DiveTnT / Captain's Blog

Diving Safety with DiveTnT / Ron's Watersports

2011-11-12T14:23:00.001-04:00

Dive Safety at DiveTnT - Live Boating

How we conduct our diving at DiveTnT / Ron's Watersports.

This is a note about how I conduct my diving, and some of the safety factors that I consider when conducting my dives. Please remember that different situations may call for different procedures and methods for handling divers and their safety. This blog is not intended to teach or represent a better or safer method than any other, this is simply my discussion on what we do in most instances of diving.

I have been diving this way for over 30 years with no accidents, loss of life or cases of the bends and made over 25,000 dives; so, I think the system has some merit to it.

First for our Safety Equipment :

The Dive boat carries Emergency Medical Oxygen at all times and a fully stocked first Aid Kit, for almost all pressure related injuries Oxygen is administered as part of the first aid and responses. so this is mandatory.
Our divemasters and rescue divers train extensively for the use of such oxygen administration.

Divemaster training : Kahlil demonstrates with Jon and Russell -
hands on training and practice is a must !

Dive Boat and Engines
The dive boat will also use two engines (not one) and they shall be, and appear to be in good working condition. We shall also carry as far as possible more, rather than less gas (full tanks usually) with a pair of spare tanks, one for each engine. Our boat tool kits always have an extra set of plugs and some parts just in case of an engine problem. You can be the best diver in the world, but if that boat is not there to pick you up on your return to the surface, you can be lost at sea buddy !!

When we go out to dive there is always a spare tank in the hold and an extra regulator assembly in case of need, located next to the Captain; on our boats "Murphy" sometimes makes an appearance so we also carry spare ORings, mask straps, fin straps etc., .... just in case !
Once we go out to Open Water we always have a Captain on board in charge of the boat, he or she will help divers into and out of the water, we take all your gear at the side of the boat and then you climb a ladder to exit into the boat, for your safety we rather you not climb with all that gear on your back.

SMB, Whistles and Dive Alert
All divers will wear a Submersible Marker Buoy (easily inflated), and a whistle attached to their BCD jacket on the left side, so as not to hamper, or be in the way in case a diver needs to share air using their alternate air source, as with most diver training systems the alternate air source is worn on the right side of the diver's jacket. Should a diver ever feel they need to be more visible at the surface, he or she can remove the 'smb', and inflate same at the surface, this will make them very visible to boaters even from long distances away.

Jason's gear shows safety sausage, whistle and alternate air source.

Since much of our diving is out in the open water, I consider this mandatory for all divers to carry while on my dive trips. If you don't have one, I will provide one for you (no extra charge) !
The whistle attached to the bcd is one that is blown by you, and therefore it will not always be that loud, especially over the sound of waves and the boat engines, so I strongly recommend that if you dive often, the 'Dive Alert' is very worth while to own, it is an air horn and will only work if you have air in your tank !

The dive boats will carry also a dive flag - red and white and a blue and white flag which allows other boater's to identify that divers are in the water, our main dive sites are usually shallow and close to rocks so the fishermen that use the waters stay on the outside of the dive boat.
Look here at a video about the use of flags while snorkeling and diving :
FWC Divers-Down Flag Safety Video

Divers-down Flag

The size of divers-down flags displayed on vessels must be at least 20 inches by 24 inches, and a stiffener is required to keep the flag unfurled. Dive flags carried on floats must be at least 12 inches by 12 inches. Also, divers-down flags on vessels must be displayed above the vessel's highest point so that the flag's visibility is not obstructed in any direction.
Divers must make reasonable efforts to stay within 300 feet of a divers-down flag on open waters (all waterways other than rivers, inlets, or navigation channels) and within 100 feet of a flag within rivers, inlets, or navigation channels.
Vessel operators must make a reasonable effort to maintain a distance of at least 300 feet from divers-down flags on open waters and at least 100 feet from flags on rivers, inlets or navigation channels. Vessels approaching divers-down flags closer than 300 feet in open water and 100 feet in rivers, inlets and navigation channels must slow to idle speed.
When divers are out of the water, a dive flag may not be displayed.
Excerpted from The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
http://myfwc.com/boating/boating-regulations

Our Captains :
will follow our bubbles, they will keep at least one engine on, in the open water, and follow the divers staying not too far away as much as possible. Remember we are in open water so sometimes currents can move us around and take us off our intended dive path. The Captain will bring the boat close over our bubbles every five minutes approx. so we know that the boat is close by and the Captain knows where we are, I feel good knowing the boat is close especially for your safety ! When we start our ascent we sometimes send a float up held by a reel with lots of line on it. The Captain is therefore waiting and knows we are on the way up, we do a safety stop at the end of all dives - 15 ft/5m for 3 minutes.
Gear removal before climbing the boat's ladder
You may find it interesting that the captains are instructed that if any bubbles are seen apart from the main group the Captain and boat will remain with the bubbles of the single diver or of that buddy team which may have separated from the main group, once the minute or two have passed and the buddy teams have not re-united it is expected that the diver(s) will surface and be picked up, the divemaster will also surface and check on the divers (for some situations and conditions this rule may be varied depending on currents, buddy teams experience, etc etc).
On board the boat and in our first aid kit is the emergency response plan with directions and phone numbers to the medical facilities and recompression chamber etc., as well as the dive tables (RDP) for planning the dives.
You may want to look into these sorts of equipment, practice and procedures when you go diving ! let's keep this sport as safe as possible, and accident free.
Any Questions or Comments are welcome.
Ronald Tiah
PADI Instructor # 27186 OWSI
Choose Safety and Experience, Come for the Fun and Adventure.
www.divetnt.com
Tel : 868-475-2404
EMail : info@divetnt.com

Dive Equipment Manufacturer Association Show at Orlando 2011

2011-11-02T21:35:00.000-04:00

Greetings, not sure if anyone will ever read this but here goes .....
Another year has come and gone in the SCUBA & diving industry, 2011 is considered over and we in the dive business eagerly jump into 2012 ..... !

