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bill mee has hit the nail on the head here. everyone else seems to just hit their thumb. smithers accidentally let the hammer go in his backswing and hit himself in the forhead. do all of you think it is just some "x-files" style coincidence that the wkpp does not have these types of accidents? none of us profess to be good deep on air. george irvine has hammered all of of the wkpp principles into the heads of his divers. we all saw the light long ago, and look what we can accomplish in one "piker" weekend. his vigilance in preventing these untimely deaths will not cease until miscreants like will smithers finally wake up. all of the items listed by bill mee need to used as filters to keep the walking time bombs off of the charter boats. ANY open water trip will require that you show you pretinent certification cards and a logbook. if they believe you to be unsafe or unprepared, they will make you dive with a divemaster or do a pool check out dive first. why is the whole technical diving community any different? divers penetrating a wreck should be trained in overhead environment diving. this means spending some time in a cave diving course. there are no short cuts here. this is not bowling where you can throw a gutter ball and get the ball back to try again. a deep air "gutter ball" can end your life. you do not get another chance to pass go or collect $200. trimix diving must require certification and an END maximum of 130FSW. an END of 100FSW is really more appropriate. blowing air back on doubles to squeak more dives out of less gas is some of the worst nickle-rocketry out there. start the dives on the doria with 11/55 trimix. for the short bottom times involved, this is meaningless to the overall decompression schedule. you can blow air on a mix like that (assuming you are not a complete hoover), and still have an acceptable mix for repetitive dives on the doria. none of this is rocket science. listen to those that have walked these halls before. scott landon > >Hank, > >The boat captain is the last line of defense against self destructive >stupidity and dangerous risk fraught practices. You need to be prepared >to turn people away if they don't meet basic criteria. You can be sure >that the attorney for the plaintiff (i.e. the dead diver's relatives) >will consider you in the same light as the getaway car driver unless you >have enforced basic standards. If you don't believe me, go ahead and >ask one of them. You all know who they are and they are on these lists. >Releases mean nothing in the face of obvious negligence. Do not under >any circumstances accept only training agency standards as being >sufficient. You must be your own filter. (See WKPP.org website for gear >rigging information) > >FYI, if the following checklist had been adhered to the last four >technical diving fatalities in Florida would probably not have occurred. > >CAPTAINS DOZEN PLUS: > > >1. All stage and deco bottles must be marked with 3" MODs on both sides >of the bottles so that the MOD is easily visible to other divers while >submerged. > >2. No Air diving below 120 fsw, preferably 100 fsw. > >3. Mixed gas i.e. helium, nitrogen oxygen mixes must be mixed to an EAD >of 100fsw or less. Divers must sign off that they have the correct mix >for a dive. > >4. Remixing must be done so that the resultant mix has an EAD of 100 fsw >or less. Verification of the residual tank pressure and signed >confirmation of the helium content and EAD of the remix should be >enforced. > >5. Back tanks must be of the correct capacity and have an isolator dual >manifold. > >6. No diving with steel back tanks unless the diver is wearing a >drysuit. > >7. No diving with "bungee" wings or elastic collapsible wings or similar >convoluted buoyancy compensation systems. > >8. The back tank gas must always be the deepest gas. Never allow diving >with a stage bottle of mix and some other gas in the back tanks. > >9. For a dual reg double tank system the backup regulator should be >worn around the neck on a necklace and the primary long hose reg should >be breathed. > >10. All in water decompression diving must have a support diver >available during the final phases of deco. Ask divers about their dive >times and decompression plans in advance so that you don't have some >"hangman" interfering with an emergency. > >11. Along the lines of #10. Do not permit extremely long exposures which >will almost always result in potential deco problems and possible >injury. The ability of the dive boat to manage emergencies offshore is >not the same as being at the dock and dialing 911. > >12. No solo diving on decompression dives. The dive team is part of the >life support system. > >13. Never permit drift diving without a towed floatation system. > >14. Do not permit strange looking breathing apparatus (i.e. closed >circuit electronic rebreathers or other gadgetry) unless the individual >can definitively demonstrate proficiency in their use and they have >legally absolved you of potential guilt. > >15. Beware of personality types who appear to be "trying to prove >something". These guys will get themselves or somebody else killed. > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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