Newbie, Poor Diver or Jerk?

[Web Monkey]

oh really, so you think you can handle your buddy bumping you into some sea urchins?

Not a problem. I stay off the bottom. You have to be careful becase you never know when someone might bump you into something dangerous or easily damaged.

You choose to remain near your buddy to assist. You apparently feel that 10ft is too far. Think about it. 10ft from the surface or 10ft from your buddy. Neither one is far.

Sometime it's 10', sometimes 2', sometimes more, sometimes less. It depends on the conditions and the buddy.

Unless ofcourse its you who are scared and feel alone. If you can't reach your buddy who is just 10 ft away then you need some exercising or something because it only takes a second to reach him.
10ft IS near him.

10' may be trivial or completely unreachable, even by you. It all depends on the conditions and the buddy.

FWIW, If you're really lucky, you'll never learn exactly where your current complaint falls on the "Scale of Things That Really Matter." I can't beleive you're even complaining about this.

I agree with the previous poster. You need to be diving solo.

Terry

 

[IwakuniDiver]

I thought I would chime in and give everyone an update on the whole situation.

First and most importantly, neither my wife or I got bent due to her runaway ascent. The soreness in my arm is almost gone and was most likely caused by climbing back on the boat after the dive.

After a lengthy talk with the DM for that day, we simply asked the guy what we could do to make his diving experience better. He quickly admitted that he was really nervous and that he wasn't used to the underwater surge caused by the swells that day and felt pretty bad about almost knocking the DM and I into fire coral and being so close. He was so busy focusing on what he was doing he was forgetting about other divers around him.

In retrospect, the 4 of us were in too tight of a formation to begin with. Partially due to the fact that we're used to diving in <10 feet of vis. This doesn't pose any problems with the regular divers in my group becuase we have been diving with eachother so much and training together, we can "read" eachother very well and anticipate what the other is going to do. The guy bumping into me and the DM was simply trying to emulate but his bouancy skills didn't allow him to stay in formation.

The people that have said that this really isn't worth getting worked up over are spot on I think. I for one am going to try and be a bit more forgiving and eager to help in these situations instead of getting angry about it.

This whole ordeal has been a real learning experience for me.

 

[caseybird]

its obvious that to some of you, recreational diving is a complicated sciense. That's understandable. Everyone learns at a different rate. You apparently think that it should take everyone else just as long to learn something as it took you.

My, poorly spelled AND antagonistic. How delightful.

 

[all4scuba05]

well excuse me for not proofreading...enjoy

 

[all4scuba05]

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=139017

take a look at that poll and then tell me if you're thinking they have alot to learn

 

[Cacia]

I thought I would chime in and give everyone an update on the whole situation.

First and most importantly, neither my wife or I got bent due to her runaway ascent. The soreness in my arm is almost gone and was most likely caused by climbing back on the boat after the dive.

After a lengthy talk with the DM for that day, we simply asked the guy what we could do to make his diving experience better. He quickly admitted that he was really nervous and that he wasn't used to the underwater surge caused by the swells that day and felt pretty bad about almost knocking the DM and I into fire coral and being so close. He was so busy focusing on what he was doing he was forgetting about other divers around him.

In retrospect, the 4 of us were in too tight of a formation to begin with. Partially due to the fact that we're used to diving in <10 feet of vis. This doesn't pose any problems with the regular divers in my group becuase we have been diving with eachother so much and training together, we can "read" eachother very well and anticipate what the other is going to do. The guy bumping into me and the DM was simply trying to emulate but his bouancy skills didn't allow him to stay in formation.

The people that have said that this really isn't worth getting worked up over are spot on I think. I for one am going to try and be a bit more forgiving and eager to help in these situations instead of getting angry about it.

This whole ordeal has been a real learning experience for me.

That sounds really great....

AND you got a hazing on SB, and we didn't even charge you. Gues you are initiated...you held your own and didn't fly off the handle. eyebrow

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Just curious, how are most people handling the bumping issue? I figure it can be frustrating, but nothing to get totally blown up about.

As someone who dives frequently with newer divers, I'm rather used to it ... I usually just gently push them away a bit, give them the OK sign, and repeat when they bump into me again. Eventually, either they figure it out or it makes for some interesting post-dive conversation ...

Usually it's just a newer diver who's all excited about virtually everything.

I would far rather have that excited new diver bumping into me than scurrying around like a seal pup ... at least that way I won't have to work too hard trying to keep up with him ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You choose to remain near your buddy to assist. You apparently feel that 10ft is too far. Think about it. 10ft from the surface or 10ft from your buddy. Neither one is far. Unless ofcourse its you who are scared and feel alone. If you can't reach your buddy who is just 10 ft away then you need some exercising or something because it only takes a second to reach him.

It depends entirely on the circumstances. Where I dive, during the summer months if you were 10 feet from your buddy you would never see him. You could wander off in different directions and never know it. Drift diving in a 2.5 knot current ... if you were 10 feet from your dive buddy you might as well not have one, because the two of you won't be capable of reaching each other in an emergency. Physical distance isn't the only factor you have to consider. What if you were 10 feet away when you ran out of air, but your buddy had his back turned to you and was swimming away. How far do you think you'd have to swim without breathing? It would kind've depend on whether or not you can swim faster than your buddy ... don't you think?

its obvious that to some of you, recreational diving is a complicated sciense. That's understandable. Everyone learns at a different rate. You apparently think that it should take everyone else just as long to learn something as it took you. Surprise, some people are honor students and others, well they just graduate.

The complexity of your dive depends on where you're diving, who you're diving with, and what type of diving you plan to do. And you can do some very complicated dives and remain within recreational limits. Diving is all about exercising good judgment ... and, frankly, no matter how good your skills are, at 50 dives you don't have the experiential context yet to be able to exercise good judgment in any except the most benign conditions.

Honor student, huh? Yeah ... we were all honor students at one point in time. Most of us got over it. Give it a couple hundred more dives, and perhaps it'll start to dawn on you just how much you don't know ... then, much less now. Those rules of thumb you learned in OW class weren't the ultimate answers ... they're designed to give you enough information to keep you alive while you gain some real knowledge through experience. At 50 dives, you haven't even begun to learn yet.

There are no shortcuts ... not even for "honor students". If you want the knowledge and the skill you have to earn it ... and that takes bottom time. Leave the attitude on the beach ... before it leads you to a place you won't be able to get yourself out of. This ain't a healthy sport for the overconfident.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[pir8]

I know some agencies who preach that theres no excuse for running out of air. you should monitor your gauges and end the dive before you would run out. Except for equip failure, but then if you maintained your gear properly.....

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I know some agencies who preach that theres no excuse for running out of air. you should monitor your gauges and end the dive before you would run out. Except for equip failure, but then if you maintained your gear properly.....

... and then there's the real world. The one we live in, as fallible human beings.

Everyone makes mistakes. If we didn't, we wouldn't need the buddy system at all ... nor most other redundancies that exist in scuba. But through the exercise of experience, practice, and good judgment, we can minimize the risk, and learn to cope with the result ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)