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

[Ayisha]

Once while happily diving the Niagara II in Tobermory on a boat I had chartered, I saw our new buddy give a thumb to my other buddy. She signalled the thumb to me. I returned the thumb and we started heading toward the ascent line. Shortly, an instructor that I knew had clients came up to us anxiously giving us the thumb. I returned it and continued to the line.

I wondered what was happening and during the ascent, I shrugged my shoulders and raised my hands to my usual buddy, who shrugged she didn't know. I wondered if the first buddy to give the thumb might be low on gas since it was a 100 foot dive, about 42 F/5-6 C, but decent viz.

The shop the instructor was with had overbooked their boat, so they asked to put 2 divers onto our charter (the 2 clients), and we agreed to moor at the same 2 sites and they would meet below (sigh).

At the safety stop, I signalled to the first buddy that gave the thumb if he needed to share gas, but he was not at all low on gas, and I saw the same instructor desperately giving thumbs to various divers. I signalled ok to my buddies and they returned the ok.

On the boat, the buddy who thumbed said that instructor gave him the thumb. It turned out that instructor thought our male buddy was one of his clients and was overstaying his air NDL, which caused him to give the thumb to some of the other divers. We had thought something serious was happening.

That instructor actually gave me the thumb during the next dive, and I wondered if it was mistaken identity again. I went right up to him and pointed at myself, like you sure you mean me? He then shook his head, looked at our buddy again, and then took off looking for his clients.

Those were the craziest thumbs I've ever seen. We still laugh about it to this day. Anyone else, we always return the thumb and start ascending.

For myself, I've thumbed after being unable to equalize, even though I seemed to be fine before starting to descend; or if conditions look unsafe, but others are usually on the same page as well.

 

[UTscuba]

Called one mid-dive a couple of weeks ago in the Socorro islands. Had been fighting a cold for a while and thought I was winning.

But mid dive I wasn't able to concentrate and couldn't maintain a stable depth. Looked up to see the dive guide signalling "are you OK" and looked at my computer to see I was at ~80ft when moments before I'd been next to her at 40ft.

Thought, nope I'm not OK. So signalled I was bailing, sent up my SMB and spent the rest of the day in my bunk asleep.

Checked my dive profile that evening and you could have cut a 2X4 with the saw tooth. Definitely was not a safe diver that day, but I'd not appreciated how poor my cognitive skills were.

I'd been dreaming of going to the Socorros for years, and spent a small fortune getting there, but absolutely no regrets on aborting and losing 3 dives out of the trip.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Ah, now I understand. Indeed, such reactions have no place in diving. My version of repercussions is like your example of not diving again with Darth Sharkvader. Not a verbal keelhauling.

I have seen that part of the rule phrased in different ways. I think I prefer “without being questioned” to “without repercussions.” I suppose you’re right that a diver finding himself without a willing buddy could be construed as a “repercussion.”

 

[Belzelbub]

This is just wrong on so many levels. Why do people do that? I feel quite immune to that kind of pressure, but many do not. If you push a person to dive and they get hurt, then you're just as much at fault as they are.

Experienced divers may be immune, but newer divers are, for the most part, not quite as immune. If a diver doesn't feel comfortable with doing the dive, then they should feel comfortable with their decision to end it. Crew on a charter chastising a diver for skipping the dive will do nothing other than having the diver questioning themselves when they feel uncomfortable with the conditions on future dives. That's no good.

 

[Storker]

Experienced divers may be immune, but newer divers are, for the most part, not quite as immune. If a diver doesn't feel comfortable with doing the dive, then they should feel comfortable with their decision to end it. Crew on a charter chastising a diver for skipping the dive will do nothing other than having the diver questioning themselves when they feel uncomfortable with the conditions on future dives. That's no good.

It's a recipe for divers doing stuff they're not comfortable with because they don't want to get another scolding.

