Would you dive with me?

[OnceLoyal]

OK, here's something a bit different, a little game for anybody who cares to play.

I am curious who would, and who would not, dive with me (as in be my dive buddy), and why.

I don't mean this to be a personal thing about me... I mean it to be about whether you would or would not dive with ANY person with my experience level and equipment, given the information that I am going to list below, and I am going to give three scenarios that I would like you to answer "Yes, I would dive with you" or "No, I would not" in those conditions. All three of the conditions are ones that I personally WOULD dive without hesitation.

First, about me.

Personal: I have a bit over 100 total dives in (including 20+ training dives) plus at least 50 pool dives where most of the "coursework" is done. I was certified in September, 2008, so at the time of this posting I have almost one year's worth of diving in. I learned to swim three weeks before my open water class and passed the PADI swim test... but I am not a strong surface swimmer. I am a big guy but I am also a cyclist who rides 25-30 miles a day so I am in excellent cardio shape (even though I look a bit like the Pillsbury Dough Boy). I am level headed and not prone to panic (although I do realize that ANYBODY can panic).

Training & skills (or lack thereof): I have taken and passed the PADI OW, AOW and Rescue class plus have 8 other specialty cards at the moment, most of which are silly and pointless. Of those classes, I do feel that the Rescue class was of great value. I would rate (for my number of dives and experience) my underwater swimming skills as average, my buoyancy skills as significantly above average (I concentrate on underwater photography, and buoyancy is my thing) and my buddy skills as average. My navigation skills are horrible.

Diving experience: Most of my dives have been made in fresh water cold water in 15 foot visibility or less with no current or surge. I have about 20 dives of 40 minutes or more with visibility 5 feet or less. The coldest water I have dove in was 58 degrees on the surface and 48 below the cline (I dive wet... kids, do not try this in a 3 mil farmer john without hood or gloves like I did... worst 42 minutes of my diving life). The warmest I have dove in is 84 degrees. The deepest I have dove is 112 feet (while doing Deep Dive training) at Kona. I regularly dive within 8 feet of the surface taking pictures, spending nearly entire dives at that level. When diving above 60 feet and not rushing about all over the place, I have a SAC that will allow me to get an hour or more on an AL80. I am strictly open water, and I generally do not dive below 60 feet unless there is a reason for me to go lower (like, say, garden eels... I like garden eels). I have dove in swells up to 6 feet, in moderate (but not strong) current and in some very strong hurricane generated surge. I have about 20 open ocean dives.

Equipment: I wear a Transpac/wing with 5 foot hose primary to pass and bungied alternate, dive wet (although I am going dry this month so let's assume I can dive dry for the purpose of this game). I wear (for the purpose of this game) split fins (I actually DO wear them a lot in the cold water). I wear a non-AI computer, a bungied wrist compass and I wear a snorkel

OK, here are the three Scenarios:

ONE: Quarry dive, the visibility is 15 feet above the 'cline, 1 foot through the 'cline and 35 below it. Temperature is 76 at the surface and 68 below the 'cline. Would you dive as my buddy (or anybody else's for that matter).

TWO: Drift dive, warm water, 100+ foot vis (something I have absolutely no experience whatever with) in a group containing one DM of unknown quality.

THREE: Spiegel Grove, rough seas and strong current, average visibility. Dive plan calls for us not to exceed 90 feet or penetrate the ship.

OK, would you dive as my (or somebody with similar training & equipment's) instabuddy any or all of these dives

If so, would you have any concerns. If not, would you share why not (things like "I only dive DIR and you are not DIR" or "I don't dive cold water" or "I don't dive with people with your experience level" or whatever would be great).

1. No man sorry. Not you but I wouldn't feel comfortable for my own reasons. I don't think I would be a good buddy for you.

2. Hell yeah!!!!! As long as I knew what the boat capt. was like and seemed like he knew what he was doing, and you felt comfortable. If not a boat it would depend on the dive site.

3. No, for the same reason as #1

 

[fisheater]

yes for 1, 2, or 3 - When do we leave!

