Berating an "Instructor" on a dive boat. How should I have handled differently?

[danvolker]

I know this is unbelievably stupid, but in not-great dive spots, I have actually grown to enjoy party boats for the entertainment value.

It's like being on a whole boat full of the stayed-up-late-got-drunk-almost-missed-the-boat guy in the old SSI Stress and Rescue video tape. Sometimes I don't even get in the water, and just do a little snorkeling then take a nap.

OTOH, it's only fun when I'm not responsible for anybody.

flots.

I enjoyed watching the opening scenes in INTO THE BLUE where Paul Walker has to rescue the "large diver" that was wrestling with his weight belt...and losing badly
It was a great depiction of a party boat, and what was wrong with the captain of such an operation.

Gopro some stuff you see aboard boats like this and we can all laugh.

But if we Dive off the boat with them, we start to become part of the problem as well...

 

[chillyinCanada]

Geez Dan. The guy was on vacation and wanted to get wet. So sue him.

 

[danvolker]

 

[AdivingBel]

Geez Dan. The guy was on vacation and wanted to get wet. So sue him.

No kidding...geez. I dive off a very nice Corinthian when I'm in the Keys. It's the closest dive shop to my house. OMG OMG...sometimes they take out snorkelers...OMG OMG...sometimes they have students and instructors...OMG OMG...they will even fix me a hot dog on a gas grill between dives...OMG OMG...they will even mix me a margarita after the last dive on the way back to the dock..OMG OMG...they even have a DM named Matey Katie in dreds and a bikini that will dance if you hum the right tune...you know what?? We all comport ourselves as adults and have a great time and I have yet to have to shove a dead body out of the way to get to the reef. So lighten up, this is supposed to be fun.

 

[danvolker]

No kidding...geez. I dive off a very nice Corinthian when I'm in the Keys. It's the closest dive shop to my house. OMG OMG...sometimes they take out snorkelers...OMG OMG...sometimes they have students and instructors...OMG OMG...they will even fix me a hot dog on a gas grill between dives...OMG OMG...they will even mix me a margarita after the last dive on the way back to the dock..OMG OMG...they even have a DM named Matey Katie in dreds and a bikini that will dance if you hum the right tune...you know what?? We all comport ourselves as adults and have a great time and I have yet to have to shove a dead body out of the way to get to the reef. So lighten up, this is supposed to be fun.

I don't think you have read through this thread enough to understand where this discussion has gone. Your comment does NOT relate well to the issue at hand....This is NOT about having fun....We have huge fun on any decent boat....If I shared a video of topside on a typical charter boat we dive off of, you would see laughing and joking throughout the entire trip. What you would NOT see, is dangerously inept or poorly trained divers. This has to do with marketing and forces of attraction

My point was about the need to categorize dive boats....not so much for the typical dive boat, but mostly to recognize what a horrible boat is, so you will avoid diving on it. This is very much like avoiding diving with a very unsafe buddy. Beyond this, if you are a photographer, you are usually better off on a boat that caters to photographers....if you spearfish, you will often be better off finding a boat that caters to this---and there are many boats that won't even let you spearfish on their boat--or if they do, they will treat you like a pariah the entire time. Even though many boats would like to appear as they they cater to everyone--because they want as much business as they can get, each boat lucky enough to get a core group of locals diving it constantly, will gain a personality from these divers, and this will color what the boat is best for.

I also said very clearly that the problem WAS NOT whether or not the boat was a pontoon boat....what is a complicating factor, is any boat large enough to have 30 or 45 divers on board, needs a better captain and crew than is needed on a 12 pack....particularly when their is a large number of poor divers on the large boat ( students, bad instructors, bad divers).

 

[waterpirate]

Yes we all know what boat and operator we are talking about here. It is not about them. It is about the choice the 2 divers made to get on that boat. 1 tennat of team diving that I apply to myself on everydive is the ability to call a dive, for any reason, at any time. I have called a dive on the dock on more than 1 occasion based on number of people trying to get on the boat, and the percieved skill levels of said divers. If the OP and his buddy were going to take the position they did once on the boat, they should have called it on the dock.
Eric
YMMV

 

[Diver0001]

I don't think you have read through this thread enough to understand where this discussion has gone. Your comment does NOT relate well to the issue at hand....This is NOT about having fun....We have huge fun on any decent boat....If I shared a video of topside on a typical charter boat we dive off of, you would see laughing and joking throughout the entire trip. What you would NOT see, is dangerously inept or poorly trained divers. This has to do with marketing and forces of attraction

