Kicker1866
Contributor
I debated posting this event simply because I did not want to appear to be blowing my own horn or anything like that. The reality is much further from the that, as the following infuriated me. I decided to post it as a reminder to be aware of other divers on your boat before you even hit the water. It may be enough to save someone from serious injury or death.
My wife's family has a week long get together around Memorial Day each year at my sister-in-law's beach house near Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. I generally bring along my gear and head to Destin or Panama City for a couple of dives. This year was no exception.
I booked with a popular LDS in Panama City for a "Fintastic" day of diving. As we were headed out to the sites I decided to start looking around the boat to see if there was another single diver onboard and if not, who I may enjoy pairing up with. Finding no single divers, I did spot a couple of navy guys in dive school. I figured, "ok...there is my huckleberries. Guys in good shape. Seem to know their way around the boat. Today should be nice long, uneventful diving." Twas not to be....
Whenever I am on a charter without my regular dive group I always survey the other divers onboard to just a get feel if there are any potential problems. Seated across from me was a father and his 13 yr old daughter. God Bless'em, but watching them try to set up their equipment was like watching two monkeys dress a barbie doll. I struck up a conversation and learned that THEY HAD NEVER BEEN IN OPEN WATER. Let me say that again....we are in the Gulf of Mexico, headed out to a site with an 88' bottom, ever changing currents, flip of the coin visibility, 2'-3' seas, and every other issue we normally face and THEY HAD NEVER BEEN IN OPEN WATER.
They had just got their cards and every dive they completed was in Vortex Springs. They were wide eyed and very excited. *sigh*...so I tactfully offer to buddy up with them and suggest that maybe 3 sets of eyes would be better to spot marine life. I suggest a dive plan of me descending the line first with Dad and I sandwiching 13 yr old in middle. Once down they would hover at 60' and we would do a simple circle around the site. They are the last one's to get their gear on, but I wait.
Once we get to depth, they do not stay at 60'...even though I point out the depth to Dad twice. He flashes OK. Then I notice daughter pulls out a disposable camera and is trying to take pics. I am so shaking my head. It is about then that I notice Dad's weight belt has slid down under his butt and I can tell that it is so loose that if he goes vertical in the water it is coming off.
I swim over to him and am just about to secure his belt when he goes vertical and .....BOOM. Weight belt around ankles. We are at 80'. Dad starts to panic. He cannot fin because that is the only thing keeping his belt from being on the floor, but he starts trying to go up. I grab the bottom of his BC and dump all my air to try to keep him down. Daughter, to her credit stays cool and also tries to keep Dad down. With my free hand I reach down and work his belt up to his reach. He gets a hold of his belt with a death grip. Instead of leaning over and laying the belt across his waist to rebuckle, Dad unbuckles in a vertical position. The belt almost drops completely off, but he has a death grip on it. He is blowing through gas like an O-ring popped. I am trying to rebuckle the belt, but his hand is so close to the non-buckle end there is no material sticking through to slip through the buckle. He is trying to bolt for surface. I have each of my hands behind his trying to make sure he does not just let go and bolt up like a rocket.
Finally, I let go of one of my hands and use it to rip his hand off the non-buckle side of the belt. I pulled his belt back up to his waist and then use it to pull him over toward me. Once he is horizontal in the water ( or as close as I could get him) I slid down and buckled him back up. After righting him, his eyes were as big as saucers and he was just blowing through his gas. I signaled that he, his daughter and I would pair up and ascend. There was just too many bad things going on to even try to stay down.
He shook me off, but I again signaled we needed to ascend. I put his daughter on the line first and put Dad in the middle and started up. I figured I would check his gas a little bit before the safety stop to insure he had enough to complete it, however at about 45' he began slicing his neck off. Daughter's safe second was closest so I put him on it, and readjusted myself to get him on mine, but he seemed to be moving up the line Ok. I got them back to the boat and turned them over to the DM who was hanging out around the ladder. I watched them get back onboard and I hung out around 10' for another few minutes or so to cool off.
This incident really made me mad. I am not a dive snob, but these two really had no business being on this dive. When I got onboard, Dad was equally grateful and embarrassed. I tactfully tried to suggest easier dives until skills are built up and even hiring a dedicated DM when he dives with his daughter, as an unskilled 14 yr old is not in a position to be his rescuer.
I am sure there are those that could nit-pick the way I handled this situation. Trust me, I did not bring a book down with me and when all this went down, I just acted on instinct. The goals were to simple keep dad from bolting to surface and to get him back on boat.
