Is this normal for a charter?

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Kayla

Contributor
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Location
Washington (State!)
# of dives
I'm a Fish!
Last Monday, my dad and I went out on a charter, and one of the divers there scared me a little.... We did a couple of dives, and on BOTH dives, she lost one of the weight pockets in her BC and shot to the surface from 60 feet. She then realized while she was back on the surface that she had forgotten to hook up her dry suit hose... which would explain why she was depressed about having problems getting neutral. Then, to top off the whole situation, she was talking to us, and told us that she thought she was a pretty good diver because she had only COMPLETLEY ran out of air three or four times while under water. I just about had a heart attack. For as many dives as she had logged, it seems to me that its a miracle that she is even alive...... but I guess my real question is.... is that common? If it is... I plan on bringin my own buddy from this point on......jeesh!


Kayla
 
Stuff like that happens a lot around here in NC. Your best bet is to always bring your own buddy. Find someone decent and start regular practice sessions with that person. This way you'll always have at least one good buddy.
 
Sounds like you have a good buddy, your dad, if I read your post correctly. How fortunate you are. Treasure the times spent with him.

Fortunately, that type of dive behaviour is not the norm. The diver should have checked ones own equipment before each dive and then an equipment review should have been done by the buddy.

The described diver may be experiencing problems that are deep seated and safe diving may never be in the cards for that particular diver. The down side is the diver will continue to dive with others. Unfortunate.

Regards,
 
See My signature below.....



I crew on a dive boat every weekend and some weekdays during the season here in New York so I see alot. 70% of the divers do all right 20% scare me 10% amaze me that they are still alive. The last 30% are the ones who make my job change from one of fun to one of a baby sitter. Considering that all mates on the island work for tips having to babysit a person who thinks there the gratest thing in diving since Mike Nelson and dont want or think they need your help can really put a downer on a good day of diving.

The stories I could tell............ :54:
 
Uh, could you describe her because she sounds exactly like this woman on one of my liveaboards trips! (just kidding about the describing her part!). The woman on my trip ran completely out of air twice! It was drift diving, so when you are running low on air, you are supposed to calmly ascend, do your safety stop, and surface for the boat to pick you up. We couldn't figure out how she completely ran out of air twice on the trip! You'd think the first time would make you be a little more observant of you air.... But luckily, that's the only time I've ever come across anything like that on my trips....



Kayla:
Last Monday, my dad and I went out on a charter, and one of the divers there scared me a little.... We did a couple of dives, and on BOTH dives, she lost one of the weight pockets in her BC and shot to the surface from 60 feet. She then realized while she was back on the surface that she had forgotten to hook up her dry suit hose... which would explain why she was depressed about having problems getting neutral. Then, to top off the whole situation, she was talking to us, and told us that she thought she was a pretty good diver because she had only COMPLETLEY ran out of air three or four times while under water. I just about had a heart attack. For as many dives as she had logged, it seems to me that its a miracle that she is even alive...... but I guess my real question is.... is that common? If it is... I plan on bringin my own buddy from this point on......jeesh!


Kayla
 
Kayla:
Last Monday, my dad and I went out on a charter, and one of the divers there scared me a little.... We did a couple of dives, and on BOTH dives, she lost one of the weight pockets in her BC and shot to the surface from 60 feet. She then realized while she was back on the surface that she had forgotten to hook up her dry suit hose... which would explain why she was depressed about having problems getting neutral. Then, to top off the whole situation, she was talking to us, and told us that she thought she was a pretty good diver because she had only COMPLETLEY ran out of air three or four times while under water. I just about had a heart attack. For as many dives as she had logged, it seems to me that its a miracle that she is even alive...... but I guess my real question is.... is that common? If it is... I plan on bringin my own buddy from this point on......jeesh!


Kayla

Yes, it is.

Unfortunately.

This is what drives a lot of my beliefs about the state of dive training today, and why if you're going to call yourself a diver, rather than an "underwater breather", you have to take proactive steps to be ahead of the curve - certainly after your OW class, and it would be nice if you did it before you started.

