I HATE cancelling dives

[TSandM]

Anybody else do what I do? The minute I've decided to cancel a dive, I start second-guessing myself. Am I being a wimp? Would it have been just fine if I'd gone anyway?

The weather this morning is disgusting. We have high winds AGAIN, and earlier, it was raining very hard. The thought of gearing up in the pouring rain and howling wind, only to get into lousy viz and whitecaps on the surface was more than I could stomach from my nice, warm house. So when one of my prospective dive buddies called me and said, "I can see the dive site, and it looks awful," I was quick to agree to stay home. But then I had to call my regular dive buddy, who was already in his car, and tell him. He said, "It doesn't look that bad where I am (which is closer to the dive site)," and I immediately felt very glum. We cancelled anyway, but I spent the next half hour agonizing about it.

I'm not exactly a warm weather wimp, but this winter is getting to me!

 

[scubatexastony]

I kinda' remember what it was like to cancel a dive.... Then again, we only made one this morning as my buddy had things to do and there's FOOTBALL on later today! So I could say we cancelled our second and third dives! :shakehead

If it would help, I'd send ya' a couple pictures to tide ya' over....

'07 looks like another good year.

tony

 

[Gary D.]

Don’t ever second guess yourself on canceling or just saying no to a dive. There is a reason for not going.

Nobody should ever be criticized by their peers or themselves for canceling or saying no to a dive. If you don’t feel right about it there is more than likely something wrong. It’s better not to go and re-plan another one for later than go and wish you hadn’t.

Any buddy that criticizes another for saying no is a jerk and not a buddy.:mooner:

Gary D.

PS: I'm down wind from you. We hit 70 mph night before last.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

As the trip organizer and de facto leader, my most memorable cancellation was one on the boat headed out. The captian looked at us and said it was iffy. It was hard saying turn it around but I would do it again.

 

[Vayu]

The ability to cancel a dive is one of the most admirable traits one can find in a buddy. Sometimes it can be hard to do, but usually that first gut instinct is the important one. Moreover, it sounds like the first buddy you spoke to was looking for you to call it.

Cheers,

-V

 

[scubatexastony]

As the trip organizer and de facto leader, my most memorable cancellation was one on the boat headed out. The captian looked at us and said it was iffy. It was hard saying turn it around but I would do it again.

Was I on that boat with you?

 

[DivingCRNA]

LOL

Look at TSandM and SCUBATexasTony's avatars on consecutive posts....

I would say Tony has it out for you

Oops, I showed my Star Trek Geekness again....

 

[HBDiveGirl]

Anybody else do what I do? The minute I've decided to cancel a dive, I start second-guessing myself. Am I being a wimp? Would it have been just fine if I'd gone anyway?

I do hate cancelling a dive... but it's one of the critical skills I've worked hard at developing this past year.

During my first two years of diving, I made many dives that, in retrospectroscope, I shouldn't have. I got minor injuries a few times, and shook up several times. I was lucky and I remembered the errors. I did not have the skill to just say "no".

December 22, Ken and I were desperate to dive, and we said "no" once we looked at the conditions.
Yesterday, Ken and Tevis and I spent 20 minutes in laughing conversation while watching the surf at Old Marineland Dive site.
And we said no to diving this GORGEOUS spot.. calmly and with minimal struggle.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=2551908&postcount=19 (we dived an ugly spot instead.. whaddarya gonna do? )

Thanks, Lynne! Your post this morning made the whole process click in my head.
Because I've learned and practiced correctly, I can now:

• do an S-Drill and hold horizontal buoyancy while making stops.
• cancel a dive when it doesn't look safe or fun or "worth the risk".

Whew. Long time coming.


'Chica

 

[Tollie]

I drive the dive boat and for the past two days I had to cancel our usual run out to Desecheo Island, which is 14 miles out because of high winds and seas. Some of our guests were pissed. One said to me that she had had reservations for "the past month" so why was I not going to take her. None of the people who were going to be on that boat had the slightest idea what 7/8 foot seas and 22 knots of wind will do to a 32 foot boat. No Captain wants to call a trip but sometimes its just in the best interests of the guests to change plans and make for what they might consider a less desirable site.

So today instead of having to listen to screams of fear and see several guests offering up last nights meal we got to do great dives in calm shallow water in good viz.

No one should have the slightest hesitation about a called dive.

We say that a superior Captain (or diver) is one who uses superior judgement so that they do not have to use their superior skills.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Anybody else do what I do? The minute I've decided to cancel a dive, I start second-guessing myself. Am I being a wimp? Would it have been just fine if I'd gone anyway?

The weather this morning is disgusting. We have high winds AGAIN, and earlier, it was raining very hard. The thought of gearing up in the pouring rain and howling wind, only to get into lousy viz and whitecaps on the surface was more than I could stomach from my nice, warm house. So when one of my prospective dive buddies called me and said, "I can see the dive site, and it looks awful," I was quick to agree to stay home. But then I had to call my regular dive buddy, who was already in his car, and tell him. He said, "It doesn't look that bad where I am (which is closer to the dive site)," and I immediately felt very glum. We cancelled anyway, but I spent the next half hour agonizing about it.

I'm not exactly a warm weather wimp, but this winter is getting to me!

I agree with Gary D, Vayu, Tollie and the rest.

Calling dives is how divers stay alive.

I never, ever, feel bad about calling a dive. There will always be another dive. But not getting into a survival situation in the first place, avoiding an emergency before one happens, thats the true mark of a squared away diver (IMHO).

FWIW. YMMV.