The cost of safety

[Kenny13]

Great topic. As a new diver, I don't have any experiences to share but will definitely learn from following this. I knew you could have some serious issues diving with sinus trouble, but seeing how bad that reverse block really can be is an eye opener.

I was sweating things just before I got my OW certification, as I came down with a bad head cold just a few weeks prior to the class and thought that I may have had to hold off on the OW check off dives. For some reason when I do get a cold it usually takes about 3 weeks for the congestion to clear. I was lucky that it cleared up enough just in time.

 

[TSandM]

I think the most disappointing case of choosing safety over money was sitting out a day of diving on our Indonesia trip because I came down with the cold that was making the rounds of the group. Luckily, it wasn't a bad cold, and it turned out I probably could have dived, and did so the next day and the rest of the trip. But I was a pretty new diver, and really didn't have any idea how to evaluate what my ears and sinuses were doing, so I played it safe. I lost one day of diving, and I don't know how to price that, because most likely, I will never get back there.

The hardest one was the last day of our wreck workshop. We had spent a day in the classroom, learning to run and follow line, and a day in shallow water, practicing our skills. The last day was to be experience dives, diving some real wrecks and having a chance to run some line. Although I hadn't, two of my classmates had gotten recreational trimix fills, because the wrecks were in the 100 fsw range. Unfortunately, the day dawned ugly, with high winds and rain. We called the instructor, who told us the charter hadn't canceled and the captain wanted to see how it went, so we drove to the dock. Even there, the captain didn't cancel (I realized later that if HE canceled, we got our money back; if we went out there and chose not to dive, he kept it.) All the way to the dive site, I kept looking at the three or four foot waves and the deep chocolate brown water, and thinking, "This is going to be an awful dive, and getting back on this boat in doubles is NOT going to be fun." We got there, and I looked around, and told the other guys in the class that I was very happy to wait for them, but I wasn't diving.

Whether it was politeness or not, I'll never know, but all three of the rest then decided not to dive, either. We went back to shore, where the instructors offered us another day of critical skills diving, if we wanted. We did. So my buddy, Kirk, burned off $50 worth of helium, running line in 30 feet of water.

Cost of the charter, as I recall, was $150 a person, and two tanks of trimix were wasted, so we had total losses of about $700.

 

[Belce]

Another aspect to look at here is what do you say to your dive buddy when you are good to go and they bail, they bail and scrub the dive due to health or gear?

 

[Deefstes]

Another aspect to look at here is what do you say to your dive buddy when you are good to go and they bail, they bail and scrub the dive due to health or gear?

Yup, that's a tricky one. And seen from the other side it's equally tricky. What do you say to your dive buddy when he is good to go and you feel that you have to bail?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Another aspect to look at here is what do you say to your dive buddy when you are good to go and they bail, they bail and scrub the dive due to health or gear?

That's an easy one. You smile and say, "OK, let's go diving some other time."

In my circle of diving friends, people scrub dives for various reasons. Sometimes they forget a critical piece of dive gear. Sometimes dive gear breaks. Sometimes they're sick. Sometimes they just didn't get enough sleep the night before. Stuff happens.

Missing out on a few dives is the small price you pay for all of the great experiences you have underwater.

When we scrub a dive due to water conditions, we'll try to do something fun on dry land. If it was a day dive, we'll head over to our favorite breakfast place with a nice ocean view. If it was a night dive, we'll grab a microbrew and some bar food. Having fun outside of diving mitigates the "sting" somewhat.

 

[Osric]

Another aspect to look at here is what do you say to your dive buddy when you are good to go and they bail, they bail and scrub the dive due to health or gear?

"Thank you for not creating an emergency underwater."

Osric

 

[CamG]

Greetings Deefstes and what a great thread!
I have chosen to to push it as Ro only ONCE!
It was a very shallow dive but at 3' I was stuck in HXXL!
As he stated it was far worse than calling the dive weeks of recovery!
More than the OW incident of blood in my inner ear!
A week of echos that was all!

