For this exercise, the goal is to find and follow your tether. This is one of the most critical skills an ROV pilot needs to master. It can mean the difference between recovering your ROV or having to leave it behind if you get the tether stuck on or around something.

Navigate away from your deployment point about 30 meters (90 feet) or as much as space will allow. Turn the ROV to look for and find your tether. If you do not immediately see it, look straight ahead and turn, then look up and turn and finally look down and turn. If you still do not find it, repeat the search process until you do. When turning, do not turn in one direction more than 360 degrees so you do not put unnecessary turns in the tether. If you are sure the tether is not stuck on something, you can have the tether handler put a little tension on it and that might help you find it.

While following your tether, you should try to get and keep the camera as close as possible to the tether. The most likely time you will find yourself stuck or wrapped around something is when the visibility is low, so you will need to be good at following the tether close enough to keep in constantly in view. You may also find that the tether will lay in the water in a helix shape from being stored in a coil. In this situation you may be required to tilt your camera up and down as you go to maintain visual contact with the tether.