What should I do?

[TSandM]

Reading what you added, I would say with some urgency -- practice clearing your mask while MAINTAINING DEPTH in the water column. There may not always be a bottom you can go sit on, or if there is, it may be dangerously deep for the gas supply you're carrying.

ALL basic skills -- mask clearing, mask replacement, regulator switch, and air-sharing -- are things that a diver should be able to do in the water column. Anything else is massively increasing the risk.

 

[wve]

By this statement I’d assume he was getting narced.

Good point. This is exactly what happened once when my wife and I were diving in Cozumel. She just kept dropping lower and lower, and we finally had to nudge her back up. SHE claimed that she was looking at something really small, but WE showed her the video of her looking at nothing. (Ie, she was narced!)

Because she is usually timid and careful, we have had great fun in reminding her that she now holds the depth record among all of us who dive together. Her reply is, "Yeah, but not on purpose."

I also echo your other statements regarding the need for "buddy conversations." By discussing our dives both before and after, we have become "best buddies" and better able to take care of each other -- which, in turn, leads to more relaxed and enjoyable diving.

 

[Soakedlontra]

I am a beginner and it is quite overwhelming to read all the technical details of some of the posts. I am guilty to deviate from a dive plan exceeding the agreed max depth of 80Ft of 4 feet. Well it does not sound like a big deal when I compare it to other divers' experiences. I thought I was monitoring my depth gauge enough times, but I guess it was not enough still. It was my first dive at that depth and I never lost sight of my buddy. After the dive was over I did not think much of it but my buddy was a bit annoyed about the fact that I did not stick to our original plan.

After reading the posts I now understand why.

I am a bit confused about the depth limits with an OW certification. It seems to me that ultimately it is up to you to decide how far you can go without compromising safety. When I decided to go to that depth I did feel a bit of pressure from my buddy. Was he putting too much confidence in my ability to cope with such a depth? I wonder. At the same time I felt comfortable to deal with that challenge because I knew and trusted my buddy, who has far more dives on his shoulders than me and I guess I must have been mentally ready for it.

We both made the mistake of not discussing an emergency plan if one of us got nitrogen narcosis before the dive, though. It seems to me that it is rather easy to take things for granted in scuba diving.

What I would have done if my buddy had dropped down far far below our planned depth? Now that I can think rationally sitting comfortably on a chair I can say I would have asked myself if I were mentally and physically fit to follow him to check that everything was OK and acted accordingly. If I had decided to go down it is hard to tell whether I would have had the sense of looking at my air supply first or not.

 

[Dr Neil]

In both scenarios one must remember that one act of apparent stupidity followed with good intentions but equally an stupid act does not equal to a positive outcome.

Sometimes by just making noise and getting the attention of the diver exceeding depth limits will bring them back to reality. Case in point, my buddy on my last dive trip bolted to 120 feet to retrieve a "cool" looking shell. We had planned on not exceeding 100 feet. I yelled out and he turned around to look at me. It still didn't stop him. When he rejoined me, my "have you lost your mind" look prompted a teachable moment back on the boat.

For someone who foregoes the safety stop - if the stop is on a hang bar below the boat, you can track their movement while you complete your safety stop. Let the boat crew deal with him. However, the teachable moment back on the boat is again a good time to talk about the advantages of a safety stop.

 

[wve]

I am a bit confused about the depth limits with an OW certification. It seems to me that ultimately it is up to you to decide how far you can go without compromising safety. When I decided to go to that depth I did feel a bit of pressure from my buddy. Was he putting too much confidence in my ability to cope with such a depth? I wonder.

The depth limits with OW certification may vary from agency to agency; I don't know. For PADI, the recommended depth limit for brand new divers is 60 ft. The no-decompression limit for recreational divers is 130 ft. However, there are no "depth police," so a diver can go as deep as he/she is comfortable going. On the other hand, such recommendations tend to be based upon experience (both good and bad), and it is wise to abide by them as much as possible.

While diving is a learning process for the individual, it is also a learning process for buddy teams. Over time my wife and I have figured out how we work best. For example, we stay side-by-side. We swim close enough to touch each other easily. If we are against a wall, she is always on the inside. If we take a swim-through, she goes first. We have developed our own hand signals to supplement those taught in OW classes. We are very comfortable with each other now, but there were many "learning experiences," such as the one I mentioned above.

To expand on that story, the divemaster had set a depth limit of 90 ft. One couple who had just joined our group promptly dropped below that to 100 ft. We were relatively new divers, so we just followed them in order to "stay with the group." However, when I noticed my depth, I leveled off. My wife didn't, and I wasn't sure why.

My computer showed that I was approaching my nitrogen limit, and I was nervous about going deeper to retrieve her. I wasn't sure if she knew what she was doing. Maybe her nitrogen loading was fine. While I was worried about entering a deco situation, I did NOT think about the possibility that she might be narced. (It was the first time we had ever been this deep, and it wasn't intentional.)

Back then, we were not diving as close together, so I didn't know how to get her attention. Fortunately, a more experienced diver behind us recognized what was happening, grabbed my wife's arm and brought her up to a safer level.

In retrospect, I think I was also a bit affected because I was having a hard time thinking through the whole event as it was occurring, though the whole thing was probably only a minute or two.

The point is that I learn something on every dive. You can plan, but plans don't always go as you expect. You learn things on good dives, but you sometimes learn more on the bad ones. The more experience you get, the more you realize what kinds of things may happen. And the more you discuss those unexpected events with your dive partners, the more you all learn about how each other thinks and what each of you would do if it ever happens again.

 

[jpx8diver]

I am diving with my buddy and we plan to hit about 100.. play abit and gradually cruise up to 60 then 30 with a stop at 15. Well at 100 it drops quick and get cold and dark. What am I supposed to do if he startes to flirt to 120....130 and just starts to ignore me and my signals.

I've also been in the position where my instabuddy decided it was time to head to the surface and my 3 min deco wan't finished,or even properly started.

First Scenario: End the dive. Any deviation from the dive plan is unacceptable unless agreed upon by both divers.

2nd Scenario: If youre on the down line, who cares, youre there and its just a matter of finishing your stop.

If he is doing this willingly (not in any kind of distress), I say you let him go. You developed a plan for safety, if he ignores that plan, you're not under any obligation to follow him. I'd treat it like a "lost buddy" situation. You stop, look around for a bit, and then head to the surface to locate your buddy. Alternatively, you can just stop and wait for him at whatever depth you feel comfortable at. Don't put your own safety at risk because someone else will not follow the plan and/or rules.

In the second situation - not much you can do but continue with your stop afterward, proceed to the surface in a safe fashion.

In either instance, I wouldn't dive with that person again.

This is an unacceptable response . Its not hard to just grab your buddy and inform them that you made a plan and you should stick to it. He may also be narc'd and doesnt know what he's doing. A responsible or properly trained diver will understand that. Considering it a "lost buddy" situation is irresponsible when you could've done something about it.

 

[String]

That would depend how far down the buddy has dropped and what gas the other guy was on and whether he wanted to risk an O2 hit dropping a silly distance to tell someone.

 

[tomboyy]

I haven't stop reading ... thanks people