Xanthro
Guest
I had a strange experience this last week on a dive trip. It was a short trip while in Maui with some friends. None of whom dive. The boat was 99% snorkel and I went only because I wanted to watch two friends try out snuba. One loved it.
First dive was to 75 feet. Honestly, the dive master was horrid. I kept thinking his BC was going to fall off. I could see under the BC and his back. At least 8 inch seperation. I signaled him to turn back, because I really didn't trust him at depth. Rest of that dive was fine, and watching my friend snuba was worth it. The DM did leave me in the water, because he was out of air, but there were two other divers with the snuba people.
Second dive, another diver joined us. Someone who hadn't dove in nearly three years. He was first in the water, I was second. When I got to him, he couldn't find his reg or remember how to locate it. I got his reg for him, and he seemed ok.
DM arrived, we descend, guy pops to surface, descends, pops to surface, descends, pops to surface, all from over inflating his BC. At this point, I was ready to bail on the dive, as both the DM and he really didn't appear able to help if there was an emergency, but I was afraid to leave the guy with the DM. Visibility was poor, about 20', there was current, the other diver kept dragging his knees across the bottom. He got seperated once, and I had to chase him down.
When we surfaced, I had 1300psi, DM had 400 other guy had 400.
Now, since the depth was only around 20 feet, I never really felt in danger myself, since I kept track of my own heading and could make it back to the boat, or the surface if there was a problem. I was concerned about air, because the DM ran out during the first dive, and I figured if I was at 1300, he had to be low.
Should I have asked the other diver about his PSI, or simply taken his guage and looked and aborted the dive earlier?
I still fairly new to diving and didn't want to overstep my bounds, but I was honestly concerned about the person being left with that DM. Who, I would never dive with again, and wouldn't have done the second dive with him if it hadn't been in 20'. I was afraid that me stepping in might confuse the diver and make things worse. I was always close enough to give him air, but I'd just like to know how others would have reacted.
Xanthro
First dive was to 75 feet. Honestly, the dive master was horrid. I kept thinking his BC was going to fall off. I could see under the BC and his back. At least 8 inch seperation. I signaled him to turn back, because I really didn't trust him at depth. Rest of that dive was fine, and watching my friend snuba was worth it. The DM did leave me in the water, because he was out of air, but there were two other divers with the snuba people.
Second dive, another diver joined us. Someone who hadn't dove in nearly three years. He was first in the water, I was second. When I got to him, he couldn't find his reg or remember how to locate it. I got his reg for him, and he seemed ok.
DM arrived, we descend, guy pops to surface, descends, pops to surface, descends, pops to surface, all from over inflating his BC. At this point, I was ready to bail on the dive, as both the DM and he really didn't appear able to help if there was an emergency, but I was afraid to leave the guy with the DM. Visibility was poor, about 20', there was current, the other diver kept dragging his knees across the bottom. He got seperated once, and I had to chase him down.
When we surfaced, I had 1300psi, DM had 400 other guy had 400.
Now, since the depth was only around 20 feet, I never really felt in danger myself, since I kept track of my own heading and could make it back to the boat, or the surface if there was a problem. I was concerned about air, because the DM ran out during the first dive, and I figured if I was at 1300, he had to be low.
Should I have asked the other diver about his PSI, or simply taken his guage and looked and aborted the dive earlier?
I still fairly new to diving and didn't want to overstep my bounds, but I was honestly concerned about the person being left with that DM. Who, I would never dive with again, and wouldn't have done the second dive with him if it hadn't been in 20'. I was afraid that me stepping in might confuse the diver and make things worse. I was always close enough to give him air, but I'd just like to know how others would have reacted.
Xanthro