Please tell me Who was at fault?

[dwhthediver]

To quote a briefing before a drift dive off of Ft. Lauderdale..."The flagman is the only one who can not get lost, as he is with the flag, where you are supposed to be, if you are not the flagman, it is YOUR responsibilty to stay with the flagman". Now that said, no blame, and agree with the others, buddy up with your wife, and I agree with Jim, buy her something shiny or sparkly. I also agree next time dive as buddy teams with 2 flags rather than try to keep 2 buddy teams together.

 

[princessaprilia]

If I'm diving in a group that includes my husband... he's my buddy. I just know that in the event that something bad happens to my buddy and to my hubby at the same time... my buddy is on his own - I'm helping my spouse. It's human nature to protect your family.

That's why you aren't allowed to sit in the Exit Row on an aircraft if you are travelling with your kids in a different row - you won't tend to the task at hand if you aren't sure what's up with your family.

 

[timchea]

Sounds like y'all have great guidance here. Bottom line is stick to the basics on a dive like this. Plan the dive, BWARF before entering the water, be within reach of your dive buddy (it's ok to hold hands), surface when separated for a minute, carry and use an audible signal for below the surface use and another for above the surface use, watch your gauges, and watch where your going.

Oh and in your case, see a marriage counselor before someone is really hurt.

Dive Safe
Tim

 

[wilde100]

I'm in agreement with most of the posts here.
Being flagman is not a simple task, ultimately a breakdown in communications before the dive, ability to communicate during the dive and expectations have probably led to this disagreement.

Nothing to be overly pissed off about. You said as well that your wifee and her buddy are also certified divers, but neglected to mention the dive conditions on the day of the dive. I would expect your wife could dive with her buddy safely. So it sounds like she preferred to be in your vicinity during the dive in which case you might have been better off as her buddy in the first place.

Please consider getting an audible signaling device next time you dive. I find that urgent rapping on the device tends to get everyone's attention to stop and review the situation.

Also consider keeping your dive torch on during the dive. Sometimes seeing a torch is the first thing before you spot a diver, even during day dives. Get a good torch with adequate lumens

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

This is what I call a "Gang Dive". When a group of divers hit the water without a dive plan and usually have no clear leader and no idea what they're going to do once they hit the water. They usually end the same way, everyone scattered to the waves. I've been on a number of gang dives and knowing how they all end, plan accordingly. In this case, each team should have had their own flag. The guy that was buddied up with the flag man shouldn't have left his buddy, but the it happens. But, taking your own flag won't do much if no one goes up to look around for you. All it will do is help you get back to shore safely.

 

[sassyalice]

ok, i wont state the certification level of the 4 divers in this story as it may sway your opinion, lets say they were all certified divers.

Please can someone shed some light on this and advise me who was at fault so we can put this behind us. whether your and instructor or just got freshly certified.
Please.

Well, we are just assuming that they are certified divers, but the way you word this makes me think not everyone was certified, Were they?

Go ahead tell me the truth I will try not to be swayed by it.

Because that would certainly clear up some fault lines if some were not.

 

[Rick Murchison]

---

---

A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Since this thread had died, I'd left it where it was (inappropriately) in A&I. Now that it's been revived and we have a more appropriate place to put it - a place for fault finding as opposed to accident analysis for safety purposes - I've moved it here.

---