Calling a Dive before you even get in the water

[Diesel00]

They never pressured me, they said pretty much no worries next we do this dive in the day time they will let me know. I just feel like a wus is all. Sorry I didn't specif that in the first place.

 

[Crowley]

As I said in my post - peer pressure can be indirect - you apply it to yourself in the belief that others will think you are somehow not good enough. You're not a wuss - you're a safe and conscientious diver....

C.

 

[mselenaous]

A diver's most important gear: His BRAIN and his gut instinct. Go with that every time and you will have far fewer issues and more fun on dives.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Definitely not a wuss.

 

[Damselfish]

You may also be doing someone else a favor by calling a dive that doesn't feel right. When there's a number of people like on a boat, there might be other people that don't want to do the dive either, but don't want to be the "wuss." If so, they will be delighted to have someone else be the first one to say something, makes it easier for them to bail if they want.

One memorable time - we were on a liveaboard trip and at a site that was remote and supposed to be great. Really wanted to do the dive as it was someplace we were unlikely to get to again. But conditions sucked, big waves - getting off the tender would have been fine, getting back on maybe not so much. The boat was split about 50/50 between a "don't be a wuss let's do this" peer pressure gang, and the rest quiet people. My husband spoke up that the conditions weren't acceptable and he wasn't diving. Freeing up all the other "wusses" to agree, and the boat moved to someplace not so snotty. Missed the site, and maybe it would have been ok, but someone could have easily been hurt on that one. Probably the op should have called it themselves.

 

[Doc Harry]

Listen to the force Yoda.

Your gut feelings are always correct.

Do not apologize for your decisions.

 

[TSandM]

Somebody once said, "It's much better to be on the shore, wishing you were diving, than to be in the water, wishing you were on shore."

I'm pretty risk-averse as a diver. I try to introduce only one major variable to a dive; new buddies are one, new site is another, night diving a site I haven't done at night before is a third. That's way outside my comfort zone, and I wouldn't have done that dive, either.

 

[SeaHorse81]

Somebody once said, "It's much better to be on the shore, wishing you were diving, than to be in the water, wishing you were on shore."

Wow, those are some words to live by, perhaps quite literally. That places the unclear go/no-go decision in perfect perspective. Thanks for putting that out there.

 

[Soakedlontra]

They never pressured me, they said pretty much no worries next we do this dive in the day time they will let me know. I just feel like a wus is all. Sorry I didn't specif that in the first place.

I agree with all the others: you did the right thing.

When I started scubadiving and I had few dives in my logbook I could not wait to take any opportunities to do a dive. Torn between diving as much as possible even if it meant lowering my safety standards and still being safe (it sounds like a contradiction) I was lucky to have a regular buddy who helped me to 'harness' this impatience. With time I was able to 'cool off' and realize that impatience and safety don't go well together. I had to accept the fact that because of my personal circumstances scuba diving was going to be a slow process and being able to abort a dive without feeling like a second class diver was part of that process.

Happy and safe diving!

 

[scubadoNC]

they never pressured me, they said pretty much no worries next we do this dive in the day time they will let me know. I just feel like a wus is all. Sorry i didn't specif that in the first place.

not a wus!