Safety stop with strong surface current

[Sas]

Is there some reason a live boat was not used given the current? All my dives are done like this as slack only lasts for about thirty minutes so any stops are drifting. At my first stop I send up an SMB and the boat can keep an eye on us all this way. As the boat is not anchored they will come get you when you surface.

But yea, in this situation I would have skipped the stop and surfaced so the boat could find me earlier.

 

[dktexas54]

thanks everyone for great input. i see mistakes i made. to clarify, the 32' boat was live. we had solo divers out and all of us went different places. i have a reel but did not have with me on this dive. my fault. in retrospect, i should have done a better job with my buddy, (only had a few dives with before this dive) in preplanning. the current was thrown at us by the dive operator as a do you want too or not and the decision was made by everyone to go. this was planned as a wall dive and not a drift dive. should have been a drift dive really but we did not plan it that way. the bouy i refer to was a pvc tube filled with concrete with 3/8" rope tied to a large red bouy. it was thrown out at the site and the boat motored around waiting on us. from your comments, i should have questioned whether to make the dive or not, should have had my reel with me, should have done a better job of planning the dive. i have learned from your responses and thanks. any other critiques, positive or negative appreciated. i am always learning. thanks guys

later,

dktexas54

 

[diveactive]

Yes In that situation . you made a 50 50 decision . But you must remember this
1 In diving. If In Doubt leave it out. You should not have done the dive. Don't dive just because other so its oK .
2 . a safety stop is recommended. However a dive computer allows for more time under water with out the need for a safety stop. That A safety stop not a decompression stop. Depending on the profile. If the ascent was slow aprox average for a dive computer set to 10 MTS a min ascent rate . i would have probably done the same air allowing. However . That should have been covered in the briefing. I would not have done the dive. If the skipper or dive leader is doubtful .

 

[Crowley]

I agree with a lot of what has been said above but as I am never short of an opinion or two:

(1) Should you have made the dive - I see no reason not to, hopefully the operators realise there is current and should be prepared for some divers to drift past the ascent line

(2) Should you have made the safety stop? It's always sensible but in your case I suspect it was not necessary - although I couldn't comment on your dive profile as I wasn't there. Most computers would enforce the safety stop but I sort of default to the PADI RDP if I feel that circumstances dictate I can operate outside of my computer's limits. The NDL for 80' on the RDP is 30 minutes so your case is borderline.

(3) Your buddy should have come with you. It's better for a dive team to drift off together than for one to stay on a line and the other keep drifting. Back in Thailand we had a dive on a wreck where safety stops could be made in a current of maybe 6 knots or stronger. The safety briefing was always: If one person falls off the line, their buddy goes with them.

(4) I would have thrown my SMB up immediately after missing the line. Actually in a 2kt current I would have swam back to the line if I knew where it was but if I couldn't make it the SMB goes up and I would have made my ascent

From the info you've given me, I would have missed the safety stop, but that's just me, and I wasn't there. If I was deeper for longer, I would have done. Sometimes we have to make those split decisions and even with the best will and training in the world, what seems like a good idea at the time isn't necessarily!

Safe diving,

C.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Call me skeptical, but I'd like to meet the diver who can swim upstream into a 2 knot current.

My X-scooter is rated at 182 feet per minute ... which is right around 2 knots. I cannot swim nearly as fast as my X-scooter can take me. I seriously doubt anyone on ScubaBoard can either.

People tend to overestimate how fast water is moving. Most divers can barely make headway against a 1 knot current, and then only for short bursts. For longer periods, 1/2 knot will make even a very fit diver tired within a few minutes.

2 knots is a drift dive ... unquestionably. 3 knots and you'll have trouble even hanging onto something without the current undressing you.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MaxBottomtime]

It's important to know what to do in tough situations, but most divers seem to have skipped over the most important lesson...when not to dive. I see this every week when divers who think they have the experience, skills and gear to handle rough water go right in. Some of them have X-scooters, 21 watt HID lights, have taken GUE classes and still enter surf that should make them go gome and read a book. I expect to read about them in the accidents forum some day.

 

[Anti-Hero]

It's important to know what to do in tough situations, but most divers seem to have skipped over the most important lesson...when not to dive. I see this every week when divers who think they have the experience, skills and gear to handle rough water go right in. Some of them have X-scooters, 21 watt HID lights, have taken GUE classes and still enter surf that should make them go gome and read a book. I expect to read about them in the accidents forum some day.

What may be "too much" for one persons comfort and skills may be just right for another.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I understand. I was referring to overhead surf, ripping currents, no visibility and strong surge. I know people who dive just to say they went no matter what the conditions. The ocean is stronger than we are and sometimes reminds us just how much. There are times when we just have to say no to diving.
WKPP divers and some of the World's best deep tech divers have been killed under water. There is no reason for anyone to think they can handle any condition.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

+1 on the "swim back in a 2 kt current" thing.

The average diver cannot do more than 1.5 kts in even in a short burst and 1 kt is about as much current as you can make progress against for a short period of time.

Trying to swim back up current in 2 kts of current with 700 psi in the tank is a recipe for an OOA situation. Although I suspose that does resolve the "do I make a safety stop?" question for you.

 

[pickens_46929]

While Lynne's link touches on it a bit (C = Communicate), one of the things that hasn't been brought up so far is the plan on the surface... if ya'll noticed it was a strong current, someone in the group and perhaps even the Captain / Crew should have communicated what the plan is should you find yourself in specific situation you were in.

How many DM's, Rescue or Instructors where there among the group?

If things had been discussed ahead of time, everyone would have known what to do and you would have had any difficulty in making the decision to abandon the line. Ideally if your buddy saw you having issues, you both would have drifted together.

Don't see any issues with the decision to do the dive. Don't see any issue with deciding to do a drifting safety stop.

I do see an issue with not having a spool or reel. I do see an issue with the lack of pre-dive communication. I do see an issue with lack of team diving (eg. you drifted and your buddy didn't).

Just my $0.02