Solo wreck diving

[Scuba_Steve]

Hey my Pal Scuba-Punk, thanks for the ZEN.........it's moments like that I remember the most!

You also know I recently got my first ZEN moment with my wife,...in over 100 dives with her!!

Damn that took long enough! I got it with Frank in less than a half dozen!

I still can't get over the chance events that brought about our meeting each other!

What a stroke of good fortune on my part.

Steve

Now back to those empty solo moments...........

hehehe

 

[MikeFerrara]

Thats great luck Mike, i hope it holds for you. I haven't been that lucky. I personally know many more people killed and injured driving than diving.

That's why I pointed out that it was observation and not statistics.

Driving, you have no control of the boneheads on the roads with you. If you believe that isn't an issue you need to visit my home town in the summer. It's crazy just trying to get to work.

I agree

One more degree of (accident) freedom we have no control of around here is deer. I've personally hit three, been in anothers vehicle for two more. Thats five accidents alone that could have been fatal.

I hate deer. LOL I've hit at least one a year for the last 5 years. Only killed 2 of them though and none hurt me any. I drive over 100 miles round trip to work every day and all through prime deer country. I see deer every morning and evening every day of the year. At least once a week I'll have to actively dodge one that tries to hit me.

Oh, actually two of the deer that I hit actually hit me. Both broad sided me and neither one was hurt.

 

[scuba-punk]

Hehehe - does that make me a diving Zen slut? Actually, I think it actually was dive number 6 - the first 4 of which we just happened to be on the same wreck at the same time Plus, there was very little Zen on dive number 5, so number 6 made up for it.

Good fortune on my part too. I almost have a canister for my light again!

-Frank

 

[TCDiver1]

Oh, actually two of the deer that I hit actually hit me. Both broad sided me and neither one was hurt.

LOL, i had a one like that too. I gets really bad up here in November during the rut. Darn things are running all over the place.

Its not a matter of if you hit one its a matter of when.

 

[flw]

Don't you think walking and sailing have just a wee bit different consequences should something go wrong?

Depends on exactly goes wrong really - in all cases the majority of things going awry I can deal with - however in the hills/cliffs around here I almost never see anyone if I'm out on my own, similarly with boats I can be in an area and not see another boat for hours close inshore - mobiles/radios are very hit and miss - a slip down a cliff/bank could become a major problem.
The point is for everyone there is a risk/benefit for every dive/other activity, everyone has their limits in a different place for different reasons - for me I enjoy my own company underwater, I don't necessarily need or want anyone else there. To be free in the water exploring an undived wreck on my own seeing things no-one has ever seen before, my topside companions seeing different things, is one of the bits of diving I really enjoy, and get a huge kick out of - for better dived sites such as the M1, I'm still exploring the bits I particularly want to see.

 

[AADiveRex]

What am I supposed to think when I read statements like "I am not subject to the errors, mistakes, or pequipment problems of anyone else, just my own. I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself, and I am not responsible for anyone else's life, just my own. "

Obviously, you feel that someone else on a dive team is a liability. If you feel that someone is a liability, then obviously you feel that you are better than they are, and less likely to be entangled, run out of air or get lost?

Its not about someone specifically being a liability, just like its not about me being better than anyone. To assume your buddy isn't capable of errors or problems would be just as shortsighted and foolhardy as assuming that you yourself are incapable of error. In either case, the results can have disasterous consequences.

Let me put it to you another way - do you feel that diving in a well prepared dive team with competent team members is safer than solo diving?

If no, why not? If yes, then why do you choose to not do so?

If the diving situation is such that having a buddy is less of a risk than not having one, I do choose to dive with a buddy if possible. However, most often for me, that is not the case. The fact remains that on highly technical dives, in my assesment, the risks often outweigh the benefits. If you need specifics to understand what I mean, I can get as detailed as you want, but I think my last post made the point clear.

Let me make one other point explicitly clear...I am not trying to suggest that diving solo is in any way safer that diving with a buddy. I'm not advocating the elimination of the buddy system, or in any way suggesting that a highly skilled buddy team can't dive together safely. The position I am taking is that:

a) there are risks associated with diving with a buddy, just as there are risks in any diving situation. Having a buddy introduces one set of risks, and minimizes another. Diving solo eliminates one set of risks and introduces another.

b) with the right skills, training, experience, and equipment, the risks of solo diving can be managed to within acceptable limits, for those who choose to accept those risks.

I am personally more comfortable with the set of risks without a buddy, since I can better anticipate my own actions and responses than I can predict those of a buddy.

On my last trip to the U-869 a few weeks ago, there were 10 divers on the boat, all highly skilled, competent technical divers, 5 of us well known technical instructors. Only two of us dove as a buddy team, the remaining 8 were solo. Most of the solo divers knew each other well, and some had dived together in the past, yet they chose to dive solo. Some of them were people everyone on this board would recognize. I am not alone in my convictions....

Dive Safe
Adam

 

[Boogie711]

On my last trip to the U-869 a few weeks ago, there were 10 divers on the boat, all highly skilled, competent technical divers, 5 of us well known technical instructors. Only two of us dove as a buddy team, the remaining 8 were solo. Most of the solo divers knew each other well, and some had dived together in the past, yet they chose to dive solo. Some of them were people everyone on this board would recognize. I am not alone in my convictions....

As I read this paragraph, without looking at your location or where in fact the U-869 was located, I said to myself "Oh, he must be from the Northeast!"

I was right. It explains a lot, actually.

 

[flw]

As I read this paragraph, without looking at your location or where in fact the U-869 was located, I said to myself "Oh, he must be from the Northeast!"

I was right. It explains a lot, actually.

Funny, I read it, and thought it was very like the mindset that works around here - which is 3000 miles from where he is.
Our trips locally are 2 or 3 divers, we know each other extremely well, and further afield are up to 10 - of which I'll normally know most of, and have dived with most before. All perfectly competant, we like Adam we simply prefer to dive on our own, mostly on Inspirations, although a few are oc.

 

[northcoast_diver]

If the boat captain is comfortable with the additional risk of a solo diver, then there should be no problem with solo wreck diving. I would check with the boat in advance, though. Some boats specifically state that certain dives may not be solo, while others may. Its good to get all of your duck in a row, before you get on the boat. Or else you will be diving with an unknown buddy, or not diving at all.

From Novato, its about 500 miles to the San Diego wrecks, and 2500 miles to the North Carolina wrecks. But you are really only a phone call or email away. So I am not sure distance has anything to do with it. Divers tend to be international. Its good to know all about the world, for diving.

 

[DEEPLOU]

Because it provides 1/3 in/down, 1/3 out/up, 1/3 "just in case".

Now I suppose I'll be flamed. No matter. I came close to being banished for the crime of ethno-centrism.

:dazzler1:

I like to think of it as 1/3 in-down, 1/3 out-up, and 1/3 OH S***!