What is the proper use of a Diver Marker "Sausage"

[mudhole]

What a fast moving post. . . Practice deploying your marker, but also practice deflating that marker. many people from dive boats take a long time in the water repacking their buoy. I've worked out a routine that gets you in the boat quickly. With a duck bill or open bottom marker, grab the top of the bag and pull it underwater, the air shoots out of the bag. Then pull the top even with the bottom and double the bag, then quarter it and fold again, when only a little bundle is left wrap your deployed line around the bundle and toss it into the bottom of the boat. During the next boat ride you can prepare for the next dive without disturbing everyone in the boat.

Between diving trips, open the marker and slip it over a broom handle to totally dry the marker, repack and return it to your dive bag.

 

[beejw]

Ive only been diving from larger boats with platforms, and i always reel in my line during my ascent, and then screw off the reel. usually i just hand the float up to the crew, along with my camera and fins

i guess im just spoilt

 

[Tortuga James]

I wish I had read this post 2 months ago. I have a 6' SMB, and used to leave it in my bag. We also used to leave the boat unattended all of the time. Then I took a new friend from ncdivers out, and listened to a few "horror stories" he knew about divers getting caught in currents and swept away from the boat, one was a very experienced diver from Wilmington who was never found and presumed dead. That very day, the current was running on the inshore reef like I had never experienced. I surfaced 50 yards off the starboard side. Swimming directly towards the boat, I ended up 20 yards behind it. It was very tiring trying to swim against the current to the stern, although I could have made it, the tossed life ring and line for the last 50' was welcome.

After that, I started carrying my SMB in my BC pocket, but I never thought to practice deploying it, until one day on the Radio Island rock jetty, there was no viz, so I was just working on my buoyancy skills and hanging out, determined to burn up a tank of air, since it was dive 100 for me. There is lots of boat traffic just east of the jetty, so I got the idea that I would practice deploying it from a depth of 35'. The 60' of string in the pouch (no reel) was fairly well wound. Kneeling on the bottom, I tried to unwind it and get out the tangles. When I thought I had it, I filled the SMB with my primary. It took off like a rocket for the surface, and a big knot came tight making the line about 12' long. Not wanting to let go of the line, I got pulled right up behind it.

Damn, just typing that makes me feel like a dumb*****. That is a real life practical example of why you should....

never dive with an unattended boat
always carry an SMB
use a reel to deploy it
learn how to use it and practice deploying it in a safe area

 

[clem]

YOU leave your boat unattended?!! NUTS.

 

[Tortuga James]

YOU leave your boat unattended?!! NUTS.

I agree, but I have done it more times than I care to admit.

The story I referenced in the first post about the lost diver included an attended boat, but the person left on it didn't know how to run it.

I don't leave it unattended any more. Even when we only have 2 divers on board, I would rather have both dive solo, so one person is on the boat.

I have since developed a system that allows the anchor line to be attached to a buoy with a SS caribeener that is thrown overboard to facilitate a quick response to a troubled diver in the water. Then the anchor line can be retrieved after the diver is safely aboard the boat. We usually have to hang the anchor on the wreck, and although the first thing we do is check it's status, sometimes it is necessary to have a diver retrieve it when we are ready to go. In the case of emergency, the buoy system will allow us to toss the anchor line and quickly get to the aid of the diver in need.

 

[shark_tamer]

...usually i just hand the float up to the crew, along with my camera and fins

Same here,

When the charter boat is getting close from us, I deflate my SMB but do not fold it right away.

As I'm geting ready to exit the water, hand out SMB, reel, camera and fins.

 

[mrjimboalaska]

YOU leave your boat unattended?!! NUTS.

I guess you would say it's nuts if we have 3 boats tied together unattended eh?

first one down sets anchor......last one up, usually me(being I'm last in) makes sure the anchor will be easily retrieved....what's the prob?

 

[Sperbonzo]

YOU leave your boat unattended?!! NUTS.

It's easy to say, but in our case usually it was only my wife and myself on the boat, you couldn't always find someone else to come out with us, so....

 

[The Chad]

I agree "nuts" is a relitive term. Those of us boaters are not always fortuanate enough to have good dive buddys or experienced boaters with us all the time. A well set anchor line, long trail line, dive flags, strobes and good conditions all work in your favor. Not to mention stashing your keys, and a realistic assesment of your skills.

I crossed the Gulfstream solo, dived solo in Bimini and made it back. Excellent experience, yeah I had ditch bags, MREs,life raft, sat phone, gps. Sure stuff can happen, but who wants to spend their time in the house to avoid it. Sometimes the right tools and relitivly good judgement can better your odds.

My hat is off to you and I'll join you in the "nut" house any day

 

[flw]

Excellent point! I’ve seen plenty of folks with relatively large fancy SMBs with OPVs and multiple inflation methods that sit in their dive bags because they don’t like the bulk in their pockets or hanging from them. The most important feature is that it’s comfortable for you to stow and carry all the time and easy to restow in the water before getting back on the boat.

I or my students have deployed the cheaper (not plastic cheap) ones without OPVs hundreds of times and have yet to see one bust though I have had plenty that developed small leaks over the years from wear and tear, being caught in something that pinched it, or the one that got run over by a boat (my own boat no less). For most boat and drift diving in Florida I find 4’ adequate if it completely seals as you can hold it up to wave if need be, but if it has an open bottom 6’ is much better for those days with 4’ seas. The non-open ended ones are also nice to use as a head rest when you're floating around waiting on the boat too.

No, the most important thing about them is they are easy to deploy from depth, visible at the surface and they don't collapse on you. All the European ones are 2m tall, just put a bit of tension on the line and they stand upwards. If you collapse it just as the boat is coming in to pick up, you suddenly become much harder to see, and more likely to be run over at the last minute. ap valves dsmbi fits in a dry suit pocket with a small reel or spool, just hand the complete thing back up to the boat and collapse it later.