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From Tom Pritchard . . .
To Paraphrase Woody Allen, "90% of Life is Just Being There."
Even non-divers know what buddy diving is and why it's important. Open water students get the message loud and clear, and most do their best to go in, stay with, and exit the dive with the same dive partner. As divers become more experienced and confident, they take a more casual approach to having a dive partner, hence the saying, "Same ocean, same day." It's true that some divers have no intention of staying with their buddy, but in most cases it comes down to effort: Some divers try harder than others to stay with their dive partner. When the viz is low, trying takes extra effort - and takes on extra significance. Dan Myers had a few things to say about everything, including buddy diving. The first time I met Dan, he was working the counter at the shop (now there's a scary thought!) He told me about some of the deep dives he was doing, and he either said or I suspected he was solo diving. He said when you're really deep, a buddy can't help you much. Then he added that he didn't want some screwball to get him involved in his problem, and by the same token, he didn't want to get someone else killed because of a problem of his own doing. It made some sense, but here's the rub. Quoting Dan again, this time after someone was caught solo diving at Willow: "It's virtually impossible to kill yourself at Willow, even solo diving." Dan died at Willow when his rebreather failed. It happened after his 3 minute safety stop when divers typically disperse on their way to the exit. There were a dozen divers close by, but not one close enough to offer the minimal amount of help it would have taken to save his life. This isn't a knock on Vern because of what happened to him on the Oil Wreck awhile back. I wasn't with my dive buddy either; hey, shit happens, but the bottom line is, I was alone as well. We all screw up under water, sometimes in small ways - and sometimes in big ways. Monday was Vern's turn to screw up; the good news is it took almost no effort on my part to fix the problem, because for some dumb reason, I happened to be in the right spot. Dan was wrong. Dive with someone you trust and perhaps someday he'll do something small that makes a big difference. Sometimes the help you need is nothing more than pointing to the anchor line, reaching your spare light, or cutting monofilament off your regulator - simple stuff that a third hand can do in seconds. Before Dan died I tried to stay with my buddy; since then I've tried harder. Monday's experience was a freebee reminder that 90% of Life is Just Being There. Before you can help someone under water, you have to be there. Nobody was there for Dan that night; he died in 10 feet of water.
Keep on diving and LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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