Scary Regulator Problems
- Thread starter ScubaJana
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You have certainly gotten good advice from several people already. However, your comments lead me to ask what level of certification you hold.
For example:
1) Did this happen during your dives for your Open Water certification? (I am assuming PADI certification; correct me if this is not the case.)
2) Why do you feel a DM or other Certified Assistant is not sufficient to supervise you?
~SubMariner~
For example:
1) Did this happen during your dives for your Open Water certification? (I am assuming PADI certification; correct me if this is not the case.)
2) Why do you feel a DM or other Certified Assistant is not sufficient to supervise you?
~SubMariner~
ScubaJana,
As I'm sure you realize, follow does not mean you should be out of communication. Was this an advanced class?
As I'm sure you realize, follow does not mean you should be out of communication. Was this an advanced class?
I am barely open water certified with PADI having only 6 dives. I did not feel that the DM supervision was not enough because the DM stayed on the platform while they told us to go off and do this skill on our own. I understand that they can not watch everybody all the time but they stayed at platform and waited for our return. Maybe I am wrong but I feel they could have followed to make sure we made a safe return. Also, I did try to get my buddies attention but with him ahead of me I had no quick way to get his attention. The visablity was limited do to diving in a local lake. Do you have any suggestions on ways to get their attention when they are ahead of you and the vis is minimum? Thanks for all the help.
Jana
Jana
Arnaud
Contributor
You should always adjust the distance with your buddy so that you can see each other at all time.
A basic way to call someone's attention is to tap your knife against your tank.
However, you should never be so far away from your buddy that you can't swim to him/her, even without any gas in your tank. If you were able to ascent, you should have been able to reach your buddy.
SJ, you indicate in your reply that you are certified with 6 dives in addition to your Open Water certification. To be frank, at this level you should be diving with a buddy without supervision. That's what being certified is all about.
YOU are responsible for yourself and your buddy in the water. No one else is responsible for you.
If the visibility is minimal, it is up to you and your buddy to adapt to the change in conditions. For example, in low vis you should be within touching distance or perhaps using a buddy line.
In addition, prior to going into the water you should have done a full pre-dive safety check with your buddy and discussed the dive with him/her:
- the objectives for the dive
- signals
- what to do if separated
- etc.
Each of you should be fully outfitted when diving, including some sort of signalling device to get one another's attention. (Personally, I favour banging the metal handle of my knife against my tank.)
DSDO,
~SubMariner~
YOU are responsible for yourself and your buddy in the water. No one else is responsible for you.
If the visibility is minimal, it is up to you and your buddy to adapt to the change in conditions. For example, in low vis you should be within touching distance or perhaps using a buddy line.
In addition, prior to going into the water you should have done a full pre-dive safety check with your buddy and discussed the dive with him/her:
- the objectives for the dive
- signals
- what to do if separated
- etc.
Each of you should be fully outfitted when diving, including some sort of signalling device to get one another's attention. (Personally, I favour banging the metal handle of my knife against my tank.)
DSDO,
~SubMariner~
ScubaJana,
I'll go out on a limb here and assume that you might have been taking some type of class that involved a naviation dive and a DM.
There is a technique for navigation dives in low visibility (I believe you mentioned a lake with low visibility?) which you and your buddy might find useful. It works well for dive teams running navigation courses in low visibility water, and will solve your issue of 'leading/following' and communications (but not your regulator, which has already been addressed by other board members).
The navigation dive is executed as a team, with one buddy focusing on maintaining a constant compass bearing and pace count (counting kick cycles to measure how far the team has traveled), while the second diver swims slightly above but even with the first. The second diver ensures that the buddy team maintains a constant depth, and can correct depth for the team if needed by light contact with the first diver. The second diver should always be close enough to reach down and grasp the tank valve of the first diver if needed. If entanglements or obstructions suddenly appear, the second diver can thereby correct or halt the forward progress of the diver monitoring the compass/the team.
In this manner the divers proceed neither one after the other, nor side by side, but one slightly above and to the right of the other. Communication by touch is available as needed.
As other members have already indicated, diving as a buddy team demands true commitment to team-oriented diving. It is not always easy. A good buddy may not always be available, as in training classes or while vacation boat diving, but a good buddy is always desireable.
Give the navigation course another try. See if this technique works for you. Try it in the pool first, if you can. Don't let this one incident scare you away.
Safe diving,
Doc
I'll go out on a limb here and assume that you might have been taking some type of class that involved a naviation dive and a DM.
There is a technique for navigation dives in low visibility (I believe you mentioned a lake with low visibility?) which you and your buddy might find useful. It works well for dive teams running navigation courses in low visibility water, and will solve your issue of 'leading/following' and communications (but not your regulator, which has already been addressed by other board members).
The navigation dive is executed as a team, with one buddy focusing on maintaining a constant compass bearing and pace count (counting kick cycles to measure how far the team has traveled), while the second diver swims slightly above but even with the first. The second diver ensures that the buddy team maintains a constant depth, and can correct depth for the team if needed by light contact with the first diver. The second diver should always be close enough to reach down and grasp the tank valve of the first diver if needed. If entanglements or obstructions suddenly appear, the second diver can thereby correct or halt the forward progress of the diver monitoring the compass/the team.
In this manner the divers proceed neither one after the other, nor side by side, but one slightly above and to the right of the other. Communication by touch is available as needed.
As other members have already indicated, diving as a buddy team demands true commitment to team-oriented diving. It is not always easy. A good buddy may not always be available, as in training classes or while vacation boat diving, but a good buddy is always desireable.
Give the navigation course another try. See if this technique works for you. Try it in the pool first, if you can. Don't let this one incident scare you away.
Safe diving,
Doc
Groundhog246
Contributor
A couple of comments.
1.) With only 6 dives, I think a few more before attempting a navigation (advanced?) course would be an excellent idea. You need to have good buoyancy control and eb familiar and comfortable with your gear before "pushing the envelope". From the sound of it, I'd hazard a guess you had never before tried your octo at any depth.
2.) Question the competancy of the instructor (whose location you didn't mention) and/or the LDS. On my advanced course, during the navigation section, we had the instructor on shore (about 20 feet over the water so he could see) as well as a pair of staff divers following (supervising) each buddy pair in the water. In the case the student pair got separated, a staff diver could deal with each student. We did our navigation as another poster described. One watching course and depth, the other counting kick cycles. In real life, since the course I tend to navigate as I would on a boat with compass and time.
If I have a buddy who starts to swim ahead out of reach, I generally grab something (a fin) before he/she is too far away to do so. I find most newer divers (and some not so new) tend to remain negatively buoyant and have to keep finning to avoid sinking and thus often swim faster than I like to. Thus the need to work hard on good buoyancy skills right from the start.
Arnaud nailed it. You should try to think about that experience as something to learn from, coz your attitude facing this problem was (IMO) not the best ever. In nfact, the ascent was a dangerous thing to do...
Hope you don't give up diving. A lot to learn and to enjoy
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