Government (GASP!) Regulation

[VTWarrenG]

Rick,

I can see the justification for a shop that has 5+ instructors -- but what about those shops in remote areas that only have one instructor? Surely there's no sense in hiring an instructor trainer just to watch over one instructor...

I'm impressed by SSI's system, if indeed it works as stated in all places. How much does an SSI OW certification cost on average?

It sounds like SSI's system is even more "extreme" than my proposal to simply have a "monitor" administer the students' final exams.

- Warren

 

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by VTWarrenG
How much does an SSI OW certification cost on average?

I'm sure it varies a lot. Our "normal" is $259 for the student materials, classroom and pool, use of rental gear and tanks, and C card. Checkout dives are normally done on two separate weekend trips, and those are $125 each and include rental gear including wetsuits, tanks, instructors, boats - 4 dives in the Springs one weekend and two dives in the gulf the second weekend. So direct cost for our "normal" course is $509. (there's a $50 discount on the trips if you buy a system, I believe, so $459)
Then there's personal equipment, room & board, incidentals, etc, etc ad nauseum.
I tell people they should budget a grand. But I'm not very good at advertising!
We also run a "2 for 1" course in the winter (just had pool 5 last night), and private classes at higher rates and other "special" arrangements that drive the price up or down depending on the circumstances.
Our facility is one of the best - indoor heated 10' deep training pool, two fully equipped classrooms, full equipment maintenance & repair facility.. the owners have plowed every penny back into facilities to make it pleasant - and some day hope to make a profit!
Web site is www.adventuresports2.com .
Rick

 

[Rick Murchison]

Originally posted by VTWarrenG
-- but what about those shops in remote areas that only have one instructor? Surely there's no sense in hiring an instructor trainer just to watch over one instructor...

SSI accomodates small operations with monitoring from another shop. I'm not sure of the details of how that's done - and I think it's probably a case-by-case deal, but they do monitor each and every instructor.
Rick

 

[VTWarrenG]

Rick,

Sounds pretty cool! Now all we need to do is find some way to make SSI chew up and spit out PADI...

- Warren

 

[jetblast00]

Originally posted by VTWarrenG
Rick,

I can see the justification for a shop that has 5+ instructors -- but what about those shops in remote areas that only have one instructor? Surely there's no sense in hiring an instructor trainer just to watch over one instructor...

I'm impressed by SSI's system, if indeed it works as stated in all places. How much does an SSI OW certification cost on average?

It sounds like SSI's system is even more "extreme" than my proposal to simply have a "monitor" administer the students' final exams.

- Warren

I know of an SSI shop that the owner, instructor, staff, etc.. are all the same person, and I'm not so sure the system works in that type of setup...

 

[VTWarrenG]

jetblast,

Yeah, that's kinda what I was worried about too - like I said, I think SSI's system is great if it actually works as stated in all places.....

- Warren

 

[mking1]

My 2 cents:
“give them an inch and they’ll take a mile” Every time!

I can’t believe we are talking about giving up freedoms for an alleged improvement in safety. Does the FAA prevent deaths through its minimal flight instruction requirements? Of course it does, but it doesn’t prevent someone from doing something stupid. It doesn’t prevent someone from exceeding their training qualifications or flying IFR with VFR skills. Recent deaths in the Kennedy family comes to mind. I would also say that if only yourself was at risk while flying and not the general public, we would not have the FAA supervising commercial or private aviation today. A rough analogy is that you do not need a driver’s license to operator an automobile on private property because you’re not a hazard to the general public. If you could operate (fly) an airplane in airspace where the general population wasn’t at risk would there be a requirement for a pilot’s license? No, I don’t think the issue would have every come up. But, in general, that’s not possible

I know (by osmosis only) that there are those in government that would like nothing better than to tell us how to dive, when to dive, whom to dive with and how many dive per day we can make. Soon we would have to have a FDO (Federal Dive Observer) in every region and dive boat to insure we follow the rules. Oh, there is an upside to this, just like in aviation English is required language for flight control communications, dive communications would also be in English everywhere. Although I haven’t been anywhere in the world where English wasn’t spoken, sometimes is was a little hard to understand.

It’s not that I don’t trust our government, it’s that I don’t trust those in government. I’d rather pay the higher cost of insurance than lose anymore freedoms in the false sense of increased safety. Besides, stupid people live too long because of government regulations and live to reproduce more inferior offspring. We gota quit protecting stupid people if we want to protect and ensure the survival of our species. (Remember that there always has to be at least a little truth in any humor.)

mk