What he said!

Posted via Mobile Device

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I'm a solo diver, so my answer would be Yes in all cases

But seriously, I second what merxlin said earlier - that someone who gives his training and abilities as much thought as you do, is in a great position to be or become an aware buddy who takes this stuff seriously. Dives 1 and 2 I would not worry about, dive 3 might be a little different. I actually HAVE dove the Grove in those conditions and know from experience that there can be things that catch you off-guard. For example, one thing you may not anticipate is that since you wear a snorkel, a strong current will exert so much drag on your snorkel that your mask starts leaking. That is what happened to me and I wasn't prepared for a leaking mask at 100 feet, so I found that a tad stressful. At the time, I had my buddy remove my snorkel and I haven't put it back ever since.

The other question that popped into my head immediately is that I would ask you why half of your diving career consists of pool dives? I don't mean this in any judgemental way, but I would want to know why a beginning diver in your position has more pool dives than I have (and I work in the pool regularly as a divemaster candidate)?

This would beg the second question, which is, do you actually have 100 dives? In my book, you have 50, since pool dives don't count in my book. I realize that's just me and others may view that differently, but to me it's the same as driving school. the hours you drive on a parking lot or any other area shut off from real traffic don't count.

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read your post carefully enough. You DO say that you have 100 dives PLUS 50 pool dives. Never mind.

That said, it sounds like you got the better part of training in murky lakes, which IMHO is the best training one can get. Anyone can learn to dive comfortably in the Caribbean, but getting introduced to the sport in cold and anxiety-inducing conditions is a big plus in my opinion, that renders a diver much more resilient to stress and panic.

 

[Atom]

Do you mean a real drift dive (extremely rare) or do you mean a float dive or live boating? No problem with the drift dive (if I trust the captain) or the float dive. I've done some live boating, but I really am not fond of it and you're not ready.

Interesting... what exactly do you mean by a "real" drift dive? I'd actually like to know if I've been on one ; ) What I did was, jump off the boat with buddy and flag + reel, let yourself go in the current, explore the reef, come up when you're done, signal the boat who'll come pick you up. This was in Florida (Deerfield) so no DM in the water with you.

ONE: Quarry dive, the visibility is 15 feet above the 'cline, 1 foot through the 'cline and 35 below it. Temperature is 76 at the surface and 68 below the 'cline. Would you dive as my buddy (or anybody else's for that matter).

TWO: Drift dive, warm water, 100+ foot vis (something I have absolutely no experience whatever with) in a group containing one DM of unknown quality.

THREE: Spiegel Grove, rough seas and strong current, average visibility. Dive plan calls for us not to exceed 90 feet or penetrate the ship.

1 - Yes. That's not too bad, I'd even say it's warm and the vis is great compare to what we have around here. I've never dove a quarry but I've done a few lakes with walls so maybe that looks a bit like a quarry. I think I'd feel comfortable doing it, and you obviously have the experience.

2 -Yes. Unless drift dives I've been on aren't representative of what an actual drift dive entails.

3 - Been kinda there, done kinda that (with semi-insta-buddies... actually had to grab one by it's wing to prevent him from being swept away from the line when he let go of it for reason unknown). I've been on that boat a few times now (was completely lost on the first dive, felt I kinda knew where I was going on the last one) so I'd feel comfortable giving it a try and thumbing it if things are too rough. I'd say it's a lot easier if the boat is moored to a line attached to the superstructure (~65' can find some protection from the current) instead of the stern which is deeper and offer limited protection from the current. If take into account depth + exertion from fighting the current that would probably mean a very short dive.

Gotta say that TS&M answer has me pondering if I'm not a bit too reckless, since I consider that she's got a lot more experience than I have and would probably fare better than me on any of those dives.

 

[Web Monkey]

Just a couple of thoughts:
The Quarry Dive:
I'd do that with anybody, any time. There might not be much to see, but 68 is "pool temperature" in some places around here.

The Drift Dive:
You can't count on the DM, ever, for anything more important than finding cool stuff to look at. He might be great and able to save your bacon in an emergency, but you can't count on it, so don't even take the DM into account.

