On Thu, 15 Mar 2001 19:14:03 -0800, =?iso-8859-1?q?John=20Bird?=
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>The bit that really got my attention was the part on using the
>anchor on a boat dive as an initial reference point in which to
>conduct a series of short dives.
Generally speaking, especially if the vis is poor.
For liveaboard diving, we are always brief on where the boat is
anchored, but we seldom go to the anchor first because the boat
may be arcing back and forth right over the wall, and the anchor
may be 100 meters away. So, it would be really silly to go
100 meters to the anchor and swim back 100 meters to where you
entered in the first place. :-)
For my type of anchored boat dives, in high vis, natural
navigation is far better than compass navigation or using the
anchor as the reference point. Let's say I jump off at some
point near the wall, THAT's my reference point. When I return
there, the boat may be 100 meters away from THAT point because
it arcs back and forth, but if I just WAIT there, then the
boat will eventually return to that same point.
That's also how you know if the boat had broken away from the
anchor. :-)
A sure sign of a liveaboard newbie is someone who sees the boat
(anchored, but moving away from the diver) swims like crazy after
it and sometimes swims like crazy coming back because the boat
had begun the reverse swing from the arc. :-)
ONE EXCEPTION: if the tide changes. The boat may be 180 degrees
away from the entry point. Been there. Done that, ONCE, in the
Bahamas. I waited and waited at the entry point, and didn't
realize that the tide had changed and the boat was NOT going to
arc back to the same spot until the next day.
>Like the article says, you pay good money
>to have an operator put you on top of the dive site, why mess it
>up by swimming a long way off from the boat, spending valuable
>dive time and air doing the long haul back.
>Makes pretty good sense.
Makes good sense NOT to swim to the anchor if the boat drops
you right on top of a wall, and the anchor is 100 meters OFF
the wall.
-- Bob.
>
>Cheers
>Bird
>
>
>
>=====
>John Bird
>Sydney Australia
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>
>"Supporting the Right to Arm Bears"
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