Unsafe divers on my boat!

[socaldiver]

Jeddah Aquanut,

I am PADI certified and am really tired of all the agency bashing and/or insinuations.

I have been on many of boats with divers certified from different agencies, some good and some bad. This thread should have been over in the Whine and Cheese section.

Hopefully the author of this thread and I won't be diving on the same boat sometime in the future, I would hate to have it on my conscious that he had to dive with this PADI certified diver, because obviously he is a better diver.

 

[FreeFloat]

"Might kill themselves, but probably won't kill anybody else"
"Probably won't kill themselves"
"Will probably be OK"
"Will be OK, and can help someone else if they're in trouble"

I'll drink to that!

 

[SquattingRadishDM]

lhpdiver wrote: "On the ride out DM says maybe he'll join us - we agree new diver can join us..."

Having followed this thread I think that basically you should follow what you were told in your OW class (whatever agency!). Stay with and help your buddy. Buddy is anyone who you say is your buddy before the dive (not the whole dive boat as mlcircle thought in his original post, thats the capt/DMs job). If you are not happy with there experience/attitude/certificatio level, dont buddy up with them.

lhpdiver wrote: "... My wife is up line maybe 5 feet, I see other diver behind her it looks like he's about 2 feet off the line. I continue down the line and stop maybe at 60 feet. My wife is behind me but no other diver. We look at each other shrug and continue down. I figured he had trouble clearing..."

I would have thought a DM would have known that you dont just shrug and continue when you loose one of your buddies. Act your certification level and show a good example.

-Jack

 

[Rick Murchison]

What if YOU are qualified as a DM / Instructor, ... crap hits the fan ... one of these questionably-qualified ... gets injured / killed.
What are the legal implications for you when (not "if") investigations reveal that you are qualified as a DM / Instructor?

That is totally dependent on whether you have any significant visible assets. It is more dependent on visible assets, by the way, than any qualification you may have. Any pile of money is a target.
Rick

 

[Rick Murchison]

tired of all the agency bashing

OW certifying agency bashing is done on a per-capita basis. PADI has more newly certified divers, PADI gets more bashing. If the day comes when you see some other agency getting bashed more than PADI, PADI won't be #1 any more.
I have my own issues with agencies and their standards and their QA (or lack of it). But it's still - in the end - a numbers game.
Rick

 

[Cards90]

My question is this: there are stupid divers and good divers for ALL agencies - this is certain - but how can I, as another diver on a boat trip - protect myself and others from BLATANT STUPIDITY like this?????
Open to all suggestions here.....
Signed,
Frustrated Marc in Decatur, GA

I would have to say they only way that you could dictate who was on the boat is to buy your own or charter one all for yourself.

As for the guy with the Diabities? What a way to go. I would think that the disabilities act would come into play if you refused him/her service if he has a C-Card.

 

[bluewatertoy]

You'll find that most dive operations are more interested in seeing the MasterCard than the C-card, let alone check experience.

I drive a dive boat from time to time and new people just scare the crap out of me no matter what their certification.

Were you not a new diver once and needed experience somewhere. This is not to condone diving beyond your ability

 

[Kirk67]

It appeares that you feel that PADI is an inferior organization since there was a direct reference to the organization. I was certified under PADI and feel that the course was great. Also I am a returning diver. I dove for awhile then stopped and now back in the water. However I treat myself as a new diver and never dive outside my safety zone. So in saying that, how do I gain my experience back if people do not want to dive with the "newbie".

 

[RonDawg]

To go back to the original thread, as a newbie diver myself I feel the largest chunk of the blame goes to the divers. Unless the dive briefing was absolutely misleading (or completely lacking) they should have realized they were getting in well above their heads (no pun intended). I think this where the "I paid $$$ for this trip and I'm gonna make it worth every cent" foolishness comes into play.

However, unlike a few others in this board, I do hold the operator somewhat accountable as well if he knew of the divers' lack of experience. It sounds like this dive boat operator started to do a good thing by inquiring about the experience of the divers on board, but then failed to do any follow-up by saying to them "I'm sorry but I can't let you dive as this first dive is well beyond your capabilities." I've even seen it printed on those waiver forms that the Captain and/or DM have the last say on who makes a particular dive. They should, since if a diver gets hurt or killed most likely these folks are going to be the ones named in the civil lawsuit.

As for choosing a dive boat operator, if I haven't dove with them before I call them up and ask them specifically what types of dives they have planned, and I let them know what my experience level is (I also do the same for any dive buddies I have never dove with before). I recently turned down a dive operator who couldn't answer my questions, mostly because the person who answered the phone seemed to be intentionally vague about the particular dives and seemed a bit too eager to get my credit card number even though I raised concerns that I might be signing up for dives that were too advanced for me.

As far as the medical issues, they're of nobody's business other than that diver's buddy and the DM. And only if there's a possibility that they will crop up in the water.

I'm also unclear on how this person spoiled the author's second dive. Was the author told to buddy up with this person and the author (rightfully) refused? Or was it because, seeing the near disaster in the water, the dive operator decided to go to an "easy" site instead for the second dive?

And Melvin, that's the classiest answer I have heard yet in regards to PADI-bashing!

 

[sharkdiver00]

look me up if you are ever in my area. Maria