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Overheard a deckhand say 'it's just a light chop' before a dive in Galveston Bay
We were gearing up for a hull clean and the new guy looked green. The deckhand's comment made him push to go down, but the current was way stronger than it looked from the surface. How do you guys judge conditions when someone on deck is downplaying the water?
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jesse_craig263mo ago
Reminds me of a time we were doing a salvage op off the coast. The skipper kept saying the swell was "manageable," but my buddy lost his lunch over the side before we even got in. You learn to trust your own gut over someone else's words pretty quick.
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jones.brooke1mo ago
Did you ever read that piece in the marine safety blog about how most skippers overestimate their own skill in rough water? It stuck with me because apparently even experienced guys misread the swell more often than people realize. Your buddy losing his lunch sounds about right for that kind of overconfidence.
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Like jesse_craig26 said, you trust your gut, but I also watch the buoys and birds for a real read on the water.
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