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That makes him/her/it a deckhand, not a divemaster.The DM stays on the boat.
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That makes him/her/it a deckhand, not a divemaster.The DM stays on the boat.
All these points are very good. If it is not covered in the briefing, ask.ahhh, of course, that makes sense. As you can tell, I have never done a boat dive (yet)
That makes him/her/it a deckhand, not a divemaster.
I would say the book is wrong, but then, I have strong feelings about the book.The boats I occasionally work for conduct our dives while anchored or made up to a mooring buoy. The dive briefs give enough information for everyone to find their way back to the anchor or mooring ball sinker, and they cover expectations for gas management. We generally do not dive as a herd. For our kind of diving, not only is your plan acceptable, it's expected. Certified divers should be able to plan and execute our simple, shallow dives by themselves.
The official policy is that if you want a DM to hold your hand, you're expected to pay in advance to hire a personal guide. The reality is that the less confident divers follow me and the others dive as independent pairs. As long as confidence and ability correlate, everything goes well. My proteges generally have the shorter dives, so they're aboard and the deck is clear by the time the experienced divers return.
One of the things that surprised me most in the divemaster class was the discussion in the book about deciding where the DM should "lead" the dive from: leading while not in the water was presented as a viable option when doing so gives the best vantage. Never seen it done that way, but it's in the book.
Just a matter of terms. When I took the PADI DM course it specifically describes DMs as either people who participate in the dive itself, or "supervise" from the boat--with the idea that they find an area where they may see bubbles, and also possibly assist someone onto the boat who ends the dive early, etc. -- that sort of thing, along with the usual dive briefings. PADI's definitions, not mine.That makes him/her/it a deckhand, not a divemaster.
ahhh, of course, that makes sense. As you can tell, I have never done a boat dive (yet)
Agree. Several times I have been successful finding buddies via SB's area forums.All things considered, in your place I would hire a DM, or start a thread in the region you are going to find a buddy from Scubaboard.
I was doing shore dives when traveling, and PM'd some members I had high regard for online and asked if they could show me the local conditions, had a great time and met some good people, of course I bought the adult beverages.