Trip to Orlando
This is my first DiveTnT blog and it seemed fitting to start with comments on the major dive trade show of the year. For many of us in the professional category of Recreational SCUBA diving, our year is defined by this "major trade show" put on by DEMA and held annually at either Orlando or Las Vegas. I have never been to Las Vegas, but it will be in my plan for next year (as my buddy Henry will say - "God Willing") !

This year I had classes and work, booked right up until the Tuesday before the show which was due to start on Wednesday Nov 2nd, so I flew via my favorite airline Caribbean Airlines, in on the Wednesday evening to Fort Lauderdale and promptly jumped in a well used and abused rental car, a Dodge Charger, one of my cars of choice.

Dodge Charger :) Nice car ... a bit
muscular to be feminine but what the heck !

Florida Turnpike : no traffic

This one had quite a few miles on it, but she (our vehicles usually are of the female gender with an appropriate name such as Betsy !), made it up to Orlando via the turnpike in record time (Dillette who rents me cars in Tobago (and Carolyn) knows I can squeeze a few more MPH 'outta' almost anything). Thanks to a clear highway, a few cars that I tailed, along with a mix of Salsa, Soca, Steelband, Reggae and Pop, blaring at full volume helped to make the trip one to be wide awake for, even with a 6:30pm start, after an afternoon flight into Fort Lauderdale from Trinidad !

Oops, someone got caught !

Amazing what you can put on your smart phones nowadays huh ? I loaded mine up with music for this trip, set it on auto shuffle all songs and it worked well, used a plug into the Auxiliary jack of the car stereo to get the 'telephono' (too much Latin music :) to play through the stereo, ... sweet !

The Trade Show - DEMA
This year I chose not to register for DEMA, I did not stay at any fancy hotels or fly first class at trini(s) expense ! I opted to register for a few seminars however which proved to be very very interesting and informative !
On Thursday I spent almost all day with Sean tearing apart and putting together Sherwood regulators, that new SR1 has so many parts !!
The new Brut/Magnum regulators I liked.
Interesting how a seminar this like can help influence your choice of equipment for rentals and to recommend to divers .... maybe more companies should host this type of event ?
Been there, done that and got the certificates !

One of the main reasons for my attending DEMA is to meet the manufacturer's reps for my products and area, see new products and attend some of the many seminars and repair clinics. so my next days were to be spent at these seminars and repair clinics and punctuated with a PADI seminar or two on all three days that I stayed in Orlando.

Well, in attending the PADI seminar on using social media and getting more out of our websites I heard about the value of blogs, and so this one was conceptualized, planned and here it is.
We also looked at a few other tools to make our sites more interesting and interactive and they included the use of Facebook, You Tube, Flickr, and a few other useful website analysis tools, so yes, this means I will fix my broken links and add even more photos and even videos to the website : www.divetnt.com !

A fellow Instructor - Carolyn, just a wee bit Junior to me :)

DEMA 2011 was held at the Orange County Convention Center. A huge building with lots and lots of meeting rooms and huge convention floor spaces. Somehow the number of attendees seemed a lot less than usual and in chatting with many dive store owners it seemed like quite a few owner's have and are going out of business. There's a "Catch 22" situation here though because as the buyers (public) shop more and more on the Internet and mail order, and opt for free shipping and sometimes cheaper prices, the small dive stores close their doors, unable to compete. Thank fully some dive manufacturers like Aqualung do not allow us, their dive stores to sell online. When we sell we do so under Aqualung Warranty, we offer full service and parts for all their products. If the consumer does his / her homework, what they may find is that we actually sell at the same prices listed at the mail order places, but we offer full warranty and service. The Aqualung Seminars were equally as interesting and informative. They continue to offer their dealers great support and reliable diving gear.

So DiveTnT continues to sell the following brands : Sherwood, Akona, Aqualung, USDivers, Seaquest, Deep See, Wenoka, and a few other well known brands, our prices are great and service and warranty is offered for all the gear that we sell. Why buy elsewhere and have to ship your gear away to service and repair annually ?
Lest I be accused of rambling on, I will end by saying the trade show has been very informative and hopefully I can use some of the info garnered to offer better products and service. Thanks for reading. Comments are very welcome.
Ron

DEMA 2011 Entry / Exit

DiveTnT / Captain's Blog

Diving Safety with DiveTnT / Ron's Watersports

Divers-down Flag

Excerpted from The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

http://myfwc.com/boating/boating-regulations

Our Captains :

On board the boat and in our first aid kit is the emergency response plan with directions and phone numbers to the medical facilities and recompression chamber etc., as well as the dive tables (RDP) for planning the dives.

You may want to look into these sorts of equipment, practice and procedures when you go diving ! let's keep this sport as safe as possible, and accident free.

Any Questions or Comments are welcome.

Ronald Tiah

PADI Instructor # 27186 OWSI

Choose Safety and Experience, Come for the Fun and Adventure.

www.divetnt.com

Tel : 868-475-2404

EMail : info@divetnt.com

Dive Equipment Manufacturer Association Show at Orlando 2011