FPDocMatt
Contributor
It started out an excellent dive. Beautiful reef, lots of beautiful fish. After 50 minutes my (stranger) buddy and I decided to head back to the boat. There was a strong current, and we had spent the whole dive swimming into the current, so we surfaced to look for the boat. It was about 200 yards away. We descended and began swimming toward it. After awhile my buddy swam into a coral crevice. I followed him into it, but it was a tight squeeze. I could tell we wouldn't fit. I saw him begin to ascend to swim over it, and I swam over it myself as well. Then I resumed swimming in the direction of the boat. After about 40 feet, I looked back and couldn't find my buddy. I looked all around, couldn't see him. Then I heard his noise device. Couldn't tell where it was coming from. Looked all around, didn't see him. So I swam around looking for him for one minute, per protocol. Didn't find him. Surfaced. Looked around. He was nowhere to be seen.
Then I'm thinking, "I've lost my buddy. This is a missing diver situation." So I waved to the boat. But nobody saw me. I'm thinking, "We need to organize a search." Since there was nobody to help me, I decided to descend again and look for him myself. I realized that this was not the protocol, but didn't know what else to do. I couldn't just leave him there stuck in a crevice or something. With the current, it would have taken me a long time to reach the boat, and then it might be too late to rescue him if he was stuck between the corals. But after swimming around for about 2 minutes, I realized that I was putting his life in danger by not organizing a proper search. So I surfaced again, and waved at the boat again.
This time some people on the boat saw me, and the captain came to the railing, and yelled, "Are you okay?" At this point, I thought, If I say I'm okay, then he's just going to turn around and ignore me, and my buddy will die. Besides, I'm not okay if my buddy is missing. So I yelled, "Is Joe on the boat?" Then he yelled even more loudly, "Are you okay?" Now I could tell he was irritated. I yelled, "Is Joe on the boat?" Somebody said "Yes", so I gave the okay sign.
Then I began swimming to the boat, but could not make progress against the current. After not making any progress, I waved again. Someone noticed me, and I said, "I can't make any progress against the current." I was about 50 yards from the boat. Then one of the instructors jumped in the water with a line attached to a buoy, swam over to me, and told me to pull myself in hand over hand. That worked very well.
When I was back on the boat my buddy came up to me and asked me if I was okay. I said I was fine. He told me that when he signaled me with his noise maker, he saw me look around. He was holding onto a coral outcropping. But I didn't see him. Then he saw me swim off in the wrong direction, away from him. So he swam back to the boat.
I told him I was looking for him. He said, "You were looking for me?" I told him, "Yes. Then when I came to the surface, the captain was irritated with me because I didn't give the okay sign." At this point, the captain, who was standing right nearby, turned and said, "I wasn't irritated with you." Then he made the okay sign over his head, leaned real close to me, and said, "What does this mean?" I just looked at him. He said again, "What does this mean?" I just looked at him. When for the third time, he said, "What does this mean?" I replied, "Bill, I don't need you to quiz me on what the okay sign is." He then threw up his arms and said, "I'm through with you. We're through. Are you going on the second dive?" I said, "No."
Then I said that if I had said I was okay, my buddy might have died. He then said, "The okay sign means that you personally are okay. I just needed to know if you were okay." I replied, "If I had said I was okay, you would have ignored me and my buddy might have died. Besides, I wasn't okay. My buddy was missing." He said, "That's not what the okay sign means. You should have learned that in the basic open water course." Then another person sitting nearby said, "You have taken Rescue Diver. You should know that you are responsible for your own personal safety."
I said, "So what am I supposed to do if my buddy is missing?" One person said, "You should swim back to the boat, and we'll deal with it." I said, "But that would have taken 10 minutes, and for all I knew my buddy was down on the bottom in distress." The captain said, "You're overthinking it."
Another person said, "A missing buddy is not an emergency."
Then my buddy said, "What I should have done is go to the surface to look for you instead of swimming back to the boat." I said, "I'd agree with that statement."
My buddy asked me if I was going to do the second dive, and I said no. He said why not, and I said, Well, for one thing, I don't feel like diving any more. He said Okay. Then he said, "I apologize if I've done anything to upset you." We should hands. He could tell I was still upset though.
A little later the captain came up and shook my hand, and said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just want you to know that we're all good." I said, "Okay", but he could tell it wasn't okay at all.
So I spent the next hour sitting on the boat by myself while everybody went diving. The crew were still on the boat, along with a couple of other people.
