The Dive Plan

[SM Diver]

My AOW instructor is a most obsessive planner, which has been great for me. We discuss our dive plan the day before the dive, and then before gearing up on the day of the dive. He repeatedly quizzes me about the plan, which has really brought home what a dive plan is all about (it's a lot more then, "we turn the dive at 1000")

Anyway, he keeps his plan written on a slate attached to his arm. So, without using a poll, I was wondering what responses might be to this:

1. Is your dive plan always, or at least almost always, reduced to writing;

2. Do you have some form of your written plan on your person during the dive, and if so, why?

3. Do you always have a plan, but just do it in your head before the dive (e.g., going over the tables)?

4. Do you have no plan, figuring that your computer will tell you your air pressure and no-deco time and oxygen exposure, and that is all you really need anyway?

One other thing, if you have drafted your own custom form or layout that you use to reduce your plan to writing, that would be interesting as well.

 

[jonnythan]

Our plans mostly consist of "stay beside your buddy," then we agree on a max depth and turn pressure. Most all of the dives I've done so far (except the AOW cert dives) were 60 feet or above, so there's not all that much planning you can do.

On certain dives where we have some objective (say, rescuing a Mogwai), we'll discuss search procedures, lift methods, delegate tasks, etc.

If it's the first dive, our tanks will always run dry well before we reach the NDL. Before repetitive dives, we will go over no deco depths and times, etc.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

1. Yes on anything more complicated than "Let's look at the pretty reef." Even then, I might write down my turn point and NDL.

Slate has, as needed, turn point, buddies' turn point, deco plan, no deco gas plan, over depth/over time plan, all on one side of the slate. Basic site orientation and, possibly, projected route on the other.

2. Yes. See above. I do it because I can't remember all of the numbers and I wouldn't take the chance even if I could.

3. No. The plan is never just in my head. If I manage to get happy narced (which would be a nice change from the dark narc I've experienced to date) I want to have something in writing so that I (hopefully) or my buddy can determine where we stand. On really simple dives, this could be as simple as my turn points and safety stops.

4. Hell no. Even when diving on a computer, I plan out gas management and NDL. What happens when your computer goes bye-bye?

No special forms, just my handwritten notes on a slate.

 

[Zept]

Sometimes I dive on a site that's only about 12m (40ft) deep. We don't do much planning for that... at least not on the time/depth front... we know we'll run out of air long before we reach the NDL. Viz is typically 1-2m (3-6ft) so the big issues are staying together and finding our way around.

Otherwise, the more complicated the plan, the more likely I am to write the depth(s) and time(s) on my slate. I'll also note things down as we go, so if we're supposed to be up to 12m by the 30min mark and we get there earlier, I'll write that down. No special format for recording stuff.

Occasionally I've drawn a quick sketch of the site and noted the important bearings. Should do that more often... works well.

I always have some kind of plan, I don't just dive the computer.

Zept

 

[WreckWriter]

jonnythan once bubbled...
On certain dives where we have some objective (say, rescuing a Mogwai), we'll discuss search procedures, lift methods, delegate tasks, etc.

OK Jonny, I gotta ask: WTF is a "mogwai"????

Tom

 

[WreckWriter]

This is the way it generally goes with me and mine: we discuss it by email several days in advance. We decide on gases (back and deco), tables, objective (penetration or not, if so, where, how long), turn pressure, turn time.

As for what's written down, tables only but tables for variations off plan also (deeper, shallower, longer, shorter, lost deco gas).

Plan the dive, dive the plan, come back alive.

Tom

 

[tchil01]

Usually all of my dives are planned to nth degree, including the plan and the plan +, objective of the dive, turn times, etc. Most of my dives this year have been for a specific reason such as wreck survey, wreck penetration, diving deeper, deco stops and so on.

However, this weekend was our LDS's annual picnic at Dutch Springs. They had a underwater scavenger hunt in the quarry gathering info off of a number of the "wrecks". It was so much fun. I didn't do the normal planning that I usualy go through, but more of a "swim to the bus, follow the line to the fire truck, then swim to the plane. We basicly dove till we ran low on air and then surfaced and did a surface swim back.

It was fun just to dive for the fun of it again. Nothing complicated, just go here and there and enjoy a beautiful day.

BTW, we came in third and won a nice DAN t-shirt.

Ty

 

[jonnythan]

WreckWriter once bubbled...


OK Jonny, I gotta ask: WTF is a "mogwai"????

Tom

Glad you asked!

If you saw the movie Gremlins, you remember Gizmo. Gizmo was a Mogwai, and the Gremlins came from other Mogwais who had been fed after midnight.

Anyway, I posted about the rescue a couple weeks ago here

 

[WreckWriter]

I did see the movie but the name didn't click. I read your original post regarding the rescue but wasn't able to view the pics (I see them fine from home now but work's firewall blocks "personal homepages".

Did you really just "come across" that thing underwater??? Have you figured out how it came to be there?

Tom

 

[WreckWriter]

tchil01 once bubbled...
It was fun just to dive for the fun of it again. Nothing complicated, just go here and there and enjoy a beautiful day.

Ty,

I bet that was fun. I can't remember the last dive I did that was "just for fun". Obviously they're all fun but mine are always "screw it up and you die" dives. I'd like to do something like you describe (I just wanna do it in 220 fsw)

Tom