In my job, I sometimes have to do HES assessments. One of my tenets is that if an operator feels unsafe, then that operator is unsafe and a risk. Which is why I always try to get a feeling of whether that person is comfortable with what I want them to do. If they're not, we work together to overcome that feeling of uncertainty. And scolding the person does. not. work. At all.

 

[The Chairman]

I’ve always been a big proponent of the “three strikes” philosophy

I'm a believer in this as well. Last year in Fiji we were going to dive with the Tiger Sharks. It's a shark feeding dive, which I'm not a fan of to begin with. I would rather wee them acting naturally, but the group was excited and I wasn't going to be a Debbie Downer.

The first strike was with the dive manager during the briefing. They wanted us to be in wetsuits and homie don't do wetsuits. I hate them. So, I went up to him after the briefing and told him I was out. I didn't bring a wetsuit, and I wasn't interested in swimming in a rental one so I called the dive. He assured me and reassured me that I would be safe and not to worry. Then why make it a big deal to begin with? Reluctantly, I kept going.

The second strike was on the boat. I went to check out my BC and found the elbow on the back of my BC had been broken almost clear off. Wow. That's a bummer, so I thumbed the dive and was getting ready to swim back (we loaded a few yards off shore). Oh wait they have a rental BC they sent the boat back for. Really? Me in a Poodle Jacket? Well, OK, and again I agreed reluctantly.

The third strike was the BC they brought me. No, I don't fit in a medium. I had told the chase boat to wait until I tried it on and was glad I did. Three strikes. The Scuba Gods did not want me to dive that day and so I made the third and final call. I was rewarded a bit later as I was lurking around the shore with this:

Epilogue... I made my subsequent dives in Fiji sans bladder. I carried my sausage in case I needed buoyancy on the surface and added some weight to allow for the weight swing due to air consumption. It was easy and fun.

 

[markmud]

The third strike was the BC they brought me. No, I don't fit in a medium.

Ok...I don't buy this one!

They brought you a medium? A medium would barely fit me if I loosened all of the straps. They were mess'n with ya bro. They were stick'n to the Big Kahuna.

And the rest of the story is...

This is actually hilarious.

m

 

[wnissen]

I thumbed dive #4 of Open Water. Had been having the worst time equalizing, very seasick with moderate vertigo, sat on the beach and realized I couldn't eat or drink anything due to the nausea. Thumbed, went to see a Divers Alert Network recommended ENT before I got back in.

Had two dives planned in Catalina, had to get help swimming back after the dive and none of the large group went in for a second dive. A very experienced commercial diver in the group said he was sitting it out. Despite that I was still willing to try the next day, but our boat couldn't even make it out. That really made me think about why I was diving when it was going to be so unpleasant.

Had a cold in Puerto Rico, just not feeling well. I pushed my trip back a day, then cancelled the day after that. Good decision.

Just thumbed yesterday for a dive this weekend. Thank goodness for swell reports.

 

[The Ruttmeister]

With maybe 18" visibility for the first 10'-15' (basically brown soup)... before breaking through into (dim) good vis, maybe 20'-30'. We dropped right on top of a huge sea nettle. Easily over 8' long, with a ton of buddies around.
It was very cool to see, but my buddy didn't want to try and navigate around enormous jellies. Can't say I blame him.

I think its about respecting yourself and your fellow divers. I dive for fun, if its not fun then I'm happy to say no. And if you are not having fun its not any different.

I would expect to talk about why the dive was called, it might not be something you end up agreeing with, but if you end up better understanding your buddies limits that's a good thing. And I think its part of being confident, knowing your limits and all.

 

[TMHeimer]

I was on my 50th dive, which was the final requirement needed for MSD (instructor said he'd send in the paperwork before the dive, but I like to be exact....). Buddy was already a MSD and had impressed me with his card. This was at the Thumb Jetty in Destin, FL. We headed a bit out the inlet and came upon a school of Southern Rays. I gave him the signal that he could continue and follow them but I was heading back--wanted nothing to do with those sharp tails. I finished solo, so not sure if that counts as a thumbs up.