The OP never questioned "what" a safety stop was, only what to do when they were being habitually omitted. Rather than being helpful to him, we are discussing rather fines points of what a safety stop is or isn't. Like whether or not the "safety stops" called for in the RGBM tables are called so incorrectly. If it's an open water dive (which I believe it is) than those stops are not essential for a safe ascent. They are only essential if you want to keep diving that day. I see this as a safe step in the right direction and perhaps it will curtail the lackadaisical attitude towards safety stops exhibited by the diver in question.
I don't really care that the discussion about what a safety stop is continues, but I would like to see some answers to the OP as well. What should or can be done in these situations?
Netdoc - I am the OP. I wasn't wanting to discuss whether this guy should be held liable for anything. I just wondered about how many people out there don't understand (like him) that they are important, just as a safety factor. I was particularly offended that the dive guides insisted in their briefing that everyone did them, but he still skipped them every time because his computer didn't tell him to do a deco stop (his computer was so old it didn't tell him anything about safety stops.)
I just wanted to know if everyone else runs into issues like this. Me and my husband always do safety stops (he's an instructor so it would silly if he didn't follow the rules). WE haven't run into too many people doing really stupid things, yes we have seen some stupid things, like blowing a safety stop once or twice.... but this guy skipped the safety stop EVERY dive and we were doing repetitive DEEP dives. And instead of staying with the group, when he ran low on air he would just go straight to the surface and inflate is sausage and signal the boat for pickup. Not smart in Palau heavy current conditions.
Anyhow, I am glad to see everyone else posting here does do some sort of stops and realize it is just one more safety buffer.
Since we do alot of liveaboards, I am concerned when I see another diver doing something that may affect MY trip adversely. If my trip got affected/cancelled due to someone getting DCS, I don't want it to be from a duffus who was diving unsafe.
Our only other experience with safety had to do with a pair of divers on the Nekton to Cay Sal Bank 2 yrs ago.... the boat rule is 130' max, no exceptions. There is a large white board where you log in and out from each dive, and put your max depth. This pair was so stupid they actually wrote max depth for a dive as 150'. The DM immediately pulled them aside and told them if they go below 130' again they will sit out the rest of the day, and that they would be checking their computers to make sure they were honest. I didn't hear of any other problems with them after being warned. That boat was out in open ocean, no where near land in case of a needed evac. So the whole boat would have had to go back up towards Bimini with alot of unhappy people.
robin
