Legally Blind leading the blind

[iyakonboats]

This needs to be brought up on the boat- as soon as possible after you have been assigned a buddy, so you can say "no offense but this isn't going to work out".

--My head was along the side of the boat, vacating the contents of my stomach, talking made me sick.

I would not allow myself to be buddied up with an air breathing diver when I'm diving (and paying extra for) Nitrox. I pay good money to dive- why shorten my dive simply to accommodate a dive Op?

--So, just doing it for good practice is a bad thing now?

No you don't.



The slight additional cold factor at 50' isn't going to make that much of a difference in gas consumption, there are many other factors that matter much more.



If the boat supplied Nitrox tanks, they are obligated to supply you with an analyzer- either on the boat or at the dock or the shop (or at least back at the shop) and give you an opportunity to use it).



You are asking if you were being too nice by not swimming away and leaving your OOA assigned buddy at 50'? Am I reading that correctly?[/QUOTE]

--No, on the surface.

Perhaps I am reading your response wrong, but it seems like you're really "into this", to the point you're being a tad... Confrontational.

 

[iyakonboats]

Sea sickness is going to make diving a lot less fun if you don't get it under control. Plus your head would have been in a better state to engage with the buddy, DM, and your gear if you were not sick.

I suggest getting some Scopolamine patches to avoid the motion sickness. I'm usually ok on boats but in rough open ocean conditions I get queasy and suffer. A patch (or 1/2 patch) before getting on the boat completely avoids the problem. There are other products, but I suggest you get something. The Scop patches are prescription in the USA but over the counter in Canada and maybe Mexico - and a lot cheaper.

Maybe you can request a name change once you solve this!

Yeah, my wife says I should do that. Once I am in the water, I am fine. This is all new to me, since I never got sick on a boat before.

My screen name, I'll always keep it, I kind of like it, hehehe.

 

[Norrm]

but it seems like you're really "into this", to the point you're being a tad... Confrontational.

I am into diving, no doubt. Not understanding why you think I'm being confrontational? I'm simply pointing out the numerous mistakes made, and hoping you'll be a better diver for having them pointed out.

 

[iyakonboats]

Doing what?

Deco stops

 

[Norrm]

Deco stops

Recreational divers such as you and me do not do [mandatory] DECO stops we often do [optional] SAFETY stops.

Big difference.

Edited to add- yes it's good to work on buoyancy (and even trim), during the 15' 3 minute optional safety stop and also use the time to dump and squeeze every last bit of gas out of your BCD and see if you tend to sink, and if so, lose a pound or two on the next dive and repeat until you are either neutral or very slightly negative at your safety stop- because this is without a doubt the BEST way for a recreational single tank diver to determine how much weight they really need to carry.

 

[iyakonboats]

Recreational divers such as you and me do not do [mandatory] DECO stops we often do [optional] SAFETY stops.

Big difference.

Yeah, not sure I said it was Mandatory either, I prefer to do it. In fact, most dive computers still activate it even when you have only been within those depths. That being said, much like in Aviation, we do things out of good practice, even if just precautionary. That kid may not have done a deco/safety stop, but he was going to do one while on my air,

Also, if you're that type to argue syntax, I suggest you find something else to do with your time.

 

[kafkaland]

Recreational divers such as you and me do not do [mandatory] DECO stops we often do [optional] SAFETY stops.

Big difference.

Well, deco is not quite that black and white, in fact every dive is a deco dive in a way. In fact, I treat a required safety stop, per PADI tables, as mandatory deco. Case in point: a 20 minute dive to 100' on air is the NDL per PADI tables, with a required safety stop of three, or better, five minutes. If I run that profile with a GF of 30/70 (which I use for cold water diving), I get mandatory deco of seven minutes at 10', plus a minute each at some deeper stops. Now, blowing off seven minutes of mandatory deco sounds a whole lot scarier than blowing off a safety stop at the edge of the NDL, when it's in fact the same. Or, perhaps the more conservative take is that a required safety stop is mandatory deco, even though you have a good chance of walking away in one piece when you have to blow it off.

 

[Brian G]

"shouldn't those two tanks marked "Nitrox" be mine (being the only diver Nitrox certified on the boat). They said "No, the two tanks marked 32" and my response "you mean painters tape with 32 written on them?"

