What else could I have done?

[TSandM]

I think Bubbletrubble's post (as usual) is absolutely beautiful.

The primary problem here, as I see it, is acquiring a buddy at depth and having it be someone about whom you know nothing. So all the many things you can and should do to ensure that a dive goes smoothly (including setting a hard deck and comparing signals) never took place. So you had a setup for things going crosswise.

Given that you got INTO that bad situation, is there anything you could have done to make it better? Well, wetnotes might have helped here. Having a spool you could tie off on the wreck to search for your buddy might have helped, although I'm definitely of two minds about the utility of line in the hands of people with no training and little experience handling it -- it can be a VERY evil two-edged sword. I can empathize with the inability to read someone's gauge, even when you've got it in your hands. One of the reasons I use the gauges I do is because they are easy to read -- for me, and for my teammates. A quick glance at an analog SPG gives you "full, halfway, or near-empty", and that's generally what you're interested in. Digital readouts are often in very small numbers, and can be difficult to light so that you can see them well in low light/low viz.

I think what you got was a lesson in divemastering . . . You can't count on someone having the bandwidth to communicate effectively, or manage their gas well, or understand your signals (something I had HORRIBLE problems with as a new diver, and even today if someone starts trying to communicate something complicated in rapid signs). It was a divemastering job you didn't sign up for, and that's the biggest lesson. If you don't want to end up trying to take care of somebody in trouble, don't allow circumstances to hand you unknown dive buddies underwater.

 

[RJP]

Using that way of thinking, any diver who enters the water with anything less than 2 sets of cutting instruments, redundant gas supplies, signal devices, and anything else you can think of that might be needed is "unprepared".

That's just about every diver I've ever seen in tropical dive locations.

The principle is fairly straightforward: carry whatever gear might reasonably be needed given the environment, conditions, and dive plan.

You're stretching the thread here. The OP was not diving in the tropics. He was diving in California. On a wreck. In current. With 3' of viz. Deep. With an unknown/imaginary buddy. Are you saying that the need for a wreck reel on that dive was NOT reasonably foreseeable?

 

[H2O 70]

To the OP.

Overall it sounds like there may have been a lack of pre-dive planning and communication. Dive plans can be real simple, but you need to talk about turn pressures and such. You need to decide if you're going to buddy up or not and with who. When instructors and DM's and leading for checkouts and such, the students are still buddies up.

When you get on a wreck, any wreck, get a physical bearing of the wreck. If it is oriented to the South and you swim away off the port side a bit you know you can likely head West and hit it again. Also, take a moment and pay attention to the current.

Get yourself a reel or finger spool and a lift bag or SMB. Learn how to use it. From your own account, there were other boats in the area. If you end up doing a free ascent, it is an easy way to let those above know their are divers below. Aside from the possible OOG situation, this could have easily been the 2nd most dangerous situation you were thrust into.

I found with any diver if I'm asking for their air and I don't get an answer for any reason I will simply swim up and physically look at their gauge. I found you do that once then you get the answer you're looking form the next time.

 

[RJP]

It's safe to say that if I got off of that boat and onto another one, or another ten boats, I wouldn't find too many divers carrying wreck reels.

Would YOU?

Every boat I've ever been on has had at least ONE diver who was geared appropriately for the environment, conditions, and planned dives.

 

[idocsteve]

The OP was not diving in the tropics. He was diving in California. On a wreck. In current. With 3' of viz. Deep. With an unknown/imaginary buddy. Are you saying that the need for a wreck reel on that dive was NOT reasonably foreseeable?

Where did you read that the Op was diving in California?

All I saw was:

I am posting this now to get opinions on what I could have done differently in this situation. I am not going to mention names or exact location

You don't usually know about current or vis until you actually hit the water.

Besides you stated that wreck trained divers should always carry wreck reels on every wreck dive otherwise they're unprepared.

Someone WITH wreck training would have HAD a wreck reel with them

As you posted, in response to my post, someone who doesn't carry a wreck reel on every dive is unprepared:

Not all wreck trained scuba divers carry a wreck reel with them on every wreck dive. And that doesn't make them "wrong" or "careless".

