Smoking on a dive boat

[Santa]

lol theres a happy marriage

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I must say I have been only considering those who smoke at the stern while the boat is motoring. But I do recall the diagram way back in the thread that says the smoke can go forward even on a fast moving boat. Still find this hard to believe, but I guess that can happen.

 

[Santa]

Its really just that it seemed to be the natural way of things, and it was so widely accepted that it was just a high wall to climb every time seeing as at least half the people around, sometimes more would feel that this was just their right. As a kid certainly you had no real voice in the matter - and there would be the same old scoffing, and being considered oversensitive to deal with every time. THe sense that the needs of the one person who spoke up outweighed the needs of the majority and that this was sort of on the selfish side by the nonsmoker. The health issues were only just beginning to be an actually proven fact, and secondary smoke barely entered the picture. Society had to change for that situation to change. Ironically i agree that part of tis change was driven by the onset of a particular type of cultural hysteria. Smoking and eating fatty foods somehow seemed to be the new thing to fear after the soviet union came down, it just became a control drama.

 

[TMHeimer]

Santa, Yeah, I agree with all of that. Except maybe the cultural hysteria began more like arouind 1980 than 1990. That's when the seat belt thing started. Maybe they're related?

 

[dfx]

Back in the thread the fact that there were very few complaints back then about all the smoking everywhere (and no laws) was discussed. I know it was a different cultural thing back then, but I still find this curious. It's also odd to me that with all the smoking resctrictions today there seem to be way more complaints.

I don't find that curious or odd at all. I know that I complained back in my day. Privately only of course, but still. There was no point in complaining publicly, because well, who to, and what for? Ask somebody not to smoke when you're around? What for, when there's 20 other people around smoking? Complain to a pub owner in hopes to make them ban smoking in their venue? Yeah right

 

[Cosimo_Zaretti]

Complain to a pub owner in hopes to make them ban smoking in their venue? Yeah right

Most countries have banned smoking in pubs. It was banned in NSW (Australia) about 7 or 8 years ago, and it was a positive for me. Once I had to leave my spot next to the fireplace and my pint and go out in the cold, I found myself more inclined to give it up. Quitting also seemed pretty pointless in a room full of smoke as well.

 

[dytis-sm]

I see that most of you noticed some smoker presence on boats abroad but just last summer I saw a couple on a diving boat in Catalina (no names to protect the innocent). I am an ex-smoker but like most non-smokers I am bothered by cigarette smoke in an enclosed area or next to me. I have been smoke free for 16 years and just the idea of smoking bothers me, let alone smoke and the smell on peoples' clothes. In the open air it is a different story however and I honeslty find it a bit insane to complain about cigarette smoke on top of the sundeck with the wind blowing and diesel fumes overshadowing the areas where there is no air. So practically their presence did not bother me a bit. What bothered me and made me wonder is how could they smoke between dives, after doing a sport so dependent on proper breathing. That did puzzle me and made me questioned their diving skills and capabilities. So the question follows for the more medically inclined members of the board as to how does smoking physiologically affects diving...

 

[TMHeimer]

It has to do with the carbon monoxide involved. This attaches itself to red blood cells more readily than O2 or CO2 and takes a lot longer to become detatched, thus these red cells aren't free to attract the needed O2 & Co2, thus messing up the ability to offgass N. I would guess you'd have to be smoking quite a lot before and/or after diving for it to be a real concern, as a lot of people do have a smoke before & after a dive. I would imagine it also has to do with how much N gets in your system on the dive(s).

 

[dfx]

It has to do with the carbon monoxide involved. This attaches itself to red blood cells more readily than O2 or CO2 and takes a lot longer to become detatched, thus these red cells aren't free to attract the needed O2 & Co2, thus messing up the ability to offgass N. I would guess you'd have to be smoking quite a lot before and/or after diving for it to be a real concern, as a lot of people do have a smoke before & after a dive. I would imagine it also has to do with how much N gets in your system on the dive(s).

I don't think it has anything to do with off-gassing, as this happens without the aid of red blood cells (AFAIK, anyway). However, it does inhibit your blood's ability to take up O2 and CO2, which means a smoker has to breathe more, heavier and faster than a non-smoker to get the same amount of O2/CO2 exchange. While diving, it means they use up their air faster. On the other hand, the human body is very capable of compensating for any such disadvantageous factors, and I know some dive masters and instructors who are moderately heavy smokers and their gas consumption rates are just as low as anybody's (and much lower than a non-smoking newbie for example), who have no problem pushing against a strong current under water, etc. Of course it's reasonable to assume that they would need even less gas if they didn't smoke. It's all relative.

 

[boulderjohn]

There are many factors that impact air consumption rates, and smoking is only one of them. An active divemaster who is diving for his living day after day after day will have an excellent air consumption rate regardless of any factors related to smoking.