What to do with an inexperienced instabuddy?

[oly5050user]

My simple fix to this type of issue is out right refusal..I explain that I paid for the trip and if they want me to take responsibility for Anyone I not only get paid my rate of $50. Per dive - so that's $100. For a typical 2 tank charter-and I get refunded my charter fee. Or they can comp both myself and wife, as she dives also,and pay me only $50. For the 2 dives.I expect the instabuddy to buy the beer back at the dock! That is for just acting as a guide/buddy for some instant buddy, no teaching involved.

That ends the problem right there.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Given how dive #1 went, I'd have opted not to go even deeper on dive #2 ... or asked for a different dive buddy.

Sounds like this person didn't belong at that depth, despite having a c-card that said she was "qualified" to be there.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[flots am]

The easy answer (which might be a good one for you), is the SDI solo course. I took it, and it really let me do some of my favorite dives. As a photographer, I especially appreciate not having to worry about how much I'm boring someone else, or to keep track of someone else when I have the macro lens.

This is really the best answer whether you're taking pictures or not.

Once you are fully capable of diving your own dive and keeping yourself out of trouble and fixing problems when they occur, regardless of your buddy, things get a lot simpler and safer (for you).

The more complicated problem is "what to do with your buddy?" There is no way any of these dives were appropriate for a 12 dive diver, regardless of the C-Card, and for all her failings, none of her problems are actually unexpected in a brand new diver.

As a buddy, it's your responsibility to stop your buddy from getting killed, even if it means talking to the boat crew before the dive. Once you discovered her experience level (especially after the feet-first ascent), you should have discussed the problem with the captain.

A 12 dive diver doesn't belong on a 90' wreck dive.

Barring this level of foresight, I would never go down with an unknown buddy without keeping an eye on her SPG. there should have been no way you were surprised that she was low on air, especially on the second dive.

As a little bit of a hijack, just like "It takes two people to have an argument", pointing fingers at an inexperienced diver just means you didn't properly evaluate her skill level before splashing. None of this should have been a surprise.

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2014 at 11:18 AM ----------

Same opinion as TSANDM, first dive would have been enough for me. Common, an advanced PADI diver with 12 dives under her belt . This is a joke. How can somebody be "advanced" with that few dives.

It's "advanced" as in "More training than OW", not "advanced" as in "Highly qualified".


flots

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I suggest the op check out my blog entry here on SB about Diving with Instabuddy. It will help, but the fact is, sometime a diver is just not compliant with the dive plan, communication signals, etc. It's hard to deal with a buddy who won't check their air or depth regularly and who wanders. I am very firm with a new buddy about maintaining fingertip touching distance at all times, and if they disagree, I will ask to change buddies if there is an opportunity to do so. This has not happened for a while, but it happens. Anyway, absolute_mess, I think you handled the situation pretty well. Thanks for sharing.
DivemasterDennis

 

[absolute_mess]

Thanks for all the extremely helpful comments guys, and for not flaming me too much for my own clear errors! I definitely think I could learn something from your approach katepnatl and use some slightly softer language when talking to an inexperienced buddy at the start of the dive. I also think, in hindsight, the predive briefing should have been far more thorough. That's where my own inexperience comes into play, I guess - I'm not too bad in the water, but I don't have a huge amount of experience of leading dives, so I'll definitely learn from this experience. That's in fact partly why I made the original post - to gain some alternative perspectives on what happened and to see what I could do better next time.

As a little bit of a hijack, just like "It takes two people to have an argument", pointing fingers at an inexperienced diver just means you didn't properly evaluate her skill level before splashing. None of this should have been a surprise.

In my defence, flots, my intention wasn't to point fingers at an inexperienced diver, but to a) raise a little awareness amongst new divers of the impact of their actions on a buddy and the dive in general; and b) learn a little myself. I'm a reasonably experienced diver but as with most divers, I still have lots to learn. I have very little experience of diving with the inexperienced, so people's suggestions here have been very helpful and I will take them on board for next time.

