Peer Pressure in Chuuk

[AmyDelyla]

So, here I am diving Truk Lagoon...A dive trip of a lifetime. Most everything that could possibly go wrong has. My luggage was lost, some equipment stolen, double booked in my hotel room, I got sick with a mild cold, I local guy harassed me to the point I had to have someone else walk me back to my new room.... I could go on and on.

Anyways, for better or for worse I have been popping Sudafed and the diving has been truly phenomenal. Best dives of my life. It has made all the bumps along the way worth it.

Yesterday, I did not do the third dive. I thought I should take it a little easy and get some rest because of my cold. While I was off the boat, one of my fellow vacationing divers managed to convince the dive guide to take us down to the San Francisco Maru.

So at dinner, this fellow diver approaches me and tries to convince me to dive the San Fran Maru with him this morning.

I am told that max depth is 180'. (I have never been diving outside of recreational limits before.) The plan is to descend, have a look for 15 minutes tops and then do a 15 min or so deco stop on the way up. (I have never had to do a deco stop...)

Anyways, this guy is really good at convincing me and he tells me to think it over over night and to have a final decision in the morning. By the time I leave dinner, I am actually thinking that I might do this. However, I have a clinging bad feeling about the dive as I walk back to my room and this time there is no sleezy guy trying to follow me.

I decide to google the San Fran Maru. All I come up with is people diving it who are wearing 3 tanks, have rebreathers, redundant everything and tons of equipment that I don't even know the names for...

At this point it hits me. What the hell am I thinking!?! (I knew I had a bad feeling for a reason.) What was I doing even considering doing this dive with a buddy I hardly know, without any tech experience, without special equipment, without knowing how I (or he) would respond to narcosis AND while being sick!? (I am sure there are even more reasons why not to do the dive that I have yet to think of.)

So just to make myself feel even better about turning down what could be a dive of a life time, I call my friend who is a PADI master instructor with 10,000+ dives. (He is very adventurous, so if he says, "no," I'll know my instincts not to do the dive are correct.)

As I suspected, and for a variety of reasons, he tells me I would be crazy to do this dive. He also points out that there are plenty of other incredible wrecks within recreational limits in Chuuk, so why not just stick to those?

I have to agree. The wrecks I have done so far are blowing my mind. Why mess up a good thing? A dive of a lifetime is not worth it if it could be your last.

So, now I have to walk down to the dive shop and request a second boat since I will not be departing on the one that is going to the San Fran Maru in a few hours.

Questions- What are people's thought on this kind of peer pressure and the best way to handle it or, better yet, avoid it altogether? (As a side note, I think I would have been more susceptible to it if I had not read "Diver Down." I highly recommend that book for this reason and others!)

Also, now that I have seen such amazing wrecks with my own eyes and I am curious about doing the San Fran one day in the future (safely and correctly), what is the best way to get introduced to tech diving if one wants to do it responsibly?

(For those of you who are curious, my fellow diver has about 200 dives and a rescue diver cert. I only have 72 and an advanced cert. I am sure the dive guide has been diving the wrecks here his whole life...)

 

[SteveAD]

The little voice in your head is exactly right.

Your near stranger buddy is an idiot.

The plan is to descend, have a look for 15 minutes tops and then do a 15 min or so deco stop on the way up. This is not even close to being a legitimate plan.

Critical rule: Any diver can abort any dive at any time for any reason, or even no reson at all, I just don't have a warm fuzzy feeling. No one questions an abort.

If you don't know it's a good idea, it's probably a bad one.

 

[akbpilot]

Simple...Just say "No"

 

[Chugwhump]

"Trust the Force Luke...."

If you are not trained, certain, ready, and healthy everything might be just fine.
And we might also read about you getting damaged or worse on a dive you were unsure of, not ready for, and not trained to do.
Thumb the dive if you are not certain.
You made the right choice.
Chug
Scaredy-cat diver for 33 years and counting.

 

[Jax]

Yay, Amy! Way to go Amy! :cheerleader:

You handled everything wonderfully . . . only thing I would suggest in the future is to tell Mr Hard Sell "Let me think about it" and if he presses on, say "If I have to decide now, the answer is no."

 

[SelkieDVM]

Good for you, Amy, for trusting your instincts. Your comment about a potential dive of a lifetime not being worth it if it's your last is spot on. You are on a dive trip of a lifetime, enjoy it without worrying about what anybody thinks or what you might be missing. Just say you're not comfortable with the dive and leave it that it. As for further training, get your rescue then maybe consider a beginning tech class. There are several potential routes to becoming prepared to make this sort of dive, but I will leave to the more informed to make specific recommendations, as I am only just beginning the tech journey myself.

 

[chiefelectusn]

You did great Amy. If it does not seem like a good idea to start, it is not going to get any better!

 

[deepstops]

Never be afraid to call the dive for any reason, period.

If your buddies don't understand and give you grief for your choice, look for new buddies.

 

[scubafanatic]

Amy, I think you've made the right call here....also consider the following:
....many recreational dive computers (especially Sunnto) aren't really designed for 'deco' diving....they are either very conservative (Sunnto) and / or they can't handle multiple different gasses (like offgassing with a 'higher' % of oxygen while riding the 'deco bar' or using a stage bottle.
.......the san Fran 'keel' might be in 180'.......which means you COULD do a multiprofile dive on it and decide not to go beyond a certain depth.....stay on the bridge or main deck...not the keel/props.
...it is my understanding Sudafed increases narcosis....not good!
......you are a LONG way from first-world medical help if it hits the fan.....and if you don't flat out die in an accident there, you could also be faced with severe permanent injuries....and never dive again...or maybe never even walk again.

 

[RJP]

The plan is to descend, have a look for 15 minutes tops and then do a 15 min or so deco stop on the way up. (I have never had to do a deco stop...)

Bad plan!

According to V-Planner, here's what the schedule would look like (diving air, no deco gas) for 15min of bottom time if you stayed on the deck at 165':

---------------------------------

Dec to 165ft (3)
Level 165ft 11:42 (15)
Asc to 80ft (17)
Stop at 80ft 0:10 (18)
Stop at 70ft 1:00 (19)
Stop at 60ft 2:00 (21)
Stop at 50ft 2:00 (23)
Stop at 40ft 4:00 (27)
Stop at 30ft 4:00 (31)
Stop at 20ft 24:00 (55)
Surface

Off gassing starts at 104.8ft

OTU's this dive: 22
CNS Total: 8.4%

107.0 cu ft Air
107 cu ft TOTAL

---------------------------------

So, according to V-Planner the plan your "buddy" is recommending (15min bottom, 15min deco) would have you blowing off more than 25min of the 40min mandatory deco obligation you'd rack up for 15min of bottom time at 165' - REALLY BAD IDEA!

Additionally, what kind of tank would you have been diving? Single 80cf AL? Look at the bottom of the schedule above...where it tells you that you'd need 107cf of air to make that dive. (And that's using MY SAC rate, which I'm guessing is better than what yours would have been, given I'm used to doing dives like that.)

So, with the choices being "bent" or "drowned" I think your decision to "pass" was the right one.

The San Francisco Maru is a great dive, but there is NOTHING you can see on that wreck that is worth dieing for.