Aow=bs

[matts1w]

Why should it be any concern or in fact business of the taxi driver to control this?

Because a captian (most likely a 100 or 200 ton) is not a taxi driver...and it is pretty crappy to compare a 100 or 200 ton captain to taxi driver.

Perhaps some research in maritime law/liability/responsibilty/ethics is in order.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Why should it be any concern or in fact business of the taxi driver to control this?

Not sure how it works on your side of the pond ... but over here if a diver gets injured, the "taxi driver" is the first one who's on the hook for liability. Where I dive, most charters are owner operated ... which means the captain's business is on the line.

One dive op owner I know will tell you as part of the dive briefing that if you blow your safety stop or cork to the surface, you're done diving for the day ... and he means it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[shoredivr]

Dopie:::

Sigh. The poster's name is DOkie.

 

[Sas]

Sigh. The poster's name is DOkie.

Pretty sure he did that intentionally...

 

[jviehe]

Which begs two questions ...

- Why didn't you want to go into the water without further instruction?
- What did you learn from AOW?

If you had that little confidence in your ability to dive without an instructor after OW, then your OW instructor did not meet the objectives of the class ... or he certified you even though you didn't.

In any case, one of the requirements for AOW is a deep dive ... and as an instructor the last thing I want to do with someone who doesn't feel confident enough in their OW skills to dive without an instructor is to take them deep.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Thats the whole point of AOW though, to introduce basic divers to new experiences under supervision. Im sure he felt confident to dive in the same conditions experienced during class. There just isnt a way to evaluate confidence as the entire OW class has to be supervised.

 

[TSandM]

Im sure he felt confident to dive in the same conditions experienced during class.

That's not how I read what he said, and it's definitely not how I felt at the end of my OW class. I took AOW for the same reason he did; I was afraid to get in the water with anyone but an instructor. With reason.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Thats the whole point of AOW though, to introduce basic divers to new experiences under supervision.

That "whole point" is the reason so many people come out of AOW stating that they didn't learn anything new. To my concern, it's the wrong point. The point of a class should be to learn ... not to be "nannied" by an instructor.

Im sure he felt confident to dive in the same conditions experienced during class.

How are you sure? That's not what he said ...

That's exactly what I did. I had only my four OW dives behind me and didn't want to go into the water without further instruction. The easiest way was to sign up for an AOW class and get some more experience with an instructor at my side.

There just isnt a way to evaluate confidence as the entire OW class has to be supervised.

Let's just say that you and I have very different ideas as to the objectives of an OW class. To my concern, if someone completes the class lacking the confidence to get in the water without further instruction, you've failed to meet the objectives of the class.

Evaluating the ability of the student to dive is part of the instructor's job ... and should be a prerequisite to handing them a C-card ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[caymaniac]

Not sure how it works on your side of the pond ... but over here if a diver gets injured, the "taxi driver" is the first one who's on the hook for liability. Where I dive, most charters are owner operated ... which means the captain's business is on the line.

One dive op owner I know will tell you as part of the dive briefing that if you blow your safety stop or cork to the surface, you're done diving for the day ... and he means it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

This actually happened to us last year while diving at Cayman Brac. A diver went to 60 ft. as he was the first one in then corked to the surface as most of us had just entered the water.....as per dive briefing a emergency horn underwater was sounded and we went to the bouy and stayed there as the dive boat left with the corking diver thinking that there may have been an enbolism or some other dive injury as he was bleeding from the nose. We stuck together at the bouy (8 divers) as we had to wait until we were retrieved from the bouy by another boat about an hour latter.
The corking diver was not allowed to dive the rest of the week, this happened on a Wed. in the middle of the week. We think that this was a good rule. And yes we were given the oppurtunity to make up that dive day latter in the week and no nothing was wrong with the corking diver, he did not suffer from anything but humilliation.

 

[F106A]

The never ending obsession with training standards, agencies, and the skills of other divers always amazes me here. If you are not a danger to me while I am diving, I could care less if you learned absolutely nothing while getting your Super Advanced Master Diver certificate from the SpongeBob SquarePant's Online Academy.

Thanks, hlsooner.

 

[DOkie]

Pretty sure he did that intentionally...

That's ok. He can call me Dopie. What he doesn't realize is that us luscuious chicks can see him coming a mile away. Sorry I didn't have the opportunity to have him "saddle up and help me with my gear". That would have been rather amusing for me. Of course I would have been too busy helping other divers while he was trying to control his fifth appendage...