It sounds from your description like maybe that cylinders marked "32" and the cylinders marked "nitrox" are different cylinders? Justs to clarify for those who aren't aware, "nitrox" indicates that the cylinder has been cleaned for oxygen use and should not be filled except from a source that has been filtered for oxygen clean use. There might be air in the cylinders, might be 100% O2. "32" indicates that there is 32% nitrox in there, and while putting 32% into a cylinder not marked "nitrox" is certainly not best practice, there is nothing inherently dangerous about it if it was filled from banked nitrox. Pretty sloppy though, and I would be suspicious of a shop that did that. As others have said, you do need to analyze your mix, and the shop is obligated to provide the means to do that.

so I switched to my backup, an SS1

Curious, since many on Scubaboard argue against the octo-inflator concept because of difficulty controlling buoyancy while ascending with it, how did that go? You didn't mention any difficulty so I assume it went fine?

"no offense but this isn't going to work out"

What would your expectations be for a buddy? It seems to me that pairing a relatively inexperienced diver with another relatively inexperienced diver is common. I'm not saying it's optimal. When I'm diving alone I have pretty low expectations for instabuddies, and being paired with a new diver would fall within my parameters for acceptability.

No you don't.

Not understanding why you think I'm being confrontational?

The "No you don't" statement was confrontational, plus rude and condescending.

 

[JohnnyC]

It's a safety stop. It's not mandatory. Don't call it a deco stop. That has implications. It's not simply a "syntax" thing. If you go on a rec boat and tell them you did a 3 minute deco stop you're liable to get benched for the next dive. Especially if you do something like say, "I blew my deco stop."

Words have meaning. Use the right ones.

This is not the same as the nebulous concept of every dive being a deco dive.

You are responsible for your cylinder contents. You are responsible for analyzing. The dive shop should provide you with an analyzer and analyze in front of you at some point. Painters tape is quite a common way of marking cylinder contents, typically with a MOD, initials, often with an indication of pressure too. Having your own analyzer is smart. Nitrox bands on tanks mean absolutely nothing. They're a stupid concept.

Your buddy sucked. That's why instabuddies suck. Price you pay for having that conversation a little too late. That being said, if you don't bring your own buddy, and the boat requires a buddy, you're stuck with what you get.

 

[iyakonboats]

It sounds from your description like maybe that cylinders marked "32" and the cylinders marked "nitrox" are different cylinders? Justs to clarify for those who aren't aware, "nitrox" indicates that the cylinder has been cleaned for oxygen use and should not be filled except from a source that has been filtered for oxygen clean use. There might be air in the cylinders, might be 100% O2. "32" indicates that there is 32% nitrox in there, and while putting 32% into a cylinder not marked "nitrox" is certainly not best practice, there is nothing inherently dangerous about it if it was filled from banked nitrox. Pretty sloppy though, and I would be suspicious of a shop that did that. As others have said, you do need to analyze your mix, and the shop is obligated to provide the means to do that.


Curious, since many on Scubaboard argue against the octo-inflator concept because of difficulty controlling buoyancy while ascending with it, how did that go? You didn't mention any difficulty so I assume it went fine?


What would your expectations be for a buddy? It seems to me that pairing a relatively inexperienced diver with another relatively inexperienced diver is common. I'm not saying it's optimal. When I'm diving alone I have pretty low expectations for instabuddies, and being paired with a new diver would fall within my parameters for acceptability.



The "No you don't" statement was confrontational, plus rude and condescending.

I had no issues with ascending, had my weight just right so little air needed for maintaining good bouyancy, I just dumped. Yeah, I meant to say safety, but I have been on my couch for the last three days getting over the nastiest flu I've ever had, I'd get your shots now if I were you guys (or ladies, or gender fluid/neutral).

My expectations, well, honestly, I normally will dive with my wife, but this past dive was supposed to be with a friend of mine who is a PADI instructor with a ton of experience, but he didn't get on the boat so I was stuck with what I had; thus, I don't have expectations. In fact, I guess I wouldn't mind being paired with a newish diver, as I get more experienced, I figure sharing of experience is a good thing, given they want to learn, perhaps I am more open to helping others, given it doesn't impede my enjoyment, or safety, under water.

Perhaps, in the future, when I treat this yakking issue, I'll do better to discuss this stuff since my head won't be over the side of a crappy boat. Then again, I am not going on dives with boats super cramped ever again, I'd pay another $100 for a nicer boat, with more room, and visibility forward.