Boat crew setting kit up

[daniel1948]

OP...Don't like setting up my gear on a boat since I get sea sick. <snip> I even do centrifugal training to build up some sea sick tolerance. as well as Dramamine. <snip> How many of you guys do centrifugal training??

Ask your doctor about Scopace. It's an 8-hour tablet whose active ingredient is scopolamine. (There's also a patch, Transderm Scop, that lasts 3 days, though I've found the release rate is uneven) Scopolamine is by prescription because there are some counterindications, which is why you need to talk to your doctor. It's the most powerful anti-seasickness medicine there is.

Here is what I don't understand: how many tanks do you have to turn on before it sinks in what direction *on* is? If the crew is standing there turning on, turning on, turning on, oh this one turns on the other way, turning on, turning on....

Just my guess: The guy was turning tank valves with both hands and got confused. I've forgotten to turn my air on, but never turned the valve the wrong way. And since I always breathe from the reg immediately before stepping in, I always catch it. I think twice in my approx 105 dives it was off. Once my fault, once that crew guy's fault. Both times I shouted "Hey, my air is off!" and someone turned it on before I went in the water.

If we are floating on the surface for a while before descending I switch to my snorkel, as I do upon surfacing. Once I started to descend with my snorkel in my mouth. My mistake was immediately obvious and I switched to my reg.

 

[scuba=dude]

OP..... I don't like anyone tuching my underwater breathing tools.....I make a living with my hands, I have tons of tools and I never let anyone mess with them. I really don't care who they are or why they feel the need to try and handle my tools. It's just better for everyone around not to mess with my stuff.

 

[633squadron]

I don't expect a boat crew to set up my gear, even at a posh overseas resort. My gear is my responsibility. At a very nice resort in Fiji, where the boat was crewed by divemasters and instructors, they did handle tank
switches, but I could have survived without that.

I think divers, even tourist divers, have to take more responsibility both in and out of the water. A good way to effect this would be to combine the first day's dive with a quick review and remediation on buoyancy,
equipment, and dive skills. Divide divers up by their experience. If nothing else, it would help preserve the environment from dive "bombing".

My opinions are based on 10 years of diving in Monterey, CA, which is a cold-water (53 degrees F) ocean environment subject to surge, currents, waves, low viz, and hot-rodding fishing boats. The dive boats here expect you to be able to handle yourself, including setting up your gear, getting on and off the boat correctly, navigating, etc. One learns navigation quickly, when the alternative is a surface swiim through kelp.