Wow, remind me to stay away from this forum! This was rather uncalled for, I think, not to mention harsh.
First, I did NOT say that *I* would feel confident rescueing a new diver. The fact that you wrote this leads me to believe that you did not truly read the report (which was long, I know...but still, doncha think you should READ it all the way before you start bashing me?) HAD you read the report, you would have realized that I was diving in a team of three along with a very experienced divemaster, who would have been wholey responsible for the other diver had she had any real problems. My post was simply stating that I felt confident I could take care of MYSELF if he had to deal with any problems she was having.
I certainly do not consider myself an expert at 60 dives. However, I have fallen in love with diving, and have made a point of educating myself as best as I can. I have completed my AOW, and have been diving all over the world in some very cool places, including several quite advanced dives such as a pass/drift dive in Rangiroa, wall dives in French Polynesia, deep dives off Catalina Island, and even a small wreck dive in the Caribbean. My regular weekly dives are considered advanced in and of themselves -- I do weekly beach dives off the coast of Malibu, sometimes in some pretty hairy surf. I dive with many well-trained buddies from whom I've learned a lot. I am not telling you all this to blow myself up...simply to point out that at some point, after a certain amount of experience, I would imagine that a diver has the right to consider herself safe enough to deal with herself in the event of an emergency. And that is all I was saying...once again (I repeat, in case you are skimming again) -- I was only concerned with having to take care of MYSELF in the event the new diver had a problem. After all, I was not the one being paid to take care of her.
Does that clear things up for you?
And now I'd like to get back to enjoying this thread.
Thanks for all the kind comments everyone!
MASS-Diver:
This post should be pasted in the thread about the SG. With 58 dives someone is an expert, confident that she can rescue a new diver @100' - scary. I guess at 100 dives you'll be ready to do some serious penetration. The thing about SCUBA is that anyone can to do it (all you do is swim and breath) until something goes wrong, and lots of people don't realize they have no skills untill it's too late. :shakehead
There's a reason why so many new divers leave the sport after a couple of years and a big part of is that they have a real close call and don't want to play anymore. Of course, some of them just end up dead.
Unreal
Oh, by the way John, why don 't you go......nah, I won't drop to your level and say what I'm thinking. Go have some fun...sounds like you need it!
