Club requires members to sign "no solo diving" contract - So I won't be renewing

[MXGratefulDiver]

I belong to two dive clubs. In both cases I joined them not for the diving opportunities, but because I enjoy being around the people who are the members. In both cases it's usually the same few people every year who volunteer to be the club leaders ... and since they're not being paid for their efforts I'm appreciative of the fact that they do it.

If I were to have any issues with membership rules, I think a good place to start would be to talk to those people ... or perhaps bring it to the floor in a club meeting ... and get some clarification on why that rule exists.

Sometimes it's for liability reasons ... and sometimes it's just because one of those few people thought it was a good idea and hadn't really considered that someone might object. Most times, a conversation or different perspective will cause them to change or clarify their position.

Quite a few of the members in my dive clubs are what I'd consider weak or inexperienced divers. They have the views they have because that's what they were taught ... often by weak or inexperienced instructors. Quite a few of them are of the opinion that solo diving is a very dangerous thing to do, and that you should ALWAYS dive with a buddy. Not that any of them have ever attempted to prevent me from solo diving, but I've had a few concerned members ask me why I do it. And, frankly, those conversations often turn out to be informative.

Maybe in the case of the OP the logical first step would be to talk about it with your club membership ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Kharon]

My club has the same wording. I signed and simply ignore it. I even dive solo at our club picnic. My buddy is my totally independant and redundant air source and all the other redundant equipment I carry. Always there with me, following my dive plan, never wandering off, never causing a silt out, etc. etc. etc.

 

[iluvtheocean]

Man, lots of anger here.

Not sure about the details of this club, but I have served on the board of ours for the past few years, and having wrestled with the very real concerns about club liability on sponsored dives, appropriate waiver language and the like. I would suggest that you be a bit more charitable and give people the benefit of the doubt before jumping to conclusions, drawing a line in the stand, or leaving the club in a huff.

Dive clubs for the most part are run by your fellow divers who do a lot of work as volunteers to try to facilitate fun dive activities, bring newer divers into the sport, arrange for trips, lectures, parties, etc... It's not like this is some big business that is trying to scam you. No one running the show is getting anything out of this - people are putting in a lot of work just so the members will have a good time.

One possibility is that they simply meant that you can't dive solo on a sponsored club dive, and whoever put the waiver together just got the language wrong. I'm in the process of reviewing our bylaws right now, and I can tell you that over the years there's a lot of cruft that accumulates. Not everything is written by a legal professional, believe it or not.

There are actually lots of pros and cons of specifying stuff like this for club dives. We actually try hard not to do things like vet divers' skills, arrange buddies, or determine who can go on what dive, because these things seem to increase your exposure. But another legal counsel may have advised the OP's club differently. Who knows.

You don't have to join a club at all to dive, but I can tell you that my dive club has made diving SO much more enjoyable for me, and that includes when I solo dive (there's lots of time to socialize during surface intervals!). So maybe ask for a clarification, but if that was their intent, and if you really like the people but not the agreement, then sign it and forget about it, as Dr. Lecter recommended.

Mike has a point i just realized -- is it no solo during a club event or no solo diving period while a member of the club or just during boat dives with the club or what? wording & intent matter.
there are at least 1 or 2 shops down here offering a solo certification or is it just a "self-reliant diver" being the PADI course... not entirely sure of the actual differences at this moment.
and what penalties are they saying if you do go solo?

 

[mopardiver]

I can see them restricting it at club dives for liability reasons, but it is ridiculous to not allow it other times you are diving. It sounds like the old “If I have no interest in doing it, then you shouldn’t be allowed to do it” mentality.

Try to get a few other members on your side and bring it up for a vote. If you don’t get anywhere with that I approach, try using a little humor. If you don’t smoke, you could propose in the next meeting that members should not be allowed to smoke even at home because it could result in the death of club members.

 

[drrich2]

Mopardiver:

I know you're being sarcastic, but as an example doesn't GUE try to make nonsmoking status a requirement for at least some of their coursework?

I agree that it's well worthwhile to find out whether this was simply a badly written mistake that the offender will quickly resolve once it's pointed out.

That said, there's a reason there's 'a lot of anger' on the thread. There are a lot of paternalistic big brother nanny state advocates out there ever-ready to take our free will for our own good (as they see it), and we should be vigilantly ready to fight them tooth and nail!

I don't mean that in some paranoid conspiracy sort of way. I'm thinking of the mayor in New York trying to outlaw really big sodas at restaurants. Seat belt laws (for adults). AOW requirements for some dive charters for liability reasons. Some cave off-limits to divers due to liability risk concerns.

It's amazing the way people will infringe your rights if you let them. So don't.

Richard.

 

[scubadada]

This is probably going to become more common. One dive club I belong to handed out a new form that they require to be signed when renewing for 2014. This new form says I will NEVER dive alone.

I would sign it if it said I would not dive alone during club activities, but this says 'never'.

I am not going to ask them if I can cross out that paragraph; I don't let anyone make any changes to the releases I have students & clients sign, so I don't expect the club to be any different.

This club is a great bunch of people, I will have to be sure they understand that it is that contract, not their personalities, which will have me leave the club.

Personally, I would interpret this as applying to club dives only. They have no control over what you do at other times. If I was you, and wanted to be a member of the club, I would sign the agreement and not dive solo on any club dives. What you do on your private time is up to you.

Good diving, Craig

 

[Arubandi07]

Mopardiver:

I know you're being sarcastic, but as an example doesn't GUE try to make nonsmoking status a requirement for at least some of their coursework?

I agree that it's well worthwhile to find out whether this was simply a badly written mistake that the offender will quickly resolve once it's pointed out.

That said, there's a reason there's 'a lot of anger' on the thread. There are a lot of paternalistic big brother nanny state advocates out there ever-ready to take our free will for our own good (as they see it), and we should be vigilantly ready to fight them tooth and nail!

I don't mean that in some paranoid conspiracy sort of way. I'm thinking of the mayor in New York trying to outlaw really big sodas at restaurants. Seat belt laws (for adults). AOW requirements for some dive charters for liability reasons. Some cave off-limits to divers due to liability risk concerns.

It's amazing the way people will infringe your rights if you let them. So don't.

Richard.

Really??

 

[lindenbruce]

I just dive with my good buddy Al.

Like others have said, if there is no penalty for breaking the rules, it only as big of a deal as you make it.

Okay, diving and drinking don't mix. Just like drinking and driving. Tell Al to sit out in the cooler for a day. (Okay, I'm being sarcastic and trying to be humorous. I'm thinking your friend Al is short for alcohol and you are trying to see if anyone picks up on it. Hopefully that's the case and we can both have a laugh. If you really have a friend named Al.... sorry. LOL) B.

 

[drbill]

Dive masters and instructors often dive in situations worse than diving solo. Personally, I think the requirement is non-sense unless it only applies to club sponsored activities

 

[shoredivr]

@lindenbruce: I have a buddy named Al, too. Al is short for Aluminum 40, redundant tank, comes diving with me solo when I am not sidemounting.
No alcohol involved.