By Sieg Stahl
Of course you’re not…..but like me, I’ll bet you’ve seen more than a few divers that are! You know what I’m talking about. It’s those divers that seem to personify the phrase “it’s all about me”
Even if it wasn’t well covered in your Open Water course or if you haven’t taken part in a Boat Diver specialty class, you would think that at some level a bit of common sense would prevail, but no, some divers seem to be totally oblivious to the fact that there are other divers on board that need to share the same limited amount of space in a safe and courteous manor. In many cases, their behavior would even make their mothers eyes roll!
Just in case you happen to be one of the only divers on the planet that have never seen divers behaving badly, I have compiled a short random list of things that make me cringe on a dive boat:
- Gear sprawled all over the deck while gearing up and taking up the space of several people
- Sitting in front of someone else’s gear while putting on your wetsuit
- Talking during and generally ignoring the dive briefing
- Dropping masks & gear into the camera bucket
- Hogging the fresh water rinse after the dive
- Placing weights and heavy stuff on seating benches & camera table
- Throwing wet stuff in places designated as “dry” zones
- Blocking the aisles & deck while divers with tanks still on their back are trying to get by and sit down
- Giving everyone advise whether they want it or not
- Not clearing the entry area while others are trying to do their giant stride
- The use of loud and offensive language
- Being late to the boat so everyone has to wait
- Forgetting a piece of important gear so everyone has to wait
- Bringing huge dive luggage onboard
- Putting non-camera crap on camera tables
- Divers that don’t leave an appropriate tip for the crew
I’m sure many of you have your own pet peeves and stories to add to this little list of sins, so please feel free to send them my way and perhaps one day I’ll compile a “master list” of the deadly sins of boat diving.
So when you see some of these actions and behaviors on your next dive trip, what will you do? Let’s all endeavor to help each other become better divers and avoid these bad habits, and in the process, make sure that you are not contributing to the problem!
Well, now that I have thoroughly vented and purged my boat dive grievances, I’m beginning to feel unburdened and rather Zen like…..time to get wet and forget about life on the surface…..