Cattle Boat Operators!

[ScubaSteve1962]

This is not a thread to bash the cattle boat operators, but a personal suggestion, maybe other can add more.
Was on a cattle boat this morning and not going to name the dive op because I'm not here to bash them so don't ask. there were 19 divers and 3 guides. we were split into 3 groups. After getting to the site and giving the briefing, we were giving a time of 1 hour at the site, 9:30 to 10:30, then all 3 groups were helped to the water with very little organizing, so what ended up happening is all 3 groups sitting on the line checking buoyancy and descending at the same time. When on the bottom now you have guides trying to organize their group. then at the end of the dive you have mad dash to get back on the boat because they all show up at the same time.

Wouldn't a more efficient way to this be to have the groups get in 1 at a time, have 5 to 10 mins to check their buoyancy and once they descend put the next group in? Also give the groups 15 mins intervals of time to be back at the boat so you don't have all the divers trying to hang out on the tag line.

Now while I am a very skilled diver I prefer the boats with guides in the water because I don't have a buddy so I'm always alone. I find it easier to dive that way.

This may not be the proper forum for this discussion, if not please place it so maybe some operators can see it.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

More efficient for whom? Everyone was ready to get on board so the boat could get back to the dock for their next run. Sounds very efficient for them. Less enjoyable for the divers, but efficient for the boat. Also makes headcount easy - no issue of "what group is John Doe in?"

If the issue is the time in-water to organize groups, something like colored/patterned armbands would simplify that. Stripes to the left, Dots to the right, Checkerboard to the rear.

 

[tom041959]

Anybody with 50 to 99 dives is still a newbie eace2: .Just sayin .

 

[Dsix36]

Even on the local "cattle boats" that I frequent, the divers go in as a group and then the next group, and then the next group, etc. The groups enter the water when all their dives are ready (all at once).

There might very well be up to 10 different groups on the boat at once. A 10 minute wait between each will end up being a long time.

 

[Jai Bar]

Anybody with 50 to 99 dives is still a newbie eace2: .Just sayin .

Actually I think 50-99 dives can qualify you as an experienced diver, mostly harmless.. Just saying

Anyway, myself, I'm more close to 0 dives, but my fins are longer than yours ;-)

Is 19 divers on a boat considered a cattle boat?? Most safaris I've been were accommodating about this number of divers. Some times it was okay to split the three groups with 10 minute intervals, sometimes conditions won't allow the additional time, which sums up to an hour per dive site, multiply that by three sites per day...

Sent from my myTouch 4G

 

[drbill]

I wouldn't necessarily consider a boat with 19 divers on it a "cattle boat" although having all divers go in one after the other and organizing them in the water doesn't make a lot of sense unless the dive site allowsed each group to gather separately near the bottom.

I've dived on SoCal boats with as many as 32 divers on board and wouldn't consider them cattle boats since most of the divers were experienced and generally the crew operated the boat fairly efficiently. Of course our boats are usually out for the duration rather than coming back in after each dive.

 

[cbm32]

50-99 dives is a newbie? Maybe, maybe not. The way I see it that number of dives probably represents a newbie if those dives were done over a lot of years, or could result in an experienced diver if done in a year or a bit more. The longer between dives, or dive series, the more one has to relearn or re-adapt and so the less proficient he/she will become.

 

[Steve_C]

Depends a lot on what the 50-99 dives were. If they always were lead dives then how are the navigation skills and situational awareness?

 

[DandyDon]

...have 5 to 10 mins to check their buoyancy...

Retraining needed.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Here is a solution. Carry you training forward to at least the divemaster level, and maintain appropriate liability insurance. When Debbie and I travel to dive, we ( together with the couple that sometimes joins us) dive as our own group because I start the trip meeting with dive center people, giving them a copy of my credentials and log book, and 2 references for confirmation that i an active dive pro. If I have dove their area before i prepare a summary of my familiarity with local sites. I have never been denied the privilege of diving independently with Debbie or Debbie plus 2. If that sounds like a lot of work, the fact is, it is not t all. Moreover, when we return to destinations we have been before ( Akumal, Maui, Key Largo) we dive with the same folks and they welcome our "low maintenance" presence. I don't know why more DMs and instructors don't do this.
DivemasterDennis