Small incident, but wondering....

[H2Andy]

sorry, drift diving is not something we get much of a chance to do in the ocean
round these parts (some fresh water ones, but those are easy ... i.e. rivers).

i think the fact that it is a drift dive would make me come up to the surface as
quickly as possible . . . don't want to get left behind

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

...Visualize your relationship to the line from the very start, and keep
in mind that it won't take you much to lose the line. i like to keep a "string" of references points i follow, each in visual range of the last...

Good advice, just to add one thing - it's important to look behind you at those reference points to give yourself familiarity with what they will look like in the other direction as well.

All in all you handled a situation you should have never been placed within, and did so pretty well. Unfortunately you'll probably have to do another dive with them to get the full attention you desired and were led to expect as well as feel comfortable with your deep dive. Fortunately they have offered to take you out again, apparently gratis, to re-do the dive.

So demand and get a full and thorough briefing from your instructor and make sure s/he uses all the training materials you would like to see utilized in your training. I would think that for all of the divers who took a class similar to yours and expected to receive the card/were ok with it, the op can certainly afford you the opportunity to plan and execute an educational and controlled deep dive up to 100+ feet. The customer is always right and you should get what you paid for from them.

If on the other hand you don't feel comfortable diving or doing business with them offer to let it drop for your cert card. Dive some more, shop around for instructors and when you find one you connect with consider continuing education then, with pre-discussed and mutally agreeable goals and stipulations.

 

[Snowbear]

... the deep dive had not been anywhere near what PADI requires....

Last time I checked, PADI standards for the AOW deep dive are 60-100', so sounds like that requirement was met. Another requirement is that the student be accompanied by the instructor (as opposed to "indirectly supervised" and accompanied by an AI or DM). From your version of the story, it sounds to me like the instructor dropped the ball. Yes, you should have let her know about the ear issues, but she also should not have descended without you. If I were in your fins, I would accept the offer for another day on the boat, but as you noted in your hindsights, make sure all your concerns are adressed before you get in the water!

 

[love2godeep]

Thanks for the the input; I know the dive was technically deep enough, but the workbook has a list of the exercises, etc. that are supposed to be included as part of the coursework, and none of that was done. It's not that hard to just do a "deep" dive; I've done several already; but I wanted (and articulated that in advance to the dive op) to understand better the ramifications of diving deeper; in other words, to be a safer, more aware diver.

 

[Diver0001]

...snip...

The divemaster of course was nearly a nervous wreck by the time they found me, imagining the worst. She later chided me for two things:

1. For not going ahead and going deeper while I was down there. (Apparently so that I would be satisfied that I got my "deep dive.")

2. For wasting time doing the safety stop. She said it wasn't necessary since I was down only a short time.

Were these, in fact, errors on my part?

...snip...

Ok. This is one of those had to be there things but in my opinon you acted essentially correctly. Personally I would say that if you found yourself alone at 80 then you should do what you're trained to do, which is to search for 1 min and then ascend. Personally if I were left behind by the group and didn't know where to look and still had contact with the upline then I would have aborted without searching.

Clearly the predive briefing sucked. You made a lot of assumptions about that dive (including who your buddy was!!!) and you shouldn't have had to make any. Regardless of what else happened under water I'm getting alarm bells from that fact alone.

As for the two specific points the DM made, I would say this:

1) You're assuming why the DM wanted you to go deeper. If you're correct about it then that's the DM's / shop's problem. Don't endanger yourself because your instructor is feeling time pressure. That would be the most rediculous thing you could do. Also, as a student you shouldn't even be aware of it if the instructor has time pressure. On the face of it, it sounds like sloppy and unprofessional to me but once again I would suggest asking the DM for clarification.

2) The PADI rules are that you must make a safety stop for every dive over 100ft and every time you come within two groups of your NDL. In this sense the DM was right, the safety stop was optional but I personally wouldn't scold anyone for adding a safety stop. Quite the contrary. I would compliment them for keeping a level head and making a safe ascent.

R..

 

[Winton]

Sounds just dreadful, will you continue with your AOW, with the same DM?