As an aside, it probably wasn't going to work for me simply to ditch my buddy after the first dive, for various reasons, but some of you clearly think I should have and others think that those dives were wholly unsuitable for someone of her inexperience. I'm curious - what do you think is the best way for a new diver like that to gain such experience if not by just getting out there and doing it? Should the diver operation have made sure she was with a more highly qualified diver? The way it works down here is that you pretty much take responsibility for your own diving - there's not necessarily a DM on the boat, for example. The skipper will tell you your max bottom time (subject to ebbing and flooding tides - we dive slack water) and then you just go and do your own thing. How should a novice diver enhance his/her skills in those circumstances other than by just jumping in with a buddy like me? Just curious...I'm not sure I have a view on this myself.

Well, I'm glad that you asked! I'm actually the president of one of our local dive clubs - the NYC Sea Gypsies - and we have all sorts of terrific local diving during the season, not to mention lots of great social events in between. Please come to a meeting and meet some new friends... Not sure if you will be at Beneath the Sea, but we will have a booth there...

Great to hear, Mike. I'll definitely check the club out when I get there. No, I won't be at Beneath the Sea unfortunately - it's not likely to be till about August when I arrive in NYC. Hopefully we'll cross paths if/when I do!

 

[NorthernLights]

I think it takes far more than 12 dives to get comfortable with all the gear and to be an efficient diver. Going to those depths with such little experience is foolhardy, IMHO. Starting at shallower depths and getting comfortable with buoyancy control and trim makes more sense to me, and once you have experience with that, going to deeper depths makes sense. She was lucky you were her buddy, it could have turned out much differently.

 

[Agility]

In my diving career I have dived more with people I did not know before the first dive of a series than otherwise. I would not go to 30m with a person that might not be in reach when I have a catastrophic failure losing all my gas in a single tank. So my first dive with any new buddy has been a nice shallow one. We are both in a range of dive counts where operators will classify us as experienced enough to take care of a beginner, I will gladly do so but only in my comfort zone for diving solo with the equipment used. I always go through the most important hand signals before the buddy check.
BTW what sort of BCD was she using without a rear dump valve?

 

[raftingtigger]

Not much to add to the great replies so far except for the part about the GoPro camera that was taking up a lot of her needed bandwidth. When I take out an inexperienced diver I request that they don't bring their camera until they are really comfortable with the dive conditions, equipment, etc. To take the sting out of the request I offer to take pictures/video of them and share with them. If you don't have a camera it often works if you offer to run theirs for them. Many new divers would really like to have video of themselves and will jump at the chance.

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2014 at 02:44 PM ----------

BTW what sort of BCD was she using without a rear dump valve?

A lot of the old BCDs don't have that dump. Pretty common to see one without it. And even more new divers that don't know it is there or how to use it.

 

[TMHeimer]

A lot of good responses. The ones that makes most sense to me say it's not a good idea to do that type of dive with a very inexperienced diver. But you would have to know who you're paired with before signing up for the charter. Must admit, with charters in winter in NW FL a rarity, I have never asked what my buddy may be like--I was just pretty lucky most of my times. AND, lucky the boat even went out. TS&M has some good advice, as does oly5050user (except that doesn't work if you're not a pro). Then you get into all the often discussed legalities of what your responsibilities are to a buddy (whether you're a pro or not). And what is the responsibility of the operation regarding even bringing this or that diver to this or that site? I think none of this is very black & white or very simple.
Of course other than in Panama, none of the charters I've done had dive guides in the water. So that means each buddy team is on their own.....

So let's say the owner assures you your instabuddy is experienced enough for the dives and after talking with them you find this not true. You could ask for your money back and stay on the boat. You could say you'll go solo (if you want that) and do that if they allow it (what will they do with the buddy?). Again, not simple.

 

[DevonDiver]

To be honest, I think the most basic Open Water course gives a full break-down of how to dive with a new buddy of unknown competency. Follow basic procedures... simple as that.

For more detail, I wrote an article on this: How To Dive With Insta-Buddies