I HATE cancelling dives

[Cacia]

I believe it is one of the most important "skills" to get comfortable with.

We all feel a sense of obligation when other people are involved. Letting that pressure put you in weather conditions that are bad can easily happen. That's why I drill this skill by occasionally cancelling for really stupid reasons, like rain. Once people accept that I don't dive in rainstorms, it is easy to cancel with wind and high seas.

My bottom line litmus test is "Will the resue helicopter crew curse me, if they have to fetch me in this?" You don't want to look like a doofus on the 5 o'oclock news, do ya? Remember the dreaded zoom on the news cam!

We have one friend here who dived on a bad night and was caught in the Molakai express. Years later, we still say "hey, how was that ride in the basket?" Just to be mean.

 

[scubafool]

The old adage "Anyone can call any dive at anytime for any or no reason, no questions, no recriminations" is something most of us have heard.

I think that the "no questions, no recriminations" part should apply to myself/yourself as well.

 

[The Horn]

Drove 400 Km's to the dive charter, weather came up during the 4 hour drive, called it when I got there and then had the 4 hour drive home. That sucked. Felt bad for the first rye after I got home but most of that was from the sore drivers butt........

 

[dsteding]

Here's the perspective of the buddy on the other end of the phone:

8 am, I wake up and the wind is howling past my condo, I'm downtown in Seattle, maybe a five minute drive from the dive site. I KNOW Lynne is very uncomfortable in heavy seas, I actually am quite comfortable in them because I grew up surfing.

I went up to my roof and called Lynne. There were good white caps on Elliott Bay already, winds were sustained 20 knots, maybe gusting to 35-40. I'm not that enthusiastic about being outside on a day like this, the wind direction at the time was out of the southwest, and the site is sheltered from that direction, but the seas are building.

I have no problem calling it in that situation, it just didn't feel like the right day to dive. I think we made the right call, it is 3 hours later and the wind is stronger than it was earlier today.

I really believe in dives being called any time that someone needs to do so. When the dive is cancelled, or the dive is over, it is done. Anxiety, even at low levels, can lead to accidents, I want to be totally comfortable with the dives I am doing, and I want my dive buddies to feel the same way.

That being said, I am really getting sick of this #$@#% weather this winter. Best vis I've seen in the past four months was in Canada (which doesn't really count). I don't think I've seen better than 15 feet since early September, and this is the season for good vis.

Oh, and it is supposed to snow again on Tuesday, they are calling for "significant accumulations." Great.

EDIT: Lynne, how is the vis in your pool?

 

[The Chairman]

ScubaFool touted my "Rule #2" for my students.

I live it as I breathe it.

 

[Penopolypants]

My buddy and I just cancelled our afternoon dive for the same reasons. I'm really sick of this weather, too.

 

[pir8]

Anybody can call any dive at any time for any reason with no consequences. Anyone who says otherwise will not be diving with me. period.

 

[skinnydogdives]

think of yourselves as lucky here on the west coast of ireland we've had one atlantic storm after another. the last time we got to dive was a search and recovery in october which had to be called midafternoon because of swell
last weekend we had a 30 ft swell in the bay
i'm doing a shore dive next weekend just to see if i remember how

 

[Hank49]

Well, since everyone else agrees with cancelling the dive....I'll be the....one to piss everyone off? ha. Think about this. If it had been sunny but the water conditions were just the same, would you have cancelled? I ask this because for sure, the sea looks more threatening when it's gray and dark. I've sat on the beach many times looking at surf that was really nice, but hesitating because....it looked "meaner" only due to the gray. Then when I paddled out anyway. or decided to dive, I was really glad that I did because once in the water, it's not near as bad as the gray skies make it look.
For me anyway, the sun can give things a whole different...happier look. Just a thought. But don't feel bad....there's many more good days to come.

 

[DiverBeth]

Cancelling a dive the one thing probably all of us hate to do. When I took my OW class my instructor talked about many reasons for cancelling a dive. All the students looked at each other with the same look on our face no way.

Then I started thinking about all the nasty things that could happen to me. :11: The worst one was never diving again. I'm so addicted to diving in the short time I've been doing it that I always look forward to the next dive. So far I've followed this rule and I've had to even cancel a couple of dives. :116: But I still had the next one to look forward to.