Uh... that way. No... that way. No. Uh...

I had the opportunity yesterday to proove that I am, without a doubt, the worst underwater navigator in the entire world.

I need tips, tricks, hints, suggestions, etc. (What I really need is a class and alot of practice, but I can accomplish neither of those things right this minute so... you make do.)

Sounds like there is a story behind this. Lets hear it..

Well, as much as I hate to recomend Rodales, here is a good piece that will help you:
http://scubadiving.com/training/instruction/200302compassnavigation/

jdb once bubbled...
Sounds like there is a story behind this. Lets hear it..

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Story isn't all that. Didn't surface on the west bank of Lake Superior or anything.

Just toodling around Lake Rawlings in VA figured I should have a go at swimming a little course, so my buddy and I surface swam out to a couple of bouys and took a bearing from one bouy to the next... four points on the course.

I couldn't hit a single one.

To be fair to myself, however. The first point on the course was just a line from the bouy to the bottom and the viz was only about 10'. One degree off and you miss it.

Missing the first we couldn't navigate to the second, but we did find that second point (a 20' cabin cruiser. Much easier to find that a single rope knot). From the second to the third was messed up because the only landmark on the third was a pile of rocks under a floating dock... and the entire bottom of that quarry (it was the first time we'd been there) was a pile of rocks.

In the end we wound up near our exit point. But I was pretty pissed off at myself that we didn't wind up at our exit point.

first, get the compass out in front of you and square with your body - it's much harder if it's off to one side. pick a reconizable spot on the bottom, on the course you need, and at the limit of vis and swim towards it - don't stare at the compass! about 1/3 - 1/2 of the way there pick a new spot at the limit of vis - repeat as nessasary. the less the vis the more you want your reference point close to the vis limit.

The best advise I can give (I used to instruct day and night land navigation) is to trust the compass and refer to it early and often...kinds like equalizing.
On land, people tend to drift in the direction of their dominant hand. Right handers will veer off to the right, lefties to the left. Some more than others.
Underwater we have to deal with surge (not REALLY an issue, cause if it pushes you 3 ft left, it should bring you 3 ft back to the right), current (cross-currents, especially the very mild ones that you don't think are moving you,have even gottem me off course a couple of times.
For night nav, which is limited viz, either watch the compass and look up every now and then, which is backwards from what most people do, OR shoot the azimuth, find a reference point as far ahead as you can see, whether this is 5 ft or 50 ft, and walk(swim in this case) to it, stop, check your compas, shoot another azimuth, pick another point up there and go directly to IT, repeat this untill you at where you wanted to be.

I've seen this done with students in OW and I thought it was great. On the beach, killing time between dives, the instructor gave everyone a compass so they didn't have to un-do theirs. He then had them shoot azimuth to a light pole a couple of hundred feet away. He was standing behind them so he had them turn around and face him while he breifed them some more. Then he had them put their towel over their head so it covered their face from being able to look forward, THEN turn around while looking down at the compass until they thougth they were faceing the azimuth to the pole. Then they could look up and see if they were right. It was a great exersize I thought and was a pretty good confidence builder.
I wouldn't recomend doing this in your front yard in plain view of all you neighbors, but maybe in the back yard....

I'm a still here - so although I think I pretty much suck at it too, I haven't got lost to the extent that I came up on another boat or anything. Then again, most of the time I'm doing simple stuff.

But its always a fist-pumping, hip-shaking, scream-into-the-reg moment when I see the chain emerge from the murk. Its just so cool to 'know" its right over there, then it sort of shows up. I just dig it every time....

Trusting the compass is such a true statement. I've done the quick pop up a number of times, only to find the boat "just over there"... right where my compass said it would be. I just didn't believe that I wasn't there yet, or the sun moved and changed my perspective and I was sort of off, or the water changed color a bit, or I didn't recognize that boulder because I went down the other side of the boat, etc...

There is usually the audio cues too (the boat compressor) that help a bit for me, too.

Underwater nav is something I plan on working on a lot this weekend. What really helped me was getting my depth gauge on my wrist, so I can see it and my compass at the same time... Combatting the crabbing issue is bad enough - keeping depth together is a lot easier now, and has really helped. I'm probably about average (maybe below), and this is something I really want to have nailed.

K

saying once bubbled...
I had the opportunity yesterday to proove that I am, without a doubt, the worst underwater navigator in the entire world.

I need tips, tricks, hints, suggestions, etc. (What I really need is a class and alot of practice, but I can accomplish neither of those things right this minute so... you make do.)

Click to expand...

Good advice from many, but, above all, practice in a big parking lot or athletic field before you get wet.

First learn how to use a compass.

Then learn how to use it underwater.

It'll be a lot easier.

Custer once bubbled...


above all, practice in a big parking lot or athletic field before you get wet.

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THAT is good advise. Someone once advised me to learn my compass on land in the dark and I'd forgotten about it. I guess I'm spending too much time online. You can't perfect any physical skills just reading about them.