Open letter to boat dive masters

[Herb-alaska]

This is a open non confrontational letter to dive masters that we will encounter on dive boats for non instructional boat ride to the site encounter


dear divemaster

When I am geared up waiting to leave the boat and you reach toward my gear and I say no thank you I have it, please don't do that, please don't touch my gear . I really mean it . Please don't take it upon your self to continue to adjust my gear turn my tank valve ect . It will not only irritate me but it will negatively affect your tip if you don't immediately retract your hand.

sincerely
the diver from this weekend that appeared to have forgotten to tip you at the end of the trip

 

[Wookie]

Dear the diver from this weekend that appeared to have forgotten to tip you at the end of the trip.

I understand your angst at having some stranger touch your gear. Get over it. Take a chill pill. I check 125 cylinders per day in the "on" position. I know what I'm doing. Of those 125 per day, 2 or 3 per day are in the off position. I understand I take the risk of pissing you off and losing your tip. If I fail to check your tank and the Captain sees me not checking it, he will fire me, and quite frankly, my job is worth more than your tip. Besides that, if you do forget to open your cylinder valve that one time in a thousand and it happens to be on my watch and you (God forbid) die because of it, your wife will sue my a$$ off and my proclamations of "he told me not to touch his tank valve" in court won't hold any water, because it's my job, it's the industry standard, and I'd be negligent if I didn't do it.

So, please find another charter boat to ride on, because I'll be as unobtrusive as possible, but I'm damn sure going to do my job to the best of my ability. I'm sorry that doesn't meet with your expectations.

Very Respectfully
The overworked underpaid Divemaster you just stiffed.

 

[t-mac]

OK, so I am in the "I got it" category too, but I've never objected to the last minute air valve check and it never occurred to me to object, even though between me and my RDB, I seriously doubt a DM ever has or ever will find that the tank is not on.

My version of the content of the letter:


Dear Divemaster,

Thank you, but I prefer to take care of my own gear. It is not that I don't trust you, I just prefer to do it myself because you will not always be there for me. Don't worry, this will not detract from my experience. I am not here to be pampered, I'm here to have a great diving experience. And if you are concerned that this will affect your tip, it absolutely won't. I will tip you well for being knowledgeable company, giving a good dive breifing, showing me a few cool things I wouldn't have found myself and taking care of all the other things on the boat.

Finally, while I am sure it is on, go ahead and check my air before I jump in. It will not affect your tip unless you turn it off.

Yours truly,

The diver you should want on your boat.

[A little context I forgot -- I have actually had DMs appear to get offended when I say I will handle my own gear. I get the feeling that the interpret it as telling them "I don't want your services (and I'm not paying for them)." Not the case.]

 

[SOFDiver]

I second Wookie's open letter. No matter what kind of diver you are, no one enters the water from our boat without me or my mate/DM (often both of us) insuring that air is turned on. If you don't want us helping you with your gear or switching out your tanks and you tell us we are happy to comply with your request. But, you must understand that as Master of the vessel I am responsible for your safety and to ensure safety there are proceedures that must be followed. I also see it as a moral responsibility not to let you do anything that will cause you or other divers harm despite your requests. The fact that you would stiff the DM/Crew because they are working to keep you safe does not make a whole lot of sense as that is their basic job.

 

[chs8084]

Although I try to check my equipment and make sure everything is on, I appreciate the double check that boat DM's do-- and I am happy to tip them for their services. I understand that my safety is my responsibility, but I also think (at the risk of being flamed) a little redundancy is not a bad thing.

 

[Wookie]

OK, so I am in the "I got it" category too, but I've never objected to the last minute air valve check and it never occurred to me to object, even though between me and my RDB, I seriously doubt a DM ever has or ever will find that the tank is not on.

My version of the content of the letter:


Dear Divemaster,

Thank you, but I prefer to take care of my own gear. It is not that I don't trust you, I just prefer to do it myself because you will not always be there for me. Don't worry, this will not detract from my experience. I am not here to be pampered, I'm here to have a great diving experience. And if you are concerned that this will affect your tip, it absolutely won't. I will tip you well for being knowledgeable company, giving a good dive breifing, showing me a few cool things I wouldn't have found myself and taking care of all the other things on the boat.

