unwanted buddies

[BarryNL]

5. If any diver returns to the boat below 450 lbs they & their buddy will only dive for 40 minutes or forfiet the 2nd dive without refund. (It creates a bit of 'positive' peer pressure to follow the rules).
-Bobby

Now there's a stupid rule! Did you design that one to get people to skip their safety stops?

 

[ArcticDiver]

4. You will begin your return to the boat as a buddy team when the first buddy reaches 1000 lbs. (750 on shallower dives).
5. If any diver returns to the boat below 450 lbs they & their buddy will only dive for 40 minutes or forfiet the 2nd dive without refund. (It creates a bit of 'positive' peer pressure to follow the rules).
-Bobby

Do you make sure your customers know these rules Before you leave the dock? If the diver is a tourist do you make sure they know these rules before they make reservations and spend money getting to your town and boat?

Please post whether you do these things? If you do tell people your rules Before they spend money getting there and while they still have realistic options I have no complaint. But if you spring this on your customers after they are trapped on your boat then I want to put your name on the list of boats I don't want to do business with.

So, tell me about this and tell me the name of your boat so I can take appropriate action.



Oh yes, as to getting stuck with an unexpected buddy...I don't see this as a problem. There is always someone around who has a better SAC. There is always someone around who has a worse SAC. So you give a few minutes here and get a few minutes there. In the end being nice counts for more than a few minutes dive time.

 

[Nemrod]

""I hear ya danno....
I'm a 1st Mate of a local dive charter. Tourists are good business, but in many cases a danger to themselves & all who come in contact with them.

I've seen all kinds... especially fun are the ones who appear to have gotten their cert from a crackerjack box. Even more entertaining are those who buy thousands of dollars in gear, and flop around like an injured fish in the water. (shaking my head)

Our pre-dive rules for our guests (stated first by the captain & then reiterated by myself):
1. When you hit the water you are responsible for yourself & governing your own safety.
2. When your buddy hits the water, you are responsible for rule 1 AND your buddy.
3. I being your DM, am responsible for my own safety first and then yours. If you follow rules 1 & 2 my job will be easy. I will gladly show you around the wreck & assist as needed.
4. You will begin your return to the boat as a buddy team when the first buddy reaches 1000 lbs. (750 on shallower dives).
5. If any diver returns to the boat below 450 lbs they & their buddy will only dive for 40 minutes or forfiet the 2nd dive without refund. (It creates a bit of 'positive' peer pressure to follow the rules).
6. Any solo divers are soley responsible for their own safety. If you choose to solo dive, we honor your choice; but please understand the risk you are choosing.
7. All solo divers are required to return to the anchor line within 50 minutes. If you are asked to assist and you comply, your dive is free. If you do not, we honor your choice. Simply sign "no."
8. The ride out today is free. We are only charging for the return trip.""


If the dive is deep the 1000 (or more) psi thing sounds good as a point to leave the bottom and use that gas for precautionary safety stops but seems artificial as a rule. N

 

[Jim Lapenta]

""I hear ya danno....
I'm a 1st Mate of a local dive charter. Tourists are good business, but in many cases a danger to themselves & all who come in contact with them.

I've seen all kinds... especially fun are the ones who appear to have gotten their cert from a crackerjack box. Even more entertaining are those who buy thousands of dollars in gear, and flop around like an injured fish in the water. (shaking my head)

Our pre-dive rules for our guests (stated first by the captain & then reiterated by myself):
1. When you hit the water you are responsible for yourself & governing your own safety.
2. When your buddy hits the water, you are responsible for rule 1 AND your buddy.
3. I being your DM, am responsible for my own safety first and then yours. If you follow rules 1 & 2 my job will be easy. I will gladly show you around the wreck & assist as needed.
4. You will begin your return to the boat as a buddy team when the first buddy reaches 1000 lbs. (750 on shallower dives).
5. If any diver returns to the boat below 450 lbs they & their buddy will only dive for 40 minutes or forfiet the 2nd dive without refund. (It creates a bit of 'positive' peer pressure to follow the rules).
6. Any solo divers are soley responsible for their own safety. If you choose to solo dive, we honor your choice; but please understand the risk you are choosing.
7. All solo divers are required to return to the anchor line within 50 minutes. If you are asked to assist and you comply, your dive is free. If you do not, we honor your choice. Simply sign "no."
8. The ride out today is free. We are only charging for the return trip.""


If the dive is deep the 1000 (or more) psi thing sounds good as a point to leave the bottom and use that gas for precautionary safety stops but seems artificial as a rule. N

After diving at what depth does #5 come into play. And if I've paid for a second tank and dive I'm going to do it as long as my ending pressure group and surface interval will allow. I hope you state this before people put down their cash or make their reservation. What this seems to say is if I'm doing my safety stop and something catches my eye and I want to get a photo without leaving the stop and I get the photo but end up with 400 when I get back on the boat, then I either have shortened my next dive regardless of my pressure group or forfeited it. What the h*ll happened to rule number 1? I thought I was responsible for governing my own safety. The agencies state 500 psi at the end. I know my gear and my consumption rate and on shallower dives routinely end with 300-400 psi especially if using Nitrox(that stuff's expensive). And does this apply to solo divers? 50 minutes?ok, I can live with that but I'm going to use all 50 if I am able to safely. This includes the aforementioned scenario.

Please tell us the name of your op and if these rules are stated before we reserve a spot and pay our money. I'm planning a trip to fla and would be highly po'd to get hit with this after I've made my reservations. As for peer pressure playing into it if I get stuck with a buddy who's an air hog I'm not going to pay for his lack of control over his air supply. And if I do decide to assist and then find out that the guy is going to suck down an 80 in 30 min:11: can I back out? Cause for me on a multi level dive with the approx profile of 5min at 100', 20 min at 70ft, 10 at 50, then tooling around at 30 for another 15 min and throw in a 3 min safety stop at 15, I've started with 3200 psi and ended with 1400 or more.:05: Am I going to get screwed by the air sucker?

 

[danno]

"" If you are asked to assist and you comply, your dive is free. If you do not, we honor your choice. Simply sign "no."
N

Now there is a good idea, a solo diver asked to help gets the dive free. DM will think a little more before handing off a diver and if I am asked to help, I get something out of it.
I won't turn down a request to help out, I just don't like it to happen as often as it does.

 

[Nemrod]

HEY, Y'ALL,

You might notice the last post I made in this thread prior to this one was a QUOTATION of a post made by another individual (sorry djbobbyzee). I did not hit the quote all button because I left some out to save on space. I did not say all that, it was not my post. AND, I was not agreeing or disagreeing, just commenting about the 1,000 psi rule. Soooo, please do not attribute to me another fellows comments. You will see the quotation marks if ya go back and look. I should have made it more clear it was a quote--sorry about the confusion--my fault. Thanks.
N