Slates and underwater communication

[RikTikTavi]

Wife and I are underwater buddies, but we also have issues getting the message across, occasionally. We have a few hand gestures we agree on before a dive (yes, that too), and an arm slate for the rest (at least until she snaps the pencil again!). I have a few things prewritten, to help speed things up.

--Ric

 

[emoreira]

Do you use slates to communicate underwater? Or do you just rely on hand signals? My husband and I have communication problems underwater (on land too but that's another issue altogether!). I'll be telling him one thing, and he thinks I'm trying to tell him something else.

I think we have 2 options: 1) use a slate, or 2) practice with each other a set of agreed upon hand signals. How do you guys handle this?

The use of a Full Face Mask with communications could be a way to solve this.

 

[Cali_diver]

My husband loves diving because it is quiet... I think a FFM with Coms would push him over the edge. We wouldn't even give our gregarious youngest son a slate ... just because. He does have one now though and it gets plenty of use!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Get a set of wetnotes. Take some of the pages and put a few sentences on them that you can use. Short and to the point. Put them on the 1st or last page so they are easy to find. I use a fine point sharpie when they are dry and they last.

"They are going too fast, screw them"
"Let them go, we dive our backup plan"
"Where is the guide?"
"Agreed, we'll slow down"
"The group can find us"
"He left, NO TIP!"
"Do you know where the boat is?"

Things like that you might expect to have to say. Then you just point to it.

 

[Trailboss123]

I feel like a slate or wet notes can come in handy- not just with my dive buddy, but sometimes with others. This past December we were in Cozumel. Our group of 6 dropped in at Tormentos. We were cruising along as a group in a moderate current. About 20 minutes into the dive, another group of about 8-10 divers from a different boat came up from behind us and just blew right past us with the current. We were tucking in behind coral heads and trying to keep a more leisurely pace.

About 2-3 minutes later, 2 divers came up on us from behind. They saw us tucked in quietly behind a large coral head and chilling out and looking for small stuff. They tucked in as well and just kind of hung with us for a while. They clearly thought we were their group and seemed to be bored with the fact that we were not drifting along. We used every hand signal in the book to try and explain to them that they needed to leave us and keep going-- all to no avail. This lasted for at least 2-3 minutes- so now, they were a good 6 minutes or more so behind their actual group. Finally, I pulled out my slate and wrote: WE ARE NOT YOUR GROUP, YOUR GROUP IS WAY AHEAD.

That did the trick, they thanked us and frantically finned away.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Get a set of wetnotes. Take some of the pages and put a few sentences on them that you can use. Short and to the point. Put them on the 1st or last page so they are easy to find. I use a fine point sharpie when they are dry and they last.

"They are going too fast, screw them"
"Let them go, we dive our backup plan"
"Where is the guide?"
"Agreed, we'll slow down"
"The group can find us"
"He left, NO TIP!"
"Do you know where the boat is?"

Things like that you might expect to have to say. Then you just point to it.

+1 for wetnotes. Good for naughts and crosses on deco as well

 

[EFX]

Get the NACD (National Association of Cave Divers) one-handed signals. Learn them and practice using them. Most of them are intuitive and you can put together a string of signals to communicate some rather complex ideas. There are signals for dive situations, positions, objects, and marine life. They are not just for cave diving. They can be used for all types of diving. I take a slate on open water dives where I use it occasionally for asking questions like, what is that fish or plant.