Clare took this little video on a recent boat dive. It was meant to be an example of a perfectly executed backward roll off a rubber duck dive boat, but it turned out to be something else entirely!
[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbijb3QFHaY&w=540″]
The way a backward roll off a boat works is that the skipper counts down (or up – he’ll tell you what he’s going to do). On 3 (or 1), all the divers roll backwards off the boat TOGETHER. It’s very important that if you’re not ready or miss the countdown, you don’t move or roll until the skipper tells you it’s safe to do so. Otherwise you could land on top of another diver with your cylinder, which could cause very serious injury.
In the video, the diver on the right is not ready, and rolls well after the other divers. Grant tries to stop him but it’s too late. Fortunately it was an extremely calm day and the boat hadn’t drifted much, so the diver didn’t land on anyone. But on a windy day or at a location with surface current, correct backward roll technique is essential for the safety of all the divers.
