Possible Air Problems Aboard Local Charter

Thought I'd pass along an email from one of the dive groups I've dove with. Apparently they had a charter to Farnsworth recently and believe the air provided by the charter may have had some problems. I have no idea about the specifics, and what the charter's position is. Sounds like the point to be taken from this is to speak up if you think the air you get isn't quite right.

"Since last night, we are up to 5 divers who have taken their tanks in and ALL have found water & rust in their tanks, I also have a few who are still complaining from headaches and similar medical issues. If YOU went on the boat trip to Farnsworth on the Aquatica AND had you tank filled by the boat, have your tanks checked ASAP, chances are a tumble is needed. "

"So what did WE learn from this one??? My opinions here are simple, in this case we had 1 or 2 divers who needed their tanks filled before the first dive, they noticed the air 'taste' and thought it was strange, but because of the trip and all, they thought there wasn't anything other than a bad taste to the air. Here's is my thoughts on this, if you notice a foul taste to the AIR, "Tell everyone in your group" and TRY to make a "Group decision" about what to do. I think we all NOW know this will be our future plan in regards to air on dive boats, or even dive shops. Because of the depth of the first dive on Sunday, this could have turned into a really bad and/or dangerous problem. But "Tell someone" is what I think WE learned about this. Turns out that Sunday's dive will be a "Dive that keeps on giving" for this week. Please be careful in regards to AIR and the quality of it."

Today's Southcoast Divers newsletter says: "We are up to 16 tanks that need tumbling. One analysis has shown that along with the water in the tanks that WE also have compressor oil in there, this now means that those who dove with AL tanks should also have your tanks tumbled." This was from a dive on the Aquatica. From the newsletter it sounds like they are working the issue. Stuff does happen, even on the best run boats, gaskets can and do fail, and your first notice is when the customer informs you of oily tasting air etc.

I should point out that I was not on the boat, and all my inforamtion comes from the newsletter.

I am the dive boat coordinator for the SOCDC, the club that chartered the Aquatica last Sunday to Farnsworth Banks. Overall, we had a great trip! There was awesome diving, yummy food, and a very attentive crew. I am disappointed that people that were not even on the boat are spreading the story of the bad air incident. The boat is in the process of resolving this issue and making good with the club and divers that were involved.

Once everything has been resolved, I would be happy to let the diving public be aware of the entire incident.

Thanks,
Laurel Valker

The point of the post was not to bash the charter, but rather to forward the lesson learned that if you think you sense a problem with the air (or anything else), speak up. If you don't, you could die. Period. The goal here is safety, nothing more. And one thing I've learned in my short time diving is that you must be bold and uncompromising about your own safety, without exception. I posted nothing more than the exact words from your own club. If you wanted to keep it a secret, either say so in the email or talk to the guy who wrote it. Honestly, I don't give a damn if you are disappointed about me posting a lesson learned that might save someone's life. It certainly taught me a serious lesson.

mccabejc:

The point of the post was not to bash the charter, but rather to forward the lesson learned that if you think you sense a problem with the air (or anything else), speak up. If you don't, you could die. Period. The goal here is safety, nothing more. And one thing I've learned in my short time diving is that you must be bold and uncompromising about your own safety, without exception. I posted nothing more than the exact words from your own club. If you wanted to keep it a secret, either say so in the email or talk to the guy who wrote it. Honestly, I don't give a damn if you are disappointed about me posting a lesson learned that might save someone's life. It certainly taught me a serious lesson.

Click to expand...

Please, let's keep it friendly folks!
I wasn't on the boat, but I learned an important lesson from what was reported on the So. Coast Divers email. I support sharing this kind of information, as long as it's done in a good way without bashing anyone. Accidents happen, problems happen, it's not a perfect world. But if we learn something from them, we become better (and safer) divers. Laurel, you do an awesome job with the boat trips and having done a couple of hump-day dives I know that safety is of prime concern to you as well. Keep up the good work.
Kevin

scubalaurel:

... I am disappointed that people that were not even on the boat are spreading the story of the bad air incident. The boat is in the process of resolving this issue and making good with the club and divers that were involved.
...

Click to expand...

In re-reading the post so far, I don't believe any of the post to date have bashed anyone. A close read of the post shows they do make mention that the situation is being handled and should not reflect badly on the boat.

Example "This was from a dive on the Aquatica. From the newsletter it sounds like they are working the issue. Stuff does happen, even on the best run boats, gaskets can and do fail, and your first notice is when the customer informs you of oily tasting air etc."

Nothing but a discussion that the event happened. That stuff can and does happen even on the best of boats, and finally that the first indication is when the customer lets them know. As McCabeJC pointed out, the lesson learned is, that if the air taste funny, abort the dive and let the air supplier (or in this case) crew know. Is not lessons learned for the greater good, one of the purposes of this forum?

So I am not clear as to why you are upset.

An update forwarded by the dive club, verbatim:

"Laurel has now been in contact with the owner of the Aquatica, he will be back in town at the end of next week and will rectify the problems we had with the air, more when we have more info."

Seems clear that those involved are fully confident that the charter will make things right. Again, the purpose of my original post was absolutely NOT against the charter, but only to pass along the lesson learned that you need to be bold and assertive when it comes to your own safety.

If your point was to enlighten everyone about lessons to be learned, I think it should have been done without naming the specific charter.

The info sent out to the dive club should have been kept internally and not blasted all over a network that is worldwide, and could be detrimental to ths charter's future business.

I know the charter very well, I was just on it 2 weeks ago and the owner runs a good operaton. Sometimes things can go wrong, and I am sure he will remedy this bad situation.

I copied and pasted, verbatim, and email sent out to a 400 member list. They included the name of the charter in their email, which was their mistake if they didn't want it broadcast. There was no indication that they wanted the contents kept within the 400 member group.

By the way, as far as "blasted all over a network that is worldwide", this thread has been viewed just under 200 times. Taking into account multiple views by the folks in this forum, I doubt that more than a fraction of that number represents individuals who actually read the posts.

But if folks think it's a big issue, I'll see if the moderators will kill the thread.