To a lesser extent, you can't really count on the boat either. They sink, break-down, captains have heart-attacks, they take off and do an OW class while you're under (don't even ask how I know the last one).

If either buddy is "iffy" about the dive, the answer would be "no", unless it's in a reasonably high-traffic area with a good chance of rescue.

Terry

 

[kanonfodr]

All three: YES. Not because I'm an uber-capable diver whose mere presence turns poodle-jacketed rookies into pseudo Sheck Exley's, but because I think I have enough physical/mental ability to handle those dives, even number 3.

1.) You're the head honcho but we plan the dive together, and complete the dive as a team. But I will be holding onto your bc or tank to track you through the themocline.

2.) Warm water and 100 ft vis? Too easy! Not necessarily worried about de facto leadership on a dive like that, but once again we start as a team and end as a team.

3.) If you think you can hack it, I think I can hack it. I'd definitely want to do 1 and 2 with you before attempting 3, just because I'd like to have an understanding how you work underwater (and you me, as well) before we get really freaky.

The more important question to ask is: Would you be my dive buddy again. I'll buddy up with anyone once, it's the return trip that proves my faith in you.

Peace,
Greg

 

[BTravlin]

1. No, I like to stick with warm water.
2. No problemo, let's dive.
3. Possible, I'd have to research the dive first to see if I'm comfortable with it myself.

 

[Walter]

what exactly do you mean by a "real" drift dive?

There are three methods of diving in current from an unanchored boat where you drift with the current. All three are commonly called "drift diving" although it is usually a misnomer.

Drift diving is rarely used. A weighted line, often the anchor line, is dropped to the desired dive depth. Divers descend along the line to the desired depth, holding on the line as the boat drifts along, they are always connected to the boat.

Live boating is common in Mexico, especially Cozumel. It is a fairly risky method. Divers descend and drift with the current. The boat “follows the bubbles.” Using this method, it is easy to lose divers or to accidentally strike a diver with the boat. Since safety sausages have become available, live boating has become safer.

The preferred method is float diving. It is similar to live boating, except one of the divers has a reel attached to a float, which the boat follows. Divers stay close to the diver with the reel and therefore do not get lost. Divers ascend next to the line and stay next to the float until acknowledged by the boat crew. They then swim away from the float for pickup. This ensures the boat does not strike divers.

What I did was, jump off the boat with buddy and flag + reel, let yourself go in the current, explore the reef, come up when you're done, signal the boat who'll come pick you up.

That's a float dive.

 

[BioLogic]

1. We're doing that dive tomorrow, aren't we?

2. Yes, with a thorough pre-dive briefing from a crew I trusted and who knew neither of us had done that sort of dive before. I've got my sausage in my pocket and my horn on my BCD.

3. No. I don't have experience with either what I'd call rough seas or strong current. I'd like a higher comfort level before I tackle both at once. Your similar lack of experience wouldn't be an issue as I don't want to start a dive I'm not confident of my ability to deal with.


As to a previous poster's question about why so many pool dives....I've got somewhere north of thirty (haven't actually counted) for one reason: Winter. Brand new diver, get a couple of independent (just me and my buddy) dive weekends in and then the water's under 60. Hitting the pool whenever we had free access was at least buoyancy and skills practice; and more fun than TV.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

It seems like you've given a lot of thought to your abilities and limitations as a diver. You have considered your gear configuration based on what I have read. You are aware of your surface air consumption rate and depth air consumption rate. Which is more than a lot of divers can do.

I like your attitude about not really going much deeper than 60 or so ft. unless you need to.

I don't go much deeper than 80 Ft. I feel the amount of air in an 80 cu. ft. tank is the limiting factor. That's where my opinion on this comes from.

You seem to be a thoughtful person in regards to diving.

So....I would dive with you. But I can't.

You dive split fins. I dive with Jet fins, I could never keep up with you.

In current, you would become even faster. haha.

We would have some potential for buddy separation issues.

Take care,
Mitch