I'd like to share with you one situation that happens to me few month ago and I'd like to have your view about what is the best to do in this situation.
a) Here is the situation of the dive site
A Russian Cargo Boat sank in 15 to 20m of water with a very very nice visibility, higher than 30m. To go there, there is a long swim from shore. Not very long actually but roughly 10 minutes along a reef with a bit of navigation. For this wreck, the dive master/local guide advise us to not enter anywhere in the wreck because of its poor state. That dive will be then a swim around the wreck.
b) A bit about me
I am an average diver and I have conducted more than 200 dives on Air and Nitrox in deep with double and deco (TEC DEEP DIVER from PADI) and lot of wreck penetration even on really silt environment.
c) The organization of the dive
That dive happens in a middle of an IDC course and I was doing my dive master internship. For that dive, I buddy up with a really fresh OW with less than 10 dives. We did 2 really shallow dives together in the past. During the first one I realized that he was a bit scared underwater and not really managing his buoyancy. The second dive was a night dive that he really enjoyed but still didn't really manage his buoyancy. I spent that last dive a hand on his dump valve. These 2 dives was short because of his breathing and not deeper than 8m.
With my buddy and me, the other where doing their dive master internship and buddy up with other OW divers.
The rest of the team was composed of a local dive master/guide, one Course Director, one Staff Director, two MSDT and 4 IDC that all wanted to have a kind of break in their course. So 17 divers in one group
without saying that a second group with roughly the same size was following us with few minutes behind.
d) How we did the dive
Everybody went on the water to put up their gear, did buddy checks and let's go. During this time, one of the instructors told me that to be safe and sure to come back to shore with my buddy, it is better to leave the wreck when he will have 80 Bar. Reaching shore with an empty tank is not something to do here because of the reef. That's fine with me and we agree that in this case, I will inform the group that I will head back to shore maybe before the rest of the group.
At the beginning of the dive, we followed a very nice reef and my buddy was very comfortable. I realized that he was breathing more than me but nothing to worry about. One or two stingray passed by, and that really scared him A kept a hand on his chest and tried to calm down with success. We continue the dive like this and with my hand always closed to his dump valve. Few minutes later, the stern of the boat and its propeller was on visibility. A really really nice view.
By following our group, we swim around the wreck, stop at some places to discover interesting things like a phone or port hole. During the dive, the group decided to go inside the wreck below some part of the wreck that fall down to the bottom leaving a limited space (less than a meter in height) so that a diver can pass through but not with two divers side-by-side. The length was possibly more than 10 m and I was not able to see the exit point from the entry point. Even if some can argue that it is a very simple overhead environment, we agreed on no penetration during the briefing, and I was not aware of how this overhead was exactly and more than that I was worried about a situation where my buddy was between another diver and me in this overhead environment and get panicked, so I decided not to enter with him there. We then leave the group for a few minutes but stay we other divers from the other group. I think to myself that our group will join us later because that wreck was not very big.
While we swim around the wreck I checked regularly his SPG and when he reached 80 bar I turn around to see other members from my group and they were not around. We were with the second group. I signaled to their guide that we will head back to shore and that he can tell that to the other group that should be on the other side of the wreck. He was on top of the wreck and was able to see all groups. Then we left the group slowly along the same reef as the beginning of the dive. I tried to make my buddy adjusting his buoyancy and tried to give him some advices about breathing slowly and regularly. Near the end of the dive I asked him to ascent to 5m so we can do our safety stop in no hurry and largely extend it till we reach the shore.
While walking to the beach he told me that he really enjoyed that dive and that it was his first completed safety stop. I was a bit impressed for the safety stop but if he enjoyed the dive, my job was done.
Few minutes after we reach the beach, the rest of the group completed their dive and kind of fight against me because I left the group. I tried to explain that I leftt the group at first sight because we never agree on doing any penetration and we agreed that at 80 bar I will have to inform that we will head back to shore. They refuse any explanation and told me that I had to inform them because they were always on the top of the wreck.
For me if this was truth, they should have seen me and my buddy or the other guides that was aware of the situation. If you remind our group apart for the 4 OW was composed of 1 CD, 1 Staff Instructor, 2 MSDT and 4 IDC and no one was able to believe that a guy can get panicked even in a minimum overhead environment, specially when he can get panicked while seeing a stingray and not being able to manage his buoyancy. Then can you believe that a group like that can really be separated in more than 30m of viz when the wreck is about 50m long?