Again, the primary reason I am posting this is to remind folks to be aware of other divers when on a boat. You never know when you might be able to intervene and prevent an accident.
My wife's family has a week long get together around Memorial Day each year at my sister-in-law's beach house near Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. I generally bring along my gear and head to Destin or Panama City for a couple of dives. This year was no exception.
I booked with a popular LDS in Panama City for a "Fintastic" day of diving. As we were headed out to the sites I decided to start looking around the boat to see if there was another single diver onboard and if not, who I may enjoy pairing up with. Finding no single divers, I did spot a couple of navy guys in dive school. I figured, "ok...there is my huckleberries. Guys in good shape. Seem to know their way around the boat. Today should be nice long, uneventful diving." Twas not to be....
Whenever I am on a charter without my regular dive group I always survey the other divers onboard to just a get feel if there are any potential problems. Seated across from me was a father and his 13 yr old daughter. God Bless'em, but watching them try to set up their equipment was like watching two monkeys dress a barbie doll. I struck up a conversation and learned that THEY HAD NEVER BEEN IN OPEN WATER. Let me say that again....we are in the Gulf of Mexico, headed out to a site with an 88' bottom, ever changing currents, flip of the coin visibility, 2'-3' seas, and every other issue we normally face and THEY HAD NEVER BEEN IN OPEN WATER.
They had just got their cards and every dive they completed was in Vortex Springs. They were wide eyed and very excited. *sigh*...so I tactfully offer to buddy up with them and suggest that maybe 3 sets of eyes would be better to spot marine life. I suggest a dive plan of me descending the line first with Dad and I sandwiching 13 yr old in middle. Once down they would hover at 60' and we would do a simple circle around the site. They are the last one's to get their gear on, but I wait.
Once we get to depth, they do not stay at 60'...even though I point out the depth to Dad twice. He flashes OK. Then I notice daughter pulls out a disposable camera and is trying to take pics. I am so shaking my head. It is about then that I notice Dad's weight belt has slid down under his butt and I can tell that it is so loose that if he goes vertical in the water it is coming off.
I swim over to him and am just about to secure his belt when he goes vertical and .....BOOM. Weight belt around ankles. We are at 80'. Dad starts to panic. He cannot fin because that is the only thing keeping his belt from being on the floor, but he starts trying to go up. I grab the bottom of his BC and dump all my air to try to keep him down. Daughter, to her credit stays cool and also tries to keep Dad down. With my free hand I reach down and work his belt up to his reach. He gets a hold of his belt with a death grip. Instead of leaning over and laying the belt across his waist to rebuckle, Dad unbuckles in a vertical position. The belt almost drops completely off, but he has a death grip on it. He is blowing through gas like an O-ring popped. I am trying to rebuckle the belt, but his hand is so close to the non-buckle end there is no material sticking through to slip through the buckle. He is trying to bolt for surface. I have each of my hands behind his trying to make sure he does not just let go and bolt up like a rocket.
Finally, I let go of one of my hands and use it to rip his hand off the non-buckle side of the belt. I pulled his belt back up to his waist and then use it to pull him over toward me. Once he is horizontal in the water ( or as close as I could get him) I slid down and buckled him back up. After righting him, his eyes were as big as saucers and he was just blowing through his gas. I signaled that he, his daughter and I would pair up and ascend. There was just too many bad things going on to even try to stay down.
He shook me off, but I again signaled we needed to ascend. I put his daughter on the line first and put Dad in the middle and started up. I figured I would check his gas a little bit before the safety stop to insure he had enough to complete it, however at about 45' he began slicing his neck off. Daughter's safe second was closest so I put him on it, and readjusted myself to get him on mine, but he seemed to be moving up the line Ok. I got them back to the boat and turned them over to the DM who was hanging out around the ladder. I watched them get back onboard and I hung out around 10' for another few minutes or so to cool off.
This incident really made me mad. I am not a dive snob, but these two really had no business being on this dive. When I got onboard, Dad was equally grateful and embarrassed. I tactfully tried to suggest easier dives until skills are built up and even hiring a dedicated DM when he dives with his daughter, as an unskilled 14 yr old is not in a position to be his rescuer.
I am sure there are those that could nit-pick the way I handled this situation. Trust me, I did not bring a book down with me and when all this went down, I just acted on instinct. The goals were to simple keep dad from bolting to surface and to get him back on boat.
Again, the primary reason I am posting this is to remind folks to be aware of other divers when on a boat. You never know when you might be able to intervene and prevent an accident.
