Dive Buddy Protocol

[jennasnyder1980]

Hey everyone,

I need some advice on what protocol is in this situation. I just came back from a trip to Greece. I contacted a dive operation and had planned on doing two boat dives (I was the only diver in my group). The day of, I get picked up from the dive shop from my hotel and we proceed to pick up another person. At the shop, he and I are the only two divers while our boat will be accompanied by snorkelers as well. Because of wind, we can't go to the cave and/or wreck dives we had anticipated, but I digress. Anyway, a divemaster is accompanying us on the dive.
At the dive site, we are suited up. I told the DM that I only have 20 dives under my belt (the other diver has 100). He said no problem, it would be a nice easy dive.
There is no weight belt for me so they are stuffing weights in my jacket. We start the dive and at the bottom, I must be overweighted or something because I can't get neutrally bouyant.
This is where it gets ugly for me. The other dive person (100 dives) has his torch and is ignoring the DM and myself! We can't proceed without him and he has trouble not getting distracted. I am constantly feeling "heavy" and have trouble staying off the bottom. At 60 psi, I signal that I need to start going up because I have a feeling the other diver will be slow on the uptake. We ascend and the other diver stays under a bit longer. At the end, I had 30 psi of air while the DM and the other diver had about 70-80 psi.

Here's my question: Should the dive be based on the weakest diver's experience? the other diver's actions made me very nervous and I felt he was unresponsive to the ability levels of the weakest diver (me). I opted not to go on the second dive needless to say. I want to know from the dive community how the situation goes in the event there is a threesome and one is far less experienced.

Thanks
Jen

 

[NauticalbutNice]

There is no weight belt for me so they are stuffing weights in my jacket. We start the dive and at the bottom, I must be overweighted or something because I can't get neutrally bouyant.

Please tell me that these were integrated weights for your BC, and not just putting weights in the pockets? Why wasn't there a weight belt for you?

Here's my question: Should the dive be based on the weakest diver's experience? the other diver's actions made me very nervous and I felt he was unresponsive to the ability levels of the weakest diver (me). I opted not to go on the second dive needless to say. I want to know from the dive community how the situation goes in the event there is a threesome and one is far less experienced.

Personally (and I'm probably wrong...it happens a lot ) The DM should have taken much more control of the situation. If I'm diving with a less experienced diver then the emphasis is what they are comfortable with/able to do, not what I am. I dive with guys who are qualified to 50m. Doesn't mean they're dragging me down there. In dives where I've been the weakest of three (and personally I'm not a big fan of buddy threesomes), I've found that the dive is tailored to my abilities not those of the other divers.

Well done to you for keeping a level head and acting appropriately.

Safe diving and hope you have more *happy* stories!

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[Deep Hull]

There is no weight belt for me so they are stuffing weights in my jacket.

I think I would have called the dive right there. Also, I am not sure if you can expect other divers to feel obliged to change the dive to meet the weakest diver's abilities, but I think the DM should have. Sorry to hear your dive was less than fun, but at least you made it to the surface safe.

 

[String]

Im assuming where you say PSI you mean Bar.

In most of the world including greece bar is the standard so "60" would be nearer 850 psi.

I cant see anyone getting down to 20psi on a dive

 

[SubMariner]

Hey everyone,

I need some advice on what protocol is in this situation. I just came back from a trip to Greece. I contacted a dive operation and had planned on doing two boat dives (I was the only diver in my group). The day of, I get picked up from the dive shop from my hotel and we proceed to pick up another person. At the shop, he and I are the only two divers while our boat will be accompanied by snorkelers as well. Because of wind, we can't go to the cave and/or wreck dives we had anticipated, but I digress. Anyway, a divemaster is accompanying us on the dive.
At the dive site, we are suited up. I told the DM that I only have 20 dives under my belt (the other diver has 100). He said no problem, it would be a nice easy dive.
There is no weight belt for me so they are stuffing weights in my jacket. We start the dive and at the bottom, I must be overweighted or something because I can't get neutrally bouyant.
This is where it gets ugly for me. The other dive person (100 dives) has his torch and is ignoring the DM and myself! We can't proceed without him and he has trouble not getting distracted. I am constantly feeling "heavy" and have trouble staying off the bottom. At 60 psi, I signal that I need to start going up because I have a feeling the other diver will be slow on the uptake. We ascend and the other diver stays under a bit longer. At the end, I had 30 psi of air while the DM and the other diver had about 70-80 psi.

Here's my question: Should the dive be based on the weakest diver's experience? the other diver's actions made me very nervous and I felt he was unresponsive to the ability levels of the weakest diver (me). I opted not to go on the second dive needless to say. I want to know from the dive community how the situation goes in the event there is a threesome and one is far less experienced.

