When to call a dive... a question of limits.

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The Chairman

Chairman of the Board
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Location
Cave Country!
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I just don't log dives
My second basic tenet for Scuba Diving reads:

You can call a dive at any time for any reason with no questions asked and no repercussions.

I often call this the Rule of Fun or the Diver's statute of limitations and for good reasons. We dive to have fun, so if we're not having fun, we need to stop and figure out why. Also, we usually stop having fun when we've exceeded any one of our limits. You probably get the picture, so I'll stop belaboring the points.

The absolute best time to call your dive is while you're still in bed. What? Sure. If you're diving today, the first thing before you swing your legs out of bed is to determine your health, both physical and mental. Take a deep breath through your nose, assessing your health and wellbeing. Take a moment to do a quick pinch and blow to check your ears. Why get out of bed early if you're going to have to sit on the dock because you can't equalize, feel bad or just don't want to go?

I know you're all excited, but the second best place to call a dive is before you leave home. Do a mental check list about your gear. Is it all packed and ready to be set up? Do you have fresh batteries? Has your gear been serviced in a timely fashion? Better to resolve issues on the hard than on the float, or worse: in the suds. Now, how about you? Do you have the training, the skill and the stamina to do this dive? That's a lot of "ifs" when you think about it, but these are limits you can't ignore and still have fun. Before we get in the car or on the boat, there's at least one more consideration to consider: the weather. Download a weather map and learn how to use it. I use "Ventusky" but there are others out there. I was in Little Cayman last week and never made a dive. Why? Here's a pic of the boat going out on one of our "divable" days...

83305395_10219960950870006_6077706532923899904_n.jpg

Hell, I broke a leg in Fiji last year when I stepped into an open drain at night. That leg isn't %100 healed and even with a good leg that doesn't look fun. Waves like this shattered a windshield on one of the boats and left a diver with a severe spinal injury. This was obviously way past my limit, but others made those dives, endured the pounding and had fun. Good for them. However, we don't all have the same limits. I'm glad I stayed on shore and had fun in other ways. Good for me.

We're not even in the water yet, and I've scared the bediddle out of some folks. That's OK, we still have more to discuss. Is your buddy up to the dive? Might want to ask them. But don't rely only on what they say and do some sleuthing, especially if they're an insta-buddy. "What dives have you called?" is always a great question. Why dive with someone who doesn't seem to have the sense God gave a goose? While you're at it, cover any particulars about your dive gear and what signals you like to use. FWIW, insta-buddies should be avoided on any number of dives, including deep and technical. Make sure you hear them breath on their reg before you splash. While we're at it, how did your gear setup go? Are you still enthused? There is no need to splash with gear that isn't set up right or that seems to have issues. Get it right or stay on the dock. Listen to the first mate's briefing. How do they view the current and general diving conditions? Calling a dive before you splash still beats the hell out of fighting for you life in a current you can't cope with. Consider these aspects of your diving as "limits" and respect them. There's nothing down there worth getting injured over, much less dying for.Don't let anyone pressure you into a dive you might regret. Not even your inner self.

Of course, once in the water, there's a lot of reasons to call a dive. Gas supply, depth and time are obvious, but don't overlook fatigue, having to work too hard and even not having fun. There's no reason to violate a single limit. Having fun is your mission. It should be your only mission, so when the fun stops, you should too.

So what was your best "call". You can see mine in the picture above. I'm hoping this will help all of us learn a little more about our collective limits.
 
I've called 2 pre dive. The first was on the boat when I got incredibly sea sick, the second recently when I fell on my knee walking in for a shore dive.
 
My second basic tenet for Scuba Diving reads:

You can call a dive at any time for any reason with no questions asked and no repercussions.

I often call this the Rule of Fun or the Diver's statute of limitations and for good reasons. We dive to have fun, so if we're not having fun, we need to stop and figure out why. Also, we usually stop having fun when we've exceeded any one of our limits. You probably get the picture, so I'll stop belaboring the points.

The absolute best time to call your dive is while you're still in bed. What? Sure. If you're diving today, the first thing before you swing your legs out of bed is to determine your health, both physical and mental. Take a deep breath through your nose, assessing your health and wellbeing. Take a moment to do a quick pinch and blow to check your ears. Why get out of bed early if you're going to have to sit on the dock because you can't equalize, feel bad or just don't want to go?

