Hello,
I am a relatively new diver. I only have about 25 dives, but have my AOW certification. Last year on a dive in Hawaii, I was assigned a buddy who was more experienced. He was a nice guy but I was a little apprehensive when someone asked where they could shore dive and he described a place where you just "walk out on the coral".
Our first dive went well. On our second dive, in about 30 feet of water, we were near the end of the dive. I must have been a little light because I was having trouble staying down. I was nearing the pre-determined air limit and was fighting to stay down, so I tapped him to get his attention and signaled to surface. He returned the signal and I started to ascend. I was watching him and instead of ascending, he descended further and swam away taking pictures.
I surfaced at the back of the dive boat and the crewman immediately asked where my dive buddy was. (I liked that, because if my dive buddy surfaced without me, I would hope someone would ask where I was.)
I told him that I had signaled to surface and he returned the signal, but that he swam off. The crewman seemed a little perturbed with me that I was not with my buddy. I could have mis-read that though. It is possible that he was upset with my dive buddy for swimming off alone. Nothing was said to him by the crew when he surfaced; however. I asked him about it and he said that he knew I was surfacing but he wanted to keep going alone.
So... in my training, I learned that a signal to surface was not a question, it is a statement. Should I have tried to descend and chase him to stay with him?
Thanks for any responses!
-Mike-
I am a relatively new diver. I only have about 25 dives, but have my AOW certification. Last year on a dive in Hawaii, I was assigned a buddy who was more experienced. He was a nice guy but I was a little apprehensive when someone asked where they could shore dive and he described a place where you just "walk out on the coral".
Our first dive went well. On our second dive, in about 30 feet of water, we were near the end of the dive. I must have been a little light because I was having trouble staying down. I was nearing the pre-determined air limit and was fighting to stay down, so I tapped him to get his attention and signaled to surface. He returned the signal and I started to ascend. I was watching him and instead of ascending, he descended further and swam away taking pictures.
I surfaced at the back of the dive boat and the crewman immediately asked where my dive buddy was. (I liked that, because if my dive buddy surfaced without me, I would hope someone would ask where I was.)
I told him that I had signaled to surface and he returned the signal, but that he swam off. The crewman seemed a little perturbed with me that I was not with my buddy. I could have mis-read that though. It is possible that he was upset with my dive buddy for swimming off alone. Nothing was said to him by the crew when he surfaced; however. I asked him about it and he said that he knew I was surfacing but he wanted to keep going alone.
So... in my training, I learned that a signal to surface was not a question, it is a statement. Should I have tried to descend and chase him to stay with him?
Thanks for any responses!
-Mike-