Dive guide communication problems

[60plus]

Recently I was on a guided dive in quite a large group with a guide I have never dived with before. The dive was to have a duration of 55 to 60 minutes and a max depth of 30m (just over 20 more likely, 23 actual)). Just over 1/2 way through the dive I felt I was using air a bit faster than I should and may not reach the end of the dive. To cut my air consumption I decided to reduce my depth so I was about 3 to 4m over the guide and fin very gently, basically relax a bit instead of moving all over to look at everything on the bottom. This meant that whenever she stopped to point out something I would tip head down to get a little closer, or just hang where I was if I was not interested in looking closer. She thought I had too much positive buoyancy and wanted me to vent some air. She signalled that she felt I was trimmed head down / feet up. I could tell she was not happy when I did not vent air. There was a bit of hand waving. I removed my reg and mouthed "No" and tried to signal no with my palm facing towards her. I repeatedly pointed to my left shoulder air release, waved my palm to indicate no and and signalled OK. In the end I could tell she was irritated but she gave up and continued the dive. Afterwards I explained what I had doing what I and she understood.
I am guessing there is no hand signal for "I understand you but I don't want to do it"
Any thoughts?

 

[TerryC]

No hand signal.
BUT
This has happened when I am guiding.
I usually signal OK and if I get an ok back I give the signal for air.
This tells me the diver is ok, knows what they are doing and is conserving air.
I can then plan to turn or whatever depending on the divers air.
The problems of communicating underwater........
Helps to access your divers beforehand. Like you, some actually know what they are doing. Lol.

 

[swimlikethefish]

I am guessing there is no hand signal for "I understand you but I don't want to do it"
Any thoughts?

Closed fist, with longest finger upwards?

I'm just kidding, but I have received such a gesture before when I couldn't understand the other divers communication and I continued pestering them. All in good faith.

 

[TMHeimer]

I'm sure I should know, but what is the signal for "air"? And does it mean that you are conserving it?
Or maybe you mean the signal for low on air I guess.

 

[JackD342]

If you have a gauge, or a computer on a hose, I would point to that and then signal the current level of air supply, along with the attempts to wave off other directions.
If you can communicate your current air situation, all other understanding may just fall right into place.

 

[Cali_diver]

Closed fist, with longest finger upwards?

I'm just kidding, but I have received such a gesture before when I couldn't understand the other divers communication and I continued pestering them. All in good faith.

Reminds me of a dive I had in Rangiroa... I was diving with 3 men who all blew through their air faster than I and the guide kept asking me how much air I had (felt like every few minutes) I finally flipped him off after telling him I had 2,800psi three times. Needless to say he didn't ask again...

To the OP I would have given the ok symbol, pointed to my computer (ask air signal) and maybe with a flat palm down hand showing a step up in depth. Hard to explain above the water...

 

[60plus]

Signal for how much air is first and second fingers of right hand accress palm of left hand. Signal for 50 bar is fist away from body, signal for low on air is fist on sternum.
I was not low on air it was just I felt I would not make the intended surfacing point if I continued to use air at the rate I was doing. In the end I surfaced at 59 minutes with 55 bar left.
At same dive centre on another dive my air consumption was very good. It was a point to point boat dive. The buoys suggested we should have a current from our 6 O'Clock for the dive meaning it was a drift dive. In fact for about first half of the dive there was very little current then quite a strong current from our 10 O'Clock. We had planned for possible separation with a number of stop and wait points. Only me and the guide made it to the pick up point, the rest had run out of air and or got carried by the current and had to surface all over the place. All were experienced divers so there was no risk and boat soon picked them up. Back on the boat there were quite a few jokes about only the fit divers completing the dive - the joke being that me and the quide were quite rotund and old. Another joke was that "just as well it was not a cave dive - would have been 80% fatality rate". A Slightly build lady (very experienced diver) in a trilaminate drysuit commented that it had very high drag in a current and she could only fin at about 1/2 a knot.
I did show my air gauge to the guide but she did not seem to understand what I was tying to say, it was 130 plus bar.

 

[Doc]

Good advice above on signaling, but I’m thinking an LED message board would not have gotten through to your DM.

An experienced and reasoning observer could quickly understand that you were not positively buoyant nor struggling/needing assistance.

End of need for communication.

 

[CathyE]

I usually tell the DM/guide before hitting the water that I am hard on air and will likely a stay a little above the the group. It was only a problem once with a twit in Jamaica. He instisted I needed to stay at his level so my profile matched his computer. After trying to explain that my computer trumped his (for me) I switched groups.
I have also pointed to my gauge, then used a stretching dough like motion with my hands to indicate 'stretching air'.

 

[stepfen]

I always tell guides that I use more air than the average diver before the dive.
Anyhow, during the dive the "low on air" sign (fist on chest), followed by "me" sign (finger pointing to me), and then the "going shallower" sign (flat palm facing down and moving upwards in steps) and an "ok" sign usually does the trick.
What follows depends on pre-arrangements. Usually there is a second guide or a buddy with similar consumption and we'd continue the dive together.