Red flags are raised when they start telling me how great of a diver thay are, even though they have not dove in three years. Also warning flags are raised when I have some hot shot kid with 8 dives speculating on my gear, telling 30 year divers they are doing somethinig wrong and generaly being dumb kids. The unfit always worry me as they need extra help with everything esp reboarding the boat. And finaly those that spread there gear all over the boat with no regard for others.
Boat operators-differences between good & bad divers?
- Thread starter Kamchatka
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Another question to the original poster... Is this thread about determining good versus bad divers, or divers who are easy to be with on the boat and divers who are a pain in the arse?
I've seen plenty of brand new not so skilled divers who are a pleasure to dive with, and others with better diving skills who can be generally a pain. In general the divers who are not a pleasure to have on board are few and far between but it can happen.
I've seen plenty of brand new not so skilled divers who are a pleasure to dive with, and others with better diving skills who can be generally a pain. In general the divers who are not a pleasure to have on board are few and far between but it can happen.
I qualify this statement by saying I am not a boat captain and forgive me if I shouldn't post on this subject, but our boat captains expect their divemasters/crew to observe for potential problems that may exist simply because the captain is going to be busy at the helm and cannot be as observant. Having said that, the decision to dive is ultimately the diver's.
OP
Kamchatka
Contributor
Reponse to several posts: The thread is about, like Wildcard (nice post) said, what should raise the red flag of caution, not necessarily good vs. bad. And diving with the "unconscious" diver (see previous explanation) need not be an unpleasant experience but I've never been overly comfortable with them or relied upon them (or anyone but myself for that matter). rawls: Your post is welcome. I shouldn't have requested only "pros" respond.
I'm finding this thread very informative.
Any other captains want to chime in?
Jeff
Any other captains want to chime in?
Jeff
I was a giant waving caution flag on a boat when I was feeding the fish with vigor and majesty, judging by a deck hand's attention to me. Anyone putting that much effort into it *had* to stick out, eh? I had (with all due urgency) found the leeward side of the boat, and although my communication was somewhat impaired (except to my good buddy Ralph, whose presence I was positively demanding), I was able to let him know that I was just fine in spite of my temporary condition.
After evaluating me, they came to the conclusion that I was not in any danger, and that other than the slight inconvenience, I was no problem. Sure, I was the obvious answer to "Who among these appears most likely to have problems?", but they did not get stuck on the obvious answer. They rightly dropped my threat level from "Danger, Will Robinson!" to "Hehe, the poor guy," and they went on to worry about the divers happily walking toward the exit with their unattached inflators dangling and their air off.
Needless to say, they remember me every time I dive with them -- they say I'm "hardcore", apparently because I'll quite cheerfully say things like, "Just give me a second. I have to throw up before I climb the ladder," and then start prepping for the next dive.
For boats running checkout trips (such as the ones I often dive with), anything that illustrates familiarity to the practicals of actual diving seem to get you into the hand-holding-not-(as?)-needed group. I've been tossed in the good bin due to jet fins ("I remember those... you still dive them?"), spring straps ("We love those things!"), and various other gear details. (An expensive dive computer does *not* do a thing, from what I've seen. They know better than to assume that shiny equals experience.)
Anything out of the ordinary, gear-wise, raises a flag. It's usually quite easy to tell from there whether it's a caution flag ("look at the pretty gear... and ponies!") or a green flag (logical reasoning of some kind). It's harder to tell the cloned divers (all diving by-the-book rental gear) apart, and that's where the black arts of crewing and divemastering come in. (Of course, they're only black arts to me for now... I'll begin along that path soon enough.)
After evaluating me, they came to the conclusion that I was not in any danger, and that other than the slight inconvenience, I was no problem. Sure, I was the obvious answer to "Who among these appears most likely to have problems?", but they did not get stuck on the obvious answer. They rightly dropped my threat level from "Danger, Will Robinson!" to "Hehe, the poor guy," and they went on to worry about the divers happily walking toward the exit with their unattached inflators dangling and their air off.
Needless to say, they remember me every time I dive with them -- they say I'm "hardcore", apparently because I'll quite cheerfully say things like, "Just give me a second. I have to throw up before I climb the ladder," and then start prepping for the next dive.
For boats running checkout trips (such as the ones I often dive with), anything that illustrates familiarity to the practicals of actual diving seem to get you into the hand-holding-not-(as?)-needed group. I've been tossed in the good bin due to jet fins ("I remember those... you still dive them?"), spring straps ("We love those things!"), and various other gear details. (An expensive dive computer does *not* do a thing, from what I've seen. They know better than to assume that shiny equals experience.)
Anything out of the ordinary, gear-wise, raises a flag. It's usually quite easy to tell from there whether it's a caution flag ("look at the pretty gear... and ponies!") or a green flag (logical reasoning of some kind). It's harder to tell the cloned divers (all diving by-the-book rental gear) apart, and that's where the black arts of crewing and divemastering come in. (Of course, they're only black arts to me for now... I'll begin along that path soon enough.)
- Messages
- 10,949
- Reaction score
- 4,153
- # of dives
- None - Not Certified
I have never been a Captain, but I've run my share of dive decks.
