Diving your own profile in Cozumel

[cvchief]

Apparently non-emergency emergency air sharing is a different matter.

.

Er.... Did that just rip the space-time continuum?

 

[ggunn]

I've never heard of a dive op actively encouraging hungover diving. Apparently non-emergency emergency air sharing is a different matter.

But I guess this is beating a dead horse. The topic was hashed out in Sharing air to extend bottom time [Archive] - ScubaBoard - Scuba Diving Forum - Diving Social Network and the consensus among the experienced instructors was that it's a terrible idea. I agree. Too bad the dead horse is still alive and kicking.

I did something you think is dangerous but I do not. You do something which I think is dangerous but you do not. It's no big deal. We all do our own risk assessment every time we get in the water.

 

[Mossman]

We all do our own risk assessment every time we get in the water.

But not all of us are so aware of all the risks. Less experienced divers may trust the advice of "professionals" almost blindly, especially if they are paying for it and want to believe they're getting their money's worth.

 

[ggunn]

But not all of us are so aware of all the risks. Less experienced divers may trust the advice of "professionals" almost blindly, especially if they are paying for it and want to believe they're getting their money's worth.

No argument there. More experienced divers can look at a situation and evaluate it on its own merits without having to totally rely on hard and fast rules that are designed (with good reason) to keep newbies from getting themselves into trouble.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear Mossman,

Planned and properly executed air sharing with proper equipment in a controlled environment is, in my opinion, much less risky than sending divers up alone, or even in buddy pairs where many boats are passing overhead at great speed. Indeed the PADI Divemaster manual states that when drift diving..."The group must descend and ascend together". At least it did when I set the rules for Aldora in 1992 and saw lots of divers hit by oncoming boats!

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[Ron Lee]

My recollection of two recent accidents, the woman from Utah reportedly diving with her two brothers, and a lady from a cruise ship possibly at Santa Rosa, would lend some credibility to the notion that if you want to prevent fatalities, you might concentrate your concerns in areas that may be productive rather than go after an air sharing option that is not a problem.

The suggestion that some new and lower experienced divers to Cozumel use a private divemaster their first day is one such method.

Factual info on why those two divers died might be helpful in implementing safeguards in some cases but realistically if people followed the buddy system better some of these events might be prevented. One problem is that even the best buddy team may not be able to handle some problems if both divers are newbies.

An element of the two cases I mentioned is that info that came out was often inconsistent and the whole process reeked of cover-up and/or suppressing of information.

 

[Mike]

I'd probably take the risk of diving with an outfit like Aldora who's safety record, longevity, financial success, depth of talent in staff, breadth of dive boats and equipment, reinvestment into infrastructure of their business well before some of the other operations, like the for instance the one who's dive boat sank due to a glass bottom 'failure'.

If the 'hose of shame' is a deal breaker for ya, so be it. But Aldora didn't get where they are today by being reckless.

 

[ggunn]

Dear Mossman,

Planned and properly executed air sharing with proper equipment in a controlled environment is, in my opinion, much less risky than sending divers up alone, or even in buddy pairs where many boats are passing overhead at great speed. Indeed the PADI Divemaster manual states that when drift diving..."The group must descend and ascend together". At least it did when I set the rules for Aldora in 1992 and saw lots of divers hit by oncoming boats!

Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

Right. And as I pointed out, we were sharing air at the beginning of the dive when my wife had plenty enough air to safely ascend should we have become separated.

 

[cvchief]

Right. And as I pointed out, we were sharing air at the beginning of the dive when my wife had plenty enough air to safely ascend should we have become separated.

You know I did always think this was a good plan. Of course when I tried it, the missus hit me with her camera. So, now I believe non-emergency air sharing is unsafe and can easily cause concussions....

 

[Dave Dillehay]

For the record, we at Aldora only share air when one person in the group gets down to 1000 PSI. When another gets to 1000 PSI we end the practice and begin a slow ascent to a safety stop. If choreographed properly that ascent is close to the coral and an enjoyable experience. That is why we routinely provide exceptionally long dives yet ascend together which IMHO is mush safer than others might do.

Furthermore, our Dive Instructors are trained to monitor the air supply of all divers and would never plan on non-emergency air sharing when one diver was very low on air. When the air sharing stops, every diver has at least 1000 PSI which is plenty to finish a safe and long dive with a safety stop and still surface together as a group with our dive boat acting as a foil for oncoming boats. BTW, our capitans are also required to follow the Dive Instructor's SMB and get between it and on coming boats if needed.



Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers
Aldora Divers