3 Person buddy teams

[n2addict]

recently i had to dive in a three person team both of whom were strangers. Due to the fast current all three of us lost contact with each other. I surfaced after 1 minute and found one of the others had done so too. But the thrid one was missing. We though he might have joined up with another group since there were many divers in the water and started a new dive.

We were correct in our assumption but I feel that in case something had actually gone wrong we would have been crucified for not looking for him.

What do you think we should have done in this situation?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

What to do if separated should have been discussed prior to the dive.

The standard recreational procedure is to surface after 1 minute, but that is not always optimum. I learned to dive in low viz and high current and the odds are you will get separated during the dive. Staying together as a buddy team is nice in theory, but not alwas in practice if it requires several "bounce dives" during the course of the dive or creates other navigational or safety issues. So you have to weigh the pros and cons. In many cases the current on the bottom is much slower than the current mid water or at the surface, so bouncing up and down, to rejoin during the dive in addition to decompression/sawtooth dive profile issues, will speed yopur drift rate and separate you farther from other teams who may be exiting at the same time or point, complicating the pickup or exit timing.

Realistically, unless you are staying right on someone's elbow 100% of the time, staying together in low viz/high current is problematic. A buddy line may be an option, but it may also give you 6 feet of strap between the two of you to snag on submerged obects and tie you both up.

Realistically, if someone has an issue it is often gas related and they do not have the rime to cover any distance that will result if they stop and the buddies continue, or that will occur if they drift up off the bottoms. Alternatively if they get hung up on fish line, etc, there is not much a buddy could do to get back up current anyway so in effect if something happens, a diver in a buddy team in a low viz high current sitation is very likely to be on their own in an emergency anyway. Many will argue that it is better to be honest and admit that up front so that you can tailor your dive plans and the aggressiveness of the dive accordingly. Those types of conditions are in my opinion an excellent argument for proper training and equipment for solo diving regardless of whether you dive in a buddy team or not.

Normally a 3 person team is not a big problem, but in those conditions keeping two people together is difficult and keeping three together is even harder, particularly if the tail end person cannot see the leader - a situation where lags in response times and lackof visual cues virtually ensure the third man will get separated if someoen stops, slows down, alters course suddenly, etc.

So discussion before the dive is important as a new versus experienced diver may look at the situation entirely differently. And if knowing that separation during the dive means staying separated is not ok with a diver in the group that diver can then:

1. opt out of the dive
2. devote the near total focus needed to stay in close formation with a buddy in a low viz, high current situation,
3. buddy with someone else who will follow the 1 minute rule and accept the risks involved in that approach, or
4. at least know that rejoining will not be attempted and not feel guilty for not searching for the missing buddy.

 

[mkutyna]

Based on how I was trained, you did the right thing. The only thing I can think of is perhaps spending a bit more time before the dive talking with your new buddies about procedures for the dive.

 

[Gilldiver]

You were three insta-budies who were told to hit the water at the same time, you were never a team.

But you did about what you could at your level of training. You also just had a solo dive. If you think that you will be in situations like this again, perhaps you should gear and train with solo diving in mind.

At least it looks like no one had a camera, camera divers should always be considered to be non-budy diver till proven otherwise. You just don't realise how much time can go by in getting a few shots off with strobe placement changes etc.

 

[RJP]

recently i had to dive in a three person team both of whom were strangers.

What do you think we should have done in this situation?

More often than not the problem with a three person buddy team (especially composed of strangers) is that everyone assumes "the other guy" is keeping an eye on the other "other guy" which means no one is keeping an eye on anyone.

Nearly as bad is when a regular buddy pair gets a third buddy assigned. Typically this ends up being merely a buddy team with a solo diver.

I find it useful to assign specific buddy responsibilities/roles ("you lead, the two of us will follow" etc), and as mentioned above communicate clearly before entering the water how to keep together, what to do if seperated, etc.

 

[diver 85]

recently i had to dive in a three person team both of whom were strangers. Due to the fast current all three of us lost contact with each other. I surfaced after 1 minute and found one of the others had done so too. But the thrid one was missing. We though he might have joined up with another group since there were many divers in the water and started a new dive.

We were correct in our assumption but I feel that in case something had actually gone wrong we would have been crucified for not looking for him.

What do you think we should have done in this situation?

You never stated the 3 of you physically talked about a predive plan ie deciding to surface after a minute if disconnected but 2/3's of the group did as taught-----always remember you're not responsible for other's stupid actions or decisions.In a 'good' current you're limited in the 'looking' you can do anyway...........I feel like your decision was close to 'the standard of care'---maybe the 3 of you missed & should have had the predive talk but IMO that should be a given ie surface after a seperation ..........Thinking back, in the last 2 dives(in the same day) I've made with insta-buddies(both different divers), each time we were seperated---the 1st dive by low visibility(3-4 feet) & the 2nd by very strong current, each time we surfaced after about a minute & simply buddied up again.......This really isn't rocket science we're dealing with, a little bit of common sense goes a long way..............Keep thinking & diving would be my recommention..........GEAUX TIGERS............

 

[n2addict]

yes I think the big mistake was that we did not discuss the matter beforehand. The main problem I think was that the other two were german speaking (mostly) and i did not speak a word of german. Not a good enogh reason but it happend.

Secondly neither of us were upset about solo diving. But the problem we faced was having surfaced as required what do you do? Do you start a full scle search operation immediately even if it is possible. Or do you wait to see if the missing one surfaces at some point? If it was a real emergency then it would be far too late.

My real problem was that I felt really guilty about diving again before I knew for sure what had happened to the other diver.

But as you said may be we should have agreed on this before hand.

I must say i am beginning to have doubts about this buddy system as well!

 

[diver 85]

The buddy system works, it's just not 100% accurate all the time..The points(about German etc) do come into play & that's part of why 'the system' is not 100% perfect--lack of communication, for whatever reason..........Always remember, we're certified divers, with that comes some assumption of knowledge of proper protocol.....We can only do so much & sometimes things don't work to perfection.......I think we can all take away some good from this, try to have as good a predive plan as possible---then let mother nature take her course......

 

[MikeFerrara]

I must say i am beginning to have doubts about this buddy system as well!

The biggest failing of "the buddy system" is that divers expect it to work without learning how to do it.

I like a three man team. However, just as in a two man team, your dive techniques have to be suited for team diving. Simple things, like being able to ascend and descend while staying together and aware of eachother. A star formation works nice with three divers...side by side or face to face for two. During the dive you have to position yourselves so as to stay in contact...side by side or, if using lights, for communication, single file can work.

We do all this in some pretty high flow and some pretty low vis but if the current or vis puts the dive beyond the abilities of the team, then you might not want to make the dive.

Diving in a team takes practice and know-how. If you skip the practice and know-how and just jump in the water and try to dive with others, you're going to be disappointed in the outcome. Just being in the company of someone else doesn't make it a team and it certainly doesn't constitute a "system".

 

[Garrobo]

I was teamed up with a couple from England on a dive last month since I was odd man out. We puddled along for about half the dive when we encountered a group of about a dozen divers in a group and got mixed in with them. All of a sudden I couldn't make out who was who and lost my dive couple. I tried to think of something which would make either of them stand out. Luckily one of mine was a female and all the other divers were male. Eventually I recognized her and we went on with our dive. Later, talking on the boat, neither of them realized that I had lost them and since I wear a pair of fins which are easily distinguishable (dork) neither of them thought there was a problem. I suspect that if I had remained in one location that they would have eventually seen that I was confused and would have looked me up. I'm just glad that I didn't ruin their dive since all they could do was four dives on their trip to the US.