baenglish73 once bubbled...
It might be a group issue. Large mixed-ability groups seem bulky and hard to manage. I'm not a DI or DM -- just an observation.
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Well, I don't know. This situation is quite unlike anything I've personally experienced in training.
For one thing, we assign buddy pairs on the first day of the OW course and the same buddy pairs do everything together throughout the whole course. When John said that nobody really had a buddy that, to me, is a nightmare that can only lead to chaos......BUT.....and I want to be completely clear about this, the lack of organisation is NOT the student's fault. The CA and the instructor are responsible for the organisation (or lack thereof).
Secondly. We drill and practice swimming shoulder to shoulder and neutral and following at a comfortable distance in the pool before we get to open water. By the time we have students on their last OW dive I can go any where, change depth or direction at any time with 8 divers following me (9 divers in total - 6 students 2 DM's and the instructor) of whom I can only see 4 myself because of the 3 metre visibility we have and I don't lose anybody. That the students John saw couldn't do that is NOT the student's fault.
Next. When we escort a large group we do it like this: DM in front, then 2 buddies (one pair) shoulder to shoulder which are the direct responsibility of the DM in the front with the instructor as backup, next another 2 buddies who are the responsibility of the instructor who follows behind them, then another buddy pair and finally a DM in the rear who takes care of the last buddy pair with the instructor as backup. (graphically)
DM - 2 - 2 - IN - 2 - DM
In really bad vis (if you can only see one buddy pair) then we do
DM - 2 - IN - 2- DM
If we have an odd number then the last diver pairs up with the DM in the back.
In any case everyone has only 2 divers to take care of and because the students are drilled in swimming in formation we don't have chaos of everyone going all over the place. If someone loses buoyancy control we pause, correct and proceed. Moreover if someone *is* going to lose buoyancy control (especially by the last dive) then it will be when returning to a shallower depth. When I'm about to go shallow I will turn around and swim backwards to watch my 2 carefully as we ascend. We also make frequent depth changes during all the training dives and even in the pool (10x back and forth from the shallow end to the deep end with control only from the lungs in a day isn't unusual for me). This way students develop better buoyancy control right from the start.
Next, we use a line for descending. Buddy pairs decend together face to face at their own tempo along a line. One of us on the bottom will receive the buddy pairs and organise them so they're not crashing down on each other's head as they arrive, one of us will hang 1/2 way down the line and correct if buddy pairs are getting out synch with each other and one remains on the surface until the last pair have descended. To date I've infrequently seen our OW divers crash into one another and I"ve never seen a mask dislodged. To me keeping organised plays a big part in ensuring that this doesn't happen. The students obviously have the responsibility to look around but you have to drill them to do it or they won't. It's all about setting expectations.
I'll stop there. This post is getting a little too long but I hope it gives you an idea that you *can* manage a big group competently and without the kinds of problems John witnessed.
R..