One- just for fun: The walking yardsale. Kind of like a moving dive shop retail peg board wall that gets jostled and stuff falls off of.
Number two, watch your shoe: The explodo-matic gear bag. As if he yanked a string and a life raft packed with accessories and save-a-dive kits spewed outward. Roughly taking up space allotted to accomodate 1.97 divers. No matter what effort, impossible to put 3# of poop back into a 2# bag.
Number Three, the burning tree: The guy who puts his cigarettes on the cameras only area.... just to keep them dry.
Four... there's more: The camera freak with a lot of gear and no intermediate containment system... that is- nothing to keep it together in after taking it out of his Pellican 3500 with the roller wheels, pull handle and back-up alarm.
Five...it's alive: The guy eating the sardines and cheese sandwiches. Or Mickey D's.
Six- a veritable bag of tricks: Multitudionous accessories including but not limited to dual Spare Air, Sea Gold Drops Platinum (made from the sweat of the inner thighs of Virgin Swedish DiveMistresses)
Seven, almost heaven: The violator of Newtonian laws, the muttonhead who insists on placing his weights on anything other than the lowest possible point (ie: the deck or in a purloined milk crate) chosing instead to place them on a seat where they can pitch off and really make an impression... on your toes.
8...Oh, was I late? The self centered clown that shows up at push off time, not at the be-at-the-dock-to-load time.
Nine- he starts to whine: After finishing his cigarette, he checks the tank air pressure and complains that it's 3000 and not 3200.
Ten- I could do it again!
One- just for fun: The walking yardsale. Kind of like a moving dive shop retail peg board wall that gets jostled and stuff falls off of.
Number two, watch your shoe: The explodo-matic gear bag. As if he yanked a string and a life raft packed with accessories and save-a-dive kits spewed outward. Roughly taking up space allotted to accomodate 1.97 divers. No matter what effort, impossible to put 3# of poop back into a 2# bag.
Number Three, the burning tree: The guy who puts his cigarettes on the cameras only area.... just to keep them dry.
Four... there's more: The camera freak with a lot of gear and no intermediate containment system... that is- nothing to keep it together in after taking it out of his Pellican 3500 with the roller wheels, pull handle and back-up alarm.
Five...it's alive: The guy eating the sardines and cheese sandwiches. Or Mickey D's.
Six- a veritable bag of tricks: Multitudionous accessories including but not limited to dual Spare Air, Sea Gold Drops Platinum (made from the sweat of the inner thighs of Virgin Swedish DiveMistresses)
Seven, almost heaven: The violator of Newtonian laws, the muttonhead who insists on placing his weights on anything other than the lowest possible point (ie: the deck or in a purloined milk crate) chosing instead to place them on a seat where they can pitch off and really make an impression... on your toes.
8...Oh, was I late? The self centered clown that shows up at push off time, not at the be-at-the-dock-to-load time.
Nine- he starts to whine: After finishing his cigarette, he checks the tank air pressure and complains that it's 3000 and not 3200.
Ten- I could do it again!
fisherdvm:
Actually I have the guides do the cert check/waiver.
As a captain I'm responsible (legally) for whatever happens from when we leave the dock until we return, even if what happens is totally beyond my control. My job (in addition to handling the boat) includes surface watch, alerting the dm/guide to potential problems, assisting with entry/exits, final predive checks and general monitoring of the entire trip.
The things that get me worried about specific people are:
1. Too much gear (especially if it's brand new). People seem to feel that owning gear somehow transforms them into a better diver...
2. Too many cards: Especially that guy whose got the DM or above. 90% of these people don't work as DM, they just got the card to show it to people.
3. People who have a specific thing that they don't want to see. Invariably the first thing that happens is that these people see the object of their terror (ok lets be real: sharks or eels). I've even had a person tell me they didn't want to see any FISH (yea like that's not a panic attack waiting to happen).
4. People who start the trip by telling me they always get sea-sick.
5. Old guys who talk too much story. Anyone who tells me that they've been diving since 'before I was born'. Interestingly enough this seems to be a male-only phenomena, older women divers rarely pull this crap.
6. People who start by telling me that they haven't been diving in 1 + X years.
7. Lawyers. Sorry all, but these people still scare the crap out of me.
8. Anyone under the age of 14.
In general I look around and see who acts comfortable and who does not. I chat with people (I'm the friendly kind of captain). I pass any observations on to the guide, often in sign form.
I gotta get me some of that Sea Gold Platinum!
(Of course, I'll just admire it and continue licking my own mask)
(Of course, I'll just admire it and continue licking my own mask)
H2Andy
Contributor
one time i was in Roatan, and heard one DM say to another (in Spanish): "we're going to have to keep an eye on the chubby couple"
it so happens i had been keeping an eye on them too, because they were just on the edge of being a disaster... not quite overtly bad divers ... just ... off somehow...
anyhow, i had a laugh when i heard the DM's talking like that
it so happens i had been keeping an eye on them too, because they were just on the edge of being a disaster... not quite overtly bad divers ... just ... off somehow...
anyhow, i had a laugh when i heard the DM's talking like that
Similar threads
