Safety in Numbers??? -- Beware of Virtual Solo Diving

[Pre BC]

My dad cuts out and sends me copies of every article about scuba diving he finds. For whatever reason, I felt this one was worthy of posting on ScubaBoard for the my extended divng family to think about. Every "non-expert" recreational diver should read the attached link to an article about a recent diver death (April 09) in Southern California. The diver died alone while diving in a group.. A simple Google search or visit to the archives at Diver.net/BBS will reveal more of the same.

Man drowns scuba diving off Anacapa Island : Local News : Ventura County Star

While solo diving has risks of its own, it is a conscious choice. Solo divers know exactly what they are getting into and equip themselves with pony bottles and other tools which mitigate the risks.

In contrast, divers who attach themselves to a gaggle without a specific buddy risk becoming Virtual Solo divers... Nobody is specifically watching them (and vice versa) and, if they get seperated from the group, there is a good possibility no one will miss them until they have been gone quite a while. While there certainly are no laws against it, all of the missing diver drills I have endured on vacation trips have been because unattached (unbuddied) divers in a group just wandered off without signaling anyone. Invariably they show up at the boat with everyone worried sick (and the DM checking his/her professional liability policy) just in time to brag about the turtle they followed.... Actually a good outcome when compared to becoming a headline.

For beginners and vacation divers, the simple test for buddy diving should be making eye contact, checking each other's gear and promising to stick together for the entire dive. Anything else is flirting with disaster should something go wrong on the dive.

P

 

[dkktsunami]

Sometime observe the behavior of divers, "buddied up", in groups. Nearly every diver in the group will be, at some point, be solo. Divers with cameras(who is watching the buddy?), divers doing the Caribbean swim-through coral caves too narrow to pass through side- by- side, the "meet you on the bottom" divers, divers disoriented by surge, current, poor vis, divers left by a fast swimming buddy........ nearly every diver has encountered these situations. Right off the bat the odds are 50/50 that you will have to rescue the other guy if at all possible. In my mind it is far better for each diver to be prepared to be solo, to self-rescue, and to be comfortable doing so, to be responsible for one's self. This type of diver will make a much better buddy when called upon to do so.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

The buddy system works well for paired divers, but tends to break down with odd numbers (there are exceptions, but this generally involves experienced divers). There is typically more "task loading" to keep track of the "odd" diver in a team.

Group diving can be done safely if everyone is clear on how they are going to keep track of the group and the "odd" diver.

We have a family of 5 divers, and what we typically do when we all dive together is have one of as the "camera" diver / leader, and the other 4 divers paired-up following closely behind. We all move across the reef as a tight group, but with the "camera" diver leading and in a position that the other 4 can see her/him at all times. The camera diver just has to look back and see the other four about one body length behind. This works for us, but might not for folks who don't dive together regularly.

Best wishes.

 

[fairybasslet]

I hope one diver in particular read this thread. Good post.

 

[diver 85]

The only way to truely be buddied up all the time is to tie yourself together....That's why I always am prepared for a solo dive---24/7.....

 

[DeputyDan]

The only way to truely be buddied up all the time is to tie yourself together....That's why I always am prepared for a solo dive---24/7.....

I saw this for the first in Bonaire this year.

An adult was tied to a young diver (I would guess age 14-15).

The rope had a float in the middle to keep it above them - not dragging below!

 

[captain]

An example of how things can go wrong.
I was invited to dive a lake I had never dived before by a long time commercial and rec diver who lived on the lake and knows it like his back yard. This lake has a hydroelectric dam that operates intermittently and there is a phone number you can call to find out the days generating schedule.

We had made several dives the day before near the hydroelectric plant. The plan was to dive the remains of the cofferdam that was built to hold back the water during construction of the hydroelectric plant.

According to the diver who invited me said he didn't "think" the hydroelectric plant would be in operation. We anchored the boat about 300 yards out and slightly to the right of the dam. Just before we began the dive another boat showed up and we also could see a developing thunderstorm in the distance. Three of us entered the water with the diver who invited me leading the way to the cofferdam. Vis was only about 5 feet and we descended to the a 15 foot bottom and and began heading toward the cofferdam. I was last in line trying to maintain visual contact with the diver in front. I wasn't very long before I lost sight of both of them so I settled to the bottom to plan my next move, surface or try to find the cofferdam on my own.

I then noticed there was a current which only could have been caused by the hydroelectric dam being in operation. About the same time I heard a boat engine so I did not want to surface to determine my location so I decided to swim at a right angle to the current towards the right which I knew should take me away from the dam and towards the shore. All the while I could hear the boat engine constantly whining. Suddenly in the corner of my vision I see an anchor coming towards me bouncing along the bottom and it hits my right forearm and disappears from view. I kept moving towards shallow water hugging the bottom until I could stand up.
When I surfaced the thunderstorm was on top of us and the late arriving boat was trying without luck to get anchored in the wind. I swam back to our boat and told the two divers that had stayed on board what had happened. They said when the thunderstorm moved in the other boat had broken loose and had been trying to get anchored again. About 15 minutes later the two other two divers surfaced.

Let me also say that this was not a buddy dive per say, we had all been diving solo the day before and we were only together to follow the leader to the cofferdam. Had it not been for my unfamiliarity with the sight and the dam being in operation and a vision in my head of being pinned against the intake grate of the dam I would have continued on trying to find the cofferdam on my own.

 

[fairybasslet]

Now that's a scary story. That anchor...man, it could have knocked you unconscious

 

[Cave Diver]

Sometime observe the behavior of divers, "buddied up", in groups. Nearly every diver in the group will be, at some point, be solo. Divers with cameras(who is watching the buddy?), divers doing the Caribbean swim-through coral caves too narrow to pass through side- by- side, the "meet you on the bottom" divers, divers disoriented by surge, current, poor vis, divers left by a fast swimming buddy........ nearly every diver has encountered these situations. Right off the bat the odds are 50/50 that you will have to rescue the other guy if at all possible. In my mind it is far better for each diver to be prepared to be solo, to self-rescue, and to be comfortable doing so, to be responsible for one's self. This type of diver will make a much better buddy when called upon to do so.

I think this may be a bit of an over generalization. There are many divers who are quite capable of being buddies in some of the situations you've described.

Photographers, coral caves, surge, curent, poor vis, might all be excuses but they aren't reasons. These are conditions that are manageable by buddies who want to remain together, they just require a bit of practice and training.

 

[dkktsunami]

I think this may be a bit of an over generalization. There are many divers who are quite capable of being buddies in some of the situations you've described.

Photographers, coral caves, surge, curent, poor vis, might all be excuses but they aren't reasons. These are conditions that are manageable by buddies who want to remain together, they just require a bit of practice and training.

Cave Diver, certainly these are conditions that good buddies can handle easily - didn't mean to imply otherwise. I am also all for the buddy system but think it is preferable for everyone to be comfortable and capable solo. I am meaning to describe situations where I observe divers who are presumed to be buddied but are not, and may not even be aware of it. Frequently these are the same people who say they would not dream of diving solo.