Knew it would happen eventually

[ScubaFeenD]

I count myself lucky that I have found such great buddies via SB that this hasnt happened to me at all--I am surely fortunate. I would be absolutely furious if someone left me on a dive when I assumed they should be my buddy. It is similar to a child having no attention span and the lack of intellectual capacity to stop squirreling off at shiny objects to focus on safety. I hope I will NEVER have to compromise my safety with an insta-buddy.

 

[coldwaterdufus]

Scubaflier: I knew somebody would find that it was my fault somehow. You ask about my responsibility in this dive. We discussed and agreed to our plan. Our plan was to go to 50ft, stay at 50ft and follow the shore line on our right until 1500 PSI and then to ascend to 30ft until 1000 PSI, then do a safety stop. We were doing exactly our plan, as I was taught to do.

I had been on the boat the day before, with others as well as him, having just met him that previous day. He was my buddy for 2 dives the previous day. Afterwards, he had said he enjoyed diving with me. He also agreed to buddy up and dive the next day as nobody else planned on diving that second day. So, we were buddies as we boarded the boat. We were both in agreement with that. I would never dive as a solo. So, in response, I never got on the boat as a solo.

You ask why I didn't go with a buddy . Apparently you seem to have numerous buddies that you can pick and choose from. Be happy in your situation. I don't have that luxury and I was 600 miles from home on a trip, happy to be able to be diving. Your "too much of a hurry comment" just seems assinine and totally irrelevent. You also seem to assume that no one wanted to go with me. He wasn't the first to tell me that they'd dive with me again. I'd get all the facts before you jump to conclusions. So much for your self examination comment.

Lastly, I don't need anybody to hold my hand. If I did, I wouldn't be diving in the first place. What I do expect is that when somebody agrees to buddy up, that's what they should do and accept the responsibility. That's what every other buddy does. I would never intentionally leave somebody on their own. I don't care if they have 5 dives or 500.

As far as diving with the guy from Spain, diving with him after his drinking is your choice. I would never do it and that would be my choice. You are just adding more risk which also says something about your diving style. I think I've found 2 people that I wouldn't dive with.

 

[ptyx]

I hope I will NEVER have to compromise my safety with an insta-buddy.

You'll be missing something.

 

[carrielsal]

scubaflier,
When I dive with a new buddy for the first time, I always discuss what our lost buddy plan will be. Even though most agencies teach the buddy plan, not all divers feel the same way.
I tell everyone that I dive with that if I lose them, I will wait for a couple of minutes and maybe even backtrack to see if I can find them, in case he or she got entangled. If I haven't found them at that point, I am going to make a safe ascent to the surface (which includes safety or deco stops.) If they don't surface within 5 minutes I am going to notify someone. At the local lake that means 911. I also let them know that I would expect the same.

 

[tkdgodess]

sounds like a case of same ocean buddy diving. unless you are both on the same page about that, he deviated from the plan according from your point of view. don't ever hesitate to take control of whatever situation you are in, and you did. Sucks you lost dive time, but at least you learned something. (take charge when you are given an instabuddy, and I have had many, not all of us have little black books full of dive buddies)

 

[scubaflier]

Why is it always the insta- buddys Fault?
each diver is suppose to be self reliant not totaly dependant on another when you reach your limits stop the dive that should be your plan. before you exceed your comfort level stop the dive

Diveing is not difficult divers are

 

[Rhone Man]

Insta-buddies are like any other kind of buddies. There are good ones and bad ones. Looks like you got a bad one.

The good thing about insta-buddies is that if they p1ss you off, it is a short term relationship.

 

[acwest]

Why is it always the insta- buddys Fault?
each diver is suppose to be self reliant not totaly dependant on another when you reach your limits stop the dive that should be your plan. before you exceed your comfort level stop the dive
Diveing is not difficult divers are

The insta-buddy agreed to a dive plan, then left his buddy alone, which is NOT part of the plan he agreed to. There would have been no real problem with his actions if he had told his buddy what he was going to do, but by doing it the way he did, he shouldn't be surprised to surface to a full rescue call-out. Why are you blaming the one diver in the team who was following the pre-arranged plan?
-Craig

 

[Jax]

Scubaflier: I knew somebody would find that it was my fault somehow. You ask about my responsibility in this dive. We discussed and agreed to our plan. Our plan was to go to 50ft, stay at 50ft and follow the shore line on our right until 1500 PSI and then to ascend to 30ft until 1000 PSI, then do a safety stop. We were doing exactly our plan, as I was taught to do.

I had been on the boat the day before, with others as well as him, having just met him that previous day. He was my buddy for 2 dives the previous day. Afterwards, he had said he enjoyed diving with me. He also agreed to buddy up and dive the next day as nobody else planned on diving that second day. So, we were buddies as we boarded the boat. We were both in agreement with that. I would never dive as a solo. So, in response, I never got on the boat as a solo.

You ask why I didn't go with a buddy . Apparently you seem to have numerous buddies that you can pick and choose from. Be happy in your situation. I don't have that luxury and I was 600 miles from home on a trip, happy to be able to be diving. Your "too much of a hurry comment" just seems assinine and totally irrelevent. You also seem to assume that no one wanted to go with me. He wasn't the first to tell me that they'd dive with me again. I'd get all the facts before you jump to conclusions. So much for your self examination comment.

Lastly, I don't need anybody to hold my hand. If I did, I wouldn't be diving in the first place. What I do expect is that when somebody agrees to buddy up, that's what they should do and accept the responsibility. That's what every other buddy does. I would never intentionally leave somebody on their own. I don't care if they have 5 dives or 500.

As far as diving with the guy from Spain, diving with him after his drinking is your choice. I would never do it and that would be my choice. You are just adding more risk which also says something about your diving style. I think I've found 2 people that I wouldn't dive with.

Good for you for standing up for yourself. You did exactly what your training said to do.

That said, I highly recommend a Solo Diver Course when you have over a hundred dives. It teaches you a lot about self-reliance, and you are much more comfortable when the insta-buddy with your backup gas disappears. While the current system stresses 'buddy-diving', reality is that there are too many you don't want to trust with your life.

 

[Teamcasa]

...We discussed and agreed to our plan. Our plan was to go to 50ft, stay at 50ft and follow the shore line on our right until 1500 PSI and then to ascend to 30ft until 1000 PSI, then do a safety stop.

...When I dive with a new buddy for the first time, I always discuss what our lost buddy plan will be.

Exactly.
I dive with instant buddies from time to time and this is the first part of our conversation - What is the plan if we get separated. Most of the time is the standard look for your buddy for a minute or two then surface and wait. Sometimes, and depending on the buddy, it's OK, if we get separated, I'll see you back on shore/boat.

It's all about communication.