When to call a dive... a question of limits.

[Scuba Cobra]

I have called a few dives. If I start getting uncomfortable and taking a second to calm myself to figure out why I am uncomfortable doesnt work, hard thumb is going up.

I called a dive Saturday on the Spiegel grove. It's been a bucket list wreck for me, I drove all the way from NC on a long weekend to get my shot at it. Things started out ok, 3' sea and 15mph wind. Current was pretty rough but being from NC I am use to current at the surface and was hoping it would drop to nothing on the wreck.

We finally make it down to the wreck and it was just an even worse current, so badly that your only real option was to pull yourself along the wreck, no spot was safe from the current.

25 minutes into our 70 minute dive I threw the thumb up. Current was beating us up, i wasn't happy with how my deco bottles where sitting, i felt pretty foot floaty (probably due to the new thick wool socks I wore) and I could tell my buddy wasn't having a good time. He had already called the penetration plan that morning. So it came the thumb.

Today there was absolutely no current in the Spiegel. I got stuck on the reef boat. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose.

 

[Stoo]

I don't recall ever calling a dive myself, but I do remember a dive where my buddy did, and so I did by extension.

My buddy and I pretty much started diving at the same time, in high school. Where I went the Instructor route, he went to commercial diving school. In a few years, he'd worked his way from diving all around the world, then to the Beaufort Sea, and finally, the North Sea where he worked as a saturation diver.

And yet with all his deep, dark and scary diving, as we set at the edge of the hole in the ice, for a modest little ice dive, he looked at me at simply said, "I'm not up to this today...". And that was it.

I've never forgotten that, and on occasion, I've wondered to myself WWSD? WHat would Simon do!

 

[txgoose]

I was at the training quarry with the Mrs. at 20-ish feet I tried to read a compass, put away a camera and get back into trim (was being silly with body positions if I remember right) all at the same time. Anyway, on came the vertigo. Just one too many tasks in the ol’ thinker. Gave the wife the thumbs up. Regrouped on the surface for a while and made a new plan. Was uneventful after that. I just knew that if I had waited it out underwater I would have been a liability if the Mrs had any issues. Once I became a whole buddy again we had a great day.

 

[TMHeimer]

Only time I recall calling a dive was one I aborted shortly after entering the water. I was with a group as a new diver with about 18 dives. Surge, zero viz pretty much. I chose not to descend further and went back to shore.
I suppose you could say I've "called" dives many times due to weather (particularly here in winter), but I don't really count that.
I have been retired my entire 15 years of diving, so I can dive almost any day I choose. Why pick a bad day?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Best call so far (I have nothing as exciting) was a former student and I were going on a fun shore dive. I could tell he wasn't feeling it, so I asked if he minded if we went to eat nearby instead. He perked up at that and said "Yeah!".

 

[rduquesnoy]

I called a dive a dive a couple of times when the visibility was so bad you could see absolutely nothing. Had to hold hands with my buddy. I remember this one time my buddy wanted to continue (god knows why) and at first I said it was ok. After another 10 minutes or so I decided to give up. There's no fun in diving with just 20cm visibility.

And I should not have gone diving this one time I developed an ear infection... bad idea. We had to do a negative entry which was painfull and made the problem with my ear even worse.

 

[BenjaminF]

It's not the boat I'm worried about.

You mean that the USCG might come to enquire about how you managed to lay your hands on one of their boats?

 

[eleniel]

I called an entire dive day just this weekend - it was a local dive and I was really excited to go for many reasons, we'd planned it out a month in advance, I have new gear I was going to take out (pool tested first of course), it was going to be great diving a new spot, the chance to see everyone, etc etc.
Unfortunately I got really sick a couple weeks ago with the actual flu, which decided to invite pneumonia to the party. I've mostly recovered from a lot of it but I still have a really bad cough and random severe sinus congestion. Friday I was still just not doing well enough so we told the group we wouldn't be able to make it.
We still hung out a bit at the LDS on Saturday, but no diving with everyone Sunday. I told my buddy he could go without me but he decided to stay home and rest (he was sick too but has recovered more than I have). I suspect he would've cancelled if I hadn't but me cancelling gave him an excuse without worrying about letting me down. (Not that I would hold it against him).

We've called a dive while on the boat before - diving Catalina last year. It was the third dive of a day trip, the previous dives had gone really well, we'd had very tasty lunch and lots of fun chat with the other divers, seas were relatively smooth for the area, etc but we just weren't feeling it when the time came to crawl back into cold wetsuits. He nervously suggested that he wanted to sit out the dive but quickly reassured me I could still dive if I wanted and that he was sure anyone on the boat would have no problem buddying me if I needed it - I was also too tired to get back in so was also planning on sitting it out - we both called that one as did a few others - no harm, no foul, no shame in listening to your body.

 

[Russjstewart]

Been on the boat and gotten on site, conditions were marginal, skipper said diveable. I said happy to sit on the boat, not worried about my charter fee. I started a trend, most people then said they were not happy with the conditions We moved else where.

Getting back on the boat was going to be difficult at best.

 

[Bookmon]

I've always taught myself and others best to call off diving and live than to cave to peer pressure and die; or other bad things.