Managing A Picked-up Buddy

[kimbalabala]

We have picked up a third diver on occasion. For me, it's not imperative that we maintain 3-5 ft distance as long as we're all keeping our eyes on one another. I think of diving sort of like driving - gotta keep my head on a swivel and hope my buddy does the same. If you want to stop to take a picture I'll see that and will stop too, and vice versa. If you're in trouble I should catch your signal and be close enough to respond pretty quickly .... "should" ...

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

[/QUOTE] Of course sticking close isn't as much a concern at shallow depth (such as on a shore dive in the 20-foot range) as at depth. But if I have a regulator malfunction at 80-100 feet (like that poster who suddenly found himself inhaling water instead of air), and my buddy isn't basically within reach, then I'm going to have to do a CESA. And then I may as well just get on the phone immediately to EMS to find the nearest hyperbaric chamber.[/QUOTE]

Remember your alternate air source isn't just for your buddy! use it and head for the surface. I take dive trips alone also. I try to keep a eye on my buddy also, but sometimes you end up chasing a buddy who's paying no attention to you. So I have to look after my own safety first. IMHO you should never take a deep dive and depend on an insta buddy. in order to trust someone with your life on a deep dive, it has to be someone that you trust on a shallow dive.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

As my contribution I offer the following excerpt from upcoming "Book 2" of the Scuba Snobs' Guide to Diving Etiquette, from the Chapter entitled Keep Your Friends Close and Your Buddies Closer, which will be out this summer (sometime. we hope.)

Get to know your buddy before the dive

We dive with each other most of the time. In fact, Debbie has not been on a dive that Dennis was not also on as her dive buddy. Dennis has dove with lots of people, including regular dive buddies, but also has been paired with a single diver on a dive boat on many occasions. Your buddy is your team mate in all things. That’s true even of what some people call an “insta-buddy.” An insta-buddy is a person you are paired with on a dive boat that you never met before. Rather than complain about who you are paired with, proper diving etiquette (and safety) requires that you get to know each other as divers. Learn about their experience level and last dive, and share the same information about yourself. Clarify the communications you will use under water and emphasize your mutual agreement as to proximity and other buddy coordination. Then discuss your objectives for the dive. Are you going to swim around like crazy people, or focus on looking at the animals and their behaviors? If one or both are going to take pictures or video, discuss expectations you each have for staying close.

If you take a couple minutes to do the things just listed, insta-buddies should get along just fine. It’s proper etiquette to introduce your self, and to learn a little about your new friend. With a new buddy also be sure to do a pre-dive safety check, familiarizing the team with each other’s equipment. Once all of this is done, which will only take a few minutes, then each of you needs to follow the rest of the rules in this chapter. The best way to assure that happens is for you to buy several copies of this book and always have an extra one with you on a dive boat. The , when you are assigned an insta-buddy who is not familiar with this and other dive buddy rules, you can give them this chapter to read. Better still, give them a book as a gift!

 

[BabyDuck]

the fact that you're thinking about what makes a good buddy is a big part of the battle. telling your new buddy your expectations is another big part. working hard on your assumptions *to verbalize them to others* is, imo, the last big part.

sure, you want 3-5 ft, but if you don't tell your buddy that specifically, you have no right to whine. 'i'm new and a bit nervous, so stick close to me please' might mean 3-5 ft to you, but closer than 20 to him/her, and if s/he's doing that, s/he thinks you should be happy. see? so 'i'm new and a bit nervous and i'd like you to swim very very slowly and try to stay in arm's reach' is much more specific.

another thing to make very sure you and an instabuddy are on the same page with is signals. you were taught a way to tell someone how much air you have left, but were you both taught *the same* way? likely not. there are many *many* ways to signal that. another is how to end the dive. in the tech community, a thumb is 'dive over, no discussion'. i've given a thumb on a rec dive only to have it totally ignored. we hadn't discussed 'ending the dive' signals, which was my fault. so please go over signals and anything else you're *assuming* your buddy will know.

 

[The Chairman]

I love insta-buddies. I have dove with them since I was first certified and found that only one or two presented problems like the guy who liked to wrestle sharks. We only did one dive together.