So here is the question, do you think I did something wrong during this dive? My first concern was safety at all time and make sure nothing can get worse. So I dont choose to do the penetration and I really care about informing one of the group when we had to call the dive. By the way, at the end of the dive, my buddy had 50 bar left while I was at 100 bar.
a) Here is the situation of the dive site
A Russian Cargo Boat sank in 15 to 20m of water with a very very nice visibility, higher than 30m. To go there, there is a long swim from shore. Not very long actually but roughly 10 minutes along a reef with a bit of navigation. For this wreck, the dive master/local guide advise us to not enter anywhere in the wreck because of its poor state. That dive will be then a swim around the wreck.
b) A bit about me
I am an average diver and I have conducted more than 200 dives on Air and Nitrox in deep with double and deco (TEC DEEP DIVER from PADI) and lot of wreck penetration even on really silt environment.
c) The organization of the dive
That dive happens in a middle of an IDC course and I was doing my dive master internship. For that dive, I buddy up with a really fresh OW with less than 10 dives. We did 2 really shallow dives together in the past. During the first one I realized that he was a bit scared underwater and not really managing his buoyancy. The second dive was a night dive that he really enjoyed but still didn't really manage his buoyancy. I spent that last dive a hand on his dump valve. These 2 dives was short because of his breathing and not deeper than 8m.
With my buddy and me, the other where doing their dive master internship and buddy up with other OW divers.
The rest of the team was composed of a local dive master/guide, one Course Director, one Staff Director, two MSDT and 4 IDC that all wanted to have a kind of break in their course. So 17 divers in one group
without saying that a second group with roughly the same size was following us with few minutes behind.d) How we did the dive
Everybody went on the water to put up their gear, did buddy checks and let's go. During this time, one of the instructors told me that to be safe and sure to come back to shore with my buddy, it is better to leave the wreck when he will have 80 Bar. Reaching shore with an empty tank is not something to do here because of the reef. That's fine with me and we agree that in this case, I will inform the group that I will head back to shore maybe before the rest of the group.
At the beginning of the dive, we followed a very nice reef and my buddy was very comfortable. I realized that he was breathing more than me but nothing to worry about. One or two stingray passed by, and that really scared him
A kept a hand on his chest and tried to calm down with success. We continue the dive like this and with my hand always closed to his dump valve. Few minutes later, the stern of the boat and its propeller was on visibility. A really really nice view.By following our group, we swim around the wreck, stop at some places to discover interesting things like a phone or port hole. During the dive, the group decided to go inside the wreck below some part of the wreck that fall down to the bottom leaving a limited space (less than a meter in height) so that a diver can pass through but not with two divers side-by-side. The length was possibly more than 10 m and I was not able to see the exit point from the entry point. Even if some can argue that it is a very simple overhead environment, we agreed on no penetration during the briefing, and I was not aware of how this overhead was exactly and more than that I was worried about a situation where my buddy was between another diver and me in this overhead environment and get panicked, so I decided not to enter with him there. We then leave the group for a few minutes but stay we other divers from the other group. I think to myself that our group will join us later because that wreck was not very big.
While we swim around the wreck I checked regularly his SPG and when he reached 80 bar I turn around to see other members from my group and they were not around. We were with the second group. I signaled to their guide that we will head back to shore and that he can tell that to the other group that should be on the other side of the wreck. He was on top of the wreck and was able to see all groups. Then we left the group slowly along the same reef as the beginning of the dive. I tried to make my buddy adjusting his buoyancy and tried to give him some advices about breathing slowly and regularly. Near the end of the dive I asked him to ascent to 5m so we can do our safety stop in no hurry and largely extend it till we reach the shore.
While walking to the beach he told me that he really enjoyed that dive and that it was his first completed safety stop. I was a bit impressed for the safety stop but if he enjoyed the dive, my job was done.
Few minutes after we reach the beach, the rest of the group completed their dive and kind of fight against me because I left the group. I tried to explain that I leftt the group at first sight because we never agree on doing any penetration and we agreed that at 80 bar I will have to inform that we will head back to shore. They refuse any explanation and told me that I had to inform them because they were always on the top of the wreck.
For me if this was truth, they should have seen me and my buddy or the other guides that was aware of the situation. If you remind our group apart for the 4 OW was composed of 1 CD, 1 Staff Instructor, 2 MSDT and 4 IDC and no one was able to believe that a guy can get panicked even in a minimum overhead environment, specially when he can get panicked while seeing a stingray and not being able to manage his buoyancy. Then can you believe that a group like that can really be separated in more than 30m of viz when the wreck is about 50m long?
So here is the question, do you think I did something wrong during this dive? My first concern was safety at all time and make sure nothing can get worse. So I dont choose to do the penetration and I really care about informing one of the group when we had to call the dive. By the way, at the end of the dive, my buddy had 50 bar left while I was at 100 bar.
