My near-miss in the Galapagos

[Leejnd]

...people's hind sight is always to infinity.

I love this line! I never heard this before. I'm going to have to steal it and find a use for it.

I think people frequently say they'd back out of dives under x y and z circumstance but in reality I don't believe people do (this is just my opinion).

Yeah...I would wholeheartedly agree that there is a lot of truth to this. That was the point I was trying to make in my "lecture" post - don't assume that you won't make the same choices that others make in similar circumstances, or behave in the same manner that, with our always perfect hindsight, seems not-so-smart after the fact.

As for the hot whiskey...I don't happen to have any whiskey around here, but I do have a bottle of Pisco that I managed to bring back from Peru! I absolutely fell in love with their national drink, the Pisco Sour. Think that might help?

 

[Jax]

Yeah...I would wholeheartedly agree that there is a lot of truth to this. That was the point I was trying to make in my "lecture" post - don't assume that you won't make the same choices that others make in similar circumstances, or behave in the same manner that, with our always perfect hindsight, seems not-so-smart after the fact.

Leejnd, I have read though your thread serveral times . . . . including the armchair quarterbacks' lectures . . . truly, I am not sure I would not have done exactly what you did. You balanced the dive of a lifetime against 'flakey' equipment. Wow -- what choices. Especially when one might consider that they might have had different equipment the second time.

I know I learned that if I do have a bad piece of gear, I will thoroughly note any issues with it (like a fray spot here, and a mark there) so if the dive op tried to 'foist' it on me again, I would know.

Thanks so much for sharing your story.

 

[TSandM]

All of us who post our near misses and lessons learned get beat on a bit. I've taken some horrendous drubbings in the past. Took a big one on DMX recently over my Cave 2 class. I still post because a) I learn some things from doing so and b) as a very lovely note from a friend told me this morning, OTHER people learn from my mistakes, and avoid my bad experiences that way.

Lee, just shrug it off. Take the information that is useful to you, and ignore what you don't like or what is redundant. The thread isn't primarily for your benefit, anyway -- it's for the benefit of the 65,900 lurkers who never post but read all this stuff

 

[InTheDrink]

As for the hot whiskey...I don't happen to have any whiskey around here, but I do have a bottle of Pisco that I managed to bring back from Peru! I absolutely fell in love with their national drink, the Pisco Sour. Think that might help?

Yes, in my esteemed medical opinion I believe that will work also. Oh, and have one for me too - my throat is feeling a little raw and one can't be too careful with these things

J

 

[Scott L]

Leejnd, I have read though your thread serveral times . . . . including the armchair quarterbacks' lectures . . . truly, I am not sure I would not have done exactly what you did.

Is there are any other kind with regard to post accident/trip discussions? (just in case I was included)

I know I learned that if I do have a bad piece of gear, I will thoroughly note any issues with it (like a fray spot here, and a mark there) so if the dive op tried to 'foist' it on me again, I would know.

A couple of knife notches in plastic (Scubapro BCD's have a lot) will differentiate quite nicely...

 

[Jax]

A couple of knife notches in plastic (ScubaPro BCD have alot) will differentiate quite nicely...

 

[Scott L]

Leejnd, I have read though your thread serveral times . . . . including the armchair quarterbacks' lectures . . . truly, I am not sure I would not have done exactly what you did.

Most all posters other than abaco24 appeared to be experienced divers...

I know I learned that if I do have a bad piece of gear, I will thoroughly note any issues with it (like a fray spot here, and a mark there) so if the dive op tried to 'foist' it on me again, I would know.

A couple of knife notches in plactic (scubaPro BCD have alot) will differentiate quite nicely...

 

[Jax]

Most all posters other than abaco24 appeared to be experienced divers...

Hmm . . . please don't take the "armchair quarterback" as a slight . . . it was meant that 'opinions are given by those who were not there, not under the pressure of the moment, and without the various inputs the individual in question had'.

Something I learned from being stationed with a bunch of pilots -- when the cuss & discuss after an incident occurs comes down to "A's" judgment versus "B's" judgement, the rose goes to the guy that was there, because no one else had experienced that situation.

Better?

 

[Leejnd]

Is there are any other kind with regard to post accident/trip discussions? (just in case I was included)

There is a difference between discussing lessons learned with the focus on seeking to understand, vs. the type of "armchair quarterbacking" in which people simply say "well I never would have done that," with the hidden (or sometimes not so hidden) message being "I'm too smart to have made the same mistakes you did." The former is the reason this forum exists, and is a value to the dive community. The latter does nothing but make the person who told their story feel attacked and dumped-on...and results in fewer divers reporting their incidents.

Over the course of this thread there have been both types of comments. Honestly I can't remember where your comments fit in. If you're not sure which category your comments fell under, you might go back and review them. If they offered info of value to others seeking to learn and understand (and I'm sure they did), then great - thanks! But if you tossed out little barbs that served no purpose other than to highlight how a) I must be a moron for having done what I did, and/or b) you personally are too smart or well trained or superior in your diving skills and decision-making abilities to have made such mistakes, then...well, I guess that speaks for itself.

A couple of knife notches in plastic (Scubapro BCD's have a lot) will differentiate quite nicely...

I have to assume this is a dig at ScubaPro, because I mentioned that the dive op rented out ScubaPro gear, and my husband's gear is ScubaPro? If so, I'm not sure this thread is the place to engage in such discussions. I know there are many differing opinions about gear configurations, manufacturers, etc...and people can be quite passionate and vociferous about their choices. There are other forums for these types of discussions...which really aren't relevent in the context of this incident.

 

[Leejnd]

Hmm . . . please don't take the "armchair quarterback" as a slight . . . it was meant that 'opinions are given by those who were not there, not under the pressure of the moment, and without the various inputs the individual in question had'.

Something I learned from being stationed with a bunch of pilots -- when the cuss & discuss after an incident occurs comes down to "A's" judgment versus "B's" judgement, the rose goes to the guy that was there, because no one else had experienced that situation.

Better?

Excellent description of why incident analysis is of great value...but questioning and criticizing the judgement of the person is not.

I agree that not all armchair quarterbacking is negative. Basically, that's what everyone who wasn't there is doing when they discuss the incident at all. Which I have no problem with. My issue, as I described above, is with the type of armchair quarterbacking that can be interpreted as criticizing the person to whom the incident occurred, suggesting that you personally would never have made such choices. Even if that may be true, it is simply wrong to do that, and offers nothing of value to the discussion.

I understand that this can be a fine line, however, because faulty judgements are often the reason incidents happen at all. In fact, it is usually a series of faulty judgements...by more than one person. So how do you point out the flawed decisions without making the person feel dumped-on? It's a challenge!

This is all an academic discussion, though, because we all know that NOBODY in this thread did that to ME...right?