I am sure this has been done to death, but this post has a nuance or two.
Most of us on the boat had dived together at least one or two times before. But..., there was a new guy. His gear looked older, so you might think he knew what he was doing. In fact, most looked downright vintage. His reg was a Poseidon CyKlon, which he claimed was recently serviced. His BCD appeared to be a SeaTec Manta, with the CO2 canister attached. I don't know what his fins were, but they appeared newish.
Almost as soon as we left the boat, he was in trouble. He lost a fin during descent. I am almost certain that his backstrap spring connectors require an "insert and twist" technique to keep them in place. I think he just forced it into place. Once at depth, his arms were all over the place. There was no predicting how he would move. There were erratic breast strokes, combined with fluttering and just spastic movements. He had two redeeming qualities. The first was that he blew through his air quickly, and let us enjoy about 25% - 35% of the dive. His other quality was also a curse. Since he was not with anyone, he stuck by us. We didn't want him around us, but he was smart enough to know that he shouldn't be alone.
It would have bothered me a little bit, but we had a young diver with us that we were quite protective of. Watching this guy was a learning experience for the young diver, most of all. But, for me, I have to wonder if I should have said something during the SI. He was up first. I was up second, but not a lot of time to make comments in private. The dad of the 13 year old didn't provide any criticism, but I told the youngster to stay away from him on the next dive. The 13 year old already knew what I was talking about, and stayed away.
So..., should I have instantly said something when I got on deck when we were alone?? Should I have relied on the dive master to say something? What do you do when you encounter a diving spaz?
Most of us on the boat had dived together at least one or two times before. But..., there was a new guy. His gear looked older, so you might think he knew what he was doing. In fact, most looked downright vintage. His reg was a Poseidon CyKlon, which he claimed was recently serviced. His BCD appeared to be a SeaTec Manta, with the CO2 canister attached. I don't know what his fins were, but they appeared newish.
Almost as soon as we left the boat, he was in trouble. He lost a fin during descent. I am almost certain that his backstrap spring connectors require an "insert and twist" technique to keep them in place. I think he just forced it into place. Once at depth, his arms were all over the place. There was no predicting how he would move. There were erratic breast strokes, combined with fluttering and just spastic movements. He had two redeeming qualities. The first was that he blew through his air quickly, and let us enjoy about 25% - 35% of the dive. His other quality was also a curse. Since he was not with anyone, he stuck by us. We didn't want him around us, but he was smart enough to know that he shouldn't be alone.
It would have bothered me a little bit, but we had a young diver with us that we were quite protective of. Watching this guy was a learning experience for the young diver, most of all. But, for me, I have to wonder if I should have said something during the SI. He was up first. I was up second, but not a lot of time to make comments in private. The dad of the 13 year old didn't provide any criticism, but I told the youngster to stay away from him on the next dive. The 13 year old already knew what I was talking about, and stayed away.
So..., should I have instantly said something when I got on deck when we were alone?? Should I have relied on the dive master to say something? What do you do when you encounter a diving spaz?