On a recent dive trip to the the Andaman Sea, I experienced first hand the nightmare of being swept away by a current and surfacing about 100 feet away from the boat. Luckily, I had my dive buddy right there by me and the boat was in plain sight. So, you might ask what the big deal is. Well, what at first seemed like a trivial little swim to the boat that you can see just there, became a lot more serious when we realized that the swimming was not getting us any closer to the boat, and that the boat hadn’t even spotted us yet. With no visual or audio signaling devices and very little air left in our tanks, it was hard to keep out the numerous stories of divers being left behind from creeping into our minds and letting worry set in.
Reality is there’s little you can do when you’re down current and often in situations like these that are not usually emergencies in itself, if they are not handled properly it can turn into one. The big mistake is panic, that can lead to exhaustion, hypothermia and other potentially deadly problems. So staying calm is number one on our scuba tips of what to do if you surface down current from your dive boat.
Keep your cool and stay comfortable- Instead of immediately trying to swim back and fight the current, try to keep it cool and assess the situation. Unless the current is mild, it’s useless trying to swim against it, no matter how strong a swimmer you may think you are. Determine the direction of the current. If you have enough air, a good option of getting back to the boat is to take a bearing of the boat and descend a few feet before heading that direction as currents are usually much weaker at the bottom. However, if you’re low on air and that is not an option, you could try swimming diagonally across the current to close the gap between you and the boat. If neither of the two are an option, don’t waste your energy going against the current. It’ll get you nowhere, but tired. Instead, get comfortable, inflate your BC to comfortable level to stay well above the water and not swallow a mouthful of sea with every swell and focus on step two….
Signaling the Boat- If you can’t get to the boat yourself, the most important thing is getting yourself noticed in the water. Even in calm seas, it’s hard to spot a diver on the surface because of the swells and the bobbing. This is where the gearing up for the worst advice that you’re always given comes into play. If you’ve taken head of the umpteen times we’ve stressed the need for every diver (i.e every single diver, not one per buddy pair) to carry an SMB (Surface Marker Buoy or an Inflatable signaling tube known as Safety sausage) you’re one step closer to getting the boats attention. However, it’s recommended to carry both a visible and audible signaling device with you at all times. (Read our post: Emergency Signaling Devices I: Get noticed in the water). The key to getting noticed is becoming taller, brighter and louder. If you have no signaling devices on you (tsk, tsk) try holding up your fin (especially if it’s a bright color). Once the boat has visual contact of you, help them maintain where you are by just holding the marker or fin up. Waving your signaling tube or fin at the boat signifies you need immediate assistance because you’re in distress.
Keep your eyes on the boat- Most times the boat won’t be able to come get you immediately as they see you, as they have to wait for other divers to surface and climb on board before they leave that spot, but don’t worry. Stay calm, comfortable and keep the boat in sight at all times. They’ll definitely come pick you up. If they haven’t seen you yet, have a little faith that they’ll come looking for you, but don’t panic. Most boat captains and boat hands know their waters well and can calculate current, wind, wave action and time and come pretty close to tracking a drifting diver’s path and position. Try your best to keep the boat in your sight and focus on different ways to get their attention.
