Depth

[finbob]

Thank you gentlemen.

Thank you for your advice & rebuke which I have taken to heart.

Perhaps I should explain...

I have completed the PADI 'Open Water' & 'Advanced' with my first eight dives. Prior to this event, I have been at 97'. This particular dive was only my 13th dive. I was doing the PADI Deep Dive program.

The drop from the boat was in open water down to 60'. Then the wall came into sight.
I explained to the Divemaster that I was very nervous with the open water drop so he took control. Literally holding onto my tank as we went down. When we arrived at the wall he continued to hold onto my tank. I felt uncomfortable with this amount of control, yet comforted also. Trusting and resting in his experience and wisdom. We were moving down the wall and then settled for a moment on a ledge. At this point I looked at my depth gauge. It read 42M. I could not believe it. Since I am not use to meters I began the mental process of converting this into feet but found it a little challenging. Once again a hand came on my tank and we went down again. At this point I was overwhelmed with the grandeur of it all. Perhaps I was experiencing a little narcosis, I don't know - probably. He then took me up and we leveled off for a while. He was looking for sharks or a turtle - I said I would buy him a pizza if I saw one! Then we headed to the surface for a 3 min safety stop.

What have I learned from this?

1. Take control yourself & don't trust anyone, even a Divemaster!
2. Never again dive without a computer (He nor I had one)

If I was fully cognizant, I would not have allowed the dive to go below 130'. I am thankful that nothing went wrong. The dive was reckless and placed us both in unnecessary danger.

Every blessing.

 

[Scott L]

Thankfully for the DM you did not have a computer along with it's dive log. I am not a training guru but where was the instructor?

 

[finbob]

Thankfully for the DM you did not have a computer along with it's dive log. I am not a training guru but where was the instructor?

The instructor was the DM

 

[Scott L]

The instructor was the DM

Well there you go. Acquire a fully credentialed experienced instructor to complete the curriculum..

 

[ianr33]

This was on a course?

Isn't 170 like ever so slightly beyond standards?

 

[kaerius]

I would go ahead and send in a complaint to PADI QC if I were you.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Reread his description they stopped at 42 then went down again. And with the instructors hand on his tank yet. Jesus H.! What kind of course was this and who was the instructor. If he had his hand on your tank because it was needed then you were in no way ready for this. All they did was see you coming and take your money. If you had confided in me that you were nervous about a 60 ft open water drop the course would have been over then and there. YOu would have gotten a refund and told to go get 40 or 50 more dives with some experienced divers and work your way to 100 over those. Then MAYBE I'd take you to 130 after an assessment of your skills. THis kind of crap gets divers killed. See the Grand Cayman thread where a DM led a group of divers that included two OW divers on their 7th dive and a 17 yr old kid who had not been in the water in over year on a PLANNED 100 foot wall dive. Well one of the OW divers hit 342ft before he bounced and did a 2 minute ascent from 302 to the surface. Yes he was dead. Before he even knew it. And yet the DM said he did this all the time. As I'm guessing this so called professional does as well. This guy needs to be reported for this violation and soon before he grabs someones tank and leads them to their death! Even 140 is beyond standards and demonstrates poor judgment and reckless behavior.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

On the other hand depending on the agency he may not have needed to be a so-called specialty instructor. From what I have seen many times that designation doesn't mean squat other than they paid extra at their instructor factory and got few extra training dives to get the "specialty instructor card". Big freakin whoop de do.

 

[Crush]

finbob,

Many excellent posters have indicated how bad an idea it was to dive to 170 feet. True, how far you go down is up to you, but I for one do not hold you fully responsible. You were diving with someone in a position of authority and your diving preparation up until that point had failed to impress upon you that you can and should just say NO.

I think that this has been a very valuable lesson for you - thanks for sharing it. Now please follow it up with letters to the operator, carbon copied to the certification agency and the local country's ministry for tourism, or whatever analogous body exists. Time for a smack-down.

PS: "overwhelmed with the grandeur of it all" sounds like you were narc'd. At 170 feet it is impossible to NOT be narc'd. It is just a question of how well you hold your liquor.

 

[finbob]

On returning to the shop, I believe one of the other dive instructors reported the incident to PADI who are now looking into it. The diver has been disciplined. Apparently this was not the first incident with him. I chose the shop based upon a PADI 5* rating. Anyway, it has taught me to be more cautious & take responsibility.