Two OOA divers in Boynton Beach last week

[RogerAGrimes]

Exactly. Yes. Although I'm not sure, I think the 6-pack boat, like most 6-pack boats (which I almost always dive when I can) didn't include a dive guide as part of the package. Most 6-packs you can hire a dive guide, if you ask ahead of time, but then there's usually 5 people on board, plus the dive guide. In this case, the owner\captain decided to become a dive guide to help the new people out on their first drift dive (this part is speculation). I liked the captain, the mate, and the operation.

After the first dive, the captain spent time in between dives explaining to the newbies more about drift diving, how to stay unentangled with the dive flag line, and teaching how vertical separation can cause faster separation because of different currents.

The captain did not ask for my help and did very quietly address the OOA situation, kinda of.

The Captains fault? The divers were certified, no?

 

[knowone]

tiny.

 

[c0r3yz]

There's a cure for this behavior ... one of the popular dive ops I use in British Columbia has a house rule ... if you come back with an empty tank, you're done diving for the day.

Tends to make folks pay a bit more attention to their air supply ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

During my training, we were told that most dive ops would have a such a rule. Personally, I don't care if it's a rule or not; I don't want to drown, so I will be sure to monitor my air appropriately.

 

[ThomasScherrer]

>The captain did not ask for my help and did very quietly address the OOA situation, kinda of

I assume its coz he kinda feel part of it was his fault, if his buddy forgets to check that darn gauge,
he is expected to do it for them, or do the point at arm sign to indicate they look like forgot to check,
(who like to point out their own fault in front of others)
I think most divers tried a few times to be ocupied by something and forgetting the gauge a bit,
the most dangerous thing is also the most easy to fix.
dont call it a pressure gauge, better call it your life gauge, when it hits zero you are dead,
this is something most people can understand to remember.

 

[EastEndDiver]

"when it hits zero you are dead,"

Do you really believe that? If so there must be a lot of dead divers out there.

By teaching someone that basically you are telling them when you see 0 on your guage don't bother to do anything because you just killed yourself.

 

[TSandM]

There is a long and contentious thread about whether people should even be TAUGHT strategies to cope with being out of air, the implication of doing so being that running out of air happens. On the one hand, if you don't teach people to cope with it, you WILL have panic when it occurs -- and in rare circumstances, being out of air is NOT the fault of the diver. On the other, you really DO want people to understand that running out of gas is 99.9% preventable and SHOULD be prevented. To me, using phrases like, "Your pressure gauge is measuring your life expectancy," at least emphasizes the serious, life-threatening nature of running out of gas underwater. Isn't it a good idea if people take it seriously?

 

[Reef_Haven]

Sounds like the husband overstayed to try to give his wife as long a dive as he could. There were a couple options for the husband wife team.
The husband could have dived larger tanks or he could have shared air with his wife when he got down to 700 PSI. Swimming side by side till her tank was also down to 700. Go ahead and flame me for this one if you want. I think it could actually give a bit of good practice and would have extended both their dives a bit.
Yes, the husband can and will improve his SAC rate. But, as stated; they are newish divers.

 

[c0r3yz]

"when it hits zero you are dead,"

Do you really believe that? If so there must be a lot of dead divers out there.

By teaching someone that basically you are telling them when you see 0 on your guage don't bother to do anything because you just killed yourself.

Personally, I don't think that sucking your cylinder to 0 means you're as good as dead, but I think you do need to know that a lot of problems and potential hazards can be prevented by planning your dive appropriately and monitoring your air. What if you get to the surface and find yourself in rough seas? How are you going to manually inflate your BC if you can't get a breath of air on the surface? What if your buddy was OOA and you had an equipment failure or got snagged and needed help? Why take these chances when you only have to glance down at your SPG once in a while and surface when you're running low?

 

[c0r3yz]

On 8/12, Friday last week, I was diving on a 6-pack boat out of Boynton Beach, FL. I was a last minute addition because my original charter got cancelled. On the boat, besides the captain and mate, was one other experienced diver and two inexperienced couples. I buddied with the experienced diver. One couple had just completed their OW dives in Lake Rawlings, VA, and one had done a resort dive or something like that...and maybe some other Caribbean diving, but not much. The captain decided he would take the inexperienced couples in his dive group and me and the other guy would take the dive flag and lead.

While we were getting our gear ready and waiting on tanks, I brought up the OOA situation that killed two divers in Marathon the week before. No one could believe how multiple divers ended up in an OOA situation and how preventable that accident was. I spent a lot of the ride out talking about how to prevent dive accidents...not breaking any rules, multi-systematic failures, etc. The couples included two doctors. Not dumb people.

Then in the very next dive, the two inexperienced men came up with 0 psi, coughing and hacking on the surface. At the time, I had finished my dive and was hanging out with the mate\captain on the top bridge. When we saw the first guy coughing on the surface and trying to make the back of the boat, the mate told him to put his now spit out reg back in his mouth, but he said he didn't have any air. I then told the guy to use his snorkel, but then noticed that he didn't have one. I was getting ready to tell the guy to drop his weights, which I made them practice before we left the dock, or throw a life ring, but he was only a few feet from the transom and going to make it. I was ready to dive in if needed. A few minutes later the second guy came up with the captain, air sharing.

The dive guide then went back down to be with the other three divers, and their dives were uneventful. Once on board, both OOA divers treated the event very casually, as if the whole thing was normal. The guy that was air sharing said that he didn't need the captain's help and could have made it to the surface just fine. They were all laughing, smiling, and acting normal.

I went into Mr. Mom mode and gave them the riot act. The captain talked to them about the event, re-explained appropriate procedures, following rules, checking air frequently, coming up with 500psi, etc. But I must say the captain was more calm about it than I was.

I even emailed one of the offenders today to reinterate how stupid it was, although in softer, non-insulting language. On reflection, there's lots of lessons learned and things that should have been done differently. I'm not sharing this event to get those. I'm sharing this because I'm still in awe of how we shared the OOA story, discussed following rules, and how 30 minutes later half the group was OOA and not overly concerned about it. Diving with strangers often leaves behind interesting stories.

I think your heart was in the right place. You thought you were trying to help some newbies out and hoping that your day wouldn't include more than a good dive. I certainly hope they learned an important lesson and will plan and monitor their air accordingly in the future.

 

[Codiak]

>The captain did not ask for my help and did very quietly address the OOA situation, kinda ofI assume its coz he kinda feel part of it was his fault, if his buddy forgets to check that darn gauge,he is expected to do it for them, or do the point at arm sign to indicate they look like forgot

What a crock of sheet. Each and every diver is responsible for monitoring his or her air supply. While there are places that will check they are exceptions not the rule!Dang next people will expect the DM to pee for them as well.