In water - Need to communicate with boat Captain “I’m ok, but want a pick-up”?

[noj3333]

So, I’ll recap a quick scenario that happened to me a few weeks ago…

Pre-dive briefing the DM covers group/ buddy separation. They say the standard, “If you get separated, search underwater for a minute, then safely surface, and the boat crew will direct you to the bubbles and you can rejoin your group underwater”. Pretty simple, and straightforward…

On the actual dive the visibility is poor, maybe 7-8 feet, and the current was on the stronger side, with 2.5’-4’ waves (poor conditions for my warm/ clear water experience, but I wanted to expand my experience, and I thought this was within my comfort zone, but on its edges)…

Maybe 20 minutes into the dive I separated from the group, do my quick underwater search, shoot my SMB and surface. I find the boat and it’s maybe 400+/- yards away from me. I can see the crew waving their arms, and maybe yelling. I signal that I’m ‘ok’ (raise one hand as high as I can and do the thumb/ pointer finger ok signal)… Then I take a quick compass heading, roll my SMB back up, descend to 20’ and begin to swim to the boat.

After swimming for maybe 10-15 minutes I was unsure of how much distance I had covered so I shoot the SMB again, and surface… I was still 200+ yards from the boat, and had around 1100psi remaining so I made a decision to surface swim to the boat (actually swim to a line they had down current from the boat, where I could pull myself in as needed).

SO… HERE’S MY QUESTION. If I’m NOT in serious distress, but I needed to be picked up in the water, what’s the proper signal. I was reading another post and it said to give an ‘ok signal’, followed by raising both hands into the air (like a referee would do for a touchdown in American football). According to that post the captain should know that signal to be, “The diver is ok, but needs/ wants to be picked up”. Is that a universally accepted signal/ way of conveying that information? If not, what would you do as an experienced diver?

As a side note… once on the boat I learned the entire group had broke up pretty quickly, and people had wondered back to the boat in small groups the entire time I was in the water… I guess I was the only one to shoot my SMB even though several people had them, so they told me good job on that. They also said when I had surfaced the first time they were calling me to the boat… but I was so far away I was out of hearing distance…

 

[Akimbo]

SO… HERE’S MY QUESTION. If I’m NOT in serious distress, but I needed to be picked up in the water, what’s the proper signal.

I don't know if there is a universal/internationally accepted signal. The right answer is the one you agree on with the captain and crew before your first dive on that boat.

This thread might be useful for when things don't go as planned: Updated 2018 - Emergency Equipment to assist Search & Rescue

 

[stepfen]

Sorry to say but in my limited experience surfacing and then going back down to continue the dive is not a standard procedure.
People surface when there is a problem (from minor to serious), the boat cannot know what the problem is and hence it needs to go near the diver (and not the other way around) to check if things are indeed OK.
Surface is not a very safe place to be especially if you have other issues (eg cramps, tired etc etc)
(Sorry I accidentally pressed the send button in my mobile).
Even if you managed to see the bubbles (it is usually difficult from surface when there are waves) the waves/wind direction on the surface can be very different than the currents underwater so it can be very difficult to catch up.
To me it seems very poor dive plan from the operator side.

 

[noj3333]

Sorry to say but in my limited experience surfacing and then going back down to continue the dive is not a standard procedure.
People surface when there is a problem (from minor to serious) and hence the boat needs to go near the diver (and not the other way around) to check if everything is OK.
Surface is not a very safe place to be

I'm not sure what local practice would be here. Diving in Key Largo on this dive there were maybe 20 divers in the water (between 2 different boats in close proximity), with rather inexperienced dives below (I was the only one to shoot my SMB although I bet several surfaced to get a bearing on what direction to head).

I surfaced to find the boat, and get a compass bearing, something that I think is somewhat common in my experience... With the current and 2'-4' waves I signed going down (thumb's down) and though it best to swim underwater towards the boat... At that time I did not want the crew to get the boat off it's mooring line and come get me, I was not in distress. Even after surfacing the second time I was not in distress...

I'm just wondering if there was a signal between ok, and waving both hands over my head... In my opinion, both hands waving over my head is an EMERGENCY and should be reserved for such...

 

[noj3333]

I don't know if there is a universal/internationally accepted signal. The right answer is the one you agree on with the captain and crew before your first dive on that boat.

True... this is a pretty rare thing for me, being the first time it ever happened. I guess I could come up with a list of 'what ifs' and go over them with the crew... but I know I won't do that...

 

[rabe]

Down here, if you're ok and need to be picked up, you raise your arm up in the sky, and wait for the boat to come and pick you up. In this case, you need to wait for all the other divers to be back.
If in distress, you move your arms sideways. in this case, the captain/skipper will recall the divers and come to pick you up asap.
In any case, your SMB has been deployed so the captain/skipper can keep an eye on you.

 

[noj3333]

Down here, if you're ok and need to be picked up, you raise your feet up in the sky, and wait for the boat to come and pick you up. In this case, you need to wait for all the other divers to be back.

Your feet? Or do you take your fins off and lift them into the air... I'm not sure how high I could get my feel up out of the water...

 

[rabe]

Your feet? Or do you take your fins off and lift them into the air... I'm not sure how high I could get my feel up out of the water...

ahahahahahah, no sorry, I mean my arm
I've edited now...

ahahah, still laughing just thinking of it

 

[Wookie]

What Rabe said. You give a big OK and let the crew know you’re ok, then raise a arm until they pick you up.

This works on every boat I’ve captained/owned/crewed on.

 

[Damselfish]

Raising an arm is as close to a standard as I've heard. But your OK should literally be a big OK - the kind where you make a big O with your arms over your head, hands touching. If one hand is full like with a camera, do it with one arm and hand touches your head. The thumb-index finger version is more for someone nearby, hard to really see from a boat in the distance. If it's clear it's not an emergency you may get a big OK back but need to wait for a pickup until they've picked up the other divers, not always so easy or possible to move the boat depending on the situation. Or swim.