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I was totally >screwing up with a new rig, totally trimmed wrong, struggling with a dry >suit. When my guideline came loose because I screwed up in attaching it >to the downline, this guy calmly sent up a safety sausage with an upline >and we got back to the boat. Eric, in a perfect world people would shell out the dough $$ for a dive charter and then baby-sit your silly ass all day. Maybe you should rather be in a swimming pool practicing your technique and not putting "some guys" life in jeopardy. -----Original Message----- From: "Eric Nelson"<enelson@op*.ne*> To: Dogtrner1@ao*.co* Cc: "Techdiver@Aquanaut.Com"<Techdiver@Aquanaut.Com> Date: Mon Sep 24 18:35:53 PDT 2001 Subject: Re: Whether or not solo diving is an option >> > >(Snip) > >> >> George, >> >> This past summer I was, by the grace of god, able to quit my job and >> dive almost every day, sometimes both morning, afternoon and night (at >> least one night a week) >> >> Granted not every dive was a tech dive:) However, finding someone >> that could have invested that kind of money and time was simply >> impossible. >> >> Hence, I had no choice but to dive solo. When I was guiding dives, I >> still had to consider myself a solo diver, because I was diving with >> people with one or two dives, or people who had not dove in a year or >> more. > >You ALWAYS have a choice whether or not to dive solo. I dive solo when >I'm diving less than 90 ft deep in 3 ft vis, but its only because I have >chosen to do that rather than find a dive buddy who is willing to dive >within a 3 ft proximity on a silt laden wreck. To say you have no >choice is bullshit denial. > >> >> >> Now that winter is here--sort of. Diving has slacked off since Labor >> Day, I will have the opportunity to dive with some people, as the >> boats will be more limited. >> >> However, we still run into the problem--not so much with tech dives, >> because I spear fish. (Believe me, I don't do that at night, nor do I >> do it after certain depths--usually 150 or so.