Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

[silverfox441]

Re: One THOUGHT, One QUESTION, One EXPERIENCE, And Another QUESTION!

Re: One THOUGHT, One QUESTION, One EXPERIENCE, And Another QUESTION!

Couple months ago, coming back from a ride on the Fraser, as i was docking my boat with my buddy, Coast Guard guys are walking the docks doing courtesy checks, which means whatever infractions they find, there won't be a fine, just a warning. But of course, if something is really wrong, thay won't let you go. I sayd "knock yourselfs out, i'm done for today anyway". While this is going on, this guy comes along with wifey and friends and a brand spanking new 20 something Cuddy. He puts it in the water right across from us. The Coast Guards are finnish with us so they turned they're attention to the guy with the Cuddy. next thing i know i hear one of the officer say: "i'm sorry but i can't let you go like that" The guy just left stumping his feet, got into his truck/trailer and is literaly spinning tires back onto the ramp. Turns out that he had no life jackets, no safety kit, no first aid kit, no boating operator licence! he just bought the boat and thought he would just go for a nice ride! Me and my buddy could hardly contain our laughs, especialy when you looked at his wife, i mean i was sure she was gonna divorce him right on the dock.

 

[NetDoc]

Re: Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

I haven't launched my boat yet... it's almost there, but not quite. I have been reading this with interest to learn what NOT to do.

That being said, as a dive instructor I am on boats frequently and have have been entertained by a few captains. I remember early on as an instructor trying out a new boat. Mind you, I usually like to dive a boat without students first, just to know what I am dealing with. Last minute class for this shop and they booked me on their newly acquired boat with a new captain. The pool sessions had gone swimmingly. Everyone seemed comfortable and all the skills were mastered. I had even taken them out to Alexander Springs and saw nothing to indicate any hesitation on any of the divers. This was going to be the final cert dives for the class.

On the day of the dive, the boat is loaded and the passengers are on board. The boat starts to power out of the slip when we STOP SUDDENLY. The crew missed a shore line. Hey, it happens and no one was hurt. We steam out to the first dive site of the day and splash. They require a Dive Master to dive with us and she is trying to hustle my students down. Its like she's trying to take over my class. Just as I am about to deal with this, I saw one of my divers in a complete panic. Eyes wide, I swim to her and determine that she is not going to descend. I wave to the boat, point to her and give the thumb (dive over) sign. At this point the stupid DM has taken three of my six students under water. Not good. I can't abandon a panicked diver, but they can't dive without me either. The captain, being inexperienced stops his boat 10+ feet away from us. I start to tow my student, but the wind is pushing the boat faster than I can tow her. No help from the crew either. No tag line is thrown, they are just encouraging me to swim faster. I finally catch the boat and as the student starts to climb we are hit by a wave and she falls off and does nothing. Heck, she's even MORE panicked now. I push off (fins still on) and catch her. The boat is a full 30 ft away and I call for them to back up. He stops even further away and it takes me twenty minutes to catch that boat. Near exhaustion, I puke in the seas as she FINALLY gets on. The flag is a 100 yards away and they drop just me on it to finish the dive with my three students. The panicked diver doesn't try to make the second dive and that went just fine. I told their DM to go with the other certified divers and leave me and my class alone. I pulled the flag.

As a fairly new instructor, I was feeling pretty defeated and demoralized. Why wasn't I able to deal with this minor issue easily? Was it me or the captain that made the diver recovery such a fiasco? I had not fully answered all of my self doubting questions when we motored up to the slip. The captain sets the stern towards the dock and starts to back in. I am not sure if he is showing off, but he is going too fast for my tastes. On his port is a shiny new FWC Go-Get-Em boat. On his starboard are two pilings one behind the other. BAM, he smacks into the second piling sending my panicked diver and her son into the bay. She had all these towels wrapped around her and was freaking, The son grabbed one of the pilings and sliced his hand open on some oysters or barnacles. In a brilliant moment of clarity, I knew that the problem was the captain's inexperience on the boat. No, I never gave them a second chance.

 

[royal0014]

Re: Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

Quite a story there NetDoc.... though I think you shoulda' went toe-to-toe with that DM, and probably the Captain. Never compromise your integrity when "students" are involved.

Not a diver myself, just ain't in me However, in nearly 20 years with the local Recue Squad, I've become a pretty good tender. Actually, through the years, I've had a couple of divers who refused to dive from our boats unless I was there to back 'em up. Being the only EMT on the Squad probably had something to do with it

Anyway, great story. Thanks for sharing......


<<)))(((>>

 

[halfmoa]

Re: One THOUGHT, One QUESTION, One EXPERIENCE, And Another QUESTION!

Re: One THOUGHT, One QUESTION, One EXPERIENCE, And Another QUESTION!

those who rely on "e brakes" at a ramp are those who lose trucks.

If you chocked your tires where I launch at your truck would feel a 4 inch bump on it's way into the drink. I saw a guys E brake fail and go right over the chock several years ago.

That said, I'd use them if they'd help.

