Solo dive....plan for the really unexpected?

[porgyhunter]

Solo diving we all have to plan for the worst. Redunant everything. Even in my boat I anchor, follow the line down and ''dig it in''. I also have a grapple down off the back as a secondary to hook a lobster rope/pot should the anchor pull free. etc. etc. But I think what if I'am injured in some way. How would I get on the boat? Possible scenarios in New England....Shark attack, goosefish LARGE on your leg, crushed arm, hands too cold to work, the list could go on. If you couldn't get on your boat you would be screwed. Any thoughts?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Make sure your life insurance is paid up. I have never done solo dives from an unattended boat. Don't think I would. What happens if someone comes and just takes the boat? Many shore dives solo. But again I know how my entrance and exits will be done. If diving from a boat and there is no way to get back on if you are injured then the plan was bad in the first place. Shark attack or goosefish incident, that is something you may not have control over. Hands too cold? You can control that. If not then why are you diving in the first place. All this is part of the mindset. Actually adding to the risk by not having anyone else on the boat is just plain dumb. And sorry but if something happens and you die. It was not undeserved. Solo dive planning is about reducing risk, not creating it.

 

[Codiak]

I dived solo off my boat once, leaving the wife on-board reading a book, but we'd anchored near shore anyway... so while I'll dive solo, I won't leave an unattended boat.

 

[AfterDark]

I'd never leave my boat unattended period. An old dive buddy and I where bobbing around a few miles off Cuttyhunk Island the summer of 72 when we surfaced in a freak squall that made my unattended boat hard to find for about 10 minutes because the waves were so big. Longest 10 minutes of my life. I don't have a boat these days and I will not dive from a boat unattended. I try to learn from my mistakes.

When I solo dive I carry my cell phone and my car keys in a old Sea life camera case clipped to me or to the line reel of my flag/float. ( It keeps the reel floating just above me and out of the way, I have a bungee cord attached looped around my left shoulder. Works very well.) I hope to be able to get myself far enough out of the water on my float to at least use the phone once to call for help in an extreme emergency. It's a little pricey to practice that maneuver but I feel better knowing I've got more of a chance than just yelling for help.

If you night dive DO NOT SHINE YOUR LIGHT ON A GOOSEFISH! it is like a moth to a light. I played hide the light with a three footer off Little Compton one night, every time I shined that light on him he'd turn and start swimming towards me.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I have a boat.

I wont dive from it unattended.

I have dove from unattended boats in the past however.... in very benign conditions, within 100 yards of the shoreline (in Kona).

While I believe that there are dive conditions that are "benign" enough to allow safely anchoring or mooring an unattended boat for a hour or so, those conditions do not exist where I dive in East Hawaii.

If I were to dive from an unattended boat it would have to be:

1.) From a boat I wouldn't mind losing (slipped anchor, stolen, sank, etc.), and

2.) At a location I could easily swim to shore from.

Best wishes.

 

[porgyhunter]

tHANKS GUYS....LIKE THE INFO ABOUT THE GOOSEFISH. i KNOW IT ISN'T A GREAT IDEA LEAVING A BOAT UNATTENDED.....wOULD MOST DIVERS CONSIDER SOLO DIVING A GOOD IDEA......i THINK NOT :shocked2:

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have solo dived many hundreds of times, sometimes in deep water. I dove from an unattended boat ONCE, and it was another one of my "dive stories".

Seriously, unless you can easily swim to shore, you need redundancy with respect to the boat! Find a drunk, a kid or somebody to sit (or sleep) on the boat who will make a call in an hour or two when you are, for some reason "late".

 

[Rhone Man]

I do solo dives off an unattended boat all the time. Not saying it is wise, but there it is.

It helps that in BVI we have permanent moorings on all our dive sites, and that you are never more than about a mile from land (at the most remote sites, a hundred yards or so is more the norm) if the worst really did come the worst.

Of course that doesn't help you climb back on board should you break an arm or have a stroke.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I have solo dived with no "crew" from many different kayaks, and from a 14.5' Sillenger w/ 40 horse Johnson. I think those hundred or so scuba dives, including deep and far off shore, were probably safer than the thousands of solo free dives I have made from those same boats at those same dive sites.

Granted, theft is not an issue with a kayak, but worrying about a broken arm is for buddy divers...

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/243718-molokini-kayak-dive.html

 

[Jai Bar]

tHANKS GUYS....LIKE THE INFO ABOUT THE GOOSEFISH. i KNOW IT ISN'T A GREAT IDEA LEAVING A BOAT UNATTENDED.....wOULD MOST DIVERS CONSIDER SOLO DIVING A GOOD IDEA......i THINK NOT :shocked2:

Well, looks to me that the question should be "Would most *solo* divers consider diving solo and leaving the boat unattended ?" Seems to me the answer is almost a consensual NOT.

Actually, it has nothing to do with soloing: even a bunch of 10 divers would probably consider leaving the boat unattended while diving a bit of a darwinistic approach to life

When you dive solo, you sort of make a risk analysis and mitigate potential risks- sometimes (in my opinion) better than buddy-diving. The most obvious risks were already stated by you, such as alternative air source: with a buddy you share air (in case of OOA, malfunction etc), in solo it is a risk, and by having another redundant source of air you've just minimized the risk...

So, now consider this risk: you go boat diving, a few miles from shore. Whether alone or with 1,2 or 50 buddies, get in water, and leave the boat unattended. Suppose you recognized the risk of anchor detached, thus you double fix it and double checked the anchor. You dive, and when time comes to surface you can't find the darn boat. Why? I don't know- anchor line broke, tide/current changed and you are too far away from boat and the swell does not allow you to see it from a distance of 500meters, or- the boat got stolen Whatever.

How do you mitigate that risk? Not to mention what if you're solo and you do need help to get on it, to drive it to hospital (a goosefish took a taste for you, shark came to see what's the fuss about )??

By the way, unattended boat stolen is no joke- seen that happen, also seen divers surfacing 100 meters from boat, but such strong wind they could barely come back to it.

As to the general question "what if", yep- you prepare yourself for 1001 different situations, and in real life sh!t happens, something comes that turns all plans to rubbish. Even when expecting the unexpected something more unexpected can happen. Life's not always fair... (but ain't it better than sitting on the sofa doing nothing??)