We did a couple of boat dives yesterday. One was to the Ruby E....sort of typical conditions, and very enjoyable. The other was at three fingers off Pt. Loma in the kelp. Temp. at depth was 52, surge was rolling pretty good and the viz. ranged from one to two feet. I had agreed to lead my buddy, who was recently certified, and two other guys we met on the boat who were visiting from Germany. Our plan was to decend together, after which I would lead/navigate a square ending up back at the anchor. We decended feet first and hit something hard. Turned out to be the bottom. Couldn't see it. Couldn't see my guages without using my light. I was tempted to grab everyone and suggest surfacing, but figured it would be an interesting navigation exercise. I made some follow me signs and off we went. I found we could actually see the bottom if we kept within a foot or so, and the kelp made for handy grips when the surge got too bad or when I stopped to make sure I hadn't lost everyone. It was an interesting experience for me. Turns out all the others guys saw was the fins of the person in front of them. They did not have lights. So, in retrospect, I am wondering if I should have called the dive for everyone. I've been diving for a couple of years but am hardly a divemaster. Should I have called it off? :06:
When do you call off a dive?
- Thread starter rried
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i'm curious about the training level of the German guys- did they come up white and shaking, or were they "into it" as well. you probably know a little more about them than you've told us. what was the overall attitude during the dive- was everyone on edge and breathing hard or just at a loss since the poor vis wasn't expected? what about your newly certified buddy- big eyeballs? had your beuddy been that deep before, or was this a stretch for him- poor vis and depth at the same time? i guess these are all rhetorical questions, but these would be factors that i would use to decide.
in general, i say call a dive every chance you get- if you feel the least bit odd about continuing, then use your thumb- it's the only thing that seperates us from the animals.
in general, i say call a dive every chance you get- if you feel the least bit odd about continuing, then use your thumb- it's the only thing that seperates us from the animals.
after writing all that, i don't think that i would have called the dive. the thought had crossed your mind, and then you signalled your buddies to follow. i'll give you the benefit of the doubt that if they had been baseball eyed and pale, then you would have called the dive. i'm guessing that they looked comfortable enough not to concern you further.
You don't paint a very comforting picture on that second dive. Especially with one newbie and only one diver with lights. Given what you said how could the others read their instruments?
Not having been there myself I'm guessing that you were very confortable with everyone's ability in the water based on the first dive. The newbie still bothers me.
Bugging out for another site would have been better.
We bagged a day of diving today. Never unloaded the gear after a 90 minute drive. Very rough fresh water coming at a rocky shore entry with a diver going in for her first post certification dive. No need to traumatize the woman!
Pete
Pete
Not having been there myself I'm guessing that you were very confortable with everyone's ability in the water based on the first dive. The newbie still bothers me.
Bugging out for another site would have been better.
We bagged a day of diving today. Never unloaded the gear after a 90 minute drive. Very rough fresh water coming at a rocky shore entry with a diver going in for her first post certification dive. No need to traumatize the woman!
Pete
Pete
YOU call a dive any time YOU want. Don't ask for advice from us on calling one. If things don't feel right to YOU, they may not be right for YOU, so YOU call the dive anytime YOU want. It may not be you in distress but someone else who doesn't realize a problem is at hand. YOU can call the dive for them. Discuss it later but get onto solid ground or a boat first.
Don't go down and act macho to your peers. Doing so leads to a lot of death and injury not only in diving but in everyday life.
If YOU don't like it, YOU call it. I've backed out of some of the simplest dives with warm, clear, shallow, near perfect conditions, just because it didn't feel right. Any decient buddy will understand. If they don't, get another buddy.
Gary D.
Don't go down and act macho to your peers. Doing so leads to a lot of death and injury not only in diving but in everyday life.
If YOU don't like it, YOU call it. I've backed out of some of the simplest dives with warm, clear, shallow, near perfect conditions, just because it didn't feel right. Any decient buddy will understand. If they don't, get another buddy.
Gary D.
The guys had all been seasick on the boat, and seemed to be a lot better off once we got down. Depth was only about 50 feet. I circled them up and wrote the question about continuing on my slate. As they read it I had a chance to look them in the eye. I felt comfortable with the situation, and they gave me the ok sign. My lingering concern is that they just seemed to be trusting my lead, and I wasn't sure I could assess their capabilities properly. It worked out fine. Oh well, probably every other dive they will ever do will seem simpler by a long shot.
novicediver
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Calling a dive can vary from person to person. It really is a matter of comfort level. To some degree maybe it was a trust me dive, but then again since your group wasn't bug eyed and filled with trepidation, then it was probably just fine. Low vis does make for a good navigation exercise though.
Am I the only one getting a creepy feeling about this post? The guys all seasick on the boat. One diver recently certified. Descending until you hit something - the bottom- at 50 feet. Can't see the gauges without a light. 1-2 foot visibility, stopped to see that you hadn't lost everybody. I'm only going to tackle one issue here and leave the rest to other posters. I really don't like the idea of the 4 man buddy system. It's usually very unclear who is responsible for who. Since you have 3 people to keep an eye on, you probably aren't keeping a close "buddy" eye out on any of them. It's too easy to think that each of them are watching each other. And if one person has to surface, does the whole group surface? Or do you decide on-the-fly?
Under the same circumstances with a single buddy of appropriate experience, and a solid pre-dive plan, I would say fine, even with the in-water conditions. But your arrangement was a set-up for serious problems, and you can be very thankful you didn't have any.
Under the same circumstances with a single buddy of appropriate experience, and a solid pre-dive plan, I would say fine, even with the in-water conditions. But your arrangement was a set-up for serious problems, and you can be very thankful you didn't have any.
good point 99. when doing the dive amoeba, i make sure that every diver has distinct buddy pairs/teams so that if someone, other than my buddy gets seperated, it is somebody elses problem. of course, if i see it, i'll help out, but if the other buddy teams need/want to surface, they have that option. of course, make sure that everyone is on the same page about this...
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