Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Three is not for me

As most divers know, we are encouraged to dive with a buddy for safety reasons. Although solo divers are not uncommon among the super advanced. Personally, I like having a dive buddy so I can share the experience. In addition, diving with a buddy ensures there is someone nearby should I need help getting untangled from fishing wire caught on my tank or to help put my weight belt back on that fell off at 70 feet. (Both of these things have happened to me already in my young diving career.)



I'm sure we've all encountered the charter that has an uneven number of divers on it. When that occurs, typically a threesome is sent down to explore the underwater world. Well, this weekend, I learned that diving with a team of three is not for me.



Here is what solidified this for me... I was diving on The Sugarbowl off the the Charleston Coast with two other ladies. All was well, although the distance we were covering was a lot slower due to stops for photos of fish. Two of us got ahead of one and we had to keep circling back to reconnect with the third. And before I know what had happened, they were gone. I swam around looking and looking for them, but it was like they had vanished or had been sucked up into a vortex. When I couldn't find them, or anyone for that matter, I had a choice to make. Did I keep swimming around looking for them? Or did I make a slow assent to the surface?



Well, I chose the latter and slowly ascended to the surface. I must tell you that prior to making that decision, it felt kind of eerie to be down there "alone." I had plenty of air, but I didn't want to risk it. There is simply a comfort in knowing your dive buddy - or buddies in this case - are nearby.



The captain and dive master saw me when I surfaced and called out to me. I gave the universal "okay" signal and slowly started swimming to the boat.



At that point, I decided that never again would I swim with a team of three. It's simply too easy to get separated. So, diving for three is not for me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only time that I have ever had to dive with 3 was when the 3rd person was a Divemaster or Instructor. Generally They will "Lead" the dive, and Me and My Buddy just follow them. Maybe next time you ahve to dive with 3, take a similar approach, appoint one person to "lead" the dive, and the other 2 just follow. I think that helps to make it easier to keep track of each other.

Also, If you ever lose your buddy, look around, and before you go all the way to the surface, Go up about 10-15 ft or so, and stop and look around for another minute. you may see there bubbles, and then you can reconnect. Ideally your buddy would be doing the same, and you will find each other. :-D

Unknown said...

Thanks, Bryan. Great feedback.

Do we know each other? Or did you find my blog through another source, like scubaboard?

Anonymous said...

Diving in a trio can be a bit tricky. Bryan nailed it on the head though. Appoint one person to lead the group. Another thing about diving in crowded locations (eg cattle boats, FL springs) is that it is easy to think the diver behind you is you buddy... but its someone else. Also a good idea to have a a visible mark that makes them stand out... yellow fins? yellow snorkel? Glow light? etc

Glad to hear that you were calm and relaxed in your decision making, and made the right choice to ascend. Stinks that your bottom time got cut short though,