humanFish
Contributor
This was a hawaii dive charter. Small group, the DM, myself, and another couple. Before we launched the wife presented her cert card to the DM, along with her printed receipts from DAN. I thought to myself, "Uh oh. Is someone expecting trouble? Or are they just being extra cautious for some reason?" Perhaps I'm superstitious, or jaded, but I've never seen someone present their insurance card to a DM prior to a dive....this may be common practice in some locales...so please set me straight if I mistakenly took this to be a possible indication of trouble. The DM seemed to shrug it off...like "That's good..but I don't need to see that".
The second thing I heard was the the couple just went through a refresher course to update their skills. "OK, at least they've been diving recently and seem to care for their safety", I thought.
We launch the boat and proceed to the first site. We all get in the water. The DM goes down first. Then we descend, exploring some pinnacles and reef formations, checking critters and what not. One thing I notice about the DM, is that she is kinda cruising ahead by herself...so much for her being a good buddy to me. Oh well. The other couple is managing OK, I guess, aside from thrashing their arms around and just generally showing bad form. 15 or 20 minutes into the dive, the male from the couple shows me his air gauge at it reads about 650 psi. At this point we are in about 60fsw, with no current, and the DM is cruising along about 35 feet ahead and not looking back. I think to myself, "Well, this guy needs to either surface and or alert the DM, and then surface". I motion for him to go catch the DM, then I motion for him to just surface. He more or less shrugs and continues on after the DM. 3 minutes later he reaches her at the ascent line and she immediately shoves her octo is his mouth and up the line the three of them go without a safety stop. I watch from the bottom of the line in abot 35 of water...the DM comes right back down and we continue to breath down our air and explore, then do a safety stop and surface.
Back on the boat there was no mention of him being OOA by anyone. Not sure if he breathed his tank empty or not. During the surface interval on shore his wife complains of minor motion sickness and opts out of the second dive. The three of us head back out. I'm thinking "This guy is a hoover but hopefully he learned a valuable lesson and will not go OOA again." needless to say, the DM and I kept a close eye on him this time. 15 minutes into the dive he motions to the line and is on his way. We hang out close by during his stop and then continue on our way when he has surfaced.
So, I am curious about many things:
1) What's up with DM's that seem to be solo divers with the "Just follow me" approach. In other words, what good is a DM if you can't even get their attention. I've seen about 15% of DM's that seem to act like this.
2) Should I have reacted differently when he showed me his guage? In essence, I gave him two options and let him make the call. I did keep a close eye on him...and close proximity. His wife/buddy was with him the whole way.
3) Should the DM have lectured him and his buddy? Should she have lectured me? Should we have lectured her?
4) Should he have been allowed on the second dive?
5) Even though I was perfectly comfortable waiting on the bottom with 1400psi in my tank, should I have ascended the line as well? I am certainly guilty of wanting to get my money's worth. A poor decision?
In hindsight, I feel I should have been more insistent that he start his ascent. I feel bad for not have taken a more proactive approach....Your comments, criticisms are welcomed and appreciated...
The second thing I heard was the the couple just went through a refresher course to update their skills. "OK, at least they've been diving recently and seem to care for their safety", I thought.
We launch the boat and proceed to the first site. We all get in the water. The DM goes down first. Then we descend, exploring some pinnacles and reef formations, checking critters and what not. One thing I notice about the DM, is that she is kinda cruising ahead by herself...so much for her being a good buddy to me. Oh well. The other couple is managing OK, I guess, aside from thrashing their arms around and just generally showing bad form. 15 or 20 minutes into the dive, the male from the couple shows me his air gauge at it reads about 650 psi. At this point we are in about 60fsw, with no current, and the DM is cruising along about 35 feet ahead and not looking back. I think to myself, "Well, this guy needs to either surface and or alert the DM, and then surface". I motion for him to go catch the DM, then I motion for him to just surface. He more or less shrugs and continues on after the DM. 3 minutes later he reaches her at the ascent line and she immediately shoves her octo is his mouth and up the line the three of them go without a safety stop. I watch from the bottom of the line in abot 35 of water...the DM comes right back down and we continue to breath down our air and explore, then do a safety stop and surface.
Back on the boat there was no mention of him being OOA by anyone. Not sure if he breathed his tank empty or not. During the surface interval on shore his wife complains of minor motion sickness and opts out of the second dive. The three of us head back out. I'm thinking "This guy is a hoover but hopefully he learned a valuable lesson and will not go OOA again." needless to say, the DM and I kept a close eye on him this time. 15 minutes into the dive he motions to the line and is on his way. We hang out close by during his stop and then continue on our way when he has surfaced.
So, I am curious about many things:
1) What's up with DM's that seem to be solo divers with the "Just follow me" approach. In other words, what good is a DM if you can't even get their attention. I've seen about 15% of DM's that seem to act like this.
2) Should I have reacted differently when he showed me his guage? In essence, I gave him two options and let him make the call. I did keep a close eye on him...and close proximity. His wife/buddy was with him the whole way.
3) Should the DM have lectured him and his buddy? Should she have lectured me? Should we have lectured her?
4) Should he have been allowed on the second dive?
5) Even though I was perfectly comfortable waiting on the bottom with 1400psi in my tank, should I have ascended the line as well? I am certainly guilty of wanting to get my money's worth. A poor decision?
In hindsight, I feel I should have been more insistent that he start his ascent. I feel bad for not have taken a more proactive approach....Your comments, criticisms are welcomed and appreciated...