I know you're all excited, but the second best place to call a dive is before you leave home. Do a mental check list about your gear. Is it all packed and ready to be set up? Do you have fresh batteries? Has your gear been serviced in a timely fashion? Better to resolve issues on the hard than on the float, or worse: in the suds. Now, how about you? Do you have the training, the skill and the stamina to do this dive? That's a lot of "ifs" when you think about it, but these are limits you can't ignore and still have fun. Before we get in the car or on the boat, there's at least one more consideration to consider: the weather. Download a weather map and learn how to use it. I use "Ventusky" but there are others out there. I was in Little Cayman last week and never made a dive. Why? Here's a pic of the boat going out on one of our "divable" days...


Hell, I broke a leg in Fiji last year when I stepped into an open drain at night. That leg isn't %100 healed and well hell, even with a good leg that doesn't look fun. Waves like this shattered a windshield on one of the boats and left a diver with a severe spinal injury. This was obviously way past my limit, but others made those dives, endured the pounding and had fun. Good for them. However, we don't all have the same limits. I'm glad I stayed on shore and had fun in other ways. Good for me.

We're not even in the water yet, and I've scared the bediddle out of some folks. That's OK, we still have more to discuss. Is your buddy up to the dive? Might want to ask them. But don't rely on what they say, do some sleuthing, especially if they're an insta-buddy. "What dives have you called?" is always a great question. Why dive with someone who doesn't seem to have the sense God gave a goose? While you're at it, cover any particulars about your dive gear and what signals you like to use. FWIW, insta-buddies should be avoided on any number of dives, including deep and technical. Make sure you hear them breath on their reg before you splash. While we're at it, how did your gear setup go? Are you still enthused? There is no need to splash with gear that isn't set up right or that seems to have issues. Get it right or stay on the dock. Listen to the first mate's briefing. How do they view the current and general diving conditions? Calling a dive before you splash still beats the hell out of fighting for you life in a current you can't cope with. Consider these aspects of your diving as "limits" and respect them. There's nothing down there worth getting injured over, much less dying for.

Of course, once in the water, there's a lot of reasons to call a dive. Gas, supply, depth, time are obvious, but don't overlook fatigue, having to work too hard and even not having fun. There's no reason to violate a single limit. Having fun is your mission. It should be your only mission. When the fun stops, you should too.

So what was your best "call". You can see mine in the picture above. I'm hoping this will help all of us learn a little more about our collective limits.
I get your point - but that pic was posted in a different thread and described as the boat going out with crew only to test the cut and they stated that they cancelled the dives after this experience (from the picture, it seemed a bit crazy to even try - but suspect they felt pressure to get folks out diving). Are you saying that they took folks out in conditions like that? If so, that's crazy and you made the right call for sure!

My best call was the first boat dive scheduled after finishing my OW cert. I had done the last 2 OW dives the day before in 20-25 knot winds with 5-6 foot seas and moderate currents. The next morning was 25-30 knots and seas were a solid 6 feet with currents expected to be stronger. As I would not have the security of an 1:1 instructor, I cancelled as I did not feel ready to dive "on my own" in those conditions. Went to the beach with the wife instead and had no regrets!
 
Are you saying that they took folks out in conditions like that? If so, that's crazy and you made the right call for sure!
Yeah, I just saw that this was a pic of the boat when it broke the glass, and no one dove that day. I had been told differently when I saw it at the airport. However, an older gent was badly injured the day before and the seas were 7 to 10s all week long. It was gnarly, gnarly, no matter how you looked at it. With my leg at this stage of healing, I drew the line at 3-4s. I made this "limit" before I got to the boat so I would not just go along with what was out there.

As a caveat: you and only you can decide to dive. You have to be comfortable with you, your gear and the conditions you're going into. Don't blindly rely on what others are doing. Your brain is the most important piece of safety gear in your kit. Don't forget to use it!

EDIT=> I was right in my first post. There was diving in the morning, but when they tried to take the boat back out, they broke the windshield.
 
I never called a scheduled boat dive but I should have done so twice.

