How bad was this?
- Thread starter OnTheMark
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Yes, it is a very big deal and not just because they could have sailed off without you.
If I did a roll call on one of the boats I occasionally work for and someone new turned up, it would be a big problem right away. I'd want to know you were supposed to be there, that your certification and experience had been verified, that your waiver had been signed, and that you were on the passenger manifest we left ashore before we got underway. There's no way, "Hi. I'm Mark. You didn't call my name." would lead to you going right into the water.
Without verification of all that stuff, you shouldn't have been allowed to dive. And you certainly shouldn't have been allowed to dive solo on your first boat dive with no underwater navigation experience.
I dove with that outfit as customer last November and they seemed solid. Because of spotty weather, our first day of diving was cancelled, so I had a good bit of time to hang around the shop and chat up the people there. I'm sure they would want to hear about this.
BTW, I've never seen this happen: our customers aren't invited aboard until their payment, certification, and waivers are all squared away.
If I did a roll call on one of the boats I occasionally work for and someone new turned up, it would be a big problem right away. I'd want to know you were supposed to be there, that your certification and experience had been verified, that your waiver had been signed, and that you were on the passenger manifest we left ashore before we got underway. There's no way, "Hi. I'm Mark. You didn't call my name." would lead to you going right into the water.
Without verification of all that stuff, you shouldn't have been allowed to dive. And you certainly shouldn't have been allowed to dive solo on your first boat dive with no underwater navigation experience.
I dove with that outfit as customer last November and they seemed solid. Because of spotty weather, our first day of diving was cancelled, so I had a good bit of time to hang around the shop and chat up the people there. I'm sure they would want to hear about this.
BTW, I've never seen this happen: our customers aren't invited aboard until their payment, certification, and waivers are all squared away.
- Messages
- 16,388
- Reaction score
- 5,206
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Agree on the not diving solo as a newbie and that they never should've let you. I guess they didn't at first know your lack of experience because you had been crossed off their diver list. Then, how many times did you tell them you were there and they didn't make note of it.........???
Such things don't seem very hard to do.
Such things don't seem very hard to do.
OK, I think the point that the roll call problem was a big deal has been made sufficiently, so I will just add a little side information.
In choppy seas, it is very common for divers to get sick before dives. You then generally rinse out the mouth and get ready to dive. On one memorable day, I was sitting on the bench getting into my equipment while the divers on each side of me were learning over the rail tossing their cookies. When they were done, they pivoted around, got into their gear, and were ready to go.
In choppy seas, it is very common for divers to get sick before dives. You then generally rinse out the mouth and get ready to dive. On one memorable day, I was sitting on the bench getting into my equipment while the divers on each side of me were learning over the rail tossing their cookies. When they were done, they pivoted around, got into their gear, and were ready to go.
It's also routine to let seasick divers spend the surface interval in the water hanging on a life ring tied to the boat. Seems to mitigate the effects for some people.
So actually, all that stuff happened and I was still left off the manifest. I went by the shop, signed my waiver and showed my c-card. I had already paid online. In fact, the very lady that checked my see c-card and had me sign the waiver was the DM lady on the boat who didn't call my name twice.
My guess is when I told the DM he left my name off, he wrote it somewhere on something. Then when the lady DM called roll (since he was in the water rescuing guys), she didn't see my name. When I told her she left me off, she pointed at me and acknowledge it but didn't make a note; them forgoy again the next time.
Although likely true, none of it is good.
Barnaby'sDad
Contributor
Exactly. What did they do...scribble his name on a cocktail napkin? Training and procedures (and checklists, if necessary) exist for a reason. You stick to them...they tend to result in the same outcome every time.
The moment they did the initial roll call and his name wasn’t on the manifest, that should have said something to them.
There’s a saying in military aviation Crew Resource Management...any crew member at any time is responsible for identifying something that they perceive to be “dumb, dangerous, or different.” What the OP experienced...and no crew members clearly picked up on...could be classified as all three of those.
In one of the most important lawsuits in scuba history, because of its impact on current policies, a man named Dan Carlock was somehow missed on the roll call after the first of 3 scheduled dives, and the boat left while he was still in the water. "Drifting Dan," as he became known, was eventually picked up safely by another boat, with his original boat never missing him throughout the entire day. No harm done, right? The total judgment in the resulting lawsuit was well into the millions. After that, roll calls started to be taken a lot more seriously. It is also why most liability waivers now have you sign off that you know the professionals running your dive are not agents of their certifying agencies and are not acting under their direction. (The lawsuit included PADI, claiming that because the DM calling the roll had been certified by PADI, he was an agent of PADI. PADI lost $2 million, IIRC.)
Similar threads