Friendly communication from the start is imperative. Demands about distances, signs to use and what not often overwhelm the unsuspecting insta-buddy and might make them avoid you underwater. Be nice and ASK them how they want to do the dive, then adapt. "How close do you want to stick together?" "When do you want to surface?" "What do you want to look for?" IOW, make the dive about them and see how much they get into it. Too often I see the newbie diver trying to get the other diver conform to their needs and they can get quite frustrated doing so.

Secondly, relax! The worst thing you can do before a dive is to get all anxious. It's not good for you, your buddy or your SAC rate!. Relax and have fun. Don't make mountains out of mole hills. With hold any commentary (suggestions) unless they ask you for them. I learn from everyone I dive with. Sometimes I learn things to emulate while other times I learn things to avoid. The best thing I learned is to stop telling everyone else how to dive. If they want my opinion, they'll ask. I only speak up if I see a dangerous situation developing.

About those in-water emergencies, what you don't practice can hurt you. Try a gentle CESA, but stop at 15 ft!!! This is especially easy on a line. You might be surprised at how slow you really have to go if you're calm about it. Also, do some air drills, some no mask drills and even swim back to the boat with only one fin on from time to time. Do these if the dive somehow seems un-challenging (I'll infer boring here) or devoid of purpose. No, you don't have to practice on every dive... but don't forget to hone those skills for when you do need them.

BTW, remember my second rule of diving: You can call a dive at any time and for any reason: NO QUESTIONS ASKED! When I get put with an insta-buddy who is more an insta-nightmare, I simply call the dive. No reason for me to get distressed or worse, to be in peril. Often, I'll ask the DM for a new buddy or I might even sit out one or more dives. It's all good. I love being on the ocean in any event, so I haven't lost much.

 

[nolatom]

My experience with being, and having, the pick-up buddy is just the way NetDoc describes it above--almost always good. Sometimes it's been downright rewarding.

Communication beforehand is the key. If you have time, talk not only about diving, signals, objectives, turn pressure, gear configuration, etc, but also other stuff--sports, other recreational activities, school, yada yada. You'll learn what kind of personality you're diving with and you'll find out what you have in common, this could conceivably be useful underwater, who knows? And you may make a new friend, or a new buddy next time you find yourselves on the same boat.

As pointed out, how close you want your buddy depends on both visibility, current, and level of "desired attentiveness". 15-20 feet may be okay, so long as you're both paying attention to each other. So don't be too quick to zap yourself into a CESA if you can get to your buddy first. And in general don't grab your buddy til you've done the arm sweep for your octo first (assuming it's a 2nd stage problem and you still have air in your tank).

Also try to remember both of the "uh-oh" signals--we all know the throat slash for "out of air", but the fist on chest for "low on air" is important, as it may save you having to use the OOA signal.

 

[FPDocMatt]

If close proximity to your buddy is to maintained.....it will most likely be because YOU are the one that is maintaining it.

You know, I didn't think of that. I can always stay close to my buddy, don't have to rely on my buddy to stay close to me.

As for proximity, we tend to stay pretty close, about double arm-length interval.

Good. I was wondering if I was overly cautious in wanting to be physically close to my buddy.

 

[FPDocMatt]

I'd be thinking about an alternate air supply.

Great idea! Never thought of that.

The SDI Solo course has a lot of good information regarding redundancy and a self-sufficient mind set in a recreational setting too.

What is the SDI Solo Course? What is SDI, for that matter? (Solo Divers International? Schizophrenic Divers Incorporated?) Anyway, sounds like an interesting course.

 

[DiveNav]

I almost always gear up with my solo kit (HP100+AL30 pony+reel+SMB+....).

One think I noticed here in SoCal is that in the event you need to get paired up, most likely is with another experienced (maybe even solo certified) diver. When that happens, most of the time the dive plan is to see each other at the safety stop .... or even back on the boat

Alberto (aka eDiver)

 

[rhwestfall]

most of the time the dive plan is to see each other at the safety stop .... or even back on the boat

Shhhhhhh. Not in this forum....