Bad Experiences

[Lawman]

I'm a newbie even though SSI AOW. Anyone ever have this experience?....My first ocean dive we got to the reef and our briefing was "here we are, jump in". I did and my weight belt fell off [pear shaped body] then our 'group' not buddies wound up out of air 100 yds from the boat.
In Tobermory had a "captain" in his 70s, fat and chainsmoked the whole time. Could hardly get out of his chair. The "crew" was his wife who slept in the V berth the whole trip.
Lake Superior, great captain, no crew. We came up the ladder by ourselves with nobody there. We helped each other. After a
100' 41 degree dive we were pooped and could use some help.
That's some bad experiences for only 2 years of diving. Anybody else have similar or did I just have bad luck?

 

[chepar]

Boat charters are not all created equal. Some are great and some . . . well, suck.

My first dives out of OW were on this boat that was completely overcrowded, unorganized and by association, dangerous. The captain was more busy feeding his dog wafer cookies than paying attention to the divers. The 2 tank trip did not have enough tanks for the majority of divers on their second dive.

However, your group running out of air 100 yards from the boat - was your group "led" by a DM or was that poor navigation/planning on the group's part? The briefing sounds like it was lacking, though.

I've been on boats that have 20+ divers, and on those that can only carry a maximum of 8. The smaller ones I've been on usually have only the captain and no other crew. On those I'm usually prepared to get back on the boat myself, because the captain may be assisting someone else or tending to something - but usually another diver will take my fins from me, etc.

 

[Lawman]

:doctor: A DM? Are you kidding? We just had the Captain. He was the crew. This was out of Marathon Florida by the way.

 

[Big-t-2538]

Sounds like you've had some bad experiences. I fortunately have not. Of course the only charters I've ever been on were run out of a dive shop rather than a local charter. Is that a possibility?

 

[Lawman]

:doctor: Well, T that could be. I really don't know. I hope those were rare and unusual experiences. I think what happens is that
the people running these boats are simply bored with what they're doing and do the minimum to get their $20.

 

[Lawman]

I should have mentioned...I'm comparing these people to
a great Captain. Capt Gary from Divers Den in Tobermory Ontario. He was friendly, helpful and gave a complete briefing.
He checked every diver before they went in the water and was
waiting at the top of the ladder when they came up. He was outstanding.

 

[DeputyDan]

I probably would not go on a charter where the cost was significantly less than the market.

Shouldn't this be more like $45 to $65.

Just wondering if this was a signal that there was something rotten in Denmark or wherever?

 

[captjohnr]

I always check with the experienced locals to find charters in areas I am not familiar with.

But being from Florida and diving since 1966 I know most of the good ones.

Here's one in our area that has some problems. Guess what he charges $15 to $20 less than the other locals....

St. Pete Times Article "Man dies while on diving excursion"

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/11/12/NorthPinellas/Man_dies_while_on_div.shtml

;-0

 

[Lawman]

:doctor:

The $20 I refered to was the tip, not the charter price. I chartered through the same outfit that Capt Gary works for.