Knowing when to call a dive

[Leejnd]

Knowone, you're just wrong, the thing I want to say to you would just further break the no flame rules.

Agree. Msg, just ignore him...he's completely wrong, and everyone else in this thread recognizes this.

Keep on doing things exactly as you've been doing them. I'm sure you'll have many enjoyable years of diving together. I think it's great that you and your daughter have found something special that you can share. My kids have zero interest in diving.

 

[msg]

We just got back from vacation, so I haven't had time to post an update. We went to Lake Rawlings on 7/28. We made two dives, neither time did she have any issues. She had a great time, saw many things of interest, and was anxious to go back.

BTW, I don't take offense to the comments or criticisms, everyone has an opinion to what they would do. I can honestly say that I will look at things a bit differently, but that is not a bad thing. Her safety is of the utmost importance to me, especially when we are diving. Thank you all, for your comments.

 

[aquaregia]

My buddies and I almost have a macho thing going with calling dives. We come back and brag about how tame conditions were and yet we still decided not to dive. I'm just waiting for the day one of us leaves a pool session based on "adverse conditions".

 

[Dyno Bill]

I was ten feet below her and was watching her the entire time. She made no attempt to descend. The water was plenty clear, so it was not as if I just left her to herself. She has made this dive a few times before, with out having any problems.

You don't need to explain your actions to anyone , you did it right. Later in the day you might have tried to get her out on a snorkel and if she was wearing a wetsuit unzipping the upper 3 inches sometimes allows easier breathing. I think that both items are a mental relaxation thing but I did them a number of times with good results. An older instructor I respected a lot back then showed me those methods.
Bill

 

[flots am]

When I read the OP's post, I immediately assumed it was exactly as he later described - a short descent where he had his eye on her the whole time. It sounded to me like they agreed to descend, so he began his, dropped down a few feet, waited a few minutes for her to begin hers, and when she didn't, he came right back up to find out why. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

There's nothing wrong with it if you count panic and drowning as "nothing wrong."

It would take very little to go from "having problems descending" to "drowned" before the OP could even figure out that anything was going on and start ascending from the platform.

flots.

 

[Leejnd]

There's nothing wrong with it if you count panic and drowning as "nothing wrong."

It would take very little to go from "having problems descending" to "drowned" before the OP could even figure out that anything was going on and start ascending from the platform.

flots.

Wow. Another one who seems to be having trouble grasping the (well documented) facts.

Dude, he was 10 feet away. Read that again: 10 feet. What is that, 2 fin kicks? If that? And he's watching her the whole time. And she was ON THE SURFACE. Read that again. There would have to be something bizarrely catastrophic for someone to drown ON THE SURFACE in that short amount of time, before they've even descended.

Do YOU always stay connected at the hip to your buddy during descent? I don't. No need to. Being 10 ft away from your buddy is nothing. Measure it, if you're having difficulties visualizing the distance.

Did you read any of the OTHER posts in this thread? The rest of SB (except for one outlyer) disagrees with you.

This is yet another self-righteous post attempting to find something wrong where nothing is, just so you can assert your superiority and flog someone needlessly. You might want to read the rules about this forum.

(I know the OP won't care about this, and doesn't need me defending him...I just get sick and tired of the holier-than-thou flamers who love to come in here and tell other divers that THEY'RE GONNA DIE because they don't know how to dive. :::rolling eyes::: Classic Scubaboard.)

 

[Crush]

Perhaps we should descend at the same time, I was just trying to give her some room to "do it on her time."

First of all, good job to both of you.

FWIW, I used to feel that I didn't want to descend too close to my buddy so as to give us both some space. I have since changed this opinion. In hindsight, there were two reasons for this belief: (1) OK buoyancy but bad trim (from incorrect weight placements) made me flounder too much in the water, making me drift into my buddy; and (2) for whatever reason I didn't want to push off of another diver. Now my trim is much better, making me comfortable enough to literally drop straight down in a vertical or horizontal position. Also, I learned from a very respected teacher that there is nothing wrong with a very firm push-off of another diver.

Keep it up!

 

[Crush]

One further comment.

From DAN's Annual Diving Report, 2007 ed., based on 2005 data. The results are for dive fatalities, not injuries (see http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/5400480-post51.html for more details).

Only 14 cases [out of 167 fatalities] involved intentional solo diving. However, in very few cases did divers comply with a reasonable buddy system dive practice. In one case, a dive guide died trying to save diver who became unconscious. In several instances a buddy retrieved an unconscious diver who subsequently died, most likely from a natural disease like myocardial infarction or aneurism rupture. Most of the time victims got into trouble after separating from a buddy and there was neither witness to the accident nor help when it was needed.​

I'd say you both did a good job with the buddy system at all times and should be congratulated. Some might (and will) argue that if you are more than two kicks away you are too far away as a buddy, but given the ideal conditions you were fine (in my opinion).

 

[JohnB47]

The time to call a dive is whenever the thought enters the diver's mind. If you have to think about why it is ok NOT to call the dive, then something is not right. Better safe than sorry.

On a dive last year, with a new 7mm overvest in addition to my 7mm wetsuit, I felt that I could not catch my breath after a short swim. I did not know what was wrong, but I cut the dive short, and did not make another dive that day. It took some time to figure out that the problem was that the overvest was too tight around my waist (er, belly!). Next time, I dove without the overvest, and had no problems. If I had continued the dive, it might not have gone so well.

 

[flots am]

Dude, he was 10 feet away. Read that again: 10 feet. What is that, 2 fin kicks? If that?

10' is 9' 11" more than is needed for the daughter to make her last breath a nice big one, full of water.

And he's watching her the whole time. And she was ON THE SURFACE. Read that again. There would have to be something bizarrely catastrophic for someone to drown ON THE SURFACE in that short amount of time, before they've even descended.

Really? I don't consider an unexpected wave, bad leg cramps, passing out or panic to be all that bizarre.

In fact, a huge percentage of both drownings and SCUBA incidents happen on the surface during the ascent or descent portion of the dive.

Do YOU always stay connected at the hip to your buddy during descent? I don't. No need to.

Yes. I define "Buddy distance" as "the distance where I can grab my buddy if I'm breathing like a hoover, just exhaled and was OOA" This is generally around an arm's length or two horizontally. There's never any guarantee that anybody can quickly descend (or ascend) without injury.

However I'm sure your buddy appreciates you disclosing your level of concern for their safety.

I've been involved in a number of rescues and can tell you that the amount of time it takes to go from "I'm having a little problem" to "Oh s***!" can be measured in seconds. On one hand.

Did you read any of the OTHER posts in this thread? The rest of SB (except for one outlyer) disagrees with you.

I couldn't care less what the rest of SB thinks. There's absolutely no reason to leave your buddy with (or without) problems on the surface and go down to a platform.

This is yet another self-righteous post attempting to find something wrong where nothing is, just so you can assert your superiority and flog someone needlessly.

If my post saves somebody's life, I'll consider it to be well worth any emotional discomfort it may have caused.

You might want to read the rules about this forum.

There was nothing in the rules that said I had to tell someone "everything is fine" when it isn't,

(I know the OP won't care about this, and doesn't need me defending him...I just get sick and tired of the holier-than-thou flamers who love to come in here and tell other divers that THEY'RE GONNA DIE because they don't know how to dive. :::rolling eyes::: Classic Scubaboard.)

Yeah, that must be it. It couldn't have anything to do with rescuing actual victims.

flots.