On 15 Mar 2001, at 19:14, John Bird wrote:

> Hello Gang,
>
> Just thumbing through the recent issue of Scuba Diver Magazine
> (Australian)......there is an excellent article on UW
> navigation.
>
> 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. Basically you use the anchor as
> the central return point and then perform out and back dives
> around the 4 points of an anchor (imagining that an anchor has 4
> points...like a +. If the viz is poor, only swim away from the
> anchor to a point where you know you can turn around and find it
> again easily. Once locating the anchor again, swim off in
> another direction. Eventually you will have done a series of
> short explorations always returning back to the anchor line.

I take a reel or a large spool with me. If the vis is crap I tie the reel
off several feet up the anchor line and move out using it.
Sometimes, I"ll do the out and back, four points deal with it,
sometimes I'll do a series of circles with it.  Another plus of doing
this is if the anchor breaks and drags, you still know where it is.. :-)

Mike