Ascending: How do you know where boat is?

[DennisS]

I've tried for 35 years to get good at navigation. I can go out 180 degrees kick for ten minutes, turn around do a 0/360 and return, sometimes I see the anchor rope, sometimes I dont. I'm usually real close. I can do a square, triangle etc. if I time and concentrate. Unfortunately that's not the way I dive. I find following reef lines, sand waves etc a lot more practical but it doesn't get me back to the anchor.

Unfortunately that's not a very fun dive. I go out 180 degrees, see a coral head, check for lobster go around it, head off to a ledge, and then head over to an overhang. I'll then get a reciprocal of 180, head over to the next ledge check for lobster and then go to "Key Largo" "gopher" navigation when I want to return. Pop up with a safety stop, surface, get a bearing to the boat and submerge and head to the boat.

I bit the bullet and bought a desert star system. It works. I go back to the anchor line every time. I still have gopher navigation as a fall back, pop up, get a bearing, head to the boat. To paraphrase an old friend, the system is "slicker than owl poop"

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I bit the bullet and bought a desert star system. It works. I go back to the anchor line every time. I still have gopher navigation as a fall back, pop up, get a bearing, head to the boat. To paraphrase an old friend, the system is "slicker than owl poop"

Dennis, do you mean that you tried to fix a skills problem with an equipment solution and it cost you money?

 

[DennisS]

Dennis, do you mean that you tried to fix a skills problem with an equipment solution and it cost you money?

Yep, and it worked like a charm

 

[Bottomfeeder Brodie]

If unable to acomplish the above very useful advice......drag a knife in the sand.....run a line from the anchor to the wreck if the anchor is "gps" placed.......note compass headings on your slate from distinguishable feature to distinguishable feature........always fin against the current and ascend short of your vessel so track mods can be made with visual on the boat........tie a home depot safety flag to your ascent line on wrecks with multiple mooring bouys (Spiegel grove, etc) so you can identify the exit..........hopefully all useful but can not replace the above said mentioned education in nav.....safe diving

 

[Nemrod]

I sometimes drag my finger in the sand to leave a trail. In the northern Gulf there is a lot of sand/mud bottom and a few rocks etc here and there. N

 

[drbill]

Holy mackerel, Trace is on Board! Hey buddy.

My navigation is largely by landmark or by listening for the boat's generator. I have no problem doing a surface swim if I'm off course.

 

[scubadada]

I have as much trouble locating the boat at the end of the dive as everyone else does. Interestingly, when the boat is anchored, it's in the same place as when you descended. On a wall dive, it's generally very easy to find. On a chaotic reef dive, it's often nearly impossible to find. The gopher technique is extremely useful in Key Largo and is nothing to be embarassed about. The drift dive with a flag avoids the problem altogether, the boat finds you. I do often wonder how exclusively drift divers do when they dive in different environments.

Good diving, Craig

 

[scubadada]

Holy mackerel, Trace is on Board! Hey buddy.

My navigation is largely by landmark or by listening for the boat's generator. I have no problem doing a surface swim if I'm off course.

Right on. If I miss the boat at the end of a deeper dive, I ascend, do my deco or safety stop and then surface. I'm usually quite close to the boat and have no problem with a short surface swim.

I've not had to be picked up by the boat remotely but am sure that will occur someday in current or other circumstances. For that reason, I always carry a good SMB and an audible surface signaling device.

Good diving, Craig