Small incident, but wondering....

[String]

This has been a log thread and I'm sure you're tired of it, so I won't comment on the instructor or the incident, except to say that if your computer wants you to do a stop, you should probably do it.

Dont agree with this totally. If its a mandatory deco stop then yes, you HAVE to do it.

However a lot of computers (Suuntos etc) dial in an optional 3 minute safety stop for every dive below about 7m which even their own manuals say can be ignored. These are optional safety stops which by very definition are not mandatory.

It's spent it's entire time in the water doing nothing except calculating how much gas is in your tank and how much gas is in you, and it generally has a pretty good idea of if you need a stop or not.
Terry

You're assuming air integrated computers which are a totally different discussion.

 

[String]

I'm in favour of your suggestion too but I would submit that carrying a dsmb in this case would have been dealing with the symptoms instead of the problems. Dealing with the disease would have taken something else (hint not gear) as the dive was starting to go wrong before anyone even got wet.
R..

Maybe so, i agree you have to deal with the root causes however carrying one provides a better means of dealing with a wide range of problems that COULD occur and just like aircraft carrying multiple redundant systems, if you plan for the worst you're less likely to get caught out when something happens.

There were a myrid of mistakes by the operators and divers alike here that need addressing i agree.

 

[Scottri]

I would NEVER let a student do a deep dive as part of a class without being there with them! For the DM to say you should have gone deeper is wrong, pure and simple. I would have barked at you if you had gone deeper without a staff member with you. You made some smart choices. Stay with those instincts.


Scott

 

[divebomb]

...I think you made good decisions. I would have done the same thing.

Beck

 

[H2Andy]

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.

yikes... not sure how i missed your repsonse so long...

anyways... you are assuming a flat or near-flat sea, which
is about the only way a boat can see a sausage floating
on the surface... maybe

i was assuming the conditions we usually get around Jax
(at least 2-4 seas), and unless that sausage is vertical,
it ain't going to be seen...

which goes to show you, never assume anything

 

[jagfish]

anyways... you are assuming a flat or near-flat sea, which is about the only way a boat can see a sausage floating
on the surface... and unless that sausage is vertical,
it ain't going to be seen...

In my brief experience with sausage deployment at depth, I was taught to keep tension on the string while ascending so as to keep the sausage vertical for maximum effect.

Is that reliable?

JAG

 

[String]

Proper delayed surface marker buoys, particulary the self-sealing ones will remain vertical with tension on the string (note this does NOT mean hanging off the things!).

 

[love2godeep]

I think in the PADI system (someone correct me if I'm wrong) all the non-pro divers in the group count as students for the standards. In your case you had 2 experienced divers, 2 novice divers and yourself. That would count for 5 of the 8 that the instructor is allowed assuming it was a teaching dive, even if not everyone diving is taking the course.

R..

This is right; the dive op was apparently combining my Deep Dive with recreational dives for the other four. But I'm still wondering how she was planning to manage it, as I don't think the two novice divers should have been taken down to 80+ feet, especially given the current and low viz.

The dive op tells me the gal who led the dive is a dive instructor. I know; I should have clarified that at the outset. Well, you can be sure I will do so in the future!

The dive op is saying that the mistakes were all on my part. I am not sure what they meant (it was an email). As far as I can see, my biggest mistakes were getting in the water when the pre-dive briefing was not sufficient, and my buddy had not been clarified. But those both infer culpability on the dive op's part, as well. Unless they're still upset that I did a safety stop.

Well, I'm sure they don't want to admit any liability. Yep, that was a dream, Rick!

 

[H2Andy]

In my brief experience with sausage deployment at depth, I was taught to keep tension on the string while ascending so as to keep the sausage vertical for maximum effect.

Is that reliable?

JAG

ah... hmmm... well... i've never tried that, so can't say.

but i would guess that with any wind, the sausage is going to
get laid flat as soon as it breaches the surface?

 

[aquaoren]

This is right; the dive op was apparently combining my Deep Dive with recreational dives for the other four. But I'm still wondering how she was planning to manage it, as I don't think the two novice divers should have been taken down to 80+ feet, especially given the current and low viz.

The dive op tells me the gal who led the dive is a dive instructor. I know; I should have clarified that at the outset. Well, you can be sure I will do so in the future!

The dive op is saying that the mistakes were all on my part. I am not sure what they meant (it was an email). As far as I can see, my biggest mistakes were getting in the water when the pre-dive briefing was not sufficient, and my buddy had not been clarified. But those both infer culpability on the dive op's part, as well. Unless they're still upset that I did a safety stop.

Well, I'm sure they don't want to admit any liability. Yep, that was a dream, Rick!

Weren't you promised a private instructor, which you paid for? I'm not a lawyer but If so, this is a breach of agreement. It appears they took your money and didn't give you the value you paid for.
It will be your decision whether to report this operator to PADI but I would strongly consider it, eventhough some said everything happened according to rules.
If things like that already happened and were reported, it is possible that it may have consequences for the shop. In the end it may benefit the safety of other diver.