Sideband
Guest
I try to learn something from every dive. Tonight I got a good lesson in communication before the dive starts. I was with a guy that just got his AOW (I'm OW and at about 23 dives since I got my card in June) and we did a really basic dive plan.
Down on the boat buoy, mess around till we get bored then I was to lead a nav out to the Duc. We would stay there till we hit 500psi then surface and swim back.
I had done this nav. earlier this weekend with no problems at all with a different buddy. This time I missed it by a mile. I am convinced that I lost my heading by stopping to look for him several times during the dive. He was constantly about 5 feet behind me and slightly above so I had to pretty much turn completely around to see him. I'd wave him up but he didn't stay there long. When the dive was over I explained that I was used to having my buddy directly beside me so I only had to glance left or right and know right where they are. When I'm with my usual buddy it isn't unusual for me to find that my arm has slipped through her octo hose loop, we are that close. (We have done a lot of shared air drills breathing off of each others octo and just never really drift far apart.) He said he was used to diving in groups of three and had never gotten that close to his buddy, but he would try it on our next dive. He did great. I didn't have to do more than turn my head to see him the entire dive. Not as close as my usual buddy but I never expected that. He was always within arms length though. The three newly certified divers (a dad and two youngish sons) we were with was a different story. I was constantly having to count heads then go to the back of the group to find the last one. When we got out of the water after that dive I thanked my buddy for sticking close and he said he liked that better than what he was doing before. Lesson learned: If you expect a buddy to do something you need to let them know before the dive starts.
Well, that worked so well that I decided to do our night dive with the 3 divers from earlier. We would go as two buddy pairs and my partner from earlier was going to complete a foursome with a different group. I explained my preference for distance along with the usual dive plan stuff and recommended that the other two stick close like that as well. We decided to start out as a group but if we got split up to just stick to buddy pairs and follow the plan to the end. That was one of the absolute best dives I have had. We did get split up but it wasn't an issue due to the plan. The kid stayed right with me and when we got out of the water he said that he had a lot more fun and felt much more secure compaired to earlier because of always knowing where his buddy was. The father and other son said the same thing. They said they weren't a bit worried when we went 'missing' because they knew where we were going and that we were staying close.
Having done most of my dives with one person I never thought that the stuff that was second nature now to us would be an issue with someone else. I now have something new to add to my dive plans.
Joe
Down on the boat buoy, mess around till we get bored then I was to lead a nav out to the Duc. We would stay there till we hit 500psi then surface and swim back.
I had done this nav. earlier this weekend with no problems at all with a different buddy. This time I missed it by a mile. I am convinced that I lost my heading by stopping to look for him several times during the dive. He was constantly about 5 feet behind me and slightly above so I had to pretty much turn completely around to see him. I'd wave him up but he didn't stay there long. When the dive was over I explained that I was used to having my buddy directly beside me so I only had to glance left or right and know right where they are. When I'm with my usual buddy it isn't unusual for me to find that my arm has slipped through her octo hose loop, we are that close. (We have done a lot of shared air drills breathing off of each others octo and just never really drift far apart.) He said he was used to diving in groups of three and had never gotten that close to his buddy, but he would try it on our next dive. He did great. I didn't have to do more than turn my head to see him the entire dive. Not as close as my usual buddy but I never expected that. He was always within arms length though. The three newly certified divers (a dad and two youngish sons) we were with was a different story. I was constantly having to count heads then go to the back of the group to find the last one. When we got out of the water after that dive I thanked my buddy for sticking close and he said he liked that better than what he was doing before. Lesson learned: If you expect a buddy to do something you need to let them know before the dive starts.
Well, that worked so well that I decided to do our night dive with the 3 divers from earlier. We would go as two buddy pairs and my partner from earlier was going to complete a foursome with a different group. I explained my preference for distance along with the usual dive plan stuff and recommended that the other two stick close like that as well. We decided to start out as a group but if we got split up to just stick to buddy pairs and follow the plan to the end. That was one of the absolute best dives I have had. We did get split up but it wasn't an issue due to the plan. The kid stayed right with me and when we got out of the water he said that he had a lot more fun and felt much more secure compaired to earlier because of always knowing where his buddy was. The father and other son said the same thing. They said they weren't a bit worried when we went 'missing' because they knew where we were going and that we were staying close.
Having done most of my dives with one person I never thought that the stuff that was second nature now to us would be an issue with someone else. I now have something new to add to my dive plans.
Joe
