Leave or stay with buddy Scenario

[gypsyjim]

Wreck diving In N Carolina, with strong currents, 30 miles out to sea, we decided if one of us were blown off the line the other would go to the boat and not risk both divers. I would rather someone start looking for the diver immediately rather than having having 2 divers at risk. The question doesn't say there is any other distress to either diver other than not making it to the line. My answer doesn't seem to be the general concensus to this point so I guess I'll get alot of flak for my comment.

It sounds like you have a predive plan that accounts for such a scenario, and everyone is aware of that plan.

OP did not seem to have such a plan, which created the need to improvise on the fly.

 

[PatW]

1) I'll try to get us both to the anchor line, crawling along the wreck/bottom as necessary.

2) If he gets blown off, I go with him.

Like others, I think this one is the best choice. I think it is best to stay with your buddy. The boat captains have to know about currents and the fact that divers might end up "down current". Two divers are more visible than one. Another plus is if something a additional mishap occurs, the buddy system gives back up.

I don't like ditching the safety stop. I would think that doing so is just taking too much risk for something that really is not that big of a problem.

When I have read of serious diver mishaps, they are often caused by a cascade of mishaps often encouraged by poor or risky choices.

The situation outlined is you have 1 problem. That is you and your buddy might not make it back to the line to ascend to the boat. What is the worse that can happen? You will come up down current of the boat. Assuming this is an experienced diver operator, they probably have encountered this episode many times before. When you don't show, they will look down current. Where else would you be?

The "solution" you propose has you abandoning your partner. So you have substituted one problem with another. Your partner will, at best, come up down current of the boat. You, at best, are risking the bends by not doing your safety stop. Also the "solution" gives the seperated divers a heightened chance of suffering additional mishaps that might spiral out of control.

 

[TSandM]

BTW, this scenario relates to one of my all-time favorite SB threads: Managing Task Loading.

 

[ptyx]

Assuming there is really no way to go back to the anchor (crawling, pushing the buddy, etc...):

2)

With the caveat that I'd deploy the SMB from depth ASAP so the boat can start tracking us immediately.
Unless it was a very deep/long dive, or I'm 100% sure of the boat crew, the safety stop would probably be skipped.

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

Good idea, but my understand is you were blown off the wreck. If you were blown off the wreck, you can't tie into it.

Hey Walter:

Well, I reread the OP that I quoted in my response, in case I misunderstood something. It states in the scenerio that "You and your buddy are diving a wreck." So I see them as on the wreck, not blown behind it. My reasoning of my statement for tying my sisal and liftbag into the wreck. A couple of things going on here:

1). Our Wreck training always states that you start your dive on a wreck 'into the current,' never with it. It's rare, but it could happen that you are hooked at the very bow or stern of a wreck. But typically, we are somewhere amidships (easist place to hook and tie in).

2). Our wrecks are big in the Jersey area. There are some small ones, but usually they are huge. If I find myself moving in current faster than I can swim in, I know.

3). Currents can blow up during a dive, but usually I find them running as I start the dive. If it's anything close to not being able to swim against it, I tie a cross wreck line into the anchor line and proceed with my dive (I do it in extreme limited visibility days too).

So, I was just trying to state my position NOT to leave my buddy (I believe that was the root of the OP question), and how WE would get out of it (North Atlantic trained).

Blown off the wreck is another statement. We've been trained to do a few things. The one that comes to mind the most is to dump everything out of your BC and Drysuit, tie your sisal onto your weightbelt (yes, I still use them - only wetsuit diving is when I use my integrated BC), drop the weightbelt with the sisal, then manually come up the reel. This is a tricky manuver, and requires a bit of task loading, but it can be done. You need to monitor your depth, ascent rate, and gas expansion in your BC and Drysuit as you ascend. If the current is so strong, you are going to bounce behind the wreck as you surface, but at least your not doing a free ascent in a heavy current. Something is holding you to the bottom. I don't get into these scenarios, but I think about them and play "what if."

 

[natew]

Stay with your buddy, assuming both of you have safety and signaling equipment your chances of being spotted by the boat should be double and if you are swept far enough away that your boat can't find you your chances of being found by search and rescue would be doubled.

The only time I would consider abandoning a buddy would be if he insisted on doing something incredibly stupid that put both of our lives at immediate risk.

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

I am taking the question posed as literal and not adding other conditions as that will change the answer. My understanding is YOU can make it to the line and your buddy can't for whatever reason, do YOU stay with your buddy or get to the line to go get help. The safety stop I would blow off weighing against the safety of the other diver. If you added the buddy was in some sort of distress making it difficult for them to survive on the surface, then my answer would change. My wife is my dive buddy on all our dives for 20 years and we've decided it's more important to have the boat/captain know exactly what the problem is, rather than have 2 people at risk with the potential no one knows there's a problem until it's to late, provided the other diver is not in distress. We don't carry a ebirb but each of us do carry vhf radios however many people do not, so I'll assume, for this question you have just the normal signaling devices which makes the decision to get to the line even more important. Time is the enemy and the quicker the boat/captain knows there's a problem the quicker the problem can be resolved. There is not a guarantee both divers will be seen or heard by the time they get to the surface regardless of deploying markers etc.. as I've seen how easy it is for drifting divers to be missed regardless of proximity to the boat, then it's how long until the boat realizes there's a problem and what the exact problem is. Are the divers below, entangled, out of air, or drifting and how long does the boat wait until starting a search. Wreck diving In N Carolina, with strong currents, 30 miles out to sea, we decided if one of us were blown off the line the other would go to the boat and not risk both divers. I would rather someone start looking for the diver immediately rather than having having 2 divers at risk. The question doesn't say there is any other distress to either diver other than not making it to the line. My answer doesn't seem to be the general concensus to this point so I guess I'll get alot of flak for my comment.

I don't think you need a lot of flak, since you feel your response is not the general concencus. But, since you dive NC you know the drill. Factor in your decision that if every diver is not on that boat, and the missing diver is still down there, that captain better have a launch, or at least a darn good scooter, because until everyone is back on that dive boat, that missing diver search doesn't begin until the anchor is pulled (or I think in this case, cut). The captain has the responsibility to bring back everyone. So, based on your decision, nothing can be done for this diver who has been left until all remaining divers are back on board. It does change the equation, and something to think about.

 

[TSandM]

NC Wreck Diver, thank you for that post. From the cross-wreck line to the weight dumping, there were several new and interesting ideas in it.

 

[spudgunman]

I am a new new diver so I dont want to give advice but I can say this for my new hobby. my buddy is my wife and I can promise you that as long as I still have blood flowing her safety is always before mine, I actually have more fun on a dive without her because I don't always check her safety and well being, since most people (and for sure my wife) are competitive if I know she cant swim the current and I can I will just keep her close and get up normal and safe with her and then figure out the next problem, if I tried to make that line in the current she would too just to show that she is strong like me and capable but then she is going to be out of energy and air after that kick on the current. I dont know if we would find any other problems on the line, let go, get pulled off further up, another diver with a problem so keep the strength, air, safety stop and buddy!

even if we don't talk about a plan or emergency safety first! think logical clear and into the future needs. that boat captain has the responsibility to pick you up 50 yards out why swim when you can just inflate and kick back and wait.

 

[Walter]

"You and your buddy are diving a wreck." So I see them as on the wreck, not blown behind it.

I would agree, but if I'm on the wreck, my buddy and I can get to the up line if we have to go hand over hand on the wreck. His statement, "you have both missed the anchor line," tells me I'm no longer on the wreck. That's why I started my first response with, "I wonder why you are so far from the wreck that you cannot grab it."