But you live and you learn right?
Well I thought so till I got an outer ear infection in Oct. while cave diving in FL.
I took a day off missed evening and morning dives thought it felt good enough for the afternoon dive at Peacock.
I go in the water and it did not feel bad and could equalize so off we went.
Spectacular dive one I will remember a long time with in 2 hours of getting out of the water my ears swelled completely shut! They were very sore and not pleasant!
I did not dive the next day but hung out at the REACT party at Cave Excursions.
Did I make the right choice? Well I hate to say it but I would do it again only because it was OUTER ear!
Within 24 hours of coming home my ears were clear and well!

Most I have ever lost diving was in MX on a cenote dive I thumbed the last dive due to bad vibes and not happy with team members.
It was the most expensive dives of the trip but I would do it again in a heart beat!
I would not care to dive under those terms!
I did get irritated with the guide as he kept trying to purchase my gear because he thought I was going to wash out! It is funny how Dive Rite gear prompted all kinds of comments that trip. The cave guide wanted it, the others sort of scoffed wondered why I did not have a jacket.

This comes at a great time I am in week two of a nasty head cold with cave trip planned in 8 days!
This is week two of treatment and struggling to get better not happen as fast as it should.
The meds are doing some good but it is a bugger to kick.
What do I do? If I can not dive I will be out at least $500 if I go.
If I do not go I screw my buddy and he does not get to go!
I hate making calls like this!
It is just way to risky and I will bag it if I must!
If you can not clear I will not dive. I learned my lesson on that!

On this topic it has occurred to me that I have always been proactive when planning trips but the more trips you go on the more it happens unexpectedly!
It goes with the territory just one thing you will have to accept.
Health issues always trump the investment in the trip!
I would try to recoup and do a another activity that was available.
It will happen to you if you are a serious diver that dives a lot the key is to be in tune with your body and do not push to hard.
Sometimes a afternoon or a day off will allow for a recovery and thus back to diving.
Some of us require a day off in a week of hard core bottom time.
I am one of these, when dive times are average dives are lasting 1hr30min and two or three a day, I need a break mid week!

Be safe all and take care of yourself, your health is the key to diving!

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[soccerguy83]

Another aspect to look at here is what do you say to your dive buddy when you are good to go and they bail, they bail and scrub the dive due to health or gear?

Yep that one is super easy, "Ok no big deal." I would be much more upset finding out my buddy pushed into something they were not comfertable with, we would be having a talk after that one if that was ever the case.

 

[Darnold9999]

Not as dramatic as others but I once took my boat out to do some diving - travelled about two and half hours to the dive site, tossed the anchor over, was about 90% geared up (dry suit on, weight belt on, tanks on but not buckled up) when it all just felt wrong so I bailed. As I was getting out of my gear the anchor pulled loose and the boat started to drift. I may have caught this on the way down as the plan was to check the anchor at the beginning of the dive, but I can think of a whole bunch of ways this could have ended really really badly. As it was I was only out the cost of fuel and had a nice cruise out to Howe Sound and back. Not a bad thing.

My rule is I can and do call a dive for no other reason than it feels wrong.

If two things have gone wrong getting ready for the dive - I call the dive. My head is obviously not in the right space to go diving. Called a dive in Indonesia a couple of months ago. The bungie and mouthpiece had been ripped off my backup reg in the transfer between the boat and the panga. No problem I can tuck it in a strap somewhere and if I need to I can breathe without the mouthpiece. Got geared up, just about to roll off and I managed to spear myself in the hand with my pointer, stupid accident. Not serious and I could have easily made the dive, but it was the second thing to go wrong getting ready to dive. The gods were telling me something. I try to listen.

So far I have not had the experience of not calling a dive that I should have. Am sure it will happen.

 

[TSandM]

One of the nice things about diving in teams of three is that any ONE diver can have to bail, and nobody gets left sitting on land for lack of a buddy

If I were committed to a charter with a single buddy, and he got sick -- oh well. Depending on the charter, I might go and try to find another buddy, or I might just stay home. Illness is no one's choice and isn't avoidable. If my buddy showed up and had forgotten something critical, or had a gear malfunction that precluded diving, I'd be gracious. If it happened more than once, I'd stop planning those kinds of dives with that buddy.