Unsafe Diving on the Caribbean Explorer II??

[TSandM]

It's easy to point fingers in all kinds of directions in a case like this. But I know that I did the tenth dive of my life to 130 feet in Molokini crater, on an Al80, because my guide was a PADI instructor and I trusted him. I HAD done my AOW, but that still doesn't change the fact that I was an inexperienced diver, too deep on too little gas. It all came out fine, as it so often does.

If the plan was to air-share to extend gas, it should have been done when your wife had plenty in her tank to do her own ascent. Taking her away from the line when she was ALREADY low on gas was a bad decision. Buddying up with a new diver when the DM was already responsible for a group is a dubious decision, too -- although I saw DMs do this in the South Pacific, and share gas early in the dive (with a long hose) and it worked OK.

I have no problem with a spouse pair splitting up for a dive. My husband and I have probably done as many dives where we weren't buddies as we have dives where we were. But I'm not sure WHY you guys split up for this particular dive, especially if you knew the DM buddying up for your wife was also responsible for the whole group.

If a dive op's strategy is that the first person low on gas makes the whole group ascend, I'm not using that dive op.

It was a strategic error in several directions, but in the end, my guess is everybody involved learned something from it, and no one was hurt. And it's a good idea to read Bob's gas management article

 

[firstdive2005]

I'd bet you and your wife are better divers today. Even if you have not been in the water since this particular dive.
I know your wife is she got to do a share air maneouvre, good for her. I hope you do one soon.
She got to dive with a dm. Your wife had one on one boyancy skills check.
I hope someone was there for you (if you needed it).
Baptism by fire on gas consumption for that depth and rate of effort diving.

I was certified on Coz island. I stayed for three weeks when I did. Dove every day with the same dm. I was incredibly fortunate that it was not busy when I was there as he was all mine for nearly the whole time. But at dive eight, I was taken down the Devils throat. That day four tec guys came on board. They really wanted to do the throat. They asked my dm what he thought of the skills I had to that point. I'm pretty sure he lied. The leader of there pac asked me if I minded dark closed spaces, I said no I just insulated my low slope house and I own a roofing company so spaces dont scare me. Some qualifications I had for that ride. I was with very talented divers. Not to friggin cautious but talented. My dm for one stuck to me like glue. One thing is they gave my dm a sling bottle to take down just in case. I hit surface with four hundred psi.
Your wife was with some major talent I'm sure. Does this make the dives your wife and I made right because the dms could handle it, no it doesnt. I could have gotten on line and nailed the dm for this dive and lots of hundred footers also but that would have done me zero good. What did happen is like all the replies on your thread have said- get more training. I was doomed to spend too much money. I still dive like the man that taught me everything, even though I have been taught by some pretty damn good instructors since. No one has taught me how to remain calm like my first instructor, I close my eyes at depth and see him- palms down in front of me, his reasurring eyes-pumping his hands up and down, relax, relax, I can feel it right now.
I hope your wife can sit back at take a moment to realize that dive was probably her best dive even though it was dangerous. Wait diving is dangerous. lol. Your going to have a lot of cool dive stories in the future, seeya kev

 

[Gen San Chris]

I think that there are 3 problems here really!
1) The lady should not have been allowed to dive to 100ft in a current situation as an open water diver!
2) She should not have been allowed to use such a small tank on the dive!
3) There should have been extra air in stages on the ascent line in order to avoid low air situations!

The problem on live aboard boats is that you get such a mixture of diver skills and experience and the boat opperations team will try to keep everyone happy! Sometimes in dont quite work out!

If everybody had the same skills then all would be well but unfortunatly life is not like that!
We are all born equal so they say but that don't stand up for divers!