Abandoned at Sea - Sun June 26, 2005 - The Ibis, Dania Beach, Hollywood Fl.

[djanni]

Courious... You mentioned a couple of young guy's. Was the Captain and a Dive Master the two guy's? Was there just 1 DM or 2? How many divers on your trip?

Perhaps the sentiments expressed here are getting back to them. Or, maybe it's due to a few kind words from the Coast Guard.

Either way I'm just glad they're now more concious of their customers safety and executing a roll call after a dive.

Holly ***t , me and 5 friends just dove with them yesterday!!! 8/14/05 . we did a wreck and a drift dive. and YES they are calling row . I was telling my group how nice and attentive the crew was (I ussually find all crews about the same) and that I and and the group will definetly be back!! , we had a great dive.well , Im glad they learn their lesson from your experience. glad everything turn out great!!.theyre a couple of young guys so they will learn from this.

 

[Miami_Diver]

1 dive master and the captain.

 

[KangarooSeatbelt]

"...as reported to me by a member of this board that Neil has not kept his promise. On a dive yesterday they were counting heads again."



I dived with them on Friday night and I can tell you all they did was a head count, no roll call was taken.

Holy crap! you're lucky the water wasn't seething with blacktips, like in Open Water . With the Ibis gone, you should have just done like in the movie and taken your bcds off and sank to the bottom.

Seriously though, that's flipping terrible, and I will certainly never dive with them .... thanks for the heads up!

 

[jhawke]

Thank you for posting your story. I'm glad that you came out of this situation O.K. I think Scuba diving is a pretty safe sport but ops like this do give our sport a bad rep.

I use this board as part of my pre-trip planning. So I will be sure not to dive with these guys - ever.

Thanks again for sharing your story.

-Jason

 

[ReneeC]

Goodie! More room for me on the boat!

I like these guys and from all I have heard from my fellow instructors who use them regularly is that the lesson has been learned. Wasn't that the point!
If I stopped diving with every boat that doesn't do a proper roll call, doesn't have adequate staff, doesn't keep proper O2 and first aid - there would be few boats to dive with. This event successfully educated a dive operator. I doubt that he will be negligent again.

 

[Charlie99]

If I stopped diving with every boat that doesn't do a proper roll call, doesn't have adequate staff, doesn't keep proper O2 and first aid - there would be few boats to dive with.

That's a very interesting attitude for an instructor. There are lots of boats that do a proper roll call, have adequate trained staff, and keep proper O2 and first aid gear. Why use the schlock boats that don't? Why not give your students a good example by insisting upon safe operation of the boats you use.

 

[Padipro]

That's a very interesting attitude for an instructor. There are lots of boats that do a proper roll call, have adequate trained staff, and keep proper O2 and first aid gear. Why use the schlock boats that don't? Why not give your students a good example by insisting upon safe operation of the boats you use.

That would be nice but not all of us live in Perfect where...

1. We don't always have a choice as to which operation we use for training as the dive trips are often set up by the shop, not the Instructor.

2. Not every operation does a proper roll call every time. Although they should.

3. Not all boats have adequately trained staff on board for every trip, sometimes people with less experience fill in for the regular staff.

4. Believe it or not we sometimes even have to (God forbid) take the word of the captian that he/she has proper O2 and first aid gear on board. Ever been in a rush to get things together before the boat leaves because of a last minute change in plans and take the word of your LDS staff that your tanks were filled to 3000 psi or that your buddy packed that extra light you needed to borrow?

If we stopped using every boat that failed to run their operation perfectly every time we'd be left with maybe one or two boats to choose from and they'ed always be full and you'd never beable to get a spot on board. Like the add says "We don't live anywhere near Perfect" so we sometimes have to make do with what we can get.

I agree with the folks that this op did a bad bad thing, something that I'm sure all op's do at one point or another. The only differance between this op and the others is that this time it came back and bit them in the ***, they got caught.

 

[Charlie99]

If we stopped using every boat that failed to run their operation perfectly every time we'd be left with maybe one or two boats to choose from and they'ed always be full and you'd never beable to get a spot on board. Like the add says "We don't live anywhere near Perfect" so we sometimes have to make do with what we can get.

OTOH, you do have a lot of choices in SE Florida. Drive another couple miles, or even just walk a few yards down the dock and you'll be able to find a quality boat. Why put up with mediocrity, which is what I interpreted Rennee's post as advocating.

I agree with the folks that this op did a bad bad thing, something that I'm sure all op's do at one point or another.

If you scroll way back up to the beginning of this thread, you will see that the Capt not only left divers, but that he also lied to the Coast Guard by claiming to be searching for them when he wasn't. Then he didn't follow through on his promise to do roll calls until it was commented upon on SB.

It's one thing to make a mistake or have a momentary lapse in judgement. It's another thing to lie. Mistakes get corrected. People's character tends to stay the same.

 

[Jacqueline]

That would be nice but not all of us live in Perfect where...

1. We don't always have a choice as to which operation we use for training as the dive trips are often set up by the shop, not the Instructor.

2. Not every operation does a proper roll call every time. Although they should.

3. Not all boats have adequately trained staff on board for every trip, sometimes people with less experience fill in for the regular staff.

4. Believe it or not we sometimes even have to (God forbid) take the word of the captian that he/she has proper O2 and first aid gear on board. Ever been in a rush to get things together before the boat leaves because of a last minute change in plans and take the word of your LDS staff that your tanks were filled to 3000 psi or that your buddy packed that extra light you needed to borrow?

If we stopped using every boat that failed to run their operation perfectly every time we'd be left with maybe one or two boats to choose from and they'ed always be full and you'd never beable to get a spot on board. Like the add says "We don't live anywhere near Perfect" so we sometimes have to make do with what we can get.

I agree with the folks that this op did a bad bad thing, something that I'm sure all op's do at one point or another. The only differance between this op and the others is that this time it came back and bit them in the ***, they got caught.

I am just curious...since I am contemplating learning how to dive, I have but one question here:
If the diving instructiors have no say as to who mans the boats, the equipment, O2, etc and how safety precautions will be implemented from the skipper, DM or whomever up on the surface, then who regulates, controlls or otherwise governs the safety standards of these dive shops or boat ops? Diving is serious.....this is people's lives we are talking about.

 

[ReneeC]

OTOH, you do have a lot of choices in SE Florida. Drive another couple miles, or even just walk a few yards down the dock and you'll be able to find a quality boat. Why put up with mediocrity, which is what I interpreted Rennee's post as advocating.

I am not advocating mediocrity. More like commenting on experience. I would be happy to see a posting that lists local dive operators that "quarantee" they do a roll call, the O2 bottle is full and the delivery mechanisms are working and clean, and who have properly trained and certified staff based on the diver ratios. And all that of course without charging outrageous rates.

It's one thing to make a mistake or have a momentary lapse in judgement. It's another thing to lie. Mistakes get corrected. People's character tends to stay the same.

I think it is very sad that you think this was a character flaw and not poor judgement.