NAUI Master Scuba Diver 262 Boating, Diving, and Seamanship When it is time to suit up for diving, work with your buddy and help one another. Stake out your own area on the deck, centered around your dive bag. Always work out of your bag, taking out items only as you need them and returning them to the bag immediately after the dive. Never leave a cylinder standing unattended. If it is not secured in a rack, it should be lying down. Never walk around on a rolling deck wearing fins. To avoid holding up other people at the exit gate, finish all preparation and buddy checks before heading for the gate. The fins should be the last things put on, and this is done just before entering the water. Entry One of the hardest concepts for some divers to grasp is that a boat at anchor is a moving platform. Many live-aboards have high profiles and are extremely sensitive to the wind. At anchor they will swing, but in a predictable arc. If you jump off at the wrong time, the boat can swing right over you. Many skippers will put out a swing buoy at each end of the boat’s arc to use as a reference. Use the port exit while the boat is swinging to starboard, and vice versa. After the dive, wait near one of the buoys and let the boat come to you. Sometimes the skipper will set a stern anchor to eliminate the swinging. After jumping in, and waiting for your buddy, swim together away from the exit area so the next divers can follow closely behind. It is usually a good idea to descend FIGURE 12-6. DIVER AT DIVE LADDER, REMOVING FINS along the anchor line, but be sure to stay about an arm’s length away from the line at all times. As the boat bounces on the waves, the line will become slack, then tighten again. If you are too close, it could hook your equipment and give you quite a jerk. In the Water Some boats have an audible emergency underwater recall system. Some sound like a police siren. If you hear it during a dive, surface immediately at the recommended rate, and look toward the boat for a signal to stay clear or to come aboard. There may be other types of recall systems, such as banging on metal under water or starting the engine. Listen carefully to the pre-dive briefing for this information. If there is a current, begin your dive up-current. In case you are swept beyond the boat on return, look for the current line. This is a long line with a float at the end, trailing behind the boat. Swim for the line instead of the boat, then pull yourself back hand-over-hand. To avoid bunching up the line in front of you and becoming entangled, bring the pulling hand well past the waist before letting go. FIGURE 12-5. CROWDED SCENE OF CHARTERED DIVE BOAT
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