 

[jim765]

Re: Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

Around Sept every year a lot of people go fun fishing for mackeral in the bay here. We only have one free public boat ramp to use and most people know the unwrriten rules to launch and clear the area as quick as you can. We got down to the ramp at about 6am one morning and low and behold there was a shiny new truck and empty trailer parked on the ramp. A couple of us regulars hadn`t seen this vehicle before ,so he must have got there early and took off out in the bay with no regard for anyone but himself. We the had to go down to the local marina and pay $5 a head. I then noticed this was ebb tide. Anyways we came back several hours later and guess what....ya the water was over the trailer and in to the back doors of the pickup. there is some justice after all !!!!!

had same thing happen here once,called dnr and had truck and trailer towed,only thing was ,tow truck was from 75 miles away lol i left that evening and guy was still trying to find ride to get truck and trailer. this was befor cell phones were invented and no public phone lol

 

[freddyray21]

Re: Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

I've yet to have any real trouble at the ramps, but that might be because my boat is a little big for a ramp. Its a 40ft houseboat. I DO use the ramps to pick up/drop off friends when I have a large group come out, which sometimes means creeping in in a line of small boats getting pulled out, with a cross wind trying to blow me into the bows of the boats in the slips of the marina right next to the public launch.
Cant stress enough to my friends that they need to be ON the dock at whatever time I specified, with their coolers or whatever at their feet. I wanna be in and out in less than 3 minutes before more boats pile in around me and I can't swing around to get back out.
Well, one day Im kinda pushing people along, throwing their gear back onto the dock at the end of the day... I mean, helping them unload... as they're taking their time and screwing around with stuff. Getting pretty fed up, I finally get everyone unloaded, and get my lines back in. I throw it in reverse, and the engine quits. Hmm... must have loaded up while idling here. Start it again, rev it a bit, seems fine, so I throw it in reverse again. And it stalls.
Now Im starting to drift back off the docks, and across into the other lane, and any time i try to put it in gear, it quits.
I screwed with it until the last second before I knew I wouldnt be able to reach the dock with a line to drag her back in, ended up jumping across, and pulling the boat back with my bow line.
Tied the bow off, pulled her straight again, and ran back to the engine to see what was up. First guess, and I was right, was that it was the shift interrupt switch, so i a hurry to get out of there, I just cut the wires to the switch, and crossed my fingers. Fortunately, it did the trick.

I like to think that I at least appeared collected enough to bystanders, but i was really sweating bullets.

where I launch pulling up to the ramp to get passengers is very frowned upon. There is a marina 100 yds away with courtesy slips. The problem with going in it that you know have to come back out through a line of waiting boats. It's a real mess and as far as I am concerned should never be done.

 

[NetDoc]

Re: Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

Quite a story there NetDoc.... though I think you shoulda' went toe-to-toe with that DM, and probably the Captain. Never compromise your integrity when "students" are involved.

The DM and I reached an understanding between dives, away from my students and other ears. As for the captain, how do you deal with incompetence? I never went back. To be sure, I was so new at being an instructor that I was thinking it was partly my fault. The docking incident left no doubt that the captain was even greener than myself.

Not a diver myself, just ain't in me However, in nearly 20 years with the local Recue Squad, I've become a pretty good tender. Actually, through the years, I've had a couple of divers who refused to dive from our boats unless I was there to back 'em up. Being the only EMT on the Squad probably had something to do with it

A good deck hand makes a world of difference for a new diver. I often find myself filling in when one is missing (physically or mentally). A lot of them work for only tips and I make sure my students pony up. That being said, there are a ton of funny deck hand stories as well as some tragic ones like the time when the one checked my air and turned it off. I had already done my air check at my seat and the left handed valve confused him. Two breaths and I was 20 feet down and NO AIR! I reached to my right and realized I had the left handed tank. A couple of twists and I was good to go. After the dive, he and I reached an understanding as well. Don't mess with a tech diver's tanks: EVER!

 

[Me1stBoat]

I had already done my air check at my seat and the left handed valve confused him. Two breaths and I was 20 feet down and NO AIR! I reached to my right and realized I had the left handed tank. A couple of twists and I was good to go. After the dive, he and I reached an understanding as well. Don't mess with a tech diver's tanks: EVER!

Didn't that ruin your 1st stage? Was always told to never let water get into there!! Just curious

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

Didn't that ruin your 1st stage? Was always told to never let water get into there!! Just curious

I'm a retired PADI Master Instructor and I ran a scuba shop for about 10 years. To answer your question: no, it didn't ruin it. He was out of air at 20 feet but there was some residual pressure left in the line between the two stages.... just not enough to catch a breath at that depth. Unless he sat on the purge button in that situation I don't see how water could sneak into the 1st stage. If it had happened (water had actually gotten inside) I'd just soak the regulator for a while in fresh water with the dust cap off when I got home, then had the regulator serviced afterwards to make sure corrosion hadn't formed and the seals were still lubricated. Salt water is a bigger deal than fresh for obvious reasons. Getting it serviced immediately after internal flooding with salt water is all you need to do to prevent damage.

Of course, if you avoid the situation completely, then you don't have to have the regulator prematurely serviced. That's why they teach you to never flood it.

 

[NetDoc]

Re: Funny Ramp Stories/ Boat Ramp Watching

Didn't that ruin your 1st stage? Was always told to never let water get into there!! Just curious

Nope, it wasn't flooded. Just OOA (Out of Air). The o-ring between the 1st stage and the tank valve that prevented 3500 psi of air from escaping also prevented the less than 15 psi of water pressure from entering. I often dive with deco gas (stage bottles) and I splash with them charged, but turned off. This way I can see/hear any leaks after I enter and I don't have to worry about Murphy as much.