Hey Hoover ~ Did you ruin someone's dive?

[MASS-Diver]

wow....this thread is making me glad that I don't do a lot of vacation diving. I'd never risk my neck diving with some goofball just out of the goodness of my heart or because some DM tired to bully me into. I've worked too hard to become a half-way-decent diver to be violating Rule #1 from no good reason. I would never do a "real" dive with someone that I had not done a practice dive with before.

 

[al1]

I would do the one dive with him, if the divemasters already had there hands full. Then I would return him to the boat and probably either dive solo or try and buddy up with two other divers. Depends on how far away they are.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Pug,

Hypothetically speaking, of course, I'd cooperate with the DM in all respects for one day. I can be pretty darned noble for one day. At the end of that one day, back at the shop, the operations manager and I would hold a quiet Come-to-Jesus meeting. I would read to him from the scriptures. We would pray and commune together. We would achieve consensus and mutual understanding. And thereafter I would not be bothered with his problem children for the remaining days of my extremely expensive trip! He has employees whom he pays to ensure these clients survive their own inadequacies.

Bon Voyage,

Doc

 

[rushonthebeach]

Hello........my names Rush and I'm a first dive hoover.There I said it and much like any good twelve step program admitting the problem is the first step in over coming it.I've only dove in two locals........San Diego and Hawaii (Maui and Oahu)If I don't get out and dive on a regular basis I chew up an AL80 like my Rotty wolfs down a steak.Next dive I settle down.
When I dive in Hawaii(Oahu) I request an AL100 for my deep dives, especially if it's the first of the trip and on my reef or drift 2nd dive ,I'm back with an AL80 and I relax and time seems to gently roll by.Being a noob of just under 50 dives,I'm still learning.........still observing those that seem to get half a day off an 80, and refining my bouyancy, streamlining my gear , making sure I'm not over weighted.I try not to be a burden on my buddy and work diligently on taking it easy in the water. I'm grateful to those I've dove with for anything they pass along and I have a deep thirst for all that comes with strapping on a tank.
I've been down @110-120 and had a wide eyed buddy point to a guage reading 600lbs................hand off my long hose , head for the line and slowly work our way up, making stops ,watchin the computer , checkin our air and beggining a mental plan for the SI on what we can do to stay in the saddle alittle longer.

 

[OE2X]

I am surprised at most of the responses I have read on this thread.

Sorry, I guess I'd thought better of some of you. Some replied true to form, but others...

I hope UP just had a bad day when he posted this.

How would you honestly handle this situation?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

If I am on the trip of a lifetime, I would not be in a position to have to make these decisions, because I will have also put effort into carefully selecting a dive buddy to accompany me ... one I know, have dived with, and enjoy being around both while diving and when not diving.

Life's too short to leave such things to chance ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Wijbrandus]

Not at all Robert.

What specific responses are troubling you?
What would be your answers to these questions?

Try to put yourself in the position of someone who is on the trip of a life time... don't just come at it from the angle of someone who gets to go on dive vacations all the time.

Alternately you could put yourself in the position of the hoover and answer the intitial question keeping in mind that the person whose dive was cut short was on a once in a lifetime trip (for them)... something that they had saved up for and couldn't expect to do again for a long time if ever.

Ok. In such a case, I'd not want to risk my trip on the toss of the dice with a random dive buddy. If I did not have a dive buddy to take the trip with me, and this was a major concern, then I'd be doing what it takes to get one.

Come on. If you are going on the trip of a lifetime, and you are going solo, you are just asking for a life of pain. You are going to be paired up with whatever other Joe shows up without a partner. You already know this going into the deal. Giving new divers a complex with a ten page *****fest about how they've ruined your dive is counter-productive.

You need to prioritize what's important to you. Is it spending 10 grand on your trip to Fiji, or is it having a dive buddy on your "approved" list?

I dove solo for a few months. I took what I got. I had no case to ***** because I was by far the worst diver on the boat. I probably still am, as I'm still a rookie after a year and a half of certification. I'm sure when I went out on my very first dive post-cert, my dive buddy wasn't real happy with my air consumption. Fortunately, BridgeDiver was gracious about it and encouraging. If he'd *****ed about it, or even spun me off to another dive buddy, I'd probably have dropped out of diving in shame.

Now, I've gotten my wife into diving, so I've got a dive buddy that doesn't concern herself with how fast I go through my air.

Yes, I'm working out and improving my physical fitness. I've already doubled my bottom time, but it's still crap compared to most people. I'm just glad I'm no longer the first one back on the boat. I strongly suspect nobody WANTS to be a hoover, but some people just are. When you are on the trip of a lifetime, you can't get anything but an al80, and they ain't giving you twins either.

I guess my bottom line is if an approved buddy is so important to you, bring one in your save-a-dive kit.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Bob... that's nice... but it obfuscates and ducks the question. To fault the non-hoover for not having along a suitable buddy isn't the answer. The non-hoover was on holiday with non-diver wifey. Play along wid me 'ere.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Bob... that's nice... but it obfuscates and ducks the question. To fault the non-hoover for not having along a suitable buddy isn't the answer. The non-hoover was on holiday with non-diver wifey. Play along wid me 'ere.

Well ... you know me well enough to already know the answer.

I'd dive with the guy (hoovers are almost always a guy) and whine about it later ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Uncle Pug]

if an approved buddy is so important to you, bring one in your save-a-dive kit.

Robert is that how you would answer the intitial question then?