BugHunterNY
Contributor
Ok. So I'll try and post an objective summary of what happened here, and my goal is to get "props" for how I handled the situation (joking). Basically I think about this event quite a bit, it infuriates me and I'm curious how other experienced diver's would have handled this situation. Granted, I have a few hundred dives, am going through tech training and am NOT the most experienced diver by any stretch -- but I would like to think that my fundamentals are solid and I have enough of a knowledge base to provide some insight here and there.
Here it goes. Background, I'm a NorthEast diver where reels and lines can save or kill someone.
I was on a boat out of Pompano a few months ago. Some experienced divers, but also many, many OW and those with <25 dives. This was a huge "party boat" type pontoon that held 36 divers (and was full). We were doing one of the "wreck trek's". I do not remember the exact wreck (guilty for being a sub-par logger). This particular wreck was mostly open inside, with sunlight penetrating from openings everywhere. There was a large staircase intact from the deck leading down into a cavernous interior space, with off-shoots of darker and more confined rooms beyond fore and aft.
My buddy and I were coming back from a swim into the bow section (we were the first in the water - to avoid the stir up we expected was coming). As we were making our way aft we noticed a line tied off from the stairwell, then crossing suspended in the hold from beam to beam to beam with very intricate tie-off's (like thing several wraps, then a hitch and a few more wraps) and then disappearing into the stern section.
At that point my buddy and I look at each other and shake our heads. I watch literally a dozen new divers start making their way into this cavernous hold down the stairs, all about to swim into this line cutting directly through the space.
As we're just watching and now I'm just staying in place and debating cutting the line (this is NOT a wreck you can get lost in -- big cavernous areas, always in sunlight, multiple exits - beginner, Florida wreck).
The offending reel-er then appears, reeling his line back in, with his buddy following behind him. At this point, it's clear to me that he doesn't understand line placement or proper guideline techniques -- and if this was a place where a line was needed... his buddy probably would be dead behind him.
So we get out, but there are 36 divers and a huge boat -- I didn't watch him ascend and climb on board, so I really have no idea who he is. I start debriefing with my buddy and just blasting the "moron" who could have gotten several novice divers in serious trouble. The guy literally right behind me says oh, that was my reel.
Trying to restrain myself, I calmly try and give him a few suggestions. I might have been a little heated, and there may have been a little attitude, but I do believe I was using a friendly teaching, not a scolding tone. I made the following key points to line handling 1) Your line should have been against bulkheads or secured to the floor. It is dangerous to suspend in the middle of an area, especially with 3 dozen divers and 2) the person with the reel should be the first one as you're laying out line (with buddy following) and then in the REAR when taking line in, so buddy can follow the line and not get lost and die.
He begins to defend himself with AND I SWEAR, THIS IS VERBATIM AND I REPLAY IT IN MY HEAD OVER AND OVER "Oh, I know those things, but I'm an instructor and I was teaching this guy (points to buddy next to him) how to use a reel".
At that point, I'm stunned. I've already talked down to this guy about how what he did was dangerous and offered suggestions about how to do it more safely [in front of his student, who definitely heard everything]. I don't say another word. I simply look at him for a second and turn back around to my buddy and exit that conversation.
If you've read this far -- what would you have done? Should I have continued on with him until he accepted he was wrong? I felt that it would make the situation even worse telling an instructor all the things he did wrong in front of his student. (Once I actually found out he was an instructor). Was I totally wrong, should I have just minded my own business from the beginning?
Here it goes. Background, I'm a NorthEast diver where reels and lines can save or kill someone.
I was on a boat out of Pompano a few months ago. Some experienced divers, but also many, many OW and those with <25 dives. This was a huge "party boat" type pontoon that held 36 divers (and was full). We were doing one of the "wreck trek's". I do not remember the exact wreck (guilty for being a sub-par logger). This particular wreck was mostly open inside, with sunlight penetrating from openings everywhere. There was a large staircase intact from the deck leading down into a cavernous interior space, with off-shoots of darker and more confined rooms beyond fore and aft.
My buddy and I were coming back from a swim into the bow section (we were the first in the water - to avoid the stir up we expected was coming). As we were making our way aft we noticed a line tied off from the stairwell, then crossing suspended in the hold from beam to beam to beam with very intricate tie-off's (like thing several wraps, then a hitch and a few more wraps) and then disappearing into the stern section.
At that point my buddy and I look at each other and shake our heads. I watch literally a dozen new divers start making their way into this cavernous hold down the stairs, all about to swim into this line cutting directly through the space.
As we're just watching and now I'm just staying in place and debating cutting the line (this is NOT a wreck you can get lost in -- big cavernous areas, always in sunlight, multiple exits - beginner, Florida wreck).
The offending reel-er then appears, reeling his line back in, with his buddy following behind him. At this point, it's clear to me that he doesn't understand line placement or proper guideline techniques -- and if this was a place where a line was needed... his buddy probably would be dead behind him.
So we get out, but there are 36 divers and a huge boat -- I didn't watch him ascend and climb on board, so I really have no idea who he is. I start debriefing with my buddy and just blasting the "moron" who could have gotten several novice divers in serious trouble. The guy literally right behind me says oh, that was my reel.
Trying to restrain myself, I calmly try and give him a few suggestions. I might have been a little heated, and there may have been a little attitude, but I do believe I was using a friendly teaching, not a scolding tone. I made the following key points to line handling 1) Your line should have been against bulkheads or secured to the floor. It is dangerous to suspend in the middle of an area, especially with 3 dozen divers and 2) the person with the reel should be the first one as you're laying out line (with buddy following) and then in the REAR when taking line in, so buddy can follow the line and not get lost and die.
He begins to defend himself with AND I SWEAR, THIS IS VERBATIM AND I REPLAY IT IN MY HEAD OVER AND OVER "Oh, I know those things, but I'm an instructor and I was teaching this guy (points to buddy next to him) how to use a reel".
At that point, I'm stunned. I've already talked down to this guy about how what he did was dangerous and offered suggestions about how to do it more safely [in front of his student, who definitely heard everything]. I don't say another word. I simply look at him for a second and turn back around to my buddy and exit that conversation.
If you've read this far -- what would you have done? Should I have continued on with him until he accepted he was wrong? I felt that it would make the situation even worse telling an instructor all the things he did wrong in front of his student. (Once I actually found out he was an instructor). Was I totally wrong, should I have just minded my own business from the beginning?
