And you have probably been solo diving longer than SDI has issued a solo card. Dive shops have also been performing cave fills for a long time, too. That doesn't make it legal or right. I'll bring up the same tired old argument:
Attorney for your wife/mother/kids: Well, Captain Wasson, was the deceased certified to dive solo/deep/on Trimix/with a drysuit?
Captain Frank: Duuh. I dunno.
Attorney: Did you let the diver in the water knowing that he/she would dive solo/deep/on trimix/wearing a drysuit?
Ex-captain Frank: Well Yeah! They told me on an internet chat board that they had much more experience and training than any old diving instructor could teach them, and that they should be allowed to dive solo/deep/on trimix/with a drysuit. They signed a waiver!
I'm sorry, guys, but I am an insurance driven beast, especially since I try to keep my rates down and keep your costs down, as explained on another thread. Finding a more liberal insurance company is not, I believe, the right answer. The right answer is to change the attitude of americans (such as those posting on another thread in the accidents forum) that think that dive operators need to keep their passengers safe. I can't keep you safe, only you can dive safely, warn your next of kin that diving is inherently dangerous, and convince them to leave the boat operator alone when you croak. Then we need to reform our system of torts so that an ambulance chaser can't slime up to the next of kin and convince them that SOMEONE owes them money because their diver husband/father/daughter didn't check their SPG often enough and ran out of air at depth.
In closing, I don't feel that there are enough people out there that want a free-for-all dive experience to justify changing my philosophy or way of doing business, when the majority of my customers dive with me because they "feel safe" on the Spree. That is the number 1 piece of feedback I receive from my customers. We have genuinely tried to add trips that allow the independant diver more freedoms, allow full use of dive computers, allow solo diving within restrictions, allow rebreathers and tech profiles, etc. I still cater, though, to the majority of divers, that is, open water or advanced, wanting nitrox, diving with a buddy, hugging the fish (figuratively).
Now, instead of bashing my insurance company, pop the $150 for the stupid solo card, buy a pony, and get on the boat. Then you can dive mamoth lake on Friday afternoon before the boat sails.
Frank
TDI (I think it's Scott) tells me that TDI has no provision to allow solo technical diving, and, in fact, technical diving is a team concept involving a team rather than buddy pairs per se. If a dive team comes on the boat for a technical charter and convinces me that they are team diving as safe or safer than a buddy situation, then I am OK with that. One problem with the team concept is that if each team members role is not carefully spelled out, the team is a group of solo divers, not a coordinated team. Remember, your mission is to convince the boat operator. As soon as the certification agencies change their mind about solo tech diving, so will I.
