Am I over reacting?

[RickPeck]

I recently went on a dive in St Thomas on a wreck called Miss Opportunity. The wreck lies bottom up with the max depth at about 85'. The divemaster (who is an instructor as well) explained that we would be entering at the stern and penetrating the full length of the wreck, which looked to be about 250'. He also said that it was fairly open with bailout holes cut into the side of the holds.

I told him I had 24 dives and had just finished my PADI AOW class. My bouancy control is fairly good but I have not done any diving in an overhead enviroment and was a little nervous about this situation. 85' and a newbie diver on a wreck with single 80's and no bailout system did not seem like a good idea.

We descended and entered the wreck at the stern where it was broken open. The first hold was fairly wide open with the bailout holes cut in the side/top that also provided some light. The dive leader led us to a corridor, turned around and held his fingers close together indicating a short passageway. Turned out to be about 60' with no line, no dive light, and clearance of about 7' x 5' turned on its side in a diamond shape. I did a one finger touch in the middle and got a small coral puncture in my finger, not a big deal, just irritating.

We entered the second hold and it was a little more congested, not much, but there were some pipes and dangling items around. He headed for another corridor and I decided to use the bailout hole. The divemaster canidate that was trailing the group followed me out. Not a panic on my part, just very uncomfortable. I finished the dive outside the wreck looking at fish. The group found us about 15 minutes later and we ascended together.

I wasn't exactly angry, just unhappy that an Instructor that had not ever dove with me would lead a newbie into a situation like that. No one had a spare system or anything beyond recreational gear. Standard length hoses, no lines, and no offer of dive lights to the people that didn't know we were doing a wreck dive. One of my AOW dives was a wreck evaluation and this was everything that we were told not to do. The dive boat also included some locals who were taking items off the wreck, they had brought tools to unbolt things. Another PADI no/no that seemed to not bother the dive operator in the least. The boat captain was laughing about the locals saying "they never come up empty handed."

The more I think about this the more it bothers me. Am I over reacting to this?

Your opinions, and even flames for me being stupid, are expected.

Rick

[Texas_Aggie06]

did any of the divemasters have doubles at least?

[ScaredSilly]

not over reacting, just kicking yourself cause you just did a trust me dive against your better judgement. You finally said enough and exited. good for you. with experience you will learn to ask more questions and decide before hand what you want to do before you hop in the water.

[RickPeck]

Nope, all divers had single 80's and standard recreational length hoses. No 7' hoses. That is what kind of gave me the clue this was a bad situation. I imagined having an air problem in that corridor and wondered what would happen. It would have immediately silted up if someone had struggled and lost bouancy control and flailed around. Thats why I refused to enter the second corridor.

Rick

[datamunk]

that was agood move on your part to cancel the penetration. you are ultimately the person who says yes or no to a dive, just gotta make sure u have the power to do so. congrats

[comet24]

I be a little pissed. Penetrating with a group of divers like that with who knows what experience with single 80's. Not a good position to be in. I be worried about a divers in front of me silting it up and then having divers in front and behind me.

Now I have no problem penetrating wrecks but with the right equipment and plan. Both seem to have been lacking here.

[Texas_Aggie06]

the reason i asked about the doubles is because i went to Mexico and dove the cenotes. it is considered cavern diving when you are with in a certain distance of a surface. only 4 divers per divemaster, and the divemaster carries doubles in the event something goes wrong even though we are using al80's. i think you did the right thing by pulling out. you felt uncomfortable with the situation and got out of there. i don't they were being safe enough either.

with regards to the people taking things off of the wreck, that's a totally different story. everything i have read usually leads to two different camps. one side says that all wrecks eventually deteriorate so it is find to keep a piece of it before it is gone. the other side says that yes they deteriorate but we shouldn't hasten the process by taking things and ruining it for future divers. where you fall on this spectrum is your call.

[Kokomo]

You didn't over-react...maybe under-reacted. Should have ditched the dive as soon as you saw what was expected of you.

[Texas_Aggie06]

i guess this is why they try to teach us to never be afraid to call the dive. this is a dangerous sport no doubt about it.

[WV Diver]

Being a new diver all the blame doesn't fall on your shoulders and you were right to abort the penetration.

The red flags were there and in time you will see them better. It was a bad situation for you and everyone involved from Instructor to student. With experience and knowledge you will know better next time. You and only you are ultimately responsible for your own safety and well being. Knowing when to call a dive, even if it is before you hit the water, is all a part of that.

Glad you and your group are ok. Others coming behind you may not be so lucky. This charter sounds like they are way too lacking for safety and common sense. Their luck will run out. I would call PADI and give them a heads up on their practices before they get someone killed and I would encourage you to do the same.