DSMB Orientation
Delayed surface marker buoys are an essential item of personal safety equipment which indicate your position to your own dive boat crew and other watercraft. This course aims to teach correct deployment techniques and provide practice on a number of different systems. Our courses are run according to the Mavericks training philosphy.


Prerequisites:
  • Qualifications: entry level diving qualification from any agency (including NAUI, PADI, BSAC, CMAS, SAA, SSAC, etc.)
  • Experience level: none
  • Minimum age: 12
  • Diving medical: self assessment acceptable

Equipment:

  • If you own your personal diving equipment, it's best to take the workshop using this. If not, Mavericks Diving will loan you all that you need, except for a prescription face mask.
  • You will need your own bathing costume and a towel.

Duration:

  • approx. 3 hours

Dates & availabilty:

  • on request



Delayed surface marker buoys (DSMBs) are an essential item of personal safety equipment. DSMBs indicate your position to your own dive boat crew and other watercraft. They are indispensable for diving in even mild current because by the time you have ascended to your safety stop depth and waited three minutes, you can have drifted hundreds of metres unseen. If you are making stage decompression dives, a 15 minute stop will see you travel over half a kilometre in a current of little over one knot. To understand how hard it is for the boat crew to see you at these distances, check out Steve Warren's feature article for Diver Magazine Dead Calm. DSMB's also help make you visible to other boaters, reducing the risk of being caught up in a collision as you make your final ascent (think about how a yacht's keel would feel hitting your head...). A DSMB is also beneficial when dives go wrong - for example if you abort and surface early and unexpectedly it's more likely you will be spotted if you use a DSMB.

But delayed surface marker buoys are quite useless if you don't know how to deploy them properly; and deployment of DSMBs causes even experienced divers problems. Under-inflation, capsizing, knots coming undone, reels jamming and lines snagging divers and taking them to the surface are just a few of the hazards of DSMB deployment. Just like using a BCD, a DSMB must be properly controlled if it is to add to your safety margin and not erode it. Just as you trained to use your BCD correctly, training to use a delayed surface marker buoy properly and safely is an investment. Our DSMB orientation provides that training. This Mavericks Diving DSMB orientation also takes full advantage of our new location on the Action Underwater Studios lot. The AUS filming tank provides 6 metres of water in which to learn and practice DSMB handling. NAUI Worldwide instructors Andrew Pugsley (AJ) and Steve Warren will first of all explain the benefits of using DSMBs and outline the problems they are designed to avoid. As part of this presentation they'll also discuss with you some incidents where divers have become separated from their cover boats. They'll explain how these incidents happened and show you how to minimise the risk of it happening to you. Steve and Andrew will highlight other safety equipment that should be considered to back up your DSMB. Next they'll go into detail about the problems divers can experience deploying DSMBs and, vitally, how to prevent them.

In the tank Steve and Andrew can either take you through the steps needed to deploy the DSMB you already own or let you try a range of DSMB options including open bottomed and self-sealing models. You can also try several styles of reels. The boys are always happy to discuss DSMB and reel stowage choices with you, helping you configure your DSMB system for maximum ease of use. Steve and Andrew use professional radiophones in the tank to talk you through each stage of your DSMB deployment skills. Being able to speak to you underwater makes teaching and learning much more efficient, letting Andrew and Steve help you to really hone your skills.

As with all Mavericks Diving courses, we have endeavoured to ensure you will derive maximum value from your time with us at Action Underwater Studios. You'll get plenty of time in the tank to work on skills you will have been personally coached in. On a Mavericks Diving course you'll never be part of a large group or rushed.


See also:

To book this course we recommend you get in touch by phone, e-mail, or by dropping into the shop to discuss the requirements. If you've already done that, you can download the booking form (editable pdf).