Posted by Kevin on June 25, 2001 at 09:54:33:
Just got back from diving the Humble SM 1 ( a Landing Ship Medium 251 ) and the Gosford ( an old sailing ship ) both off Santa Barbara County.
As I posted after my Yukon dive, I was shocked at what I saw. I am speaking specifically about poor skills and safety exhibited by some of the divers.
As with the Yukon dive I witnessed additional strokery on the Santa Barbara dives.
Some examples:
While doing a stops at 20 feet and 10 feet I had my mask ripped off my face by out of control divers descending down the anchor chain and hitting me like a freight car. At some point I was actually tackled by a buddy team of two, and one grabbed for the anchor chain and ended up ripping the reg out of my mouth ! I had to do my stops while looking up to dodge the bombs !
I saw five divers who were so out of shape they could not handle the current on the surface. The current was healthy, but nothing unusual ! The boat had granny lines and drift lines laid out, and these divers still couldn't make it on there own. The diver could have pulled themsleves from the entry to the wreck and back to the swimstep with lines to assist them, yet some managed to cluster that up too.
I watched as one diver absolutly freaked out in some dead calm flat kelp. Ya, she wasn't moving, which is what happens when you surface in the middle of a thick kelp paddy. She could not control herself and had to be dragged back to the boat.
I watched two buddy teams arguing with each other before and after the dive, adding stress to what should be an enjoyable dive.
These were not dives on the Moody, Clipper or Triple Crown. These were easy dives on a 63 FSW deep wreck and a 30 FSW deep wreck.
What the heck is going on here ? I was utterly amazed at the strokery I saw.
Kevin