Unplanned deco / OOA incident

[soltari675]

My guess is he saw something cool and went to take several pictures to get that perfect shot and never paid attention to his computer. Likely his first time with a good camera setup and got over excited. I have gotten very into photography lately and I force myself to look at my computer ever two or three shots, just to be sure. No picture is worth a life. Hopefully this guy learned something and won't get into trouble this way again.

 

[gcbryan]

That's actually not a lot of experience and it's at the point where something like "a little" deco probably didn't bother him. With less dives it wouldn't have happened (perhaps) as he would still be blindly following the rules )

He would still be laying on the reef but would have plenty of air

Photographers do lose track of time and aren't always fun to dive with but even a photographer usually knows when to put the camera away and do what is necessary at the end of the dive.

In other words this is just a personality "fault" more than likely and not much anyone can do about it (other than not diving with him).

 

[Ragnar]

T
In other words this is just a personality "fault" more than likely and not much anyone can do about it (other than not diving with him).

That's my take, I'd bet he was arrogant more than thankful as any normal person would have apologized more than once and bought beer. Not to classify all photographers or Russians, but I have had serious problems a few times with Russian photographers, nearly did a James Bond underwater fight scene once but came to by senses

 

[ianr33]

I really don't see how this can be the divers fault.

I'm sure he would have been fine with an Air Integrated Computer that displayed Air Time remaining.

 

[dpaustex]

Hmmm...as bad as his air consumption was, it would seem pretty near impossible for him to be in deco after just 3 dives. Sounds to me like his computer has an issue. If he was doing a lot of swimming at depth (funny, because we photographers are notorious for moving very slowly, and very little), he could have burned through a lot of air in a hurry. Still doesn't explain the deco.

If I were the DM on the trip, he would have sat out remaining dives until he could learn not to touch anything. Simply inexcuseable to touch the corals. Also no more diving for an OOA.

I agree with others, too, the "card carriers" mean nothing. I've seen peole with a basic OW cert that had amazing buoyancy, giving my instructor skills a run for the money.

 

[tstormdiver]

If I were the DM on the trip, he would have sat out remaining dives until he could learn not to touch anything. Simply inexcuseable to touch the corals. Also no more diving for an OOA.

A lot of operations have similar rules regarding air in cylinders at surfacing, deco, buddies/ solo diving, contact with wildlife & such. I wonder how many of these operations actually enforce the rules & how many let it slide for the monetary gains of keeping a client happy.

 

[Tigerman]

A lot of operations have similar rules regarding air in cylinders at surfacing, deco, buddies/ solo diving, contact with wildlife & such. I wonder how many of these operations actually enforce the rules & how many let it slide for the monetary gains of keeping a client happy.

Now, this is a bit off topic, but to answer your question, risking to offend some russian divers (who by being here is probably not the "average russian diver")..
Where Ive been travelling there has been quite a few dive ops that caters to and advertise towards russians and they seem much more likely to "let things slide". Worst Ive seen is people drinking vodka in the SI.
Personally I avoid ops that cater to russians, simply because Ive seen too much **** going on with them both in and out of the water to be assed having to deal more with them than I absolutely have to.
Sadly many of them seem to have no respect of the people, features or other other visitors to the area where they go on vacation

Back to the topic, good job by the op for understaning and CARING about the troubles of a diver that he clearly didnt like much by that point
I did bail out a couple of divers before and none of them would let me leave the bar without being well hydrated afterwards

 

[boulderjohn]

This is why the dependency on computers is so scary. Some people take no responsibility for planning their dives.

I suspect that a photographer who is too wrapped up in his work to look at his computer might not look at a watch, either.

Hmmm...as bad as his air consumption was, it would seem pretty near impossible for him to be in deco after just 3 dives.

Why?