41 years or 4 years it does not matter. You have made it clear that you believe every new diver to be incompetent and a danger to everybody and you would rather they not be allowed to dive off of boats or shores anywhere near you. Perhaps the agencies can increase the certification to include 400 confined water dives so that every diver can meet your expectations?
And you could not be more wrong with your impression of Canada. I wonder what else you are wrong about? We have some great divers and some terrible divers. We have many "vacation divers" (I would qualify anybody that has been diving for 41 years and has averaged about 12 divers per year maximum to be a vacation diver) and some extremely competent divers. Oddly enough, some of the most incompetent divers I have ever had the displeasure to dive with were NOT new divers in anyway. They were divers that felt they were beyond where they actually were. I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about. I however, am willing to allow the new divers to dive with me off the same boat or shore. I will even buddy up with newer divers periodically. Yes it may be a more stressful dive (or it may be an absolute pleasure as well) but it is good to help new divers out......even if it is just to buddy up with them and get them in the water. In fact, (this is another way you and I apparently differ) I was once a new diver here
. I was once the wet behind the ear, overwhlemed underwater, skills and education still VERY fresh and not mastered diver......remeber I said that I was unable to go straight to know-it-all and master-of-everything.
In fact, at 350 or so dives, I consider myself to still have a lot to learn and to have a lot of room for improvement on some of the skills. Any diver such as yourself that feel they are now beyond that and have nothing to learn have then become the danger IMO. If, in your case, they dive solo then they are a danger to themselves however if they are in the water (just the same body) they become a danger to others. Extreme Arrogance can very quickly turn into complacency if not kept in check. I hope you catch yours in time because complacency can be disastrous to a diver.
well steve
let me answer some of your incinuated questions. you have 350 logged dives i have filled my profile in to reflect 2-500 LOGGED dives. i did not log dives in the past till it became a required document to get on a boat with out something higher than a aow divers card. or do continued training.
no all newby's are not a danger to every one... those who have just completed thier ow card and can show say 10 dives most likely are not ready to do a boat dive in the ocean. lets see ow cert good for 40' boat dives 60-100 tides current . out of thier range i think especially for so few pool dives. i believe my commet was they should not be on boat dives at that level. that shore dives are a different thing,,,, that is the environment they trained in that comprises thier total diving experience. yes you have to bridge the gap from pond to ocean sometime. that is a training issue not a buddy issue. i have been on boats where a AOW class'; has booked. they had an instructor that conducted thier training in an ocean environment. it is in that situation that the boats are ok the boat is a class room for ow's learining to be aow's they are training under close supervision of an instructor. that is completely different thatn a heard of ow's on an unsupervised boat trip hitting the blue for the first time.
training and surpervision of such is beyond my self imposed limitations. get it.
with that under stood i dont trust ow's in the big pond. i also have said that i have talked to several ow's that have the experience but just do not have the card. thier ow card gets them air and that is all they need. so it is the experience that is at question not the card in the wallet.
i think my impression of canada is correct we have more flocking to coz cancoon and belize than go to canada . daaaaa. the ones going to canada i would think is probably a more skilled diving groupe. i have never heard of any one telling me they are going north for spring break. get my drift. canada is not thong terrritory and hense not where the very young flock to party and do a dive or too with that cert they got a couple of years ago. quit taking it personally and please stop tristing every statement i make.
next i said my first cert was 41 years ago not that i had been diving for 41 years. i took a 20 yr vacation for military. dove once or twice in that time and got back into it in in early 2000's. i have been through training of yesteryear and today see what is produced today. it does not compare. by the way i retook my ow over because of the lapse and the new gear that ws not available inhte 60's.
i believe i have said i will and do dive with new divers also. your jab at that is wrong also. i said when i am doing that, i change the perspective of my dive to more a training or support role as oppposed to me diving for my enjoyment role.
when in a training role ( i am not an intructor of scuba) i am not more that a arms reach from the one i am diving with. if we are practicing smb deployment or dry suit skills i am right there in full support mode till skills are mastered/remastered as to not need someone at arms lengh. i expect my buddy in that role to do the same for me when i practice profiency items. whether through an agency or buddy to buddy training the role in the warer is different.
now i am not a cave diver. dont now if i have intrest to do so. however i would not hesitate getting minimum exposure to it from an experienced caver. i would not condemn any caver from refusing me the exposure if they think i lack the experience or basic skills or equipment to handle the degree of exposure. not as a substitute for agency training just exposure or proffiency exercise. the same applies to any ow/aow/anyone who wants to see if they can still don and doff thier gear underwater try out homing devices compass work ect.
no i did not skip openwater. as i said i did it twice inthe 60's and i think in the 80's that should now be taken care of also.
""Perhaps the agencies can increase the certification to include 400 confined water dives so that every diver can meet your expectations?"
I dont hink so they have something like that in place already. i think it is (dont quote me.) x amount of dives for aow X amout of aow dives for nitrox, Xamount of aow for master ect. to manny times people do ow and aow in the same class sitting they do a 40' ow qual dive and folow with a 90' aow dive and hand out cards. some carry it further with rescue and other courses. now they can do the boats with out so much hassle from the operators.
they look at log books for ow's and aow;s not for masters and dm's the card itself covers it ass the integrity of the master card is still trusted. not so for ow and aow.
from that standpoint i believe that solo is not a good thing for newer ow's and aow's to go into with out serious thought and other training. not underwater photo,,,,,, things like nitrox deep wreck ect that rely on the skills similar to solo more that ow an aow skills alone. ow and aow are buddy orientated skill sets. every step beyond that you are on the road to water independance. tech being the ultimate of independance. solo the bottom end.
it is not for every one , you are right if you are going to dive solo skills make it known up fromt. i do .... that apparently is being taken as ow bashing of some sort. not the case.. exeperienced divers are all borne form ow's
now if we go back to the beginning posts my position was when you are with a newby you are thier support and they are not necessarly capable to be your support and as such you are diving solo even with a "buddy". when the solo diver becomes responsible for 2 people and the buddy is showing that he is responsible for one. you trade him in for another buddy who can up hold thier end of the buddy system. when i am stuck with someone like that i am solo in application. i always dive solo in application even when i am with soneone else. that does not mean i abandon them it means i require no support from them to save my but. at first opportunity i dump them and get anonther who is not a danger to them selves or others.
depending on the site and other factors i will dive solo alone or with others and rondevoux at various times.
is any of this making sense??????
any further discussion i think is just trolling
....I try once in a while 
. OK so I might be understanding better. You will only "buddy dive" with a buddy that meets certain qualifications so that you feel you can count on them if the worst happens. While I have a different view of buddy diving and what constitutes an acceptable buddy, your choice is your choice to make.....not mine.
