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John Walker wrote:
> My point is not aimed at anyone in perticular. My motivation is due to
>the fact that some people are attempting to learn this stuff half ass by
>reading it
Bravo ! A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Case in point, this is a clip from a recent post: (author to remain nameless )
>But in total, between DCS and hernia, I got in only two dives this year.
>On a separate note, I want to take Intermediate Trimix before next years
>SCUBA-L NEDFest. Anyone know a good New York City IANTD or TDI
>instructor?
Wow, did all the blood just flow out of your brain too ??
With the technological advances in the last decade, and the internet,
rec.scuba, e-mail lists, etc., information is so readily available. This is
especially true for dive information and technical diving information. For
some, technical diving is very sexy, very seductive. They flock to it like
moths to a bare light bulb on a cold dark night. They purchase the gear,
they read everything they can, maybe if we are lucky, they enroll in a
course applicable to their new found obsession. Probably not. Then I see
them on a boat or at the beach, and I predict the body count will increase
that day.
For me, my continuing education from a NAUI/PADI/DAN instructor into
technical diving with ANDI/IANTD/TDI was motivated by what I wanted to see
and explore down there. I had no desire to enroll and purchase the
appropriate gear for Deep Air until I researched a World War One Destroyer
that sits at 155'. But when that dive site dictated the that gear and that
training, I did what I needed to do. I really wnated to explore that wreck.
Now that wreck is my old friend. I had no desire to enroll and purchase the
appropriate gear for Advanced Deep Air and Technical Nitrox until I
researched two deeper wrecks. But when that dive site dictated that gear and
that training, I did what I needed to do. Now I am starting to explore that
wreck.
Next step is trimix. Not because I want to go deep for the sake of going
deep. My training and equipment do not dictate my dive sites. My dive sites
dictate my training and equipment. Why trimix ? Because I have begun to
research a wreck called the Triple Crown that sits at 270 '. I want to
explore that wreck. Next step, trimix training.
There are a substancial number of divers who I consider bookworms. I see
them with a PADI Advanced patch on the shoulder of their Warm Wind jacket
reading the IANTD Technical Nitrox Manual on a boat. Next month they will be
back on the boat and will be the self-proclaimed Nitrox guru and others will
listen and follow. Thirteen dives under their belt to 80 feet and they will
be spewing terms like stage bottles and OTU's and Heliox.
I used to dive occasionally with a bookworm, the logical product of way too
much reading and one or two dives a month tops. When I recognized the
problem, I stopped diving with her, she was simply dangerous. Diving is
something you need to do to grow better and safer, in addition to the
training and equipment.
Last Thursaday and Friday night at Palos Verdes I did two dives each evening
teaching a Night Diver course. Saturday I was on the Golden Doubloon dive
boat finishing up three Open Water divers and working with a Divemaster
candidate, got in four long dives. Sunday, some old friends, and a new
friend I met on this list (Steve Hogan), did a simple dive in the Redondo
Beach Sub Canyon to 147' in ultra low vis conditions. We all talked about
that simple dive, and what we learned from it. We all grew a little more.
Gaining experience by actually diving is the way to become a better diver.
Educate the bookworms, or we will end up burying them.
As I mentioned, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Kevin
" You'll never miss the water,
until the well runs dry . . .. "
as sung by Bob Marley
[\]
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
o o
o o
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=( )= oo
Kevin Rottner
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