While support duties for cave divers are well established and documented on such websites as the WKPP, EKPP and GUE, support diver use during open ocean diving is not as defined and possibly not so widely used. During this essay I would like to explain the need for, and use of, support personnel for the open water tech diver.

I believe it’s fair to say the average ocean dive has far more variables to deal with than the average cave dive. From this premise I would like to list some of these and start to build the frame work for the support diver’s duties.

• Boat
• Weather
• Capt.
• Mate
• Current
• Wave Height
• Marine life
• Distance from medical help

From the list it’s fairly easy to see that many, if not all, are completely out of the diver’s hands. This brings me to the most important rule of open water diving, which is to keep the in-water exposure as small as possible. It is far safer to conduct two shorter dives than one long dive. This way we can minimize the amount of variables that we have to contend with, and the ones that do come up have the smallest amount of time in which to change.



It’s very easy, for instance, to find a boat in Florida, however finding a boat that is useful for our specific needs becomes a great deal more difficult. This has become a major limiting factor in ocean exploration within the State. We continue to run into the same pitfalls; lack of range, weather, fuel or water, lack of space for gear, poorly designed platforms, lack of ladders, and most communally gas. Finally, chartering a vessel which fits all our needs becomes massively expensive to the point that outside sponsorship is needed (a very challenging undertaking), or the team gets so large it becomes a safety factor. However even if one does find a vessel that they are comfortable using, there are still a number of issues that need to be addressed. Anyone that has been to sea will tell you “Two is One and One is None”. Having divers floating without a boat 80 miles off shore is a very dangerous activity. If this has been caused due to lack of maintenance of the fuel system, then it’s down right criminal in my opinion. Unfortunately this has and does happen. Even with the most well maintained vessel things break, which only does one thing: put the diver a greater and greater risk.

While the advertising agencies for the tourist industry will tell everyone that the sun never stops shining in Florida, we do have some interesting weather patterns that have to be considered. While the obvious is the chance of hurricanes, today these are somewhat predictable and fairly easy to avoid getting caught in while out to sea. The weather that does effect the State, and in the past has caused big problems to divers, are squall lines and micro bursts (heavy thunderstorms that come from out of nowhere with little or no warning). These weather systems are more normal during the hot summer months. This brings me to a still unresolved phenomena known as an upwelling. Over the past 4 summers there have been reports up and down the eastern seaboard of massive changes in water temp and clarity at different depths. During July 2004 it was not uncommon to have water in the 80s for the first 150’, and below that the viz dropped to a couple of feet and the temperature to the mid 40s... quite a shock when you first encounter it.

During any activity, the greater the number of individuals that are involved, the more likely problems will accrue. The Captain and our surface support is a vital link to our team. It doesn't take long before you realize that if the captain was to twist an ankle, the whole undertaking will be at serous risk. Going to the other extreme, if there is a major accident with a crew member on board, then we could have a far more threatening situation for all concerned.

By building your ocean experience slowly over a period of time across different times of the year, you will begin to see that there are patterns to various conditions that we have no control over, other than just not getting into the water. By these conditions I mean current, wave height and hazardous marine life. In each body of water there will be guiding forces, and here on the East Coast of Florida we are at the mercy of the Gulf Stream, a movement of water that acts much as a river within the ocean. It travels at around 3 to 5 miles an hour in a generally northerly direction. By knowing this we can plan accordingly, however at times it is not uncommon to find a current shear at different depths. This can be dramatic, with water moving in completely different directions at 2 to 4 miles an hour. This kind of condition can make shooting a Surface Marker Buoy [SMB] a major problem from below the shear. Certain areas of the world are known to have generally bad surface conditions or the ability to deteriorate very quickly. Although this may seem to be a bad place to dive because of these conditions, these are the type of conditions that invite a strong possibility of a large number of natural wrecks on the ocean floor. As with a lot of things in life, various individuals have a dramatically different reaction to the same action. For example, a jellyfish can produce a mild irritation to complete anaphylactic shock, and while watching a school of Tuna swim by at 30 miles an hour is a site to behold, you can be quite sure that where there are tuna, there are hungry sharks on their tails.

Once the decision to dive off shore has been made, the distance becomes a vital part of a safe dive plan. There are no hard and fast rules, but being more than 20 to 30 miles from shore the time for emergency responders to reach you is dramatically increased. With today’s advancements in communication and medicine, it is within the capability of a team to operate over 100 miles from the nearest safe harbor somewhat safely; carrying a sat phone, AED, and plenty on oxygen. The coastguard is more than happy to help organize extraction from dive sites far off shore. In fact, I have been involved in two separate projects where we were paid a visit over 100 miles offshore by the coastguard that used us a training mission for their pilots and commutations systems.

Over the last couple of paragraphs I have laid out some of the pitfalls that may arise during off shore diving activities. I mean this only as examples, and by no means is this meant to be a complete list of all the dangers or conditions that a team may encounter. By choosing to dive in the ocean, we are going into one of the worlds most dynamic environments, which by its very nature is in constant flux. I have listed some parameters to help you being to look at forming a detailed plan. By addressing the real dangers associated with open ocean diving far from shore, before getting into the water, we can maximize our safety and enjoyment. Considering where you are diving, and allowing local conditions to be a central aspect to the plan, a series of standard operation procedures can be put in place for the dive team and support divers.

