The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
First, I don't think he's been diving that long. Somehow, I'm thinking less than year and fewer than a 100 dives. So, how much experience can he really have? You may have the rudiments of buoyancy and trim down by the end of your OW class, but there's a lot of stuff that can happen. Lots of time underwater is the best teacher in that regard. There is no substitute.NetDoc, I would be genuinely interested in your take on what aspects of this dive in particular put it in the "too fast" category, and how much or what kind of experience and training would be necessary to reach the point where those things were no longer "too soon."
Then, just reading his blog, it's apparent that he wasn't ready. He admits it himself. He should approach these new skills one at a time, not en masse. Well, not just Cuzza: everyone. Fer instance... I just learned how to dive a new rebreather. I haven't even taken a camera with me yet. I'll wait until I hit twenty hours or so and add one thing. There's no rush. I've got lots of time to get all this down. Why push it?
Here's the thing. We all Scuba Dive for fun. These white knuckle incidences are anything but fun. They can easily scare a person out of diving altogether. Take your time to have lots of fun while you build up your skills gradually.