Key West: Amateur Hour?

[_kurt]

This trip report is from spring 2022. I waited several months to let things settle in my head and make sure I wasn't overreacting.

For my first dive in Key West, I chose the operator who seemed to get the best reviews on this forum. In retrospect, I've never had more things go wrong on a single dive trip.

1) The boat arrived at the dock about one hour after the scheduled departure time. When I checked in at the dive shop that morning I was told the boat "might be a little late" because they had to get gas.
2) On the first dive, there were multiple divers who surfaced late. It turns out they did not have any timing device at all. The captain, to his credit, chewed them out and was about ready to call for a rescue. At least 3 divers sat out the 2nd dive for various reasons.
3) I was with an insta-buddy and was ready to be self-sufficient. My insta-buddy turned out to be a very competent diver and good buddy, although she was cold on the first dive and sat out the second dive. On the second dive, I was paired up with a group of with three other divers, none of whom had a computer or timing device and I'm not sure anyone had a depth gauge either.
4) In between the two dives, a large amount of smoke emanated from the engine compartment. The captain moved all the passengers to the bow while they diagnosed the problem. They claimed it was burning paint?? But when I saw into the engine compartment, it looked like the exhaust was held together by a conglomeration of hose clamps instead of properly welding it.
5) When we returned home docking was a mess. There was a lot of shouting. Later I learned some of our divers were literally running to catch their cruise departure.

Sorry for writing a novel, but I'm a fairly new diver. Is it normal for this many things to go wrong in a single trip?

 

[goldfishtornado]

I'm honestly not sure how this is even possible.

1) This does happen some times, especially for the afternoon dive. Depending on season, if the first trip of the day runs long it can cause a knock on effect for the rest of the day. Kind of like the airlines. Most of the operators in Florida seem to be pretty strict on dive times for this reason.
2) The captain was right to call them out.
3) What? How did the captain not check who had timing devices after 2? That seems like a liability problem for the operator and the captain.
4) This does not seem normal to me.
5) Like problems docking the boat, or people rushing to make their cruise. If the latter, no wonder given 1 + 2. If booked by the cruise line sometimes they will hold the ship for you if your excursion was late. If you booked your own excursion and are late getting back you are SOL.

 

[Eric802]

Okay, I'll be the first to ask...

...what operator was this?

 

[jadairiii]

....it looked like the exhaust was held together by a conglomeration of hose clamps instead of properly welding it.

Your trip sounded fairly typical for a recreational dive trip in the keys.

As to the exhaust, not sure your back ground in commercial in-board diesel boats, but most exhaust systems are not fully welded on in-board boats.

 

[L13]

Your trip sounded fairly typical for a recreational dive trip in the keys.

Really? I've never been diving in the keys, but by the standards of everywhere else I've been (US and international) this would be unacceptably bad. All the third world countries I've been to do better than this.

 

[_kurt]

Things go wrong on boats. Things go wrong on dive trips. I get that. That is why I'm not naming and shaming the operator, because maybe this is only a normal bad day in Key West Yes I've operated an inboard diesel; that's how I knew immediately the problem was an exhaust leak vs the boat being on fire, or the bogus "burning paint" excuse we were given by the crew.

My bigger concern is that I, with like 50 dives or so, was pressed into a defacto divemaster position because I was the only one with a dive computer. And, I didn't really realize I'd been pressed into that position until after we had splashed and I had to convince the other divers to surface on time.

 

[DivinLion01]

No diver should ever be without a computer/gauge or intimate knowledge of planning dives and diving plans. Why they were permitted to be on board is mind blowing to me. I am a divemaster and lead A LOT of local dives and if I were to have someone showing up to my dive without a computer or sufficient experience to plan a dive and then execute it, they aren't getting wet. To me, it's simple. But, with some operators they want to pay bills and as such, take on way more risk to get people under.

Seems like your dive was a total **** show with an accident waiting to happen...

 

[greeniguana]

"Cruise ship"

I've been on a lot of cruise ship dive ops. Nobody ever has a computer and they're never on time. The other people not having computers doesn't affect me in any way, and I adjust my tip to reflect punctuality....

 

[drrich2]

Later I learned some of our divers were literally running to catch their cruise departure.

My bigger concern is that I, with like 50 dives or so, was pressed into a defacto divemaster position because I was the only one with a dive computer. And, I didn't really realize I'd been pressed into that position until after we had splashed and I had to convince the other divers to surface on time.

I have a suspicion. Might be way off base; I want to run it by you.

I'm guessing that operator didn't put a guide in the water. Is that right?

In a number of places that cater heavily to sporadic vacation divers, including many who dive while on cruise ship stops, there's a guide (sometimes a couple of staff). The staff person leads the dive, and some may signal to divers intermittently cuing them to communicate their gas pressure remaining.

It would be easy for a vacation diver to unconsciously assume this is how hired dive excursions work generally. In some places, it is. In theory yes, they ought to still have a dive computer or similar functionality, but sometimes real world situations don't play out according to theory.

In Key Largo, it's often noted Rainbow Reef Dive Center puts a no-added charge guide in the water, because that's not universal amongst operators there. I haven't been to Key West; gotta wonder if there was a guide.

Richard.

 

[CosbySweater]

The other people not having computers doesn't affect me in any way

Agreed. You don't have to accept liability for others. I would have refused the instabuddy assignment asked the DM or captain for an alternative.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of social pressure to do what you're told on a dive boat, so no fault of the OPs for diving with the underprepared divers. This is more of a reminder that you are in charge of your safety and you don't have to accept any situation (or buddy assignment) which you feel affects you're safety. Nor do you have to be made to feel liable for others who are not prepared to safely execute the dive. It never hurts to bring your concerns to the DM or captain. They can usually remedy the situation. You pay good money to dive on their boat.