pleeessssee stay with your buddy!

[MNStarfish]

I know that everyone is taught to stay with your buddy when you dive but please, oh please, oh please! remember that means stay CLOSE to your buddy:

My husband and I are dive buddies. We always stay within 2 kicks of each other and more likely, we can reach out and touch each other whenever we need to. This "reach out and touch" method works for us and has averted many potential problems.

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I dove off the same boat with yet another "same ocean" but NOT buddy pair.
My husband and I noticed that the pair were not staying together as we were generally following the same route around some finger coral. Midway through the dive, at 63 feet, we noted that the pair were more then 20 feet seperated from each other. I kept them in my field of vision while I signalled to my hubby to see if he saw what I saw. He shook his head, shrugged, reached out and brushed my shoulder in a I'm-here-so-don't-worry gesture as we looked at the coral. About three minutes later I saw motion in my peripheral vision. When I looked up, one of the other divers of the pair was in trouble, his tank band was off and his tank was floating up over his head, yanking his regulator, as he headed down to look at something. My hubby and I immediately signalled a "let's go after him" as his buddy was more thme 20 feet away, turned away from him, and totally unaware.

As we swam toward the diver I kept expecting the other diver's buddy to look up at some time and signal an "I see it and I'll take care of it" type of situation, but this never happened. The diver with the tank flapping over his head just kept pulling on his reg and I could see his hoses stretching and stretching (or at least I thought I could).

We caught up to him, signalled to him to turn around and my hubby and I got him strapped in. We checked to see if he was narced, checked his air level, computer, etc. and asked him were his buddy was? He looked around to find his buddy (his wife by the way). Finally, she swam over to us. We checked her for narcosis, psi, etc. They both then just waved and kicked away.

My husband and I rechecked ourselves, psi, time, etc. and continued our dive with a shrug, wondering if we'd see them safely on the boat after us (they were using nitrox).

I knew I was taking a chance after the dive by saying to them, as they never even said "hey thanks,"

I said:
I was worried about you down there. Your reg hoses looked really starined down there, I would check them before your next dive.

The wife said:
Oh, yeah, I saw his tank floating up.

Me:
Oh, yeah? I didn't know if you saw it.

Her:
Oh, I should have fixed that?

Me:
Yeah you should be right there if he needs anything.

Her:
Yeah I guess I should stay closer.

He didn't say anything.

On the next dive they were still swimming in his-ocean and her-ocean.

 

[Uncle Pug]

in this case they obviously had no clue. But others can dive together with much greater distance between them while still maintaining good buddy communication.

It is not uncommon for Shane and I to dive separated by 20~30 if the viz allows for that. But then we throw an OOA drill on one another occasionally too. (As the visibility decreases... so does the distance between us.)

This is possible because we use lights for passive communication and take responsibility for insuring that our buddy can see our light and that the movements of the light are consistent.

Diving without lights or in bright sunlight it is the responsibility of each diver to ensure that their buddy can see them without undue difficulty.

I seriously dislike it when a buddy swims just above and behind me.

Just being in close proximity doesn't insure good buddy skills. Situational Awareness and Proactive Problem Solving are also required.

 

[Wendy]

My scuba buddy/instructor/mentor has a habit of 'running out of air' on dives. He'll swim around with no reg in his mouth waiting to see how long it takes for his buddy to notice and donate air to him. It has taught me to not be far away and to pay attention to my buddies. Buddy awareness to me is an important thing and I'm glad that you and your buddy are the same way. I wonder what that wife would have said if her husband ended up bent or worse, cuz he lost his reg and shot to the surface. Probably that she should have been there to help.

 

[MNStarfish]

U. Pug

I thought you might mention your use of lights when I reread my/this posting after it went up.

Your and Shane's use of lights is obviously an effective way for you and he to stay "in touch" wihout being as close together as my buddy and I often are. Not everyone need to be that close together and often situations dictate that you can not be that close. I agree that lights can be a most effective means of communications, and we have used them when we had to travel one behind the other or are some distance apart during a night dive.

I've mentioned your explanation of light signals to my partner before and we are looking into using lights more effectively. Until such time as we acquire better light sources and become proficient, we always talk out the dive before and agree to be no more then a kick or two away from each other. My buddy tries to always stay to my left, and I always look for him there first.

Unfortunately, nothing seems like it would have worked for these two.

--MNStarfish
training every dive even if I'm not in a formal class

 

[MNStarfish]

Wendy

You can only wonder what she was thinking and how she would have felt if something had happened to her buddy/husband. Or reverse, as he wasn't looking or staying near her either!

For me, being a buddy is No. 1. I may miss something, like the turtle, who's picture my hubby did get and is attsched, while making sure the team is together, but that is a small price to pay for getting us both home safe.

And I posted this before I saw the post about the death in Palau. Sent chills up my spine as I read, thinking where on Earth (or in the Sea!) was her partner?

 

[scubasean]

MNStarfish once bubbled...


Her:
Oh, I should have fixed that?

Sung to the tune of "I've checked the insurance policy...."

 

[Popeye]

MNStarfish once bubbled...
I know that everyone is taught to stay with your buddy when you dive but please, oh please, oh please! remember that means stay CLOSE to your buddy:

I usually don't dive with a buddy.

Can you rent them?

Seriously, you have to dive your dive, and let them dive theirs.

You did what you feel you should have, good work.

But they're grown-ups too, old enough to know the consequences.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Popeye once bubbled...


I usually don't dive with a buddy.

Can you rent them?

Seriously, you have to dive your dive, and let them dive theirs.

You did what you feel you should have, good work.

But they're grown-ups too, old enough to know the consequences.

I'm not sure if you're the same one referenced in the website, but aren't some of your buddies the now banned Tekdivegirl and Tekdiveguy (they were referencing a person named "Popeye" on their pages)? If so, I'd agree that solo diving is probably safer. So is diving the Doria with a spare air and an AL80, but that's another thread.

It's probably possible to control the tank in such a manner that you can surface in a reasonably safe manner. However, except for doffing the BC underwater and replacing the tank, I see little way to continue the dive. With a buddy, on the other hand, a loose tank is a relatively easy fix.

MNStarfish and her husband did well. Its never fun to pull off a rescue.

 

[Laser]

Popeye once bubbled...


I usually don't dive with a buddy.

Can you rent them?

Seriously, you have to dive your dive, and let them dive theirs.

You did what you feel you should have, good work.

But they're grown-ups too, old enough to know the consequences.

All sorted out in pre-dive.

 

[MNStarfish]

Thanks Northeastwrecks for the "a-okay" sign.

Yes, this whole situation probably would have been avoided if the diver had a proper pre-dive check of his equipment.

Unfortunately, he didn't,

his buddy didn't, and

my dive day could have been ended with a dead diver on the boat.

I like helping the gut out as a better solution.