DM blew me off

[vincent54]

Having just come back from the Brac and had a new diver panic, I feel for the DM. I suspect the OP had a bit of panic and overreacted to a perceived problem. Low air isn't really life threatening. You should be able to get to the surface without an issue. In reality, the DM probably identified the low air issue and realized no problem. Keep practicing and when you look back in a few years you'll realize it wasn't a big deal.

It is taught in the open water course to plan a dive, discuss plan with buddy and execute plan. If problems arise, management of the problem is also taught. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[t4e]

I'm surprised the DM didn't tell you to go up so you wouldn't ruin everyone elses dive. I give him credit for putting up with your lack of gas management not once, but twice.

wooow....this wins the award for the most arrogant post i have seen on this board

 

[brnt999]

p




still waiting for an answer.

How deep?

If I remember correctly the first dive was 18m and the second was 13m.

 

[lv2dive]

I don't think I am making myself clear. I don't have a problem taking responsibility for myself and my air and my surfacing and I wouldn't have at the time so long as the ground rules were clear as in, when you are low on air look after yourself and manage your ascent. The ground rules from the DM before the dive were follow me, follow my direction, signal me when you are low on air and I will help you ascend. I didn't ask him to share his air and didn't particularily want to either. He made that decision. I didn't want to use up my air first either but at the time it was beyond my control. The DM was stuck with a new diver who was an airhog--tough-he was paid by the dive shop to guide my dive. I would have gladly surfaced on my own but that is not what I was told to do.

I think one of the things people are trying to get across is - that you should have gotten out of your class, at bare minimum, that you are responsible for your safety. It does not matter that you were not told to surface on your own. On that second dive, you were flirting dangerously close with running out of gas bc you *chose* to abdicate responsibility to the DM. I understand why you did what you did, and where you were coming from, given your newness, etc. - but at the end of the day, hope the message that you take away from this is that you should make the best decision for you regardless of what someone else does or does not tell you should do - regardless of what the ground rules were going in. Although... making sure that the ground rules are clear - crystal clear - goes a long way in preventing these sorts of issues before they happen.

 

[Ken T]

There are plenty of threads on the board discussing the inadequacies of the resort OW course.

Mine was a year ago in Hawaii…it was mostly fun.

Did it prepare me to plan and execute my own dives without help….No, it certainly did not.
In fact the instructor did not teach / reinforce that aspect of diving at all.

Reading that I’m in charge of myself in the course material, and knowing the reality of that are completely different things.

The OP mentions:

I think what I learned from the experience is you can't put your life in someone elses hands--you can't rely on anyone else but have to look after yourself. With what I know now I would act before I got to such a low air situation, but on a first dive, to a certain extent, you don't know what is normal and you are more dependant on the DM.

I agree that the majority of graduated OW divers from resort courses, and some argue almost any OW course, do not know what is normal on their 5th dive ever and do look to their guide for exactly that...guidance, not just the tour.
And that again leads to how short a time an OW course can be completed in.
Do the many Pros and experienced divers here, with many hundreds and thousands of dives in their books, remember their 5^th dive?
Were you so confident?

 

[ScubaInChicago]

wooow....this wins the award for the most arrogant post i have seen on this board

At no time did I say the OP was a "STROKE" or that he was going to "DIE".

 

[lv2dive]

At no time did I say the OP was a "STROKE" or that he was going to "DIE".

Well maybe t4e hadn't seen posts that said that... it *was* qualified, after all... t4e said that was the most arrogant post he (or she) had ever read. IJS.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

There are plenty of threads on the board discussing the inadequacies of the resort OW course.

Mine was a year ago in Hawaii…it was mostly fun.

Did it prepare me to plan and execute my own dives without help….No, it certainly did not.
In fact the instructor did not teach / reinforce that aspect of diving at all.

Reading that I’m in charge of myself in the course material, and knowing the reality of that are completely different things.

The OP mentions:



I agree that the majority of graduated OW divers from resort courses, and some argue almost any OW course, do not know what is normal on their 5th dive ever and do look to their guide for exactly that...guidance, not just the tour.
And that again leads to how short a time an OW course can be completed in.
Do the many Pros and experienced divers here, with many hundreds and thousands of dives in their books, remember their 5^th dive?
Were you so confident?

I wasn't. And that's why I left the agency I was certed with originally and went with one that requires my students to be ok with planning their own dives before I can hand them an open water card. I know for a fact that my students are confident enough to do what I was not. And why I am so vehemently against resort courses and for that matter any course where corners are cut in the name of time and profits.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I know for a fact from my own observation there are many new divers graduating from OW courses who are shaky in their skills and are vulnerable. They need people around them who care what happens to them.

No, they need to learn to take care of themselves, stay out of the water, or let Darwin do his work.

 

[fisheater]

<snip>

Do the many Pros and experienced divers here, with many hundreds and thousands of dives in their books, remember their 5^th dive?
Were you so confident?

Yes, I do. And yes I was confident that I could safely plan the dive I undertook. It was at Gerstle Cove on the Sonoma (Calif.) coast. I went out in a group of two buddy teams of two during the North Coast Divers monthly dive/get together.

The plan was to swim out to the end of the cove, drop in about 30 feet of water and follow a compass heading out of the cove to 1/2 tank plus 500 psi (or one buddy got too cold - 50 F water) and do a reciprocal back into the cove. We all swam out we all signaled OK to dive and my first post-cert dive was into opaque, green water. I couldn't see a damned thing and certainly not the three other divers I knew to be within a few feet of me. I figured that I was "way too green to be solo diving" at that point, so I ascended, inflated my BC and waited for the others, who all surfaced within a minute. Everyone called the dive and we swam in.

(I later went back out in a team of three to dive extremely shallow (18 ft. Max) right near the shore, as it was the only cleanish water to be had.)

I knew what I knew and I knew what I didn't know. Part of that was that I knew when I should call the dive. I wasn't relying on anyone else. However, of course, I was happy to have watchful, experienced local divers with me.

Oh. I was certified by PADI. I have no complaints about my OW course.


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