I went diving in San Diego this past weekend. As I was travelling alone, I didn't have a dive buddy prior to getting on the boat. There were 3 other newly certified beginners on the boat, and we were all going to stick together, pairing up 2 and 2. Plus, an advanced diver (Todd) was nice enough to volunteer to hang with us, just in case. And then a second advanced diver didn't have a buddy, so she was joining our little group.
We got into the water, all started to head down the anchor line, and I hung out at the bottom, waiting for the others. The 2 advanced divers came down, did the "OK" sign, and then Todd gave the "let's go" sign. I quickly wrote on my slate "Where's others?", because they weren't in sight. He signaled that they were not coming (I found out later that they didn't feel comfortable, and just hung out holding the anchor line the whole time). I was then really glad that I had Todd, or I'd have been stuck on the anchor line too, because I wasn't diving alone, and I wasn't about to try to talk any of them into letting go.
But I was even more happy that Todd was my buddy when it came time to surface. I was underweighted! It was very hard to come up slowly once my air was more than half gone in my tank. Then it was actually impossible to stay at the safety stop!
Luckily, since I had an advanced diver with me, he knew what to do. He actually HELD me down!! He really saved my skin!
Plus, he was considerate enough to come up when I was ready, because I was freezing, but he was in a dry suit and probably could have stayed down a lot longer!
I learned a lot about what I'd like in a dive buddy, and for now, as a beginner I want someone who knows what to do in an "emergency". Or has more of a chance of knowing what to do than a beginner would.
Thanks Todd!! (he actually don't go online, so he won't see this, but maybe he'll get the good vibes!)
