Dive shops vs BSAC-style club diving

[lowviz]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

This post, and the following discussion, has been split off from the thread "Riding your Computer Up" vs. "Lite Deco"

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I've been following the spinoff discussions in this thread with great interest. I haven't assimilated them all yet, but feel like I'm getting close. I'm beginning to wonder if my original question of lite deco wasn't just a part of something much larger that was eating at me.

So, insta-buddies are a known problem? Seems to be...

Have you dived with many instabuddies? You can never know how they're going to react, and you can never know how calm and rational they'll be ...

I can only surmise that what is producing insta-buddies is far less than effective. If not, a bad insta-buddy would be an outlier issue, not a core issue.

BSAC doesn't support solo diving. ...//...

OK, noted.

But I see a fundamental problem. I dived solo all my life. Started with my son as my buddy. ADHD, compromised. Birthmother prone to excesses, but we won't go there.

Both got OW certified, NAUI and PADI (I wanted to make sure that he got it. Rinse and repeat) Got a gate pass to a great quarry. 24/7 365. Day or night. But we had to be together as buddies. Why? I remain convinced that this requirement was only to shift the blame to either me or my buddy if something went badly. Nothing more than that, nobody will ever convince me otherwise. So, question, would BSAC have certed both of us to dive behind a locked gate in the middle of the night?

Back to solo. I never felt so safe, secure, and centered as I did when I dove for the first time by myself, all alone, with nobody anywhere near. Just imagine the absolute relief. I only had to worry about me.

Now, before anyone goes spastic over me not knowing what I don't know, I have several PSD certs that are all about the team. I was the dope on the rope, the profiler, the line tender, the backup diver, and the 90% diver. I filled out the sheets, and passed the tests in SARR for both standard and under ice. Entanglements are a given. Grace and style are not. It is all about survival and accomplishing the task.

Kid is on his own now. Time for me to pick up the niceties. Struggling with that. No prob. Just takes time and practice.

...//... There is more to a set of tables than the first dive. Many issues involve repeat diving, so you have to consider how aggressive all these scenarios are.

This is a problem.

...//... I've never been bent... I never intend to get bent.

And this is the given...

 

[KenGordon]

So, question, would BSAC have certed both of us to dive behind a locked gate in the middle of the night?

Yes, but maybe with some surface cover. Starting with Sport Diver organising and managing diving becomes more important. Since diving is a traditionally a branch activity, rather than turning up at some resort and having your hand held by a commercial outfit, it is necessary to know how to organise diving.

 

[Edward3c]

...

So, question, would BSAC have certed both of us to dive behind a locked gate in the middle of the night?

Two BSAC Sports Divers (or higher) are trained to plan and execute dives on their own. Be that on a wreck from a charter, a shore dive, day or night, up to 35m and with deco.

Here on the Scottish West coast this scenario is quite common.

 

[lowviz]

...//... Here on the Scottish West coast this scenario is quite common.

I'm beginning to get it. Two divers who can plan and execute a dive.

Here, locked gate and night are deal-breakers...

 

[lowviz]

This is interesting.

If there is a BSAC instructor who is willing to teach at Willow (Home Page) I'm in for Sport Diver or whatever you call the first level.

I'll need a dive buddy, though. (OMG, does that sound weird...)

 

[redacted]

Here, locked gate and night are deal-breakers...

Who (what authority) makes that a deal breaker? Why?

 

[Lorenzoid]

This is interesting.

If there is a BSAC instructor who is willing to teach at Willow (Home Page)

The question that occurs to me is why has no one started an "ASAC" here? Are we Americans, on average, too suspicious of "clubs" and group-thinking to sustain this model of dive training? Sure, there are dive clubs in the US, but for whatever reason, only a minority of divers belong to dive clubs, and they have little to do with certification.

 

[RainPilot]

I suspect the litigious society may have something to do with it. A club won't have pockets deep enough if a diver they certified got hurt. UK is a whole different kettle of fish legally speaking.

 

[Edward3c]

This is interesting.

If there is a BSAC instructor who is willing to teach at Willow (Home Page) I'm in for Sport Diver or whatever you call the first level.

I'll need a dive buddy, though. (OMG, does that sound weird...)

BSAC Instructors are not permitted to operate as independent agents. Instruction is provided by a BSAC Branch, Region or a BSAC Centre (school). In each case there should be a 'Lead Instructor' and most students would receive lessons from a variety of instructors.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I suspect the litigious society may have something to do with it. A club won't have pockets deep enough if a diver they certified got hurt. UK is a whole different kettle of fish legally speaking.

I would think that issue is dealt with by insurance, paid for by membership dues. Instructors have insurance. Injured parties looking for deep pockets are rarely successful suing dive agencies such as PADI.