Spoiler: Nothing bad happened. But it was the wrong decision to go with the big picture in mind, one is risk, the other is simply because the dives turned out not to be fun and that defeats the purpose.

Bad decision 1: I woke up at 5am to get to the boat and noticed a general sense of being unwell, slow and lethargic. This just coincided with the boat crew announcing that we would do a couple deep dives today because they had deep dive students on board. I was filled with a sense of dread because the deep dive sites that operator goes to are quite barren, being just a couple of medium sized rocks with some growth on a sandy bottom a longer ride from shore, and I did not appreciate the extra load of deep diving on my less than enthusiastic body and mindset. On top of that, the first dive began with a bit of fuss due to a diver behaving very spaced out after dropping down, requiring him to be put back on the boat 3 minutes in. Now I had three insta-buddies, which is never a good number, and endured the rest of the day. Should have stayed home. Lesson: Feel off, cancel dive.

Bad decision 2: I treated the last bit of nasal congestion with spray after a cold and declared myself fit for diving during a blissful moment of clear airways and booked one of my favourite dives in the area. The profile of the dive meant that on every bit where we shallowed up, I had to take my mask off to properly clear my nose. I remember floating through a little swim-through with an eerie greenish glow at the bottom of my mask. So rather than scoping out what lurks within the little cave with my torch in happy peace, I was just busy releasing surprising quantities of snot into the ocean at the most interesting parts of the dive. It often gives me a bit of nausea when reducing pressure messes with congestion, which sometimes happens at the safety stop even when have not been sick, but this one was one long and annoying mask replacement drill. Much better on the second dive though. Lesson: Feel a bit congested on land, cancel dive.
 
Don’t worry, Mr. Chairman, sir. If I’m ever able to buy a surplus USCG motor lifeboat, I’ll take you out through waves like that safe and sound! It’ll roll back up if it goes over. You could probably just gear up, strap in, and log it as a dive in that event.
 
Inlets are often very rough even when the seas beyond are not. If the tide is outbound and the wind onshore, there can be significant waves and standing waves. Several of the SoFla inlets are infamous for their rather exciting sea conditions. True three and four foot seas in the Gulf and Atlantic can pound us to smithereens because they are typiclaly short period. But in SoCal a four swell is nothing much because it is typically a long period.

I have run two of the worst SoFla inlets, Haulover and Boynton in our 19 foot Boston Whaler and you can be sure it was a blue sky day, gentle breeze and good tides to our advantage. And it was no big deal. I stuffed the bow in the Destin inlet many years ago, somehow the forecast never met expectations, lesson learned there. We have crossed over to Catalina, again in our 19 foot BW boat with three and four foot swells, glassy water on top and it was great fun. Crossed to Bimini long ago and to do so one must cross the Gulf Stream, better check those winds are not against the current. It can be smooth sailing or hair raising Hell. Since I am not local to any of these places (except for the Fla. Panhandle, I am semi-local there and know the waters very well), I look to the locals. If the locals go out, I may go out, if the locals stay close, I stay closer, if the locals pull anchor and head in, I put the hammer down on the Merc and beat them in.

If going on a vacation dive trip, I have spent thousands to get there, and maybe never be there again, if the operation will take me out, I am going diving. I prepare my gear, equipment, photo gear and myself well in advance and I cannot ever recall missing a dive due to equipment failure or body failure in any recent history. I dived with a broken foot a few years ago, broken when a lady dropped a tank on it. Unless I am (flu) sick and or puking my innards out from intestinal adjustment, I am going diving. Dive, Dive, Dive!

N
 
..So what was your best "call"....
This "call" was made by the flashing blue lights.

Several of us knew it was monster swells, but it was just 'rollers' off shore and quite diveable. The problem was making it out of the Jupiter Inlet (a known boat roll over inlet). We had everything triple tied down and planned to turn right, haul arse and get out of the white cap surf break (like your picture)

We get to the mouth of the inlet and see the FWC boat just sitting there quietly, so we edged ahead. ON COME THE BLUE LIGHTS!!. It was a short conversation..
Q "Where you going?"
A "Diving"
Q "Doesn't look good"
A "We can do it"
Q "Well before you go, we'd like to do a FULL INSPECTION"
A "I guess we're not diving"
Q "Good plan,,have a nice day"
 
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