected the compass.... .