Retractable wife leash that keeps her exactly where she needs to be. That way she can warn you when she stops to talk to the fish, you will not find her by doing circles and looking up and down,and you don't have to look stupid by turning circles looking up and down. If anyone has another solution other than rubber mallet over the head for her please share.

[ 08-17-2005, 08:59 PM: Message edited by: scubashep ]

The success of a buddy team diving safely and enjoyably is planning and communication before the dive. Plan the dive and dive your plan the old saying goes. Also, sometimes if the divers have two different objectives for the dive it can cause problems, such as one diver doing photo and one diver spearfishing.

I fully understand all of what you said and it makes great sense. Swim across the pool would get her lost sometimes. A plan is only a plan until one of the planers doesn't follow it. We have decided to take a break from diving together for a few and switch up with a cuople that we dive with. Going to have guys dive out and girls dive out. That way she can get used to someone not haveing to baby sit her like I do. She is going with her certification partner which seemed to work well then. I think it might help her and the break will let me relax and enjoy diving for a few and keep the frustrations down.

One solution I have seen used with great success is to let the wandering soul lead the dive. If they have trouble following someone and yet have great success finding stuff to look at, maybe it's not a bad idea to let them lead the dive a few times. They may set a pace that is interesting after all and, if they can navigate back to the exit point, it might just give you both a new perspective on being in the water.

I have tried to get her to lead and thats nice if you wish to go nowhere. However today we went to a low vis area and she is doing much better. I think it was the fact that she was afraid she would lose me. She is coming alond great now. Since we have started diving low vis and "cavern" (blue grotto) type things, she will not leave me. I think that all the clear water made her think if she could see me I could see her and she cld wonder off. Now that she can't see me from far away she stays close. Wish I would have know this would have fixed it earlier. Still not ready to take her in ocean as buddy but close now. Few more and I think she will have it.

Sounds like she's getting there. This is actually very common. In better vis, folks have a tendency to give each other more space. Diving low vis is not necessarily the answer. Make sure that you guys agree on the plan and dive it. You may need to keep a sharp eye out if she doesn't. Knowing where your buddy is at all times is just good all around for safety and enjoyment.