Rule62
Guest
Just returned from a trip to PDC and diving with TANK HA Dive Center. I normally dont bother posting trip reports but this one was bad enough and unsafe to warrant posting. As anyone knows whos dove out of PDC before, there are no piers so shore entry to the boat is required. This is no big deal except if the waves are breaking on the boat with over 6 ft swells!!!
After navigating thru the waves with all of our gear, we made it on the boat! This is not a criticism of Tank Ha since they cant control the weather nor the surface conditions. We then headed out to the dive site.
On the way out, the boat Tank Ha was using was not equipped to handle rough conditions and the tanks were falling out of the inadequate plastic tank holders and onto the deck and our feet. One of the divers sustained a foot injury due to a tank falling on her foot. Additionally, I was concerned our regs would be damaged since the tanks were falling head first right on the regs!!!
Once we got to the dive site things improved since we got off the boat and dove!!! Although the dive was fairly unremarkable, as are most dive sites off of PDC, it was still better than being on the boat. We did our surface interval on the boat and then motored to the second dive site. We learned from our earlier experience we needed to spread out and hold on to all the tanks so we didnt have a repeat of our previous falling tank adventure.
Second dive went OK until we surfaced. Upon surfacing, NO DIVE BOAT in sight. The DM took out a deflated sausage about 3ft long with Tank Ha written on it with a Sharpie and tried to get any boats attention. Since the surface conditions had deteriorated even more and we were now facing 8ft plus swells, theres no way any boat would ever see his 3ft deflated sausage.
As soon as I saw what he had to signal with and realized it was of no use, I pulled out my own 6ft sausage and inflated it and began to try and get another boats attention. Even with mine it was difficult and after about 15min of bobbing on the surface, the DM suggested we start swimming for shore which was about a mile a way!!!!
I knew this was not an acceptable alternative as my wife and another woman were already beginning to get cold and experience the early stages of hypothermia. Fortunately, shortly after this brilliant suggestion, a fishing boat spotted my sausage and came over to see what was up. We told him we were with Tank Ha and he was able to radio our boat. After another 10min our boat showed up and we headed back to PDC.
Upon arrival, we told the folks at Tank Ha about our experience and were told sorry it was a new captain!!! We had planned on diving with them all week but, based on our day one experience and the multiple safety issues, felt it best to head somewhere else.
As I said at the beginning, Ive never posted a trip report before but felt compelled to, due to the numerous safety issues we encountered.
BTW, my wife and are both rescue certified with hundreds of dives, so are not prima donnas with unrealistic expectations!!!
After navigating thru the waves with all of our gear, we made it on the boat! This is not a criticism of Tank Ha since they cant control the weather nor the surface conditions. We then headed out to the dive site.
On the way out, the boat Tank Ha was using was not equipped to handle rough conditions and the tanks were falling out of the inadequate plastic tank holders and onto the deck and our feet. One of the divers sustained a foot injury due to a tank falling on her foot. Additionally, I was concerned our regs would be damaged since the tanks were falling head first right on the regs!!!
Once we got to the dive site things improved since we got off the boat and dove!!! Although the dive was fairly unremarkable, as are most dive sites off of PDC, it was still better than being on the boat. We did our surface interval on the boat and then motored to the second dive site. We learned from our earlier experience we needed to spread out and hold on to all the tanks so we didnt have a repeat of our previous falling tank adventure.
Second dive went OK until we surfaced. Upon surfacing, NO DIVE BOAT in sight. The DM took out a deflated sausage about 3ft long with Tank Ha written on it with a Sharpie and tried to get any boats attention. Since the surface conditions had deteriorated even more and we were now facing 8ft plus swells, theres no way any boat would ever see his 3ft deflated sausage.
As soon as I saw what he had to signal with and realized it was of no use, I pulled out my own 6ft sausage and inflated it and began to try and get another boats attention. Even with mine it was difficult and after about 15min of bobbing on the surface, the DM suggested we start swimming for shore which was about a mile a way!!!!
I knew this was not an acceptable alternative as my wife and another woman were already beginning to get cold and experience the early stages of hypothermia. Fortunately, shortly after this brilliant suggestion, a fishing boat spotted my sausage and came over to see what was up. We told him we were with Tank Ha and he was able to radio our boat. After another 10min our boat showed up and we headed back to PDC.
Upon arrival, we told the folks at Tank Ha about our experience and were told sorry it was a new captain!!! We had planned on diving with them all week but, based on our day one experience and the multiple safety issues, felt it best to head somewhere else.
As I said at the beginning, Ive never posted a trip report before but felt compelled to, due to the numerous safety issues we encountered.
BTW, my wife and are both rescue certified with hundreds of dives, so are not prima donnas with unrealistic expectations!!!