Then when everybody came back on the boat, I helped people with their fins as they came up the ladder. But during the 45 minute ride back to the resort, I was sitting by myself. It was weird, because the boat was crowded. I could tell nobody wanted to go near me. One person asked me if I was diving this afternoon, and I said no. I could tell he was going to offer to be my buddy. Another person walked by and asked me how I was doing, and I said fine, how are you? These gestures were much appreciated.
So once again, I'm the pariah. And all I wanted to do was save my buddy.
I still feel like crying. You know, I love scuba diving. But I'm not so crazy about scuba divers.
Then I'm thinking, "I've lost my buddy. This is a missing diver situation." So I waved to the boat. But nobody saw me. I'm thinking, "We need to organize a search." Since there was nobody to help me, I decided to descend again and look for him myself. I realized that this was not the protocol, but didn't know what else to do. I couldn't just leave him there stuck in a crevice or something. With the current, it would have taken me a long time to reach the boat, and then it might be too late to rescue him if he was stuck between the corals. But after swimming around for about 2 minutes, I realized that I was putting his life in danger by not organizing a proper search. So I surfaced again, and waved at the boat again.
This time some people on the boat saw me, and the captain came to the railing, and yelled, "Are you okay?" At this point, I thought, If I say I'm okay, then he's just going to turn around and ignore me, and my buddy will die. Besides, I'm not okay if my buddy is missing. So I yelled, "Is Joe on the boat?" Then he yelled even more loudly, "Are you okay?" Now I could tell he was irritated. I yelled, "Is Joe on the boat?" Somebody said "Yes", so I gave the okay sign.
Then I began swimming to the boat, but could not make progress against the current. After not making any progress, I waved again. Someone noticed me, and I said, "I can't make any progress against the current." I was about 50 yards from the boat. Then one of the instructors jumped in the water with a line attached to a buoy, swam over to me, and told me to pull myself in hand over hand. That worked very well.
When I was back on the boat my buddy came up to me and asked me if I was okay. I said I was fine. He told me that when he signaled me with his noise maker, he saw me look around. He was holding onto a coral outcropping. But I didn't see him. Then he saw me swim off in the wrong direction, away from him. So he swam back to the boat.
I told him I was looking for him. He said, "You were looking for me?" I told him, "Yes. Then when I came to the surface, the captain was irritated with me because I didn't give the okay sign." At this point, the captain, who was standing right nearby, turned and said, "I wasn't irritated with you." Then he made the okay sign over his head, leaned real close to me, and said, "What does this mean?" I just looked at him. He said again, "What does this mean?" I just looked at him. When for the third time, he said, "What does this mean?" I replied, "Bill, I don't need you to quiz me on what the okay sign is." He then threw up his arms and said, "I'm through with you. We're through. Are you going on the second dive?" I said, "No."
Then I said that if I had said I was okay, my buddy might have died. He then said, "The okay sign means that you personally are okay. I just needed to know if you were okay." I replied, "If I had said I was okay, you would have ignored me and my buddy might have died. Besides, I wasn't okay. My buddy was missing." He said, "That's not what the okay sign means. You should have learned that in the basic open water course." Then another person sitting nearby said, "You have taken Rescue Diver. You should know that you are responsible for your own personal safety."
I said, "So what am I supposed to do if my buddy is missing?" One person said, "You should swim back to the boat, and we'll deal with it." I said, "But that would have taken 10 minutes, and for all I knew my buddy was down on the bottom in distress." The captain said, "You're overthinking it."
Another person said, "A missing buddy is not an emergency."
Then my buddy said, "What I should have done is go to the surface to look for you instead of swimming back to the boat." I said, "I'd agree with that statement."
My buddy asked me if I was going to do the second dive, and I said no. He said why not, and I said, Well, for one thing, I don't feel like diving any more. He said Okay. Then he said, "I apologize if I've done anything to upset you." We should hands. He could tell I was still upset though.
A little later the captain came up and shook my hand, and said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just want you to know that we're all good." I said, "Okay", but he could tell it wasn't okay at all.
So I spent the next hour sitting on the boat by myself while everybody went diving. The crew were still on the boat, along with a couple of other people.
Then when everybody came back on the boat, I helped people with their fins as they came up the ladder. But during the 45 minute ride back to the resort, I was sitting by myself. It was weird, because the boat was crowded. I could tell nobody wanted to go near me. One person asked me if I was diving this afternoon, and I said no. I could tell he was going to offer to be my buddy. Another person walked by and asked me how I was doing, and I said fine, how are you? These gestures were much appreciated.
So once again, I'm the pariah. And all I wanted to do was save my buddy.
I still feel like crying. You know, I love scuba diving. But I'm not so crazy about scuba divers.