I certified today

[SnakeRiverPirate]

Well, I have gone from being a tadpole to a polliwog!

I got 3 dives in today and only had to pass off on the buoyant ascent. Riding the tank was not required due to wind and waves.

The dive today became somewhat disorganized. The LDS had 12 kids between the ages of 10 and 14 show up. As they are from a wealthy local family it was like they got pushed to the front of the line. The dive was to leave at 0800, but they didn't show until 0815. It took them until 0930 to get their stuff and get loaded. We hit the water at 1100. It was a silly, irritating mess.

The shop has their 17 year old son (who is a DIVECON) drive the boat. It kept breaking down and his attempt to fix it in the water lead to him dropping some motor parts into the lake.

My dive partner was a very nice lady who is originally from South Africa. She an I we turned loose by the instructor. She had certified yesterday and was just along to log more dives. We caught crawdads, found bottles and made one deep plunge to 60 feet. The dives went well, so I focused on that to as large an extent as possible.

I do have a question.Is it wrong or unreasonable of me to expect divers to be on time? I am ex military and can be somewhat of a Nazi about this.

 

[Randy43068]

Good job!

Relax, this is a hobby, sport, fun.. It's OK to be a little late.. sometimes.

 

[emcbride81]

Welcome to the water!!!

 

[Jimmer]

Depends entirely on the crew you're going out with. My LDS and charter op is really easy going. That being said, I think we'd probably just leave if someone was more than 30 minutes late, since on Erie, our closest wreck is almost an hour boat ride.

 

[SnakeRiverPirate]

Here are some points that I saw:

1. Be on time, repecting other folks time is important.
2. Kids in class should have an adult with them. I caddied tanks for a group of little girls who would have never been able to tote them from the truck to the boat.
3. Too many divers makes for a long day. We were told that we'd be done by noon. I had scheduled clients but we didn't get off of the water until 1430.

 

[chris408]

Congrats!

 

[DivingsInMyBlood]

Well, I have gone from being a tadpole to a polliwog!

I got 3 dives in today and only had to pass off on the buoyant ascent. Riding the tank was not required due to wind and waves.

The dive today became somewhat disorganized. The LDS had 12 kids between the ages of 10 and 14 show up. As they are from a wealthy local family it was like they got pushed to the front of the line. The dive was to leave at 0800, but they didn't show until 0815. It took them until 0930 to get their stuff and get loaded. We hit the water at 1100. It was a silly, irritating mess.

The shop has their 17 year old son (who is a DIVECON) drive the boat. It kept breaking down and his attempt to fix it in the water lead to him dropping some motor parts into the lake.

My dive partner was a very nice lady who is originally from South Africa. She an I we turned loose by the instructor. She had certified yesterday and was just along to log more dives. We caught crawdads, found bottles and made one deep plunge to 60 feet. The dives went well, so I focused on that to as large an extent as possible.

I do have a question.Is it wrong or unreasonable of me to expect divers to be on time? I am ex military and can be somewhat of a Nazi about this.

Awsome congrats on your cert my friend, in my view if their not on time the boat SHOULD leave without them rich or not. Sounds like you have a mini nightmare between the kids and the boat falling apart, but glad you made it.

 

[spectrum]

I do have a question.Is it wrong or unreasonable of me to expect divers to be on time? I am ex military and can be somewhat of a Nazi about this.

First, congratulations on your certification.

The likelihood of an outing starting on time is inversely proportion to the square of the number of divers. If you can get away from boats and dive from shore you can leave the herd mentality behind and dive with chosen buddies who are punctual.

That being said delays will happen and in the end if you set the day aside for a dive or set of dives then relax and ride it out. When it comes to classes and such it's really hard since they are often weekend affairs and the next weekend already has another agenda. If the instructor draws too firm of a line then it all snowballs into an even worse mess.

Pete

 

[SnakeRiverPirate]

In this case it just seems that the LDS had many classes going and felt that they could squinch a bunch together on the dives. They, oddly enough, are not open on weekends. It was an effort on their part to make everyone happy. I just think that the tardy ones were rude. It is a poor thing to teach your kids. About half did not certify because they failed the written portion.

The boat was just their lack of maintenance. It had the same problem last week. The shop is good and I understand that their gear takes a beating. I have, however, been a river guide in my misspent youth. Having a boat that is not ship shape is something that the folks I guided for would have never let happen. I found out that they had the same problem during a dive on Thursday night.

Either way I will continue on with them. I want their to be a local shop and will support their efforts. I have further goals for training and expanding my abilities. I just felt the need to post some observations.

In the future when dives are planned I will take the day off.

 

[ScubaSteve]

......If you can get away from boats and dive from shore you can leave the herd mentality behind and dive with chosen buddies who are punctual.......

Excellent advice if you area permits. Shore diving is not only less money (no charter cost), but can be done more frequently if so desired. You are not limited to what a Dive Master or boat Captain wants for bottom time and you can do them to suit your schedule. For this, you do need a good dive buddy and that is something your LDS can likely help you with.

Either way I will continue on with them. I want their to be a local shop and will support their efforts. I have further goals for training and expanding my abilities. I just felt the need to post some observations.

In the future when dives are planned I will take the day off.

Sounds like they are lucky to have you. It is not uncommon for delays in diving. As you stated, take the day off and enjoy being underwater. Welcome and congrats.