Who actually used a "safety sausage"

[MB104]

I'm reading a thread about the best place to secure a safety sausage to your bc and I got to thinking. :06: I've done many dives and have never actually seen someone use one. I am SURE there are divers out there who have needed to use one.

Fill me in.

Tell me what type of circumstance required the use of the sausage. What happened? What would you do to prevent it?Also, what was the result.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Biaha, Bali ... rode the current through the rocks and surfaced on the opposite side of the island from the boat. Current was taking us away from where the boat was waiting for us. Deployed the SMB and waited. A fishing boat finally spotted us and informed our boat where we were. By then we would've been completely out of visual range, except for the bright orange marker sticking six feet in the air.

Neah Bay ... at the mouth of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Did a free ascent into six-foot waves. The boat was about 200 yards off, picking up another dive team ... I could see it when I crested a wave, but wasn't at all sure they could see us. They didn't. Fortunately, another boat did ... and told them where they could find us.

Not much you can do to prevent these situations, except to decide not to dive in these conditions. However, conditions can change during the course of a dive, so even that's no guarantee. Best solution is to prepare for the contingency ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Charlie99]

I've used it routinely in Cozumel, usually when the divemaster has gone up before me.

I use one of those small 4"x44" orally inflated safety sausages with 30' of cord wrapped around it. Sending it up during the safety stop both makes it less likely that boats will run me over, and makes it more likely that my boat will be nearby when I surface.

The rolled up sausage and cord are only 4" wide x 3" diameter and stow nicely in a BC pocket.

 

[Paul Evans]

I was diving a site on the Meruu atoll in the Maldives called the Hakura Express, Its not called Express for nothing :11:
Sent up my DSMB from 10m and acended to the safety stop (this was all preplanned on the boat). When we hanging on the stop I could see the boat following us at a safe distance, when we surface we were about 5m from the boat The skipper had seen the bouy and simple followed as we were whipped along in the current.

 

[mahoneme]

I'm glad this was posted. I told my boyfriend we needed to get one of these this past weekend and he said no, because "we would just have to avoid putting ourselves in a situation where we would actually need one"... :shakehead

(Some men think they know better)

 

[detroit diver]

I use one all the time when I drift dive in Florida. It makes my presence know to not only my boat captain, but any other boats that might be cruising by.

 

[artdive]

We use it in Playa del Carmen, every time when surfacing, because of the boat traffic; to aboid being hit by a boat.

Actualy is regulation of the place; you need to have one if you want to work in any resort or dive operation around here.

I use to clip it to my BCD, and deploy it when is time to go up; also in that way the boat knows that we are going up so it gets close to pik us up.

 

[GoBlue!]

For those of you drifting w/ a marker, what type are you using? I'm picturing a 6' red sausage cruising along the water....is this what you're using, or is there something lower profile that you use regularly & have a 6' sausage for when you need to be found quite aways from the boat?

(Looking to purchase something...seems there're a bunch of different types....)

Jim

 

[detroit diver]

That's exactly what I use. A 6 foot Halcyon SMB.

Go Green!

For those of you drifting w/ a marker, what type are you using? I'm picturing a 6' red sausage cruising along the water....is this what you're using, or is there something lower profile that you use regularly & have a 6' sausage for when you need to be found quite aways from the boat?

(Looking to purchase something...seems there're a bunch of different types....)

Jim

 

[murphdivers286]

I have used mine in WPB during a drift dive. We ended up a little too far from where the boat was picking other divers. I inflated my sausage and here came the boat. No problem, but wander if it could have been?