In fact the DM's on this boat also keep track of you by name and who your dive buddy is. Case in point....I broke the cardinal rule of staying in physical contact with the descent/ascent line to the wreck as there were 3 divers coming up and I was going down so I dropped off the line to drop below then fully intending to get back on the line just under them. I did not realize we had some current so I found it difficult to get to the line. No problem I thought...I would drop a bit lower and swim forward towards the line and there'd be no problem. However the current was running top to bottom that day...very unusual and so by the time I got to the bottom and swam towards the boat...even with over 100ft of vis that day...I could not see the sub. So I started to go back up slowly still swimming into the current to hopefully prevent me from being too far away from the boat when I surfaced.
I did about a minute safety stop as my time in the water had been extremely limited but while doing it I shot my lift bag to the surface to hopefully alert the boat where I was. By the time I surfaced I was very far from the boat and drifting further away. I immediately inflated a VERY LONG safety sausage...about 8ft in addition to my bright yellow 75 pound lift bag! I wanted to be seen...and as long as I could see the boat I knew they could or would see me.
Besides...earlier in the week a diver had lost their camera and my boat capt vectored back to that camera within about 3 ft. Any more accurate and he would have run it over!!! I had also watched him vector back with currents to his speargun when it had gone over board hours earlier so I knew he'd find me. All I had to do was stay calm knowing that they would have to get divers up first...then pull anchor and then they'd come and find me. Fortunately I was one of the last divers so I knew the process would be awhile but not hours.
But back to the story...so my dive buddy actually was a really good buddy that day and although we don't always stay glued to one another we will ensure that we both are at the bottom together and go from there. Since he never saw me make it to the bottom and he knew the current was strong...he figured I got off the line and had a problem. He snooped around on what was his favorite wreck for a few minutes more and then realized that I was still not showing up so he started to go back up looking for me on the line hoping I was just having clearing problems or had gotten back on the boat. He had planned to drop back down once he knew I was safe...however when he surfaced and yelled if I was on the boat he knew there was a problem as I was not. Everyone immediately began looking for me at sea. About the same time they started looking, my lift bag hit the surface and shortly thereafter I did. I thought I saw them all at the back of the boat waving to me to try and signal me...(now he has a flare gun to signal when they have spotted you!) so I was confident it would only be some time before I was found. They later told me they saw the bright yellow of the lift bag and then when the sausage popped up...they said it was the only time they were thankful for things being BIGGER in Texas!!! LOL!!!
And yes I had a fairly long wait...I decided to keep swimming towards the boat to keep it in sight..more for my sanity then anything else because I knew if he could find a camera in water several hours after it was lost with current...he'd certainly find me.
So even if my dive buddy would not have responded properly...I know that I still would have been found due to the tight procedures followed on the boat regarding divers in and out and roll calls. (I also like the way that the DM's explain this to divers so that they ALSO know that safety is of utmost importance on the boat!) The trick was to stay calm...keep my wits and just relax knowing the safety procudures on the boat were more then sufficient to keep me safe. Now mind no man eating eels came after me...nor did any sharks...heck I couldn't even get the barracuda to play with me to keep me company while I was waiting!
What would I have done differently? Aside from NEVER getting off the line again...if I did for some reason and could not get back to it immediately...then I would surface immediately knowing that I would still come within 200 yds of the boat and well within the safety rope lengths and therefore could have been pulled in and attempted the dive again!
Ah the beauty of diving...that which doesn't kill us makes us better divers!!!
