Well, I have been debating posting this because it is pretty harsh, but my buddies thought it would at least inform you from our perspective.
We ran down to Cape Hatteras to do some dives, finish of some training, and have some fun. Unfortunately, the Akyla is gone for the season, and JT was full. That meant using a larger boat. On the way down, my intermediate drive shaft decided to leave my truck, at about 50 mph....less then 20 miles from our destination..with a cop directly behind. Talk about a great start to the weekend. After getting towed to a shop, jerry rigging it back together, we were on our way again. We got to the motel at around 11 pm, had a beer, and crashed for a lovely 5 hours.
Saturday dawned (sometime after I got up) with a wind ripping upwards of 20 knots. Sea bouys riding up to 6 + ft, but-no phone call. So, we gather our food, jump in the truck, and blast to the boat where we were instructed to meet. One pair of divers is already there, so hey, maybe we are going out, even if it is only the Dixie Arrow. By 7:45,(boat is supposed to leave at 7 or so) we send 2 people up the road to the shop. The trip was cancelled. Oh, there are people at the dock? Well, they will figure it out......no kidding. The surf was too rough to do any shore dives- and I finally had a buddy willing to give the Oriental a go.......uggghhhh! So, out to eat, get some beer, stare at the walls.
Sunday, no wind as I sipped the first cup of life support. This time, we grab everything, and run by the shop to make sure its a go....it is. So, run down to the boat, throw all our gear on, and-wait. At a little past 7:15, 2 more divers show up. OK, I can understand making money this season has been bad for that. We still don't leave. Oh, here come 2 more divers, and one with a suicide machine, I mean rebreather. We leave the dock at 8:20. The seas are beautiful. Only the captain knows where we are going, and he doesn't inform the crew. Well, with no site breifing, we splash, thinking its the Dixie (thats what one of the crew thought when I asked), right until I dropped past 85 ft and saw some huge boilers. The Proteus! I've tried getting there a few times and only have been on it a couple. Vis was about 30-40 on the bottom, 74 degrees. Mild current. And about a dozen or so sand tigers. Did the dive, the explore, the look for anything.
About the time we get back on, the guy with the rebreather plunges with his girlfriend/whatever, and a huge, commercial grade video camera. So, he is doing his dive with no other divers in the water, thats cool. He and the 'buddy' hit the line after about 50 minutes of bottom. She is on a single tank...anyone else see a problem here? So the crew sends down some O2, and she does about 30 minutes or so...and then sucks down a bottle when she is onboard.
So, we plunge for our second, get a great dive, no current by then, the vis is picking up, couldn't ask for too much more. Get done, come up, and in goes rebreather and 'buddy' We get to wait for over an hour and a half while he and she do their dive. When they finally do return, she doesn't have the gas onboard to finish her deco obligation, so down go more bottles. the crew hoisted the scrap metal the captain is taking, took up the lines, and did NOT do any form of role call. We arrived at the dock at 5:20 pm.
Throughout the day, there were various incidents that the crew handled very well, from OOG divers to more OOG divers. I have never seen so many people run out of air in my life. Really. Five by my count. I mean is it that hard to check your gauge? To understand that you need X amount to do a deco hang? Anyway, they (the actual crew) were fairly personable, and did respond well to the problems onboard.
I guess my point in all this is, if you are doing an extended run time, be one of the first to splash. If you do it when everyone else is on a surface interval, give up your second dive. Its rude to keep the rest of us waiting while you and your 'buddy' go play, especially when said 'buddy' had no understanding of decompression.
-J
We ran down to Cape Hatteras to do some dives, finish of some training, and have some fun. Unfortunately, the Akyla is gone for the season, and JT was full. That meant using a larger boat. On the way down, my intermediate drive shaft decided to leave my truck, at about 50 mph....less then 20 miles from our destination..with a cop directly behind. Talk about a great start to the weekend. After getting towed to a shop, jerry rigging it back together, we were on our way again. We got to the motel at around 11 pm, had a beer, and crashed for a lovely 5 hours.
Saturday dawned (sometime after I got up) with a wind ripping upwards of 20 knots. Sea bouys riding up to 6 + ft, but-no phone call. So, we gather our food, jump in the truck, and blast to the boat where we were instructed to meet. One pair of divers is already there, so hey, maybe we are going out, even if it is only the Dixie Arrow. By 7:45,(boat is supposed to leave at 7 or so) we send 2 people up the road to the shop. The trip was cancelled. Oh, there are people at the dock? Well, they will figure it out......no kidding. The surf was too rough to do any shore dives- and I finally had a buddy willing to give the Oriental a go.......uggghhhh! So, out to eat, get some beer, stare at the walls.
Sunday, no wind as I sipped the first cup of life support. This time, we grab everything, and run by the shop to make sure its a go....it is. So, run down to the boat, throw all our gear on, and-wait. At a little past 7:15, 2 more divers show up. OK, I can understand making money this season has been bad for that. We still don't leave. Oh, here come 2 more divers, and one with a suicide machine, I mean rebreather. We leave the dock at 8:20. The seas are beautiful. Only the captain knows where we are going, and he doesn't inform the crew. Well, with no site breifing, we splash, thinking its the Dixie (thats what one of the crew thought when I asked), right until I dropped past 85 ft and saw some huge boilers. The Proteus! I've tried getting there a few times and only have been on it a couple. Vis was about 30-40 on the bottom, 74 degrees. Mild current. And about a dozen or so sand tigers. Did the dive, the explore, the look for anything.
About the time we get back on, the guy with the rebreather plunges with his girlfriend/whatever, and a huge, commercial grade video camera. So, he is doing his dive with no other divers in the water, thats cool. He and the 'buddy' hit the line after about 50 minutes of bottom. She is on a single tank...anyone else see a problem here? So the crew sends down some O2, and she does about 30 minutes or so...and then sucks down a bottle when she is onboard.
So, we plunge for our second, get a great dive, no current by then, the vis is picking up, couldn't ask for too much more. Get done, come up, and in goes rebreather and 'buddy' We get to wait for over an hour and a half while he and she do their dive. When they finally do return, she doesn't have the gas onboard to finish her deco obligation, so down go more bottles. the crew hoisted the scrap metal the captain is taking, took up the lines, and did NOT do any form of role call. We arrived at the dock at 5:20 pm.
Throughout the day, there were various incidents that the crew handled very well, from OOG divers to more OOG divers. I have never seen so many people run out of air in my life. Really. Five by my count. I mean is it that hard to check your gauge? To understand that you need X amount to do a deco hang? Anyway, they (the actual crew) were fairly personable, and did respond well to the problems onboard.
I guess my point in all this is, if you are doing an extended run time, be one of the first to splash. If you do it when everyone else is on a surface interval, give up your second dive. Its rude to keep the rest of us waiting while you and your 'buddy' go play, especially when said 'buddy' had no understanding of decompression.
-J
