As an officer, it’s important to keep tabs on the entire operation of a dive, from prep to dive time.
As adventure and exploration cruising grows in popularity, diving is moving into a more prominent position among the activities yachts offer. In the past few years, most boats my colleagues and I have been involved with are dive-heavy, if not dive-exclusive, in their programs. With dive-heavy ops come massively increased operational complexity. There’s more that can go wrong, between the tender ops, gear prep and the dive itself. Focusing on the big picture, we as officers need to keep tabs on the whole operation. It’s important to remember the more granular you are in an operation — for example, if you are the tender captain or if you are actually a dive participant — the less likely you are to keep a wide view and spot misses.
The key in each step is accountability. Who’s responsible for which parts? It’s our job as officers and HODs to designate accordingly. From prepping the tenders to preparing the gear and charging the dive tanks, everyone needs a role; otherwise, it will be no one’s job.
Assign exactly which crew member will be the tender captain, as it will be their area of responsibility, which covers pre-startups, launching, med kits and any food and drinks. Assign who exactly will be responsible for the dive gear prep, including correct weights and sizings in each kit, each cylinder filled completely with the correct mix and all connections functioning correctly. Assign who exactly will be lookout during the dive. That covers maintaining visual sight on bubbles and monitoring bottom time. Depending on crew size, each job can then be further delegated or combined, but the key is to ensure someone is always ultimately responsible for each part. It helps to write it on a whiteboard or put it in the WhatsApp group.
For example, the nitrox mix. It’s a process that can take an hour or more depending on how many tanks you’re charging, and it can get handed around as crew rotate for breaks. So it must be one person responsible for the final outcome, regardless of whether the job changes hands.
By the time we get to HOD/officer level, it’s time to step back somewhat, delegate and observe. We know each role in the big picture because, ideally, we’ve done it many times over. Yachting truly is made of many different skill sets; the best part is bringing them together in one single experience.
The Four Main Steps to Each Dive
- Dive plan: This is the dive leader’s responsibility. It involves planning the route, entry and exit, depth limits and location. It should include plans B and C for backup sites if conditions don’t quite suit upon arrival. The plan should also consider each participant’s skill level as well as bottom-time considerations for multiple dives, or if guests are flying out soon, allowing for adequate decon time.
- Prep gear and tenders: This is crucial and where things get missed. Coordinates on the tender’s nav system, final nitrox mix (if using) triple checked with differing sensors, all gear for each diver accounted for and labeled etc. There should absolutely be a standardized prepared checklist to go through; you cannot rely on memory for this one. It must include suits, BCDs and individual fin sizing, to name a few. There’s too much that can get missed to go without a written checklist.
- Launch and monitor: Pre-dive briefing covering dive time, dive buddy pairing, roughly where the SMB (surface marker buoy) will surface and approximately when the dive will end.
- Recover and debrief: Head count, check-in and safe recovery. This also includes record-keeping and bottom time and any gear faults.