Rob Stewart Investigation

[Rosborne]

On the off chance that some might read this and consider it's findings, I've attached a 2015 study done by the Pew Research Center. I point out the second paragraph on page 10 as a starting point.

 

[Rosborne]

I would phrase this differently. I am more likely to tell you what I really think if my home, family, and self are protected. If you wish to call that aggressive, feel free.
I will add that what you are trying to do now is sell your book. I hope you are paying SB for that privilege.

May I also ask what you think you have to be afraid of on SB? Are you really living in fear for your family as a result of a discussion forum?

 

[tursiops]

May I also ask what you think you have to be afraid of on SB? Are you really living in fear for your family as a result of a discussion forum?

There are some extreme elements in the diving community, especially cave diving. I prefer to be anonymous.

 

[The Chairman]

With respect,

Le sigh...

Oh, the drama! Often, people see any criticism as "vitriol". They expect to be able to post errors with no one commenting or pointing out those errors. But, that's not how a public forum works. I have been corrected and even criticized many times on my forum and I don't feel a need to denigrate my critics. Why? As a professional, I take all criticism personally. No, I don't view it as an attack, aka vitriol, but rather as an opportunity to personally learn and improve. People, yes, even users here on ScubaBoard, almost always respect me when I make the effort to acknowledge and learn from my mistakes. Here are some best practices when it comes to people commenting on you and your work publically.

Thank them for their input.

Agree or disagree, still thank them!​

Clarify what you think they are suggesting.

Ask them if you don't understand!​

Never ever criticize them for their comments

No name-calling!
Don't cast aspersions!​

Take some time to think about it before you respond

There's no need for an instant response!
Some criticisms don't require a response.
Some criticisms should be resolved in private.​

Never be defensive

Never pout.​

Don't make promises you can't fulfill
Don't be petty!!!
Use the report button for any insults, name-calling or if you're unsure

The mods will help you out here​

 

[Wookie]

The mods will help you out here

In fact will probably bend over backwards to do so....

 

[Heat Miser]

An oldy but a goody.

Why We Do Not Bounce Dive After Diving in the WKPP

It seems Rob Stewart knew the risks, and took them on and the world lost a great eco warrior.

 

[The Chairman]

It seems Rob Stewart knew the risks,

I don't see that connection at all. Contrary, it appears that risks were minimized rather than honored. I saw a man driven to fast track his training and an instructor willing to accommodate him.

 

[Lanny]

I have just finished the book, and thought it did a pretty good job of distilling a fairly complex event with a lot of conflicting views into a reasonably concise account. Thank you Robert.

In case there is a second edition, the issues that I thought were not covered and made me question the ethics and competence of some of the dive professionals involved were:

Four (or even 5) days for a CCR class is cutting it fine, to put it mildly. Although it is possible to teach a pretty truncated course without breaking standards, most reputable instructors would view a week as a reasonable starting point for entry level CCR. Minimum numbers of minutes and dives are usually exceeded on a decent course, rather than being a bar to barely get over.

There has been a lot of discussion on the capacity that Sotis was acting in during the dive. Although he apparently was not acting as an instructor when Rob died, it is ethically very dubious to go on a dive and break a bunch of rules with one of your students. This has happened in a few incidents over the years and the view of "we are on a course now, so we will follow the rules", followed by "this is a dive outside the course, we can do what we like" destroys the credibility of any instructor who acts this way.

Like any complex event, it is disingenuous to point at a single factor and say "it was definitely that". In common with the analysis of any accident, a variety of Human Factors can be used to explain what happened. If anyone is not familiar with The Human Diver, I can recommend reading the book, taking a class or checking out the many free blogs.

 

[The Chairman]

This has happened in a few incidents over the years and the view of "we are on a course now, so we will follow the rules", followed by "this is a dive outside the course, we can do what we like" destroys the credibility of any instructor who acts this way.

It's probably against the training agency rules as well.

 

[divezonescuba]

It's probably against the training agency rules as well.

Page 2941.

“In fact, Stewart only had 39 dives logged on his computer when he headed out to do the filming – insignificant experience when it came to making multiple dives on multiple days to below 200 feet with a camera.“