Once we lose the ability to communicate or go directly to the surface we lose a lot of flexibility. This is where a well trained support diver can make the difference between a good day at sea and Murphy making everyone's life miserable. The trained support diver is the go-between for the gas dive team and support vessel. How and when support divers are utilized will be driven from the above discussion; however some basic premise from which to work does over lap. I have long considered that one of the greatest dangers from open ocean diving is to not be picked up by the boat. With this in mind we have to formulate a plan where the complete team can be handled by the boat as easily as possible. Even if we are able to use a chase boat of some type, the plan is going to be a great deal stronger if all gas divers can be visited by the support divers in one location, for example on the same shot or up line. By staggering the diver drop in synch with planned bottom times and deco schedules, we can arrive at a time when all bottom divers will be at the first deco switch within a few minutes of each other. With most ocean dives this will be the 70’ stop. We will discuss support for deeper dives that require additional deco gases later. If we use a support diver correctly in the ocean, they can always go to the surface using minimum deco, and their ability to ascend to the surface is key for a wide range of reasons, some of which I will now address.

• Toxing Diver
• Unconscious diver
• Lost Buddy
• OAA Diver
• Runaway Scooter
• Spent Equipment

During all GUE training after the Fundamentals program, rescues are covered in great detail. Both toxing and unconscious diver situations are discussed, conducted in dry runs, and then practiced in the water. These are core skills of a prepared support diver, and therefore should be practiced on a regular basis with a wide range of divers, so the support diver has experience with divers of sizes and shapes. By having the ability to take a toxing or unconscious diver to the surface slowly and under control is going to the key to saving that diver's life if conducted correctly. Unfortunately, historically this has not been the case and divers have suffered injury or death due to buddies that are not able or willing to get the diver to the surface ASAP. It is far better to be on the boat bent, then to drown or suffer a lung expansion injury due to an uncontrolled ascent to the surface.

While the dive team is responsible for each other during any dive operation, having a spare set of hands, so to speak, can make life a great deal eaiser for all concerned. If the support divers meet the team at the prearranged depth and time, the gas divers have various options. The support diver will carry extra deco gas and also be utilizing a back gas that can be used in a flexible manner. For this reason we have been using 21/35 for a number of years with very good results. The support diver should wait and meet the gas divers at the deco stop. By using this mix the support diver has the ability to go deeper to help if there has been an OOA situation and the team is running low. We use a procedure that calls for the gas divers to give a clear OK light signal to the waiting support divers when the gas divers reach stops in view of the support team, to establish communication. Should the team need assistance, attention or OOA signals can be given to the support team. With the current technology in lights, these signals can be seen in all but the worst of conditions and acted upon before the problem becomes critical.

During any gas switch, divers must to be completely situational aware. Having a support diver RECHECK all switches and having extra deco gas available for failed regs or such is a great help in reducing errors and maximizing the tools left to the dive team. With any kind of mechanical device, it is possible for the device to malfunction; this is also true of scooters. By turning down the pitch on a runaway scooter, the diver will not have to make continuous circles of the team, thus reducing their ability to help a team member. By being able to hand off a scooter and having the support diver take it back to the boat, we can maintain team unity. Once back on board the scooter needs to be dealt with correctly, because leaving the scooter running for the next hour or so will damage the seal and possibly cause injury. This again is why the boat crew is an integral part of a complete dive team. The same is true of other spent equipment such as stage bottles that have been used during the dive. By cleaning the bottom divers up early the surface personnel have less to deal with if the weather gets bad during deco, and the bottom divers are in a more comfortable situation as far as gear management during deco and upon reaching the surface.

So far we have discussed emergencies and gear failures, but having the benefit of a good support team in place allows us to really start to make the dive work like a well oiled machine. During technical diving operations there are many other duties that can be given to the support divers to make the gas divers feel more comfortable. These may include helping set up down-lines, helping gas divers gear up, fetching additional bottles or scooters a pitching boat, staging stashes of deco bottles on the down line for the gas divers to pick up on the way down; making rough surface conditions much easier to deal with. Support divers can hand down or stage delicate equipment, such as cameras or sampling equipment, to considerably reduce the chance of damage. It is very easy to overlook properly training a support diver, but by taking the time to educate the growing tech diver they become a truly skilled diver and a valued member of the team.

As was mentioned in the beginning of this essay we dive in one of the planet's most dynamic environments. The true idea behind what I have written is to get divers thinking about growing their team outside of their dive buddy and to include support divers. We have to look at each situation and formulate a plan to get our desired goal completed in the safest way, while making sure it stays fun for all concerned and continues to be of an educational benefit, as we should always be growing as divers. Each area of the world will have its own unique environmental issues; whether it be cold water, massive tidal changes, or shipping traffic. By looking at the real dangers for your environment, and what needs to be done to keep the gas divers safe, we can use our support divers in an intelligent manner.


Dean Marshall