No, it simply makes them unprepared.

Now you're saying that they should "carry gear as conditions warrant".

So which is it?

 

[RJP]

No one's going to make such a ridiculous statement, but they might just say "I'm glad I didn't go to the trouble to carry my wreck reel, my redundant air source, and cutting implements, and signal devices with my on the airplane".

That's not the point. The problem is the "inverse" of what you're saying:

Leaving certain pieces of gear at home when you travel somewhere is not a problem, unless you then decide to do a dive which would REQUIRE one of those pieces of gear.

 

[idocsteve]

Leaving certain pieces of gear at home when you travel somewhere is not a problem, unless you then decide to do a dive which would REQUIRE one of those pieces of gear.

Well, that's true, and I completely agree, but it's also true to say that if it's raining, and you walk out the door without an umbrella, you're going to get wet.

 

[Gdaaym8z]

First I would like to thank all of you for your input. I appologize for not having paragraph breaks, I wrote it in word and pasted it here. Lynne has offered to edit for easier reading and I thank her for that.

I would like to clarify a few points. The vis was as bad as 3 feet or less, there may have been a few moments that we had 5 or 6 but overall it was terrible conditions.

I am in no way trying to put blame on the other diver or infer that he did anything wrong, I am glad that I was there to buddy up with him and get us back to the surface. I just kept asking myself the what-ifs.

The predive plan was that the groups would descend and then dive together. I agree I should have had a specific buddy. However, had I not looked up and seen the last diver still dropping the last few feet, and not waited for him, the entire group would have left him, then he's without anyone.....what would have happened then?

That's entirery up for conjecture and a moot point now. I would hope that he would have realized he didn't have anyone with him and ascended imidiatley but have my doubts.

I never said that we were planning any type of penetration so no, I did not have a reel with me. Do I have one, yes, am I proficient with it? I'm learning.

I really had to think hard if I wanted to post anything about this, after all, no one died right? I decided to do it, not to get kudos for surviving but in hopes that someone else who finds themself in a similar situation may remember reading about this and with all of the advice given make a better plan and a safer dive.

 

[idocsteve]

The predive plan was that the groups would descend and then dive together. I agree I should have had a specific buddy.

In 3 foot visibility that's a poor dive plan, almost impossible to maintain.

Even in stellar conditions, if you're not trained and certified to dive solo, the "proper" dive plan is to have a buddy and have a buddy plan even though you'll both be part of a larger group.

That buddy plan consists of, but is not limited to, having an idea of what you plan to accomplish on the dive, at what point you'll turn the dive, what to do if separated, and to know one another's gear, at least to the extent of knowing how to use their redundant gas supply and how to release their weights if necessary.

Your incident redefines the word "Instabuddy".

 

[Puffer Fish]

Gdaaym8z, I think you were very nice to adopt a diver...I do a lot of just showing up without a buddy on a boat, and at that point, I assume I will be solo diving.. I carry gear and plan my dive accordingly. If I get a buddy on the surface, we go thru gear, plan the dive and I try to assess how good of a buddy I have..so I plan on it still being a solo dive, and if I am surprised.. wonderful.

If I got down on a wreck, and a lone diver showed up.. I assume they are solo diving, or where is their buddy? At that point if they want to swim to the bottom and my plan was to stay on the wreck, I hope they enjoy themselves. If they get lost doing that..run out of air...and something terrible happens to them, I will feel really bad that a diver did something really stupid.. and that is about it. If they stay near me, and need any help, they have it. (that is what buddy's do).

If they indicated to me theat they wanted to go to the sand, and asked me... not sure, it would depend on conditions, what gear I had and what I was planning.. might be yes, might be no..

However, if I were diving with a buddy, I check both of our air a couple times during the dive to know which of us is going to be the limiting factor, waiting till the end is a bit too late.

Regarding scolding the other diver for bad practices..other than a comment...and the mental note to never dive with them again (for a lot of reasons)..would not worry about it.