unwanted buddies
- Thread starter danno
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danno
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I do get a better rate being a regular customer at a few of the LDS and I don't mind helping out ON the boat. Maybe if I let the DM know I expect half of his wages if he hands off a diver before we go in the water will do some good.
danno:
I know what you mean about helping out - it Can get out of hand, where they Expect you to be available. I'd guess that it's always the same DM or two, eh? I'd at least say something about it the Next time it happens, if not before.
awap:
Yes, no, no.
Obviously depending on local law and so forth. When I guide a group of certified divers as a DM, I make it clear in my dive briefing that they are responsible for their own actions and that I am there to basically show them cool stuff they would otherwise miss. I am definitely not there to manage their gas or spoil other people's fun.
When a diver in a group signals that they are low on air (normally 70bar but stated in the dive brief depending on the site) I ask all divers in the group for their remaining air pressure. I would split buddy teams so that the two lowest on air become buddies and sent to the surface with a reminder to do a safety stop at 5m. I would continue to dive with the group continuing this low on air procedure until the last buddy team signal low on air and then I surface with them.
I would never ask a diver in the water to buddy with someone in a group (even if I knew them well) - particularly a solo diver. For a start it actually brings attention to the fact that people are diving solo, something that (whilst I do it myself) I'd get my wrists slapped for.
AndyNZ:
A know a DM who used to do that until one day he formed two new buddy teams like this and accidentally sent the newly formed buddy pair who was *not* low on air to the surface and kept the two low on air buddies down with him. One of the LOA buddies (irregardless of philosophical discussions about personal responsibility) ran out of air on the bottom and the other while he was ascending with them. He now had an emergency on his hands, part of the group on the bottom without supervision and two other clients who were irritated about being sent to the surface early.....
Needless to say it was a royal mess.
This example might sound extreme but I would imagine that it's not even the first time somethign like this has happened. It's good to be accommodating to your clients, but it's mandatory to bring them all back safely, which is why I'm not such a big fan of these kinds of practices.
R..
Charlie99
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Duh. The DM probably isn't a mind reader and doesn't have a clue that you aren't happy with getting a buddy towards the end of the dive. Talking to him would be a lot more effective than complaining on SB.danno:
OTOH, if you haven't talked with him before the dive, you should do the least confusing thing underwater ---- which in this case is probably to accept the buddy.
Scuba_Vixen
Guest
Charlie99:
Charlie,
In the original post, danno says he's "hit them up" about being handed a buddy on the bottom, so they know he's not so happy about it.
I don't see him complaining on SB as much as wondering if this is kinda common, and how others have handled it, with better results than he's had so far.
That's part of the headaches of tourist divers. The LDS charges a premium for nitrox, (so they can stay down longer, assuming a commensurate sac rate), but then you get some hoover who drains an 80 in under 20 minutes while some of the others could get an hour out of their 80's. If you don't deliver a decent dive time for the rest, they get real pi$$ed and don't come back. The hoover is still a certified diver and has to be responsible for ascending and returning to the boat.
If I went on a dive some where, had to stay with the group, and then some hoover cut my time wayyy short, I'd be on the phone to the CC company to dispute the charge if the operator didn't make adjustments willingly.
Darlene
Diver0001:
*ouch*
that is not a good situation!
out of curiousity, what part do you object to - is it the mixing of buddy teams, or the sending of teams to the surface unaccompanied? i can certainly see that not mixing teams (i.e. sending the first LOA buddy team to the surface, not the two lowest on air divers as a new team) would certainly reduce confusion.
AndyNZ:
It's the mixing buddy teams on the fly that I don't like. I'd rather keep the original buddies together for the whole dive and shuffle the teams betwee dives than to risk having a screw up like the one I mentioned, or just as bad....to create confusion and have someone in the group not be sure who his buddy is anymore..... Safety first.
Sending two certified divers on a normal ascent at the normal end of a normal dive shouldn't shock anyone assuming they won't get lost on the surface etc. I don't see a problem here conditions permitting.
R..
Diver0001:
Can definitely see the logic in this. I'm lucky in that most of the guided dives I do are with divers who I helped in their training, so have got an idea of their likes/dislikes, air use etc. And more importantly, they know each other which helps. I don't think I'd even consider mixing buddy teams with people I didn't know or who didn't know each other.
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