Logging dives towards instructor exam by hanging off anchor line at 20'?

[OCDinNC]

Maybe this should be in a more general forum; I don't know. But I observed it happening in south Florida, and since I spend almost all my SB time with the Conchs, here goes:

I am curious as to what most SB'ers would think about a diver getting in his (or her) last 8 or so dives (looking for the magic number 100...) so that he/she can take the PADI (I think) instructor exam, and by getting the "dives" in, I mean going out on a charter boat, and while everybody else is down on the wreck having fun, the diver (instructor-to-be) is going 20' down the anchor line, hanging for15-20 minutes, coming up, doing a surface interval, then going back down and getting in another "dive", all while the real divers are still on the wreck.

I don't really want to say exactly where this happened or even exactly when, but it was pretty recent, and it was for two consecutive trips. I think that translated to 8 "dives" for the soon-to-be-instructor.

Does this bother anyone except me? Is this the type of "dive experience" we want an instructor to have? What does anyone else think about this?

 

[do it easy]

First, I think that the standards are easy enough to satisfy. This person should be going out and getting real experience. Sure, technically, they might be dives, but what experience is the diver gaining?

Maybe some Course Directors can offer an opinion on this.

 

[archman]

Well, it seems to fulfill the criteria for a "dive". I've certainly worked at places where we've had to do some pretty lame stuff in order to meet a class' dive quota.

I think it's more disquieting that the OWSI candidate isn't already far in excess of the prerequisiste number of logged dives. Although to be fair, perhaps the candidate is one of those people that didn't log his/her dives, and is just doing these "safety stop dives" to get the paperwork in order.

 

[baitedstorm]

My skin crawls knowing I have a good idea where this is took place. The magic number 100 is designed to offer the instructor some experience prior to taking someone elses life into their own hands (at least how I see it). Real life experience is NOT hanging 20 at 20.. It's a shame but this type of thing happens all the time. I would not be the instructor I am today without the "Life Lessons" I've gained with pure expierence.

 

[edkibbe]

This is a good example of why you should ask your LDS of instructor.s qualifications. Also one reason I believe that a qualified DM or AI should be assisting with classes and OW checkouts or that an alternate instructor is dping OW checkouts.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I've seen it done all over the place. Now I see instructors doing silly little fake dives to get the numbers they need for technical instructor requirements.

If it were up to me they take candidates on a real dive or two and give them some real skill tests. They wouldn't be able to fake that. Right now, some instructor courses and tests have the instuctor spending most of the time on their knees doing entry level skills with no real test of their own ability. Given the requirements the dive requirements are a joke anyway.

 

[shugar]

i'm thinking: if all he's gonna do is waste good air hanging at 20' for a few minutes at a time, then why not just fill in the logbook with 8 entries?

it's not like the PADI police can go around and check how wet his logbook is anyway

if he's going to be padding his logbook in that manner anyway, i'd say stay in the boat and be a bit more productive

Jag

 

[MikeFerrara]

What makes everyone so sure that this isn't exactly what PADI (or other agencies) expect candidates to do? As has been pointed out, it meets standards. If the standards intend something else, why don't they state something else? Note that it's so easy to blow through and actually meet the standards that no one even needs to forge a log to take a short cut. the short cut is built right into the standards. Certainly the agencies must know this is done, right? If they disapproved, why don't they make a change to the standards? I submit that the agencies are accomplishing exactly what they intend to accomplish with their standards.

When I became a PADI instructor my actual diving skills wasn't tested to a level much above what a new OW diver is tested to.

By comparison, when I became an IANTD instructor, the IT made me dive and he tested my diving ability in a real diving environment. Faking a log book or doing short bounce dives to meet experience requirements wouldn't have fooled him.

 

[mislav]

Are we sure this guy was just hanging on the line? Perhaps he was practicing buoyancy, mask clearing etc.? I'm only guessing here...

 

[Dive-aholic]

Unfortunately, that's probably not the case. Padding dives has been in practice for a long time. Lots of divers/instructors have several hundred/thousand 20 minute dives. Maybe instead of 100 dives, the requirement should be 100 hours.

When I applied for my cavern instructor cert, I called PADI to verify they didn't need log book copies of cave dives. I was told no because anyone can forge a log book. The guy at PADI even had the nerve to tell me he's forged a few dives himself just to meet requirements, laughing about it like he thought everyone does it. I was shocked...but I guess I shouldn't have been...