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<font color='#000080'>I think Andy Hayhurst will teach this course. Why not give him a bell? I'm sure he'd be happy to run through what was actually in the course.
Matt, all solo dives must be carried out with someone knowing exactly what you plan to do, and ensuring those things happen exactly when they do. For example, I tell the skipper on solo dives exactly what time to expect my SMB. If it's not there, there's potentially a problem. I also tell them exactly what time I should be at the surface, and if I overrun that time by more than 5 mins, call the coastguard. Then again, it's a similar situation for a buddy pair. When someone gives me their dive time, as soon as they overrun I'm thinking about who to call. Give it 5 minutes, maybe 10 in a heavy sea (as we might not have seen them) and then onto the coastguard. No point messing about.
If you're shore diving solo, it's with surface cover or not at all in my case. Self rescue on the shoreline, certainly around the UK, can be difficult, and someone on the side to at least co-ordinate any emergency services is essecntial. I personally don't like diving n a pair without surface cover. It's not safe enough for me. As it is, in the club, we always have someone around to sort that end of things, and it's very well run. Outside the club, you can't always guarantee that sort of cover, so I'm extra careful.  |