The biggest mastake is not asking, there are no dumb questions.

I am curouis about a couple of things, how many dives do you have in total? I am sure the dive operator asked that before placing you with his instructor, didn't he?

How recent is your DM/Instructors training? Although I have met brand new instructors that are just wonderful, and long time instructors that are just the pits, it sounds like your DM/insturctors skills are not quite up to speed/standard. I would definately gleen the info here and go back to the dive operator with a few informed questions, especially if your course is not finished, and for satisfaction/resoloution/peace of mind, if the course is over - do you feel advanced?

 

[MikeFerrara]

The divemaster of course was nearly a nervous wreck by the time they found me, imagining the worst. She later chided me for two things:

I didn't even take the time to read the other replies. I'm so tired of this stuff that not only do I have to avoid the local dive sites but when I read this kind of stuff I want to travel the world shaking people until they get it...so anyway here's some things that you should remind this so-called divemaster of.

1. For not going ahead and going deeper while I was down there. (Apparently so that I would be satisfied that I got my "deep dive.")

I don't know of any agency who allows a student to do an AOW deep dive solo. A clear standards violation and you should report this idiot to the agency immediately. Even if you had completed the skills they don't count unless evaluated by an instructor.

Was this person a DM or an instructor? I don't know of any agency that permits a DM to teach an AOW deep dive.

A breifing is required for every training dive with every agency that I know of.

Anything beyond 60 ft can count as a AOW deep dive so even if there was an instructor present there was no need to go deeper.

2. For wasting time doing the safety stop. She said it wasn't necessary since I was down only a short time.

A safety stop is never a wast of time especially after an 80 ft dive and is in fact a required part of an AOW deep dive.

Were these, in fact, errors on my part?

Your mistake was diving with a non-diving dangerous idiot.

Here are some things I believe I could/should have done:

1. I should have reminded the divemaster that I might have trouble with my ears, and might have to take it slow.

It's good to warn your buddy of such thing but....There's still no issue when buddies descent together keeping an eye on each other throughout the descent. Ascents and descents are among the most likely times in a dive to have problems ad divers are too often alone when they happen...like you were.

Don't hire an instructor until you verify that they understand how to manage a descent!

2. I should have followed my better judgment and gone up after one minute.

The time to call it was as soon as you realized they weren't paying any attention to you. You were solo from then on. Well, without a breifing I guess you were solo before you entered the water.

3. Even though the divemistress was preoccupied, I should have clarified with her that she was my buddy. (Although I don't think this would have made much difference in this case, because by my observations of this girl, who really is very sweet, probably wouldn't have noticed that I wasn't keeping up.)

Unless you intent to dive solo, don't ever get in the water unless the dive has been briefed and every one understands.

When we dive one of us is designated as leader and that person breifs the dive. Then every one in the team takes a turn to add, question or cleasrify.

I'll write more about my whole AOW experience somewhere else; but just would like to hear your take on this experience.

Cheers!

Well that's my take.

 

[MikeFerrara]

They agreed to take me out again, no extra charge. And this time to do the deep dive properly.

Shall I go????

What...so they can finish you off?

I wouldn't dive with them at all and I sure wouldn't pay them.

 

[cdiver2]

What...so they can finish you off?

I wouldn't dive with them at all and I sure wouldn't pay them.[/QUOTE


EXACTLY

 

[vjongene]

3. keep in mind that the longer you spend floating on a current without a line, the
further you are going to get from the boat. the further you are from the boat, the
harder it will be for them to find you. i will prioritize surfacing and deploying my sausage to doing a safety stop, especially if the safety stop is not "mandatory."
if it is mandatory, i would cut it down. sorry, that's just me. i don't want to get lost
at sea, and in a strong current, it doesn't take much.

There is no incompatibility between doing the safety stop and deploying the sausage, if it is on a string. IMHO, the best time to deploy the sausage is while you are doing your safety (or mandatory deco) stop, so that the boat can see right away where you are, before you have to surface.

Anyway, there have been enough comments on the DM/instructor's lack of judgement. Congratulations for having managed a difficult situation in a calm and intelligent way.