Night Dive Buddy Separation - What would you do?

[MEL-DC Diver]

Who was leading the dive? It seems strange that they both took off, expecting you to follow.

Charlie,
Good question! When my Dad and I were diving together, I led. When we added the third diver, I was responsible for determining the general plan, leading the descent, turning the dive, and leading the ascent. I was trying to arrange it so that the other two could work out what they wanted see when they were down there and I would go with it. It was wall diving with a lot of different crevices and a nice ledge with some swim-throughs, so a lot of choices and I didn't want to dictate what everyone saw as on a guided dive, so that is how I set it up.

 

[El Orans]

El Orans and Shaka,

I guess I was looking at it more like I would be better able to come to their aid from the top looking down and at the same time keep everyone from banging into one another, but what you guys suggest seems to make good sense.

Thanks,
MDD

If you're above them it will be difficult for them to see you unless you're using your light as a means of communication. Was that in the dive briefing?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Gotta agree with JT. You did good. However in the future I also would say watch the threes especially with a new diver and an unknown. When I first started reading your post it sounded like dad pulled a let's scare the kid number on ya. But I guess that was not the case. But them taking off at full speed sure sounded like it. In any case I also agree that blood wins out. Standard procedure with my group on night dives is if seperation occurs everybody stops, look around for a minute or so, I also will shield my light for a bit to make it easier to see others, ans if nobody connects. End the dive immediately and surface safely. Of course this is made crystal clear to everyone before going under. Now that said if newbies are involved a more experienced diver sticks to them like glue if they don't have a buddy.

 

[Mo2vation]

<snip> Standard procedure with my group on night dives is if seperation occurs everybody stops, look around for a minute or so, I also will shield my light for a bit to make it easier to see others, ans if nobody connects. End the dive immediately and surface safely. Of course this is made crystal clear to everyone before going under. Now that said if newbies are involved a more experienced diver sticks to them like glue if they don't have a buddy.

We had this same situation this weekend in SoCal in Laguna. Viz in the surge was about a foot, maybe two. We were in a threesome going in. I was in the middle, maintaining touch contact with the leader (diver #1.)

I'm diver #2 in the middle with the 18W blowtorch.

Diver 1 and I were pulling away from Diver 3 (behind me - who had just deployed a small light that was hard to see - but helped) so I signaled to diver #1 to slow down a bit. The three of us re-connected. We dived for a bit, and we started to again pull away from diver #3. I signal to diver #1 to slow down even more.

We hook up, and all is good. Well, all except the viz.

I'm rubber-necking the whole dive to be sure #3 is still there. On one of my every minute or so checks, he's gone.

Me and #1 light house for a about a minute and a half, then slowly ascend. we hit topside and we see number 3 bobbing up.

We re-connect and continue the dive. Although I don't know why... we still couldn't see anything!

Its all good.

---
Ken

 

[Xanthro]

One of the two should have been appointed as the leader and the other follows that person. I've found that quite often people become separated if one is not designated as having to follow the other one.

Also, on night dives a good rule is you must keep your buddies light within sight at all times. This is harder with newer divers as they seem to flick their light back and forth very fast and then it's hard to see. But if they kept their buddies light, where it's hitting not eminating, then when they didn't see the light, it would let them know more quickly they became separated.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I'd say you did a great job in a very tough situation.

I don't have enough night dive experience to really suggest any great ideas.

The one thing about night dives is, on the surface, with a light, a diver can actually be easier to spot, assuming good surface visibility. Of course, you really don't want it to get that far.

Again, you are to be congratulated.

Jeff

 

[MEL-DC Diver]

Thanks for your input, Guys. I really appreciate the feedback.

Some items for me to think about going forward:

- being the middle diver, as opposed to staying back and high
- perhaps avoiding the situation altogether with a new diver by not adding a third
- not necessarily being so liberal in who is the dive leader. Determine a specific leader.
- emphasizing light signals.

I think I have captured all of you comments. Again, thanks for all of the constructive input.

MDD

 

[Tollie]

One (or two or three ) more thoughts. One, touched on by another poster. Remind folks of the 1 minute and surface guideline. Two, the selection of a dive site that is self contained and easy to navigate is useful... something like a shallow wall or a shallow wreck. Its tough if you have an open reef and seperation occurs. Three, go slow... make sure all divers are taking it real easy.

 

[JRScuba]

What was the dive plan.
Seems to me no one followed the basic " lost dive buddy", surface and regroup was not done by anyone. This would have saved you alot of needless worry.
Did your dive flag have a glow stick or light on it???
Who had the flag, the 2 that did not have the flag as the saying goes " Were Lost "

Next time incorporate the above in your dive plan.

Dive Safely

 

[Xanthro]

Thanks for your input, Guys. I really appreciate the feedback.

Some items for me to think about going forward:

- being the middle diver, as opposed to staying back and high
- perhaps avoiding the situation altogether with a new diver by not adding a third
- not necessarily being so liberal in who is the dive leader. Determine a specific leader.
- emphasizing light signals.

I think I have captured all of you comments. Again, thanks for all of the constructive input.

MDD

It was a great topic for discussion.

I think many of us have the tendency to take on a third diver even if our inclination is to say no. I know I do this and while I understand it's better to just say no, I usually do not, so it's good to see how others react when things go wrong in three person teams, and how we can be better prepared.

The best thing about this board is it allows us to learn from the experience of others.