_kurt
Registered
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?
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?