thanks for the input everyone. Definitely learned from the dive and as usual from the posts here. I'll be a bit more detailed with my buddy next time, and definitely won't take my eyes off him in a swim through. Still don't understand how he disappeared so quickly ha. and i'll be buying that SMB that i keep talking myself out of.
As far as the decisions AFTER i was separated go, i don't think i handled it poorly all things considered. I didn't surface after strictly one minute because of a couple things: 1) i already had seen the DM swim around in circles for over 10 minutes looking for those girls and then continue the dive with us, so i was pretty sure no one was going up to the top to look for me 2) I didn't have any intention of diving indefinitely on my own down there, but it was near the end of the dive so i went a little ways to look for them as i figured we would all be surfacing before too long anyway so a bit of extra looking (4-5min?) wouldn't hurt too much. I surfaced at 47min and it was supposed to be a 50min dive. Which is the other reason i didn't bypass my safety stop as i didn't think it warranted skipping it if they weren't going to be on the surface looking for me, i was surfacing early anyway, and i had plenty of air.
Good things: i didn't freak out, get lost, or meet davey jones. and managed to end the dive well. Bad things: lost my buddy, lost my group. didn't talk about separation procedures with my buddy (mainly cause the DM covered it in the briefing, but i see i should do my own little brief with my buddy).
Your points have been constructive, although i think maybe i didn't explain myself properly. I am in no way blaming the DM or my dive buddy for me getting separated. I take responsibility for my safety and the decisions i made underwater, good or bad so this isn't a rant or a blame post. I was little more curious that once on the boat without me, the DM didn't seem that concerned that i wasn't there so was wondering what the procedure would have been if i was truly lost and not just separated. Currents were decently strong there, and i didn't have an smb with me so i presumably could have ended up far from the boat, but no one was jumping in after me. Not expecting them to be frantic, but we were diving for 50 minutes or until 50bar, and even if we were constrained by time air would have been low by the 50minute point so i'm just thinking to myself that could have been potentially a very dangerous situation if i was in some kind of trouble underwater, low on air, and no one looking for me.
just in case, let me say again.. i'm not blaming them for not looking for me.. my question relates to procedure in this situation, not to who's responsibility it is, etc.
As far as the decisions AFTER i was separated go, i don't think i handled it poorly all things considered. I didn't surface after strictly one minute because of a couple things: 1) i already had seen the DM swim around in circles for over 10 minutes looking for those girls and then continue the dive with us, so i was pretty sure no one was going up to the top to look for me 2) I didn't have any intention of diving indefinitely on my own down there, but it was near the end of the dive so i went a little ways to look for them as i figured we would all be surfacing before too long anyway so a bit of extra looking (4-5min?) wouldn't hurt too much. I surfaced at 47min and it was supposed to be a 50min dive. Which is the other reason i didn't bypass my safety stop as i didn't think it warranted skipping it if they weren't going to be on the surface looking for me, i was surfacing early anyway, and i had plenty of air.
Good things: i didn't freak out, get lost, or meet davey jones. and managed to end the dive well. Bad things: lost my buddy, lost my group. didn't talk about separation procedures with my buddy (mainly cause the DM covered it in the briefing, but i see i should do my own little brief with my buddy).
Your points have been constructive, although i think maybe i didn't explain myself properly. I am in no way blaming the DM or my dive buddy for me getting separated. I take responsibility for my safety and the decisions i made underwater, good or bad so this isn't a rant or a blame post. I was little more curious that once on the boat without me, the DM didn't seem that concerned that i wasn't there so was wondering what the procedure would have been if i was truly lost and not just separated. Currents were decently strong there, and i didn't have an smb with me so i presumably could have ended up far from the boat, but no one was jumping in after me. Not expecting them to be frantic, but we were diving for 50 minutes or until 50bar, and even if we were constrained by time air would have been low by the 50minute point so i'm just thinking to myself that could have been potentially a very dangerous situation if i was in some kind of trouble underwater, low on air, and no one looking for me.
just in case, let me say again.. i'm not blaming them for not looking for me.. my question relates to procedure in this situation, not to who's responsibility it is, etc.
) and we have solo'd these areas as well. When vis is 4ft we usually agree to stay together but if one gets lost - we continue the dive, which is a set pattern - at the end of the dive it is pretty predictable where the other should be and we watch for bubbles. But sometimes we know that we will be separated (2-4ft vis) so we actually say that we'll go down together and then when we lose one another we keep on. It really depends on our comfort. However, in unfamiliar areas or in our regular areas in rough weather, we agree on a strict buddy system of search for 1 minute and then surface - however, we seldom lose each other when we make these agreements. If either of us is uncomfortable with the agreement - we go with the most conservative one. By the way, the most common reason for losing each other in these murky waters (when we agree that separation is OK) is that one of us goes chasing after a dungeness crab!
