Patent ID: 7001235

Claim:
An ascent decompression surface marker buoy apparatus for a diver comprising: an inflatable buoy having an inflated configuration suitable for floating on water when required to float and a deflated configuration suitable for folding or rolling up; a reel having a locking means for opposing rotation of said reel; a line wound around said reel and attached directly or indirectly to said inflatable buoy at a free end thereof; and an anchoring means to which said inflatable buoy is secured, said anchoring means for detachably connecting said reel to said inflatable buoy, said anchoring means defining a filling conduit for said inflatable buoy that at one end forms an ingress through which air can be introduced and at another end comprises an aperture over a rim of which a mouth of said inflatable buoy is located, an unlocking of said locking means for enabling said inflatable buoy to detach from said reel and ascend to a surface of the water as said reel unwinds to pay out said line when said inflatable buoy is in said inflated configuration, said locking means is operated by a finger-catch incorporated into a handle, said finger-catch suitable for unlocking said reel by only one hand of the diver.