I apologize in advance, this is lenghty but I wanted to try and explain fully. And I wanted to stay in the terms of the TOS, which I believe I have.
I wanted to relate a very negative experience I had this weekend in the Keys. I've been on lots of boats with lots of salty captains, but this experience was by far the worst I've had, or witnessed. I'm still a bit upset, but will try and relate the story fairly and accurately.
I went down to Key Largo this weekend to meet up with a friend and a group of divers from the Midwest. They were bringing students down to certify in the clear waters. Beats a lake in Arkansas even if conditions weren't great. I had arranged through the shop bringing the group for 2 days of diving with Cristal Clear Charters.
Day one I went to the dive shop, checked in, showed my c-card and signed my waiver, and boarded the boat. We did two quite uneventful dives on Molasses Reef. I thought it was a bit boring not to move the boat. Conditions were better than the previous two days, and the students were done certifying on the first dive, so they probably would have enjoyed another site. But regardless, the boat stayed put.
Day two I showed up at the boat and loaded my gear. Right before the boat took off, I ran back up to the dive shop to grab a t-shirt. When I got back to the boat and loaded, the dive briefing was still going on, with the instructors talking to the students about the layout of the wreck, the dive plan, etc. My buddy and I discussed our plan, I put my gear together, and sometime shortly after, we took off. The first dive was at the Speigal Grove. This was, btw, my 200th dive. Conditions were GORGEOUS. Very mild current, 60 ft. viz, clear blue water. Best conditions I've personally seen on the Grove. I descended at the end of the first group. We went with one instructor and the 4-5 new divers and newly certed divers along the port side of the boat for awhile. When the newbies had reached their turnaround point for air, my friend and I seperated from them (the instructor leading waved goodbye to us) and continued down the boat and across the superstructure of the boat across to the starboard side and back up to the bow. By this time, the second group was starting to ascend the line. We ascended behind them, and my buddy and I were the last ones on the boat. They unhooked from the mooring, and called roll call. Hmmm...I'm not on the roll call. That's weird, that hasn't happened before. As soon as the DM is finished, I go up to him and tell him that I'm not on the roster. He says something unmemorable liked "oh really...." or something. I say my name and spell it, and he adds me on. Now I'm certified to the Divecon/Asst. Instructor level, so, I REALIZE that it's a big deal to not be on a manifest. And I was diving in CA during the whole Driftin' Dan controversy. So I'm in no way minimizing this. As soon as I realized it, I notified someone. And of course it crossed my mind that I was glad I had ascended when I did. Even tho I was the last on the boat, my buddy and I still had bottom time and air left.
So I'm breaking down my gear when the Capt. comes up to me. He says "were you the one not on the manifest?" I said, "Yes." And he proceeds to TEAR ME TO PIECES. In a very hostile and condescending tone, and in front of the whole boat, he proceeds to to tell me that I put his whole operation and his Cpt. license at risk and I was irresponsible for not notifying them earlier. With his finger pointed at my face, he says "I could have had my license suspended for a year THAT'S-NOT-GONNA-HAPPEN" (imagine the finger pointing emphasis on each word) and I was out of the water the rest of the day.
I was FLOORED. Not so much by the subject but how it was approached. I was embarrassed and humiliated. I sort of stuttered and stammered (and of course by this time I'm crying because that is how I deal with being angry and embarrassed at the same time. I'm SUCH a chick :shakehead ) and said that I had notified the divemaster as soon as I'd realized it. He asked why I didn't say anything at roll call before we left dock. APPARENTLY this had been done while I was up at the shop buying a tshirt. Probably 5 minutes passed from the time that I got on the boat, and we left dock. No roll call in that time. And I (mistakenly) did not realize that I had to sign in again for a multi-day trip. Frequently, in my experience, a waiver is signed on the first day to cover the trip. I had tanks on the boat, it was the same DM from the day before, and it truly just never crossed my mind. Obviously, I will not make this mistake again. Now why it was not caught at the gate, when a headcount should have been done, both letting divers IN the water, and OUT of the water...is another issue.
I was still just seethingly upset that he had treated me the way he had. If he had come to me...and spoken to me like a human, and said, "look, this is a big problem. I don't have your waiver, I can't risk letting you dive again." I'd have had been a little bummed, but certainly would have understood their protocol. But to be treated the way he treated me, in my opinion, was inexcusable. I don't believe I've been treated that way in my entire adult life. After the divers all went down for their second dive, I made my feelings quite clear to him. To be fair, it was quite heated on both sides by this point. He offered a condescending apology, basically "I'm sorry you feel I was disprectful to you." then walked away and wouldn't make eye contact with me the rest of the day. As soon as we got back to shore, I left.
I will accept my share of the fault because I didn't verify that I needed to sign in again. And I will take that lesson to heart. The thought of being left to hang on to a mooring ball, and wait for the next charter to (hopefully) show up soon was scary. And I will be listening for the dock roll call more closely. But I still think this particular captain was completely out of line for his handling.
So....there is my experience with Cristal Clear Charters in Key Largo. NEEDLESS to say, I wouldn't recommend them to my dog to dive. And to be fair, their style of diving is not to my liking anyway. Cattle call boat, the tank racks wouldn't accomadate my steel 100's, and they seemed not interested in letting divers control their own profile. I had decided this well before I was treated so poorly. I'll stick with the several tried and true great operations in the Keys.
