NEVER leave your buddy alone. Have faith the boat will pick you both up. Inflate your marker and tell jokes until the boat comes...
Happy diving!
Happy diving!
What is the correct action ??
- Thread starter Sean C
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Kestrell
Guest
Never, ever leave your wingman" - Jester to Maverick
I would think if it was me carried by the current I would want my buddy to get on the boat and let them know my situation. If I was aware of my buddies comfort level I would do the same for him. BUT, if I was diving with a new buddy, a student or anyone I felt would not be comfortable alone I would stick with him. Hard to judge a persons actions from behind a keyboard though.
It depends on the situation. If the buddy were observed drifting away by the boat crew and they knew they would need to go down current to pick him up later AND if the buddy were not self sufficient enough to do ok on his/her own, I go with the buddy.
If the boat crew does not spot you, they would be short of information on when the two of you surfaced and missed the line and will probably delay for a significant period of time waiting for you to surface. At the point, they determine your gas is exhausted, they still won't know if the two of you are dead on the bottom or if you surfaced, when you surfaced or where you surfaced. The increased time before the search starts and the and uncertainty of if, when and where you may have surfaced will greatly expand the search area and will further delay any rescue.
If your buddy is self sufficient, has proper signalling devices and is not going to panic, there is no need for you to go with him or her. All going with the buddy will do is create another potential victim and deny info and resources to the boat crew. And if the seas are rough, weather is foggy etc, there is no guarentee of a quick rescue for either of you and the job will get twice as complicated if the two of you are separated later before you are rescued.
"Never leave your wingman" is overly dramatic and is also a very poor analogy as it only applies until he flames out. At that point you can be in tight formation 3 ft off his wingtip and there is not a thing in the world you can do for him as he is going down one way or the other. (Well...not counting the F-80 pilot over Korea who stuck his nose up the tailpipe of his wingman's flamed out F-80 and pushed him south out of North Korea and practically to the traffic pattern of an air field.) Two pilots punching out instead of one accomplishes absolutely nothing except creating two pilots that must be rescued and denying your wingman a potential CAP while he waits for the SAR folks to arrive. Similarly, in most cases you'd serve your buddy far better on the boat than you would in the water.
If the boat crew does not spot you, they would be short of information on when the two of you surfaced and missed the line and will probably delay for a significant period of time waiting for you to surface. At the point, they determine your gas is exhausted, they still won't know if the two of you are dead on the bottom or if you surfaced, when you surfaced or where you surfaced. The increased time before the search starts and the and uncertainty of if, when and where you may have surfaced will greatly expand the search area and will further delay any rescue.
If your buddy is self sufficient, has proper signalling devices and is not going to panic, there is no need for you to go with him or her. All going with the buddy will do is create another potential victim and deny info and resources to the boat crew. And if the seas are rough, weather is foggy etc, there is no guarentee of a quick rescue for either of you and the job will get twice as complicated if the two of you are separated later before you are rescued.
"Never leave your wingman" is overly dramatic and is also a very poor analogy as it only applies until he flames out. At that point you can be in tight formation 3 ft off his wingtip and there is not a thing in the world you can do for him as he is going down one way or the other. (Well...not counting the F-80 pilot over Korea who stuck his nose up the tailpipe of his wingman's flamed out F-80 and pushed him south out of North Korea and practically to the traffic pattern of an air field.) Two pilots punching out instead of one accomplishes absolutely nothing except creating two pilots that must be rescued and denying your wingman a potential CAP while he waits for the SAR folks to arrive. Similarly, in most cases you'd serve your buddy far better on the boat than you would in the water.
Sorry, no buddy is going to get my nose in his butt no matter what. I draw the line at mouth to mouthDA Aquamaster:
When my son was 12 & 13 years old, this was one of the possible situations we had discussed in advance. The plan was: If he missed the line, I was going with him; if I missed the line, he was to get on the boat. This probably makes no sense to some and goes back to strong diver/weak diver but with a 12 year old that was the plan. My point here is to talk to you buddy ahead of time concerning situations that could arise; agree on plan of action.
"Sorry, no buddy is going to get my nose in his butt no matter what. ..."
Yeah, that's what the snorkel is for! With proper training and good placement of the snorkel, you can push your buddy all the way to the beach. And then replace the snorkel, of course.
I think I'm generally on the side of thinking that you should remain buddies at least until you're both out of the water. However, there will be times when you can be more help to your buddy out of the water and getting somebody else's attention or help than in it drifting away together, and in case of serious trouble there's no reason to postpone the start of a rescue (including a self-rescue) if you think it's going to turn into that kind of situation. This is what judgment is for.
Yeah, that's what the snorkel is for! With proper training and good placement of the snorkel, you can push your buddy all the way to the beach. And then replace the snorkel, of course.
I think I'm generally on the side of thinking that you should remain buddies at least until you're both out of the water. However, there will be times when you can be more help to your buddy out of the water and getting somebody else's attention or help than in it drifting away together, and in case of serious trouble there's no reason to postpone the start of a rescue (including a self-rescue) if you think it's going to turn into that kind of situation. This is what judgment is for.
el ridgeo
Contributor
I'd stay with my buddy. Maybe he didn't make it to the line because of the current, maybe it was something else (cramps or worse).
scubafool
Contributor
I think it would be a judgement call in most cases.
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