April 13, 2008 - Divemaster Log

Hello Everyone!

The Video Dude's Divemaster role continues today with John L. of Scuba Network in Deerfield Beach. This time we are aboard South Florida Diving Headquarters' "Aqua View" heading out to the "Sea Emperor" and a drift dive on "Abbey Too Reef".

Upon arriving at the "Sea Emperor", we see there are already a couple of dive boats on the site and Captain Steve makes arrangements with one of the boats to use their downline after they drop off their divers. We get the students geared up, have them go through their buddy checks, and get them lined up to jump in the water and head down the line to the wreck. After the first few other groups got in, we found out that there is a tremendous surface current and people are having trouble reaching the downline. I jump in and, holding the line with one hand, grab people jumping in and pull them over to the line so they can descend. Everyone is on the line now except for one young lady and when she jumps in, she misses both me and the line and begins to get carried under the catamaran. I cut loose from the line and go after her, catching up to her just as we both go under the boat. She was in a little panic, but once I got her BC inflated a bit and she saw that we were just going to float right through between the pontoons, she calmed down a bit. After we cleared the boat, I spotted a tag line and ball float and steered us over to it. The captain and divemaster Holly pulled us back to the ladder where the young lady got back on the boat. Then they pulled me back to the downline and I re-joined the students for our descent. One student was having trouble clearing her ears on the descent but other than that and the continuously ripping current all the way down to the wreck, no other issues occurred on the descent.

The ascent back to the dive boat was mostly normal, still having to deal with the current all the way up though, until we get to the surface. The boat we were sharing the downline with had taken the boat tieline with them, so there was nothing left to hold on to except a tiny loop on the ball float. I am holding on to this loop with 2 students on my left arm, one on my right arm, and one holding my foot until the dive boat returns from picking up a group that had drifted away. With the help of a student and some careful maneuvering, we manage to get another boat tieline attached to the float and passed back up to the boat. Once I made sure the students were safely holding to the line, I drifted over to the boat ladder to be in position to "herd" the students to the ladder so they wouldn't drift past. One by one they drift towards me and I get them all aboard safely. I get them changing over their gear for the next dive and talk to the instructor about what we were doing for the drift dive.

Gear is now changed over and buddies have done their checks, so it's time to dive again! This time we are on "Abbey Too Reef" and I jump in with the flag and get the students to gather near me until everyone is ready to head to the bottom. Once everyone gives the OK signal, we descend to the reef and I begin searching for a sandy area so that the students can finish off their scuba skills. Shortly after we are down, I find a nice big sandy area and get the students positioned to finish off their skills. Once that is completed, we get to tour the reef a bit and let some of the students try their hand at taking pictures. All too soon it's time to head for our safety stop and, ultimately, our dive boat. Once we are aboard again, I get the students to begin breaking down their gear and get cleaned up so we can head to the shop and get their c-card paperwork done.

Congrats to all the new divers! I worked really hard over the last two days, but it felt good to know that I helped get some new divers started on the path to underwater adventure!

The Video Dude