That time a deckhand tried to 'help' with my umbilical

We were on a harbor job in Seattle, doing some basic hull cleaning on a small ferry. I was about 30 feet down, just getting into a rhythm, when I felt this weird tugging on my air line. I surface to find this new deckhand, maybe 18 years old, trying to neatly coil my umbilical on the deck like a garden hose. He looks up, totally proud, and says, 'Just tidying up for you, man. It was looking messy.' I had to explain, as calmly as I could with my reg in my mouth, that my lifeline is not a rope and you never, ever touch a diver's umbilical unless they ask. He went bright red. We still laugh about it on the boat sometimes. Anyone else had a surface crew member 'help' in a way that almost gave you a heart attack?

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the_paul6mo ago

My first dive tender thought the comms cable was a loose rope.

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king.derek6mo ago

How did that even work? Did they just start coiling it up on deck while you were down there trying to talk? Bet you got a lot of helpful silence. Probably thought the comms were just really, really clear that day.

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ben_nguyen6mo ago

Honestly, I used to think it was just common sense not to touch the lines. But hearing stories like this and @the_paul's totally changed my mind. Some people just have no clue until you tell them.

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