Unfortunately, 99% of divers don't know about any of this insanity until after their OW class, so expecting you to "get it" before then is probably unrealistic. But certainly, post-certification, you need to get involved in your training as not just a student, but a partner.

There's a huge thread and, I might add, a yelling match about this here on the board between Netdoc and I. Despite the shouting from the other side of the aisle, I'm still convinced I'm right - the only way you avoid being like this diver, in the end, is to learn as much as you can, and advance only at a pace which you are comfortable with, never trusting that anyone else (even an instructor!) is going to "keep you safe."

This is both more work and slower than just buying classes - but, IMHO, its the right thing to do.

Consider that you can take an "AOW" class, and be certified to do "deep dives", with as few as five actual open water dives when you start, and about 10 when you get that AOW card. Ten dives, yet you're "certified" to do dives to 100'.

This much I know - my buoyancy wasn't even sorted out reasonably at 10 dives. I was getting it, but I was nowhere near there. Yet I did my OW, then AOW, and while I had a good instructor for my AOW, I still maintain that I didn't know - and wasn't taught - anywhere near enough to do those dives - class or no class - safely.

My attitude towards this developed over the year or so following that class, as I continued to read, learn, practice, refine my technique, and roll through my mind what I had seen, what the agencies say, and what had actually been put in front of me by the industry.
 
Kayla:
Last Monday, my dad and I went out on a charter, and one of the divers there scared me a little.... We did a couple of dives, and on BOTH dives, she lost one of the weight pockets in her BC and shot to the surface from 60 feet. She then realized while she was back on the surface that she had forgotten to hook up her dry suit hose... which would explain why she was depressed about having problems getting neutral. Then, to top off the whole situation, she was talking to us, and told us that she thought she was a pretty good diver because she had only COMPLETLEY ran out of air three or four times while under water. I just about had a heart attack. For as many dives as she had logged, it seems to me that its a miracle that she is even alive...... but I guess my real question is.... is that common? If it is... I plan on bringin my own buddy from this point on......jeesh!
Kayla

Wow - this is one of the craziest stories I have ever heard. Thankfully I have not had this experience. I have seen one person run out of air in Cozumel but was able to buddy breath through a safety stop and to the surface safely. This was surely a novice group of divers and it was my first week of certified diving. Definitely better to bring a buddy with you on a trip. If you cannot, start talking to divers on the way out and find your own buddy before you get paired with who's left.

--Matt
 
Wy don't you learn how to dive solo so these things don't hamper your day ????
just go by your self this is how you realy never have a problem !


yes it takes a couple of dives to get used to it but after that your good to go.
just stay by the boat and never get in too thick man your good

I rather go solo than with a bunch of students
just be carefull and you don't need a buddy ( they just #$%&&^^% up a dive any how!
 
Genesis:
the only way you avoid being like this diver, in the end, is to learn as much as you can, and advance only at a pace which you are comfortable with, never trusting that anyone else (even an instructor!) is going to "keep you safe."
I agree with this statement for the most part and i apologize if i am going off the tangent line a bit, but hopefully i will bring it back around. this particular reason is why i dive with my instructor on a regular basis. I know not a lot of guys get the opportunity to do that or can afford that, but every dive i learn something and i know he is concerned with our safety and does what is neccessary to keep us safe. When people see how fast I am advancing, I am a certified rescue diver within about two months from my OW cert but again I dive at least two dives a week sometimes as many as six and I always dive with my instructor, who is always teaching me or correcting me. We spend about an hour talking before each dive while we are checking ocean conditions. Which is something else he is teaching me about. My friends though are moving at a much slower pace and it is ok. They are moving as fast as they are comftorable and they are able to learn from me as well as my instructor. So it doesn't matter how fast you learn as long as you do learn and you learn well. which for some is fast and others well it takes some time. Ultimately in this long winded post all I was trying to say though is that keep learning and keep improving, that way when you do dive with those who aren't as prepared as you, you can be there to help them or at least be able to help yourself as needed because of someone elses uhm incompetence. the only person you can really control is you. I definately know the fear. ive been on dive boats with guys who really aren't certified just doing like intro dives in way deep water, so things happen, but ultimately you need to worry about you and keep you safe.
 

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