Finally, while I am sure it is on, go ahead and check my air before I jump in. It will not affect your tip unless you turn it off.

Yours truly,

The diver you should want on your boat.

[A little context I forgot -- I have actually had DMs appear to get offended when I say I will handle my own gear. I get the feeling that the interpret it as telling them "I don't want your services (and I'm not paying for them)." Not the case.]

Dear diver I should want on my boat:

You are right, I absolutely do want you here. I want divers who can take care of themselves, are self sufficient, and I don't have to worry about. I wish I had a thousand of you per year. Unfortunately, I get the other kind, too. I'm sorry that I need to check your air, and I know in reality that I don't, but I have a hard time training my divemasters to treat folks differently by the look in their eye, or that they use a long hose, or that their gear is nicely worn in. I would like nothing more than to drop you at the dive site and come back and pick you up when you shoot a bag. Thanks for understanding when my DM checks your air on. It certainly isn't that we don't trust you, or think you are a retard. We do it to everyone, including each other. Most folks don't find it to be a show stopper and we appreciate that.

Sincerely,
The Captain that has a million other things to think about, this is pretty minor.

 

[ScubaSteve]

If an employee wants to check to make sure my air is on, I am OK with that. I am damn well going to breathe off it after you touch it to make sure you did not turn it off (as has happened by the hand of a couple DM's).....just the same way I did after I confirmed it was open. But that is where it ends unless I ask for more. Do not touch my gear besides the tank valve unless asked.

 

[uncfnp]

I have no problem with DMs checking my gear. I tend to get distracted in the rush of preparation and its the same to me as my buddy checks. But twice I have had it cut off instead of on, so don't be offended if I take a few breaths and check my gage before I actually get in the water.

 

[Ana]

I see the checking of the air by the DM as just the tip of the iceberg. DM's have progressively become more and more intrusive, I'm sure this behavior varies greatly depending on location. Some insist on walking you around the deck, other decide that you are unable to go up a ladder and reach to your valve making sure you have zero control over your movements... I'm still considering going totally dead weight one of these days when a very strong guy does that to me, I figure if he wants to move me around why not let him.

We could use thousands of posts to point out the root cause of this... for me is a combination of diver's lack of ability, limited supply of DM's that can be trusted by charter owners without a blanket policy, and everything driven by an abundance of ridiculous law suits.


To the "diver that skipped the tip" I can only say: buy your own boat. .Just like you, I once thought my opinion or my actions (withholding tip included) meant anything... individual opinions don't really matter. I knew it was a lost cause when i heard divers complaining they had to change their own tanks with a certain charter, oh the horror!

i got my own boat and no one touches my gear anymore... there's still one charter I use for one day trips, for times when I dive with people I don't want in my boat.

among other things on charters, i also reach over to my valve and make sure it is where I want it to be (all open), I make a point to be the LAST person touching the valve before getting on with my dive, if I suspect the DM messed with it as I was jumping, then I will reach again before completing the descent.

i won't miss a dive on a trip because I don't have my boat but... I have a different frame of mind, I'm prepared to be treated like a drooling idiot.
Also more times than not your actions are received more effectively than your words... telling the DM to not touch your stuff sometimes is like asking for attention. Shut your mouth and have all your crap ready before the DM has a chance to put their paws on it, sometimes you'll be lucky and the DM d'jour will engage the brain and realize he doesn't have to worry about you, unfortunately there is plenty of clueless people on the typical charter.

i also have good experiences in liveaboards, where the crew has the chance to decide which passenger requires their attention. Still you need to be prepared to sacrifice the first day... just remember is not that particular individual is how diving has evolved, try not to let it put a shadow on your dive.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Sorry, Herb-Alaska, but in this you are wrong. and Ana, I commend to you my blog "What Makes a Good Divemaster," or in the alternative, my article in scubadiverlife.com titled "Good Divemaster, Bad Divemaster." I'm sorry you have had some unpleasant experiences. And I commend you for buying your own boat. Your boat, your rules. I respect your choices and preferences. I hope you will respect my and all DM's duties and responsibilities, to make your diving WITH US safe and enjoyable, in that order.
DivemasterDennis