steve from maine
Registered
Very interesting reading,
Thanks to the diver and captain for telling their stories. I have been on Blackbeards 7 times ,as mentioned they do have a on/off boat sign system, yet often people simply forget to put their names "ON THE BOAT" or even worse, do not place their names on the "OFF THE BOAT" list. (the list DOES require a diver to reach down the ships Stairway further then a diver can reach fully suited up so that unless everyone puts their name as "off the boat" side BEFORE they actually suit up, with tanks on, then chances are the tag will never be moved to the off side which makes it a useless system for knowing who is back ON the boat after the dive) For this reason, Blackbeards has always done a roll call in addition to their nametag system. I personally do not care if a captain can remember my face, my name, my job or what color fins I am wearing because I do not care what he/she remembers BUT I DO CARE WHAT THEY MIGHT FORGET THE ONE IN A MILLION TIMES.....ME.
When booking a dive trip I always call and spend time first discussing the dive issues that are important to me. (boat safety questions, time allowed at depth when using a dive computer, number of crew onboard, actual planned depths for the day, hunting policies, oh yeah and IF I MAKE A RESERVATION AND PREPAY WILL THEY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CANCEL (accept weather) THE TRIP BECAUSE THEY DO NOT FEEL THEY HAVE ENOUGH DIVERS). Simply put, I will not dive with that company or any other that does not do a roll call. I will not dive with any operation that uses engines (except for real emergencies and drift dives) as a signal due to concerns already discussed in this thread (such as propellers have already almost wiped out the manatee population, I do not care to be next.) My first , and I believe proper instinct is to dive deeper and stay far away from the surface at the exact time the captain is trying to signal me to come up. Maybe if the crew always used a ladder signal to alert divers, they would be less prone to "mistakenly" pull up a ladder when a diver is still down. (I can not help but ask the captain if he "remembered" the position of the ladder before starting the boat.)
Not that others care, but I also try real hard to not dive with any dive operation that allows spear hunting while I am diving (simple personal preference ....almost got shot in W.Palm waters once...same reason why no one goes hiking in Maine during deer season....)As far as time is concerned, on many diving boats I have had to wait 10 mins for all the other divers in front of me to get off the boat, so my 60 mins might seem like 70 mins to the captain (who I hope did not leave 10 mins ago). I am confused about the surfacing issue, are we not trained that divers with buddies SHOULD SURFACE WITH BUDDIES EVERY TIME? There are thousands of things that could happen (on my last Blackbeards trip someone got banged in the head in heavy seas by the life boats being towed behind, the resulting injury MAY have been avoided if her buddy had seen and warned the diver, but her "buddy" stayed below for an extra 8 mins of diving time...). So go ahead and surface as a team, THEN TELL/ASK crew member for permission to go back and hang out at 15 feet if you must. Then at least you know the crew is aware AND you have been responsible to your buddy till he/she gets on the boat.
Thanks to the diver and captain for telling their stories. I have been on Blackbeards 7 times ,as mentioned they do have a on/off boat sign system, yet often people simply forget to put their names "ON THE BOAT" or even worse, do not place their names on the "OFF THE BOAT" list. (the list DOES require a diver to reach down the ships Stairway further then a diver can reach fully suited up so that unless everyone puts their name as "off the boat" side BEFORE they actually suit up, with tanks on, then chances are the tag will never be moved to the off side which makes it a useless system for knowing who is back ON the boat after the dive) For this reason, Blackbeards has always done a roll call in addition to their nametag system. I personally do not care if a captain can remember my face, my name, my job or what color fins I am wearing because I do not care what he/she remembers BUT I DO CARE WHAT THEY MIGHT FORGET THE ONE IN A MILLION TIMES.....ME.
When booking a dive trip I always call and spend time first discussing the dive issues that are important to me. (boat safety questions, time allowed at depth when using a dive computer, number of crew onboard, actual planned depths for the day, hunting policies, oh yeah and IF I MAKE A RESERVATION AND PREPAY WILL THEY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CANCEL (accept weather) THE TRIP BECAUSE THEY DO NOT FEEL THEY HAVE ENOUGH DIVERS). Simply put, I will not dive with that company or any other that does not do a roll call. I will not dive with any operation that uses engines (except for real emergencies and drift dives) as a signal due to concerns already discussed in this thread (such as propellers have already almost wiped out the manatee population, I do not care to be next.) My first , and I believe proper instinct is to dive deeper and stay far away from the surface at the exact time the captain is trying to signal me to come up. Maybe if the crew always used a ladder signal to alert divers, they would be less prone to "mistakenly" pull up a ladder when a diver is still down. (I can not help but ask the captain if he "remembered" the position of the ladder before starting the boat.)
Not that others care, but I also try real hard to not dive with any dive operation that allows spear hunting while I am diving (simple personal preference ....almost got shot in W.Palm waters once...same reason why no one goes hiking in Maine during deer season....)As far as time is concerned, on many diving boats I have had to wait 10 mins for all the other divers in front of me to get off the boat, so my 60 mins might seem like 70 mins to the captain (who I hope did not leave 10 mins ago). I am confused about the surfacing issue, are we not trained that divers with buddies SHOULD SURFACE WITH BUDDIES EVERY TIME? There are thousands of things that could happen (on my last Blackbeards trip someone got banged in the head in heavy seas by the life boats being towed behind, the resulting injury MAY have been avoided if her buddy had seen and warned the diver, but her "buddy" stayed below for an extra 8 mins of diving time...). So go ahead and surface as a team, THEN TELL/ASK crew member for permission to go back and hang out at 15 feet if you must. Then at least you know the crew is aware AND you have been responsible to your buddy till he/she gets on the boat.