Taking GPS coordinates of a site... captain's permission?

[ScubaSteve]

Given the ubiquitousness of GPS-enabled gizmos - at least in my part of the world - compared to the propensity of normally intelligent people to take a random dump on the deck of another person's boat, I'd say that your metaphor is somewhat less than perfect.

IMNSHO...

Agreed. That was by design .

It is flawed in a manner similar to the expectation that every single rule that could ever apply be stated up front.

 

[nimoh]

Hell yeah! Shaft the DMs and boat crew in protest of an owner/operator GPS policy! Really, dude??

you're right, didn't think of it that way, and was speaking hypothetically since I have never been in this situation. I'll retract that (lack of) tipping part

 

[ScubaSteve]

Hell yeah! Shaft the DMs and boat crew in protest of an owner/operator GPS policy! Really, dude??

Might depend on how exactly approached the subject. If, as in the OP's experience, they jumped to "throw it overboard" then I would hold back all tip. That delivery is their responsibility, not the captain. If they approached it nicely, I would hold nothing back and might even up the tip a little because of how well they handled a situation.

 

[iluvtheocean]

personally i tend to choose charters that either my friends are going on or by their reputation -- it's your reputation and how you treat your customer on board whether you'll get repeat business -- and don't forget word of mouth advertising (positive or neg).

That being said - someone could be sitting on the gps co-ords for the wrecks of Flight 19 or others and not revealing it. (an archeologist i would say shouldn't release since you don't want to disturb an actively worked site) ---
in regards to the OP -- outside the US? depends on the depends on the country -- in the US - Let us know up front during booking what your policy is so we can decide at that point about GPS - since GPS is LEGAL then if you don't have a stated policy that is given before departure or no-cancellation times, then consent is implied.

 

[rjack321]

Unfortunately, many captains who are the most aggressive over site secrecy are the ones with the least compunction to nefariously acquire competitor’s numbers.

Boy did you ever nail this one.

 

[James R]

Might depend on how exactly approached the subject. If, as in the OP's experience, they jumped to "throw it overboard" then I would hold back all tip. That delivery is their responsibility, not the captain. If they approached it nicely, I would hold nothing back and might even up the tip a little because of how well they handled a situation.

Agreed 100%

 

[Gombessa]

Even if a customer takes photos and keeps the numbers confidential, it only takes one case for them to get PO’d at the Captain and feel “entitled to get even”....

Then there is industrial sabotage.

Let's not even go to the point about malice and actual intent to scuttle a boat's business, or even for one's own personal gain. I think one thing this thread has shown is that a lot of smart, knowledgeable divers really have very little idea of what their phones/cameras/whatever are capable of nowadays, or what these devices may be doing at this very minute (Google maps crowdsourcing all that traffic data in the background, folks?).

If secrecy is key to a boat's success, and losing that secrecy is a guaranteed death blow to your business, then the real sieve, and danger here may be unintentional disclosure. More than half the people here don't know or think that taking a picture with their cell phones will geotag an image if they're out of cell range, or that the precision will be within 1 or 1000 meters. Flickr or Smugmug or a number of photo sharing sites may read the geotagging encoding in your image metadata, and I don't know many who scrub metadata before posting their photos online. "Here's me and Capt. Dale during SI at his uber-secret site!" "Crewman Johnny of the Seeker & me anchored at U-869! Like this for more photos!" Heck, crews may be unwitting accomplices to their own demise every time a client asks them to snap a picture for them with the haul from their goody bags on the deck.

If this information is really so important due to extreme competition, I think a lot of boats need to start boning up on basic tech trends, and maybe the unscrupulous ones should start hiring Jr. High facebook enthusiasts to comb the internet.

 

[TMHeimer]

KWS, Have no idea if what you claim is true, but it makes sense to me.
ScubaSteve, I also agree. Though I may like to know ahead of time, I don't think I would mind being tactfully told on the boat not to use a GPS.

 

[Reck Diver]

I would like to open this thread up to any and all with GPS numbers of "known to none" or known to a few".

Feel Free to post them here.

I suggest Capt. Frank on the liveaboard vessel the Spree go first. He is a frequent poster here on SB. I'm sure he would agree. Capt. could you post you favorite GPS numbers in the Tortugas? Evidently those that don't have them are entitled.

 

[Tigerman]

Not really. Most people turn their phone off when they are out of tower range - to conserve the battery.

Cameras dont often have geotagging.....at least not the kind your bringing on a dive boat. Sure there are exceptions.
...

That would have been true back in the day when a phone was just a phone..
These days however the phone is also your alarm clock, your music player, your book, your logbook, your handheld game, your camera, your gps, your.. Well anything you want it to be..

And yes, more and more cameras, both P&S and DSLR DOES come and will come with GPS, believe it or not..