Lost buddy, called dive, analysis please

On my last dive I got paired up with a random buddy. He was slow to swim on the surface and had to rest a few times. Once under water he had some problems getting neutral and for some reason did not want to swim shoulder to shoulder; it was pretty obvious he was not that comfortable in the water yet. We ran into some very bad viz (less than 3 feet) and got separated. I looked around for 1 minute, couldn't find him, then surfaced and looked around. I waited for a while for my buddy but he didn't show up, worried I started swimming to shore to report a missing diver.

He finally popped up while I was swimming back. At that point I was already determined to end the dive. I signaled if he was OK, he replied he was OK. I tried waving him toward me but he refused to move for a while. Finally he decided to submerge, his reasoning was that it was easier than swimming under kelp and he claimed that my waiving him to me looked like a thumbs down. He was gone for a while again and I got concerned. I could not see him or bubbles so I started swimming to shore again to report a missing diver (ack!). He popped up again and I swam over toward him and asked if he was ok and that I was calling the dive. I told him I was concerned and that he should have surfaced sooner after losing his buddy. He agreed he wasn't ready for this dive yet and that it would be best to end the dive.

What could I have done better? Should I have swam toward him right away after he surfaced instead of asking him to swim towards me (and the shore)? I have about 20 dives and finished my advanced class about a month ago so I'm still pretty new.

I would have moved towards him, perhaps in a hurry if he seemed like he was reluctant to move. Most of the panicked divers I've seen just sat there quietly; more than one of them has then proceeded to sort of give up, requiring immediate intervention.

This of course depends on your comfort level and experience. If you're not comfortable in the water, don't swim further out to him. If you're not comfortable that you can make sure that you don't become his life raft, stay away. Never turn one victim into two, especially if you're #2.

You might be surprised how much actual rescue experience you can get in the Bay Area. Both Kathydee and myself ended up performing real rescues in our (separate) rescue classes. I think at one point I was up to one rescue/assist per 25 dives. Actually, three of my last six instabuddies panicked at the surface.

Good call following missing buddy procedures, good call having a debrief afterwards.

The story has a happy ending- everyone was ok, so what you did passes the "how did it come out test." My only suggestion is that when you are going to dive with a stranger, spend more time talking and planning with the buddy. Ask about his certification level, number of dives, ever dove this sight or similar conditions, when he last dove. Also, tell the same about you. Include in the discussion the conditions- depth, current, viz, kelp, weather, waves, length of surface swim, etc. Based on the discussion select a dive leader- I believe that even in a buddy pair one person should be in charge. Have debates on shore, not under the water. Because of low vis, you should have suggested, even insisted, on close proximity, even on one diver holding onto the other. If the other diver is reluctant, it might be good to have a "buddy cord" - a 3 to 6 foot length of rope you each hold onto. I want to know if my proposed buddy is qualified, able, and comfortable doing the dive before the dive, not in the middle ( or start or end) of the dive. It seems like you learned alot from your experience. Build on that by reviewing in you own mind what you might do different next time, including the suggestions here.
DivemasterDennis

I'm pretty strongly against buddy lines. If you aren't comfortable holding my arm or hand, I'm not going to feel like you'll be comfortable giving me CPR.

If you've made proper dive planning. That's great. It's top priority.

As you dive with different dive buddies you'll encounter all sort of levels in experience. Therefore upon a few minutes of a dive you'll need to determine how far you take the dive; based on visibility, current, air consumption, experience, comfort etc.

Needless to say! the minute was followed through. Great! enure that the dive buddies understand that when you surface to approach one another.

This seems like diver that needs more experience and that will come in time. It's great that you dove with them. You'll both benefit. I dive with less experienced can offer how to deal with different divers.


Have fun diving and enjoy!!!

Good idea calling the dive. Diving solo is generally a bad idea and that is basically what you were doing with this guy. Your insta-buddy doesn't seem to have payed attention to even the most basic of procedures. I am relatively new to diving myself, and I definitely won't dive with someone who can't even demonstrate the basic skills taught in the ow course.

I think buddy lines are fine in the right time & place,I would not be to keen to use them in a kelp bed though !!
I think the best advice is the " talk to each other ", find out if you are going to be happy to dive with them, remember that a dive buddy is a two way thing, if they are not willing or able to be a buddy then it is simply two people solo diving close together !!
Reading what you wrote I think you done the right thing, most of all you done what you were comfortable doing, and you did not put yourself in danger...remember the DR SABCD !!

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think a buddy line is out of the question because I dive in kelp. In this situation I will grab my buddy's arm in the future. I also will swim over to my buddy as long as I don't feel he's a danger to me; in this case he wasn't. I will also make a more detailed dive plan as well and mention that in situations where the visibility is terrible that we should hold on to each other.

The post dive discussion and analysis was very helpful to the both of us. I won't fault him for not feeling comfortable yet plus it was a valuable learning experience.

"Loose team" diving provides both a false sense of security and an unreasonable expectation of buddy performance - especially among new divers who most often receive poor team training. A "loose team" is a team that fails to maintain excellent visual contact and communication and is often one in which the divers have not had much practice (if any) diving together. When diving together for the first time, emphasis on team is more important than on looking around. As the stronger buddy you should have assumed the role of lifeguard and ran the dive based upon the skill level of the weaker team member. That means you shouldn't have lost your buddy in poor visibility. You should have taken on the responsibility of maintaining close proximity. From your post, you sound like you were the team leader as the stronger diver. That might mean sacrificing your sight-seeing to maintain eyes on your buddy at all times and touch contact if needed. Divers tend to judge themselves and their buddies based upon unrealistic expectations that "training" somehow means that two divers will dive as a team. Most sports teams have coaches, practice together, and train hard for game day. Divers tend to go play life and death games without practice simply because someone handed them a C-card. Developing a good buddy team isn't unlike developing a good sports team. It takes time, commitment, determination, motivation, and the ability to have fun while learning and improving your mistakes. The fatal ones are the ones you want to avoid.