Mr Perfect
Some people seem to cruise through their dives more smoothly than others, with every eventuality covered. Yes, all right, they're annoying, but there's no secret to it: they're just organised! You could be too. Diver tells you how!
PICK YOUR MOMENT
The best time to dive could be determined by anything from the chances of getting a parking space to the time of slack water - or when the monsoon season falls.
Off Britain, weather and tides dictate the diving possibilities. The Met Office can give an indication of weather, though its forecasts cover large shipping areas. Tides are more predictable. Organised divers keep checking the weather forecasts and have a good understanding of tide tables. They might need to relate these to high water at Dover, for instance, and you can find that information in the daily paper.
Slack water often occurs when the tide is at its highest and about to change, but not invariably, so they check with a local dive store or skipper.
And when they go abroad, organised divers aren't automatically seduced by bargain offers - they find out whether it's the hurricane season, or if the live-aboard is guaranteed to float. They spend time weighing up the pros and cons before booking.
THE GEAR FOR THE JOB
It stands to reason that you shouldn't to do a night dive or wreck dive without two independent lamps, a deep dive without back-up gas supplies, or a coldwater dive without suitable thermal insulation, but it happens - though not to our organised divers.
Warmwater dives in plankton-infested seas might demand a lightweight one-piece suit. Dirty water would suggest the need for a full-face mask. Some instructors consider a slate and an octopus with an extra-long hose essential for training, and you should never consider diving in moving water without an SMB and reel.
If you are doing deco-stop diving, a suitable full-function computer is essential. Organised divers take two, and use both of them. They will have worked out their breathing gas requirements in advance, and taken extra cylinders if necessary.
A late-deployment SMB, compass, bottom-winder or line-cutter might all be essential items at times. But organised divers do not go into the water armed with every item of equipment they have ever purchased, and dressed like a Christmas tree! They know not only what redundancy means, but also which items are redundant to their needs.
PACKING IS AN ART
Rummaging around in your dive bag at the site or on board the boat indicates a distinct lack of forward planning. As an organised diver you will pack your bag with your equipment in the reverse order in which it is needed. So a towel and fins go in first, together with mask and snorkel, and separate hood if you use one.
Next goes your BC and regulator. Computers go in before your suit and boots and, if you wear an undersuit, that should end up at the top of the pile.
Of course, organised divers also make sure that nothing is likely to get broken in transit. And when travelling abroad they choose items that reduce the risk of nasty surprises at the airport with baggage found to be overweight. In fact, to ensure a flying start they might well have contacted airlines in advance to check and compare weight allowances.
SPARE-PART SURGERY
Spares make the difference between a dive and disaster. A blown O-ring might cost pennies to replace but can blow a dive if you don't have a spare with you. Organised divers don't rely on someone else having spare O-rings and don't expect a dive centre to carry them, especially if using DIN fittings.
Remember, it's not just your tank O-ring; there are those on all your hose connections too.
A blown high-pressure hose will curtail your activities dramatically, and a broken fin-strap or buckle can be just as frustrating if you haven't left home armed with a replacement.
Packing a small adjustable spanner and a set of Allen keys will make sure you can do those last-minute running repairs.
TIME LORDS
Organised divers are the ones who allow for bad traffic and long queues - they have probably taken the trouble to check ahead. They aren't rushed. They don't cause others to miss the tide, and they are never the ones to get on the RIB without their mask.
Their paperwork is intact, they have the right clothes for use between dives and have packed whatever they need in the way of food and drink, sun-block, insect repellent and first aid. Sickening, isn't it!
PLAN A, PLAN B
Organised divers know the site - even if they have never dived it before. They have listened carefully to the dive briefing of someone with good local knowledge, asked the right questions, and studied guidebooks and a large-scale chart of the area. They know what sort of marine life they can expect to find, and have a good idea in advance of the layout of a wreck.
Enjoying the dive is the essence of the exercise, but if you cause others not to enjoy theirs you are doing something wrong. Organised divers agree a dive plan with maximum depths and durations before they start. Unilaterally changing the plan is downright rude.
Plan the dive but recognise that the plan is often the first casualty of war - so build in contingencies and agree them with your buddy.
Neat in the water
Equipment configuration is a posh expression for how you wear your gear. Organised divers check that everything stowed will still be accessible in the water. They know how to deploy every item of gear with their eyes closed because they've practised it - probably in the pool!
Hoses are tucked away in such a fashion that they neither jeopardise the dive site nor are jeopardised themselves. At the same time they must be allowed to function when needed. An extra-long octopus hose might be a good idea, but only if it can be deployed expediently. Karibiners and clips are used to keep things neat, and nothing is allowed to dangle free.
Many organised divers wear the octopus rig on their left so that in a crisis, when the party tricks learned during training sometimes get forgotten, it can easily be used by another diver approaching from any angle. Organised divers ensure that their buddies are familiar with every aspect of their equipment.
Decompression stops are planned before diving. They do not take organised divers by surprise. Carry stage-tanks clipped securely to your BC should you need them, and be sure the BC has sufficient buoyancy to take the extra weight.
PREARRANGED SIGNALS
Communication skills reveal true character. If a dive is of a specialised nature, you might have to invent appropriate signals and agree them with your buddy before you hit the water. This can save a lot of troublesome misunderstandings later on.
Hand gestures to indicate the sighting of a hammerhead or a basking shark can easily be misunderstood if they are improvised at the last moment! Organised divers carry slates and pencils for when it is necessary.
In wrecks or during night dives, organised divers don't shine their lights in their buddy's face, either. They shine them at their signalling hand so that their buddy can get the message.
LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP
Committing yourself to the water needs careful consideration, though that needn't mean keeping everyone waiting while you ponder. Organised divers build in time to double-check that they are wearing everything they need.
There's nothing more embarrassing than jumping in without your weightbelt, or with your air turned off, or with your regulator out of your mouth, but it happens all the time, even after a buddy-check.
The organised diver also takes the trouble to check that there are no other divers immediately below before taking the plunge.
MIND OVER MATTER
Organised divers use their brains, not their muscles. They know that it's useless to fight nature, better to go with the flow. They are calm under water because they have everything under control.
They develop routines which they can follow automatically, such as monitoring their own gas supply together with that of their buddy. They always leave enough for a leisurely ascent and a safety stop, even if no deco-stop is needed. They are always neutrally buoyant and relaxed.
PRESENT AND CORRECT
Organised divers always carry some means of signalling their position at the surface, whether it be air-horn or flag, safety sausage or heliograph, flare or EPIRB, or combinations of two or more. They stay together and wait patiently for the boat to approach until it is safe to get on board.
Organised divers stay cool and calm, and don't crowd a boat's ladder. They know that other divers can slip and fall, and immediately underneath them is no place to be!
AFTER DIVING
Logbooks written up, fully debriefed, organised divers make sure their help
is no longer needed by others before leaving the boat or shore-side. All their diving equipment is washed in fresh water and dried before being stored in a cool, dry place. Items that need servicing, such as regulators and cylinders, are attended to as soon as they are no longer needed, not just before they go back into action.
Everything is left in order ready for next time, but it is still rigorously checked before being repacked for another trip. Organised divers have every reason to feel pleased with themselves!
Appeared in DIVER - June 1999
