DevonDiver
N/A
I teach my students that pre-designated 'roles' should be agreed before the dive (as part of dive planning).
If one diver is primarily lead/navigating the dive, then he will be the diver to retrace their steps and re-unite the team/pair.
The other day will remain static, observe and, where possible, aid discovery by highlighting themselves. You can highlight yourself by; rotating a light 360 degrees, deploy a DSMB above their heads (with a very slight amount of air in it) etc
The team has a pre-set amount of time to re-united. The 'default' time is 1 minute, unless otherwise planned. When that time expires, both divers will begin a solo ascent whilst maintaining observation.
It is important to establish a protocol for the ascent in your contingency dive planning. One big question is whether or not to complete a safety stop. This could be an easy 'yes' or 'no'. Or it could be set against a flexible criteria, such as;
a) If less than 10min NDL do safety stop / If more than 10min NDL don't do safety stop.
b) If more than 20min bottom time do safety stop / If less than 20min NDL don't do safety stop.
etc etc.
Upon reaching the surface, the divers continue observation. Deploying DSMBs at the beginning of the ascent can aid this. Divers should expect a variation in the time that they arrive on the surface, depending upon how long it took them to realize the separation and engage the protocol for 'missing buddy'.
The whole drama is avoidable if appropriate diving techniques are used for the environment and both divers maintain good situational awareness and buddy procedures.
If one diver is primarily lead/navigating the dive, then he will be the diver to retrace their steps and re-unite the team/pair.
The other day will remain static, observe and, where possible, aid discovery by highlighting themselves. You can highlight yourself by; rotating a light 360 degrees, deploy a DSMB above their heads (with a very slight amount of air in it) etc
The team has a pre-set amount of time to re-united. The 'default' time is 1 minute, unless otherwise planned. When that time expires, both divers will begin a solo ascent whilst maintaining observation.
It is important to establish a protocol for the ascent in your contingency dive planning. One big question is whether or not to complete a safety stop. This could be an easy 'yes' or 'no'. Or it could be set against a flexible criteria, such as;
a) If less than 10min NDL do safety stop / If more than 10min NDL don't do safety stop.
b) If more than 20min bottom time do safety stop / If less than 20min NDL don't do safety stop.
etc etc.
Upon reaching the surface, the divers continue observation. Deploying DSMBs at the beginning of the ascent can aid this. Divers should expect a variation in the time that they arrive on the surface, depending upon how long it took them to realize the separation and engage the protocol for 'missing buddy'.
The whole drama is avoidable if appropriate diving techniques are used for the environment and both divers maintain good situational awareness and buddy procedures.