What is going on on training these days?

[eramosakarst]

My g/f is taking her first o/w course-{Naui/acuc}and they were doing giant stride entries with full gear-her first.The "instructor" did not instruct them to fully inflate their bc's before entering.To me if you do this in deep water 1 you havent done a proper buddy check 2 you are going down in a bad way! Am I wrong to think this is just NEGLIGENT-i already know but I am looking for affirmation. BTW the " instructor" is more than willing to boast he is a "tech" diver and single out student errors by sarcastically commenting on errors in front of all students.are we not supposed to be teaching people well these days? BTW no inflation was discussed prior to entries?! The thrust of the course is diver etiquette on dive boats and reef protection>both valid but perhaps teach them do dive first! Any comments welcome

 

[CheeseWhiz]

Anyone can make a mistake and forget to mention a small detail (like inflating your BC before getting into the water), but after doing that, if the instructor didn't admit his mistake and follow-up with the correct instruction, he was indeed negligent.

If any more of these incidents crop up, I wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of NAUI's complaint procedures to bring this instructor to the attention of the "powers that be."

Good luck. I'm sure your girlfriend will survive, with your help.

 

[DiveTub]

Sounds to me like negligence, if he did not correct his mistake and make all the students aware of it, I would be writing a nasty letter to NAUI

 

[eramosakarst]

But they went straight to the bottom in the deep end-ie full gear sans wetsuit.She was suitably dismayed -I am not sure I am being partial as she is my g/f but it is her course independant of me , I was dismayed when she relayed this event to me.this is why i posted to hear impartial thoughts-thanks for the words.

 

[Walter]

Was she weighted properly?

If so (and she should be) then why inflate the BC? I never enter the water with an inflated BC. There's no reason to inflate your BC for an entry.

 

[DiveTub]

Do you at least teach your students to add some Air to their BCD prior to leaving the side of the boat or in this case the pool?

As a novice diver is it not safer to teach students to be positively buoyant when they enter the water, are they not then more comfortable floating high in the water waiting for their buddy to join them before the decent?

 

[Walter]

It's a bad habit that all too many divers never break. I try not to teach bad habits.

 

[DiveTub]

How is teaching a student to be positively buoyant at the surface a bad habit?
Not sure about how the YMCA teach, but in my classes I teach when at the surface to have enough air in your BCD to float comfortably above the water line

 

[Walter]

That's a great use for a BC if you're waiting for the boat to come pick you up or if you have a long surface swim. When making an entry, the idea is to dive, not bob on the surface. There's no need to play around on the surface. Make your entry when you're ready to dive.

 

[ElectricZombie]

Here in NC we usually have a pretty good current. When you enter the water from the boat, it is preferable to not have any air in your BC so you can get down quick without being pulled along by the current.