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Ahhhh, just got back from a nice Hawaiian vacation at my in-laws. I managed
to get plenty of OW shore and boat diving in. Pure relaxed tourist mode.
Most of the boat dives were with a local dive shop I had used when I lived
over there. Good people and they use boats with dive experienced captains.
Unfortunately you can't count on the tourists to give a true account of
their abilities nor can you let your guard down with some of the
"diveMASTERs" ( I have learned to cringe when I here that title! ) that
contract to work with the dive shops. I was matched with one for a dive
partner on one of the tourist dives. When I started reviewing the plan and
my gear explaining that in an emergency he should take the reg from my
mouth. He replied that he never runs out of air (!?) and that if I wanted to
do a gear check I should find another buddy. Needless to say I joined a
couple that were a bit more vigilant about diving.
I thought I would share some of the interesting events that occurred during
my trip. Scary stuff in the tourist world!
Dive plan: ship wreck, 80 ftsw, most on air, a few of us on EAN36. The group
of nine divers would rally at the bow of the wreck. From there the
divemaster would lead a "tour" of the area or you and your buddy could break
off.
This was described to all as an advanced dive with a moderate current and
that there were two easier dives planned afterward. Anyone not comfortable
with the profile was asked to wait it out. No one did. I worked my way
around the boat talking to everyone. Feeling around for a competent diver, I
found one. We teamed up and reviewed each others gear. He was very
methodical with his gear and was the only one of the group to have even seen
a backplate/harness before. I also found a married couple that had less than
ten dives between them and the rest claimed to be moderately experienced.
When we reached the wreck I noticed we were short one diver. As my partner
and I were the first in, we did not watch the rest descend. We alerted the
divemaster of the missing diver as she was the last off the boat and last to
descend. She signaled us to follow and started her tour. Not knowing if the
diver had opted out the last second or not, I trusted she knew where the
diver was and followed with the rest of the group.
Where did the divemaster lead this group of tourists? Well directly into the
wreck of course! Now this is a wreck sunk as an artificial reef. It has
large holes cut in it for easy access and lighting, but still contains
multiple rooms, tight fits, and ladderways. It is often used to train new
penetration divers as an experienced diver would have to try hard to get
lost in such an open and well lit wreck. I had been in this wreck many times
before. My partner and I held back as everyone followed the leader through
the ship. I was last in and watched as people banged their tanks and valves
on the roof and saw one regulator yanked from a mouth when the hose hung on
a handrail at a ladderway. I was also one of the first out. Divers in the
middle were stirring up the floor making visibility drop. I saw movement
from the side of the room. When I went over I found one of the divers
disoriented and heading away from the group. I led him to the nearest exit
and we waited above the wreck so I could follow the bubbles of the divers
inside. When exiting the divemaster didn't look back and never even noticed
as we finned over and rejoined the group. Did I mention that I was the only
one with lights! I gave one of the backups on my harness to the guy I led
out and I used the other.
I was the last on the boat as I was the only one who made deep stops. The
argument was still going when I got topside. The missing diver (one of those
who told me how experienced she was - advanced padi ) had somehow gotten
separated during the decent (remember - 100ft vis with at decent line to the
wreck!). She swam the wrong way and had surfaced to locate the boat and
abort her dive. She was yelling that the divemaster and her buddy had left
her. When she was finally asked who her buddy was, she said that she didn't
know!
Later I told the divemaster that I did not think she should lead
inexperienced divers into a wreck. Hell, penetration was not even in her
pre-dive brief. She replied that she went straight through and from bottom
to top so that no one would get lost. I'll spare you the conversation but
this is on of my favorite quotes from her response. "I wouldn't do anything
stupid on a dive".
Different boat, day, and crew.
Dive plan: 90 ftsw, EAN36, six divers.
While spending my minute at 30 ft stop, an inverted diver flies by me
heading for the surface. She was kicking with all her might while trying to
dump air from the shoulder (doesn't work too well when upside down ). Talk
about your lost buoyancy. An excellent diver from the shop was trying his
best to catch her but there was no way he could. She was out of my reach at
the rope, if I had let go and grabbed her, I would have been shooting to the
surface too. We skipped the rest of the precautionary stops and surfaced to
see if the diver needed help. She had a bloody nose and a fast heart rate,
but on the whole was rather lucky.
She blamed the gear for malfunctioning, insisting that the dump did
not work. We checked the gear. Everything was in working order, hell it was
nearly new. This was hers, not rental. I asked if she tried the rear dump
because when I saw her she was inverted, I got the "deer in headlights" look
from in response. We explained that you have to be semi-upright to use the
shoulder dump and showed her the rear dump on her bc. Her buddy said that
she had added air to the bc at the bottom, started rising too much, so she
turned head down and tried to kick against the lift as she tried to dump air
from her shoulder. This was pure incompetence and lack of experience from
another card carrying advanced diver.
Anyway I had a good vacation with much of it spent underwater.
Later,
Rick
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