I wanted to relate a very negative experience I had this weekend in the Keys. I've been on lots of boats with lots of salty captains, but this experience was by far the worst I've had, or witnessed. I'm still a bit upset, but will try and relate the story fairly and accurately.
I went down to Key Largo this weekend to meet up with a friend and a group of divers from the Midwest. They were bringing students down to certify in the clear waters. Beats a lake in Arkansas even if conditions weren't great. I had arranged through the shop bringing the group for 2 days of diving with Cristal Clear Charters.
Day one I went to the dive shop, checked in, showed my c-card and signed my waiver, and boarded the boat. We did two quite uneventful dives on Molasses Reef. I thought it was a bit boring not to move the boat. Conditions were better than the previous two days, and the students were done certifying on the first dive, so they probably would have enjoyed another site. But regardless, the boat stayed put.
Day two I showed up at the boat and loaded my gear. Right before the boat took off, I ran back up to the dive shop to grab a t-shirt. When I got back to the boat and loaded, the dive briefing was still going on, with the instructors talking to the students about the layout of the wreck, the dive plan, etc. My buddy and I discussed our plan, I put my gear together, and sometime shortly after, we took off. The first dive was at the Speigal Grove. This was, btw, my 200th dive. Conditions were GORGEOUS. Very mild current, 60 ft. viz, clear blue water. Best conditions I've personally seen on the Grove. I descended at the end of the first group. We went with one instructor and the 4-5 new divers and newly certed divers along the port side of the boat for awhile. When the newbies had reached their turnaround point for air, my friend and I seperated from them (the instructor leading waved goodbye to us) and continued down the boat and across the superstructure of the boat across to the starboard side and back up to the bow. By this time, the second group was starting to ascend the line. We ascended behind them, and my buddy and I were the last ones on the boat. They unhooked from the mooring, and called roll call. Hmmm...I'm not on the roll call. That's weird, that hasn't happened before. As soon as the DM is finished, I go up to him and tell him that I'm not on the roster. He says something unmemorable liked "oh really...." or something. I say my name and spell it, and he adds me on. Now I'm certified to the Divecon/Asst. Instructor level, so, I REALIZE that it's a big deal to not be on a manifest. And I was diving in CA during the whole Driftin' Dan controversy. So I'm in no way minimizing this. As soon as I realized it, I notified someone. And of course it crossed my mind that I was glad I had ascended when I did. Even tho I was the last on the boat, my buddy and I still had bottom time and air left.
So I'm breaking down my gear when the Capt. comes up to me. He says "were you the one not on the manifest?" I said, "Yes." And he proceeds to TEAR ME TO PIECES. In a very hostile and condescending tone, and in front of the whole boat, he proceeds to to tell me that I put his whole operation and his Cpt. license at risk and I was irresponsible for not notifying them earlier. With his finger pointed at my face, he says "I could have had my license suspended for a year THAT'S-NOT-GONNA-HAPPEN" (imagine the finger pointing emphasis on each word) and I was out of the water the rest of the day.
I was FLOORED. Not so much by the subject but how it was approached. I was embarrassed and humiliated. I sort of stuttered and stammered (and of course by this time I'm crying because that is how I deal with being angry and embarrassed at the same time. I'm SUCH a chick :shakehead ) and said that I had notified the divemaster as soon as I'd realized it. He asked why I didn't say anything at roll call before we left dock. APPARENTLY this had been done while I was up at the shop buying a tshirt. Probably 5 minutes passed from the time that I got on the boat, and we left dock. No roll call in that time. And I (mistakenly) did not realize that I had to sign in again for a multi-day trip. Frequently, in my experience, a waiver is signed on the first day to cover the trip. I had tanks on the boat, it was the same DM from the day before, and it truly just never crossed my mind. Obviously, I will not make this mistake again. Now why it was not caught at the gate, when a headcount should have been done, both letting divers IN the water, and OUT of the water...is another issue.
I was still just seethingly upset that he had treated me the way he had. If he had come to me...and spoken to me like a human, and said, "look, this is a big problem. I don't have your waiver, I can't risk letting you dive again." I'd have had been a little bummed, but certainly would have understood their protocol. But to be treated the way he treated me, in my opinion, was inexcusable. I don't believe I've been treated that way in my entire adult life. After the divers all went down for their second dive, I made my feelings quite clear to him. To be fair, it was quite heated on both sides by this point. He offered a condescending apology, basically "I'm sorry you feel I was disprectful to you." then walked away and wouldn't make eye contact with me the rest of the day. As soon as we got back to shore, I left.
I will accept my share of the fault because I didn't verify that I needed to sign in again. And I will take that lesson to heart. The thought of being left to hang on to a mooring ball, and wait for the next charter to (hopefully) show up soon was scary. And I will be listening for the dock roll call more closely. But I still think this particular captain was completely out of line for his handling.
So....there is my experience with Cristal Clear Charters in Key Largo. NEEDLESS to say, I wouldn't recommend them to my dog to dive. And to be fair, their style of diving is not to my liking anyway. Cattle call boat, the tank racks wouldn't accomadate my steel 100's, and they seemed not interested in letting divers control their own profile. I had decided this well before I was treated so poorly. I'll stick with the several tried and true great operations in the Keys.