Thanks
Jen

Jen, first of all it seems you are fairly savvy despite your self-admonishment that you "only have 20 dives". Afterall, you recognized that you were overweighted and the need for good buddy teams.

What you need to do is become more assertive when it comes to situations like this.

1) Insist on your equipment needs being met. If there is no weight belt for you, then you and the DM need to work together to make sure you are properly weighted. The best way to do this is a buoyancy check. Both you & the DM were lax in this department.

2) If the DM is taking responsibility for the dive by leading it, then h/s must also take responsibility for ALL the divers. Allowing Mr. Wanderlust to take control of the dive was not only unprofessional, but compromised safety.

3) Take responsibility for YOURSELF. Utlimately, EVERY diver is responsible for his/her own safety. Assert yourself! Make sure that a SAFE air limit is established & stick to it. This means going down to no less than 500 psi or similar. Surely your numbers of 30-60psi are incorrect? This is basically NO AIR!

DSDO,

 

[matt_unique]

.... We start the dive and at the bottom, I must be overweighted or something because I can't get neutrally bouyant....

Sorry to hear about your experience. I think the DM should have controlled the situation better.

Neutral buoyancy has nothing to do with the amount of lead carried unless total weight exceeds the lift capacity of the BC. Did you have your BC completely full and you were still sinking? If no, you just needed a bit more air in your BC to become neutral.

....Here's my question: Should the dive be based on the weakest diver's experience?
Jen

I think it was the DM's job to manage the buddy situation. He should have insisted the other diver follow the group or dive solo or find another DM. In the real world of vacation diving this is not going to happen unfortunately. You did the right thing, as ultimately reponsible for yourself, to call the 2nd dive if you did not feel good about the situation. I would have discussed my concerns with the DM to see if he could suggest a better arrangement for dive #2.

--Matt

 

[xiSkiGuy]

There is no weight belt for me so they are stuffing weights in my jacket. We start the dive and at the bottom, I must be overweighted or something because I can't get neutrally bouyant.
This is where it gets ugly for me. The other dive person (100 dives) has his torch and is ignoring the DM and myself! We can't proceed without him and he has trouble not getting distracted. I am constantly feeling "heavy" and have trouble staying off the bottom. At 60 psi, I signal that I need to start going up because I have a feeling the other diver will be slow on the uptake. We ascend and the other diver stays under a bit longer. At the end, I had 30 psi of air while the DM and the other diver had about 70-80 psi.

Here's my question: Should the dive be based on the weakest diver's experience? the other diver's actions made me very nervous and I felt he was unresponsive to the ability levels of the weakest diver (me). I opted not to go on the second dive needless to say. I want to know from the dive community how the situation goes in the event there is a threesome and one is far less experienced.

Thanks
Jen

Yes, the dive should be based on the weakest diver's experience. But the bigger issue here is the quality of the outfit you were diving with. The fact that the operation was ill-equipped was your first warning sign. That a DM would let you dive without any releasable weight is inexcusable.

 

[xiSkiGuy]

Jen, first of all it seems you are fairly savvy despite your self-admonishment that you "only have 20 dives". Afterall, you recognized that you were overweighted and the need for good buddy teams.

What you need to do is become more assertive when it comes to situations like this.

1) Insist on your equipment needs being met. If there is no weight belt for you, then you and the DM need to work together to make sure you are properly weighted. The best way to do this is a buoyancy check. Both you & the DM were lax in this department.

2) If the DM is taking responsibility for the dive by leading it, then h/s must also take responsibility for ALL the divers. Allowing Mr. Wanderlust to take control of the dive was not only unprofessional, but compromised safety.

3) Take responsibility for YOURSELF. Utlimately, EVERY diver is responsible for his/her own safety. Assert yourself! Make sure that a SAFE air limit is established & stick to it. This means going down to no less than 500 psi or similar. Surely your numbers of 30-60psi are incorrect? This is basically NO AIR!

DSDO,

Excellent assessment!

BTW, she's probably confused psi with bar. . .

 

[jennasnyder1980]

Yes,
Sorry I did mean bar not psi.

Thanks for the correction
Jen

 

[dscheck]

Im assuming where you say PSI you mean Bar.

In most of the world including greece bar is the standard so "60" would be nearer 850 psi.

I cant see anyone getting down to 20psi on a dive

Not to hijack the thread, but when I was diving Curacao, the tank I received started with 2450psi, so when I hit 500 eveyoine else was still at 1000, so I went to 15' and shadowed the group from above. By the time the group was ascending I had to inflate my BC with my lungs.

Anywoo,

Jen, thumbing a dive should have absolutely no questions asked and the person thumbing it should not feel any guilt for doing so. When it comes to potentially deadly activities, intuition should be heeded.