BSAC Talk - Buoyancy Control
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SAFETY TALK - JANUARY 2007
Buoyancy Control
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Annual Diving Incident Report
I presented the 2006 Diving Incident report to the Diving Officers Conference in December 2006 and the full report can be seen at http://www.bsac.org/page/805/incident-report-2006.htm
The messages to be learned from this report have remained fairly constant and as before my advice is to all divers is that most diving incidents could be avoided had those involved followed a few basic principles of safe diving practice and to remember you can never have too much practice and the further you stay away from the limits of your own personal capabilities the more likely you are to continue to enjoy your diving.
 However, if there is one single thing that I would impress on all divers to focus on it is in matters of Buoyancy control. An increasing number of incidents occur as a direct result of a failure to control buoyancy adequately particularly during the critical descent or ascent phases of a dive and yet effective buoyancy control is a essential element of safe and enjoyable diving.
Brian Cumming (NDC Diving Incidents and Safety Advisor)
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BUOYANCY CONTROL
One of the attractions for many in diving is the enjoyment of the feeling of weightlessness. The ability to move almost effortlessly in three dimensions once achieved properly not only makes diving easy but also allows you to do other things, like take pictures or resolve minor problems, without task loading. It forms and essential part of all diver training and yet is so often poorly achieved.
Correct Weighting
A key aspect of buoyancy control is to conduct the dive properly weighted. This means being weighted such that at the end of the dive with a minimum reserve in your cylinder (50 bar) you are able to safely maintain a safety stop at 3m with minimal air in either suit or jacket. See previous article on weighting Shed the Lead
Proper Control
Correct buoyancy control is a continuous process and not something you do once and then forget about throughout the dive until the time comes to ascend. If you find yourself dropping down the shotline and then landing in a cloud of silt whilst you think about adjusting to neutral then you should try descending the shot at a steady rate whilst using the line as a visual reference only and arriving at the bottom already neutral and able to see clearly where to move off to next?
Do you find that if you want to stop and look at something as soon as you stop finning you hit the bottom and rapidly lose sight of your buddy? If you are properly neutral then firstly you will require very little effort to propel you through the water so that when you stop finning you should slow to a halt but maintain your horizontal positioning.
The ascent phase of the dive is often them most critical but again if you are diving neutral then a slight change to a vertical orientation should produce sufficient gas expansion to initiate the ascent and you then need to monitor your ascent rate and control it. Again try using buoyancy alone rather than finning or pulling up a shot line, simply using the shot as a visual reference.
Remember to ensure positive buoyancy once on the surface and in an emergency consider dropping the weight belt.
Practice
Buoyancy control is a fundamental skill of diving and like all skills requires constant practice. Unlike skills such as Mask clearing and rescue skills Buoyancy control is one that should be in constant use and so should be second nature to all divers and yet the problems for example identified with divers practicing mid water DSMB deployment indicate that there is room for use all to improve.
Practice – Practice – Practice
Think SAFE - Dive SAFE
Any suggestions for further items for inclusion would be welcome and can be made to divesafe@bsac.com
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Page last modified: 31st Jan 2008 - 15:21:42