My point was about the need to categorize dive boats....not so much for the typical dive boat, but mostly to recognize what a horrible boat is, so you will avoid diving on it. This is very much like avoiding diving with a very unsafe buddy. Beyond this, if you are a photographer, you are usually better off on a boat that caters to photographers....if you spearfish, you will often be better off finding a boat that caters to this---and there are many boats that won't even let you spearfish on their boat--or if they do, they will treat you like a pariah the entire time. Even though many boats would like to appear as they they cater to everyone--because they want as much business as they can get, each boat lucky enough to get a core group of locals diving it constantly, will gain a personality from these divers, and this will color what the boat is best for.

I also said very clearly that the problem WAS NOT whether or not the boat was a pontoon boat....what is a complicating factor, is any boat large enough to have 30 or 45 divers on board, needs a better captain and crew than is needed on a 12 pack....particularly when their is a large number of poor divers on the large boat ( students, bad instructors, bad divers).

God forbid diving should be fun.

Dan, your posts read like they usually do to me. Lots of ego, lots of judgement.

Where this thread started was with the question of whether or not a given diver (who happened to be instructor) should have been confronted in a different way for sloppy line work.

What you've tried to turn it into is "me and my homies are better than y'all". Nobody here is really helped much by a bunch of "I'm a super hero" posturing.

What would interest me is this: what would *you* have done if you had been in the OP's position?

R..

 

[Rich Keller]

I would probably agree with you guys in most situations, and I wasn't concerned for myself-- but the issue that worried me was the plethora of beginner divers and the line running directly through the main area where they were all congregating.


Oh, and Pfc... Way to be constructive. You should probably get your manners checked after bumping your head up against cave walls 5000 too many times.

This guy can run his line however he wants when it affects him. When he creates a hazard for dozens of newbies who don't know any better, I take offense.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If you were concerned about the safety of the new divers you should have been berating the instructor who brought them into an overhead environment in the first place not the guy running the line. As for cutting the line that is a special kind of stupid that I only see in amateur divers who are positive that they know it all. People like you are why I avoid diving charter boats whenever possible and choose to dive alone most of the time. Next time do the other 35 divers on the boat a favor and shut up.

 

[danvolker]

God forbid diving should be fun.

Dan, your posts read like they usually do to me. Lots of ego, lots of judgement.

Where this thread started was with the question of whether or not a given diver (who happened to be instructor) should have been confronted in a different way for sloppy line work.

What you've tried to turn it into is "me and my homies are better than y'all". Nobody here is really helped much by a bunch of "I'm a super hero" posturing.

What would interest me is this: what would *you* have done if you had been in the OP's position?

R..

With a post like this, I really don't see how Pete can have you as a moderator.
First, you are posting on thread, as if you know something, and your answer shows you dont....
And then there is the OBVIOUS ISSUE that you did not read through the thread, so you don't understand any context, and you don't know what you missed, and of course that won't stop you from making snarky comments that just show you don't really know what the thread is about....and a hint....my first post in this thread answers what you say you wanted out of me in this post....

Beyond this, you have no clue whatsoever about my personality.....somehow, with the wAY YOU READ ( OR DON'T READ), you think I do lots of ego posts.....but if you ever spoke to one of the many people on SB that have dove with me, you'd know that my posts do not come from ego.

Again....this has nothing to do with your nonsensical "me and my homies" pratter. My suggesting about categorizing boats to the interests and skill levels of the diver, should be understandable to a moderator on this board---it is sad that in some cases, it is not.

 

[chillyinCanada]

If you were concerned about the safety of the new divers you should have been berating the instructor who brought them into an overhead environment in the first place not the guy running the line. As for cutting the line that is a special kind of stupid that I only see in amateur divers who are positive that they know it all. People like you are why I avoid diving charter boats whenever possible and choose to dive alone most of the time. Next time do the other 35 divers on the boat a favor and shut up.

The OP *did NOT* cut the line. It crossed his mind yes, and then passed right out again. This thread shouldn't be about berating the guy for something he didn't do. He asked about how he handled the encounter back on the boat. Why do some of you chest thumpers want to make it about that and about how *you* would have taken a different boat. Fine for you. Blah blah blah yada yada yada