Cave Etiquette: Passing another team heading the same direction.

[Greenwood_60]

With this past weekend being particularly busy at Peacock, my buddy and I were twice in a position of being behind another group we didn't want to be behind.

The first was following a four man team of divers, with one of the four divers utilizing a full on flutter kick down the peanut line. I was optimistic they would turn early, or at least stay on the mainline, so we could make our jump to the crossover and have decent vis. When they hit 1050' and started dropping a jump, I quickly pulled out my slate and altered the plan to waterhole. It turned out to be a great dive.

The other was a class (in good form) moving slower than we were down the Olsen line. With the size of much of the passage down the olsen line, we were able to easily pass them with tons of clearance. That didn't stop me from feeling like an impatient #######.

The second team made it clear on the surface after the dive that there was absolutely no problem with us passing them. Unfortunately we didn't run in to the first team on the surface.

So my question: Is there proper cave etiquette when passing another team heading the same direction?

[Superlyte27]

Swing wide, steer clear, don't impede, and go on with it.
There's no issue with passing a slower team provided you stay out of their way when and after you do it.

[Greenwood_60]

Swing wide, steer clear, don't impede, and go on with it.
There's no issue with passing a slower team provided you stay out of their way when and after you do it.

Thanks Peter. That's basically what I figured. It just seemed impolite at that moment.

[Jay]

I ususally bump them with my scoot a few times then pin them to the rock or silt on the way by.

I find most are usually so inattentive or poorly trained that they do not even have the etiquette to yield to an exiting team.

[kotik]

I recently had an experience that's relevant to this.

I had a day at Little River, and left my reel in after the first dive. I had to get on the road early that day, so for the second dive I just planned to take a quick trip down the mud tunnel using the gas remaining from my first dive (maybe 2500 psi), and then pick up my reel on the way back.

When I started the second dive, there were a couple of guys who had just gone in and were running their own reel. Obviously with such a limited time available I didn't want to wait, so I went around them-- I passed over their heads quickly, with plenty of room between us.

It soon became obvious that me doing this must have completely pissed them off. I had gone down the line to the jump pretty quick to put a decent distance between us, and as I was tying my jump reel in I saw some light coming my way. Just as I turned to head into the tunnel, these guys shot around the corner and blasted their way straight into the mud tunnel ahead of me. A cloud of silt exploded out behind them-- I went in anyway, and visibility was down to about six inches. And the noise... I could hear them banging their way down, it sounded like church bells announcing the wedding of the next king and queen. By this time I was laughing until my sides hurt thinking "that can NOT be fun!"

[diveconjeff]

This would of course be rather specific to the size of the passage involved.

FWIW, I tend to subscribe the "do onto others..." philosophy. Carrying the yield to exiting teams idea one step further, if I become aware of a team coming up behind me, and there is a nice place to "pull over" up ahead, I am happy to do so.

When preparing to overtake another team, I try to make them aware of my presence with a couple sweeps of the light and afford them the same opportunity to allow me to pass.

The last time I got pinned by a scooter, I did say' "Can I PLEASE have my spear back." Everyone appreciates kindness.

[Red Hat Jef]

I was in a situation once where passing became a problem. A team of divers (a class I think) went to pass us. We were swimming our typical slowish pace, and they were swimming go-fast-get-further-new-cave-diver pace. I was diver 1 (leading) and the class got between diver 2 and 3 in our group. At just that time the class hit their turn, and during the confusion, pinned diver 3 in place (small place in the orange grove tunnel, where a pass really should not have occurred) so he could not get to us. We (divers 1 and 2) saw the group approaching (flickering lights behind us) and then saw a light following us. It wasn't for another 200 feet or so that we discovered that we'd lost diver 3. It was a bit scary - losing a diver - but we did lost buddy, stayed put for a while within some gas constraints, etc. Meanwhile, he had determined that he could not catch up and did not want to fly fast and solo to catch up, so he exited the cave.

The moral of the story for me is that when I see a group of divers and there is a passing situation in either direction, I make darn sure I check to make sure I have an intact group both before and after the pass, and I make sure the people in my group are really my buddies and not another team's divers who got confused.

[ScubaPilot]

We usually move at a fairly leisurely pace, so it's not unusual on a busy day for another team to approach us. We always give way to the faster team when practical. It would seem to be common courtesy, but that, like common sense, isn't very common apparently. As for proper etiquette, our instructor generally taught us to be courteous in all situations. So your approach sounds reasonable to me. Certainly if you were passing me I would wave you past so you would clearly know that I was OK with it.

[Cavemn]

I ususally bump them with my scoot a few times then pin them to the rock or silt on the way by.

I find most are usually so inattentive or poorly trained that they do not even have the etiquette to yield to an exiting team.

sounds like it takes too long, maybe just grab at as many loose hoses as you can as you fly by

[rddvet]

It's funny this subject came up. Two of us dove the peanut side on sunday and the plan was to go very slow since the lead diver was having a little back stiffness. We're normally slow, but went much slower than usual. A team of two kept creeping up behind us and then backing off and then coming back up behind us. Their lead diver was writing novels on the walls and would come so close behind me that I could feel exhaust on my fins. I continually moved to one side and signaled them to pass beginning when they were fairly far behind us and when they were right up my butt. No matter how many signals I gave they would not go past us and I have no idea why. Finally we got to an area with a dome in the ceiling and I signaled my buddy to ascend to the ceiling and just wait for them to pass because I couldn't take having someone right up my rear and having to constantly figure out if the light flashes were signals or poor form.

150 feet after we let them pass, they turned the dive and we had to get out of their way again. I have no clue why the refused to pass us and at one point questioned if it was something I was doing.

And I didn't see the flutter fanatic, but I heard about it from about 5 different people.

All I know is Sunday was the worst viz in the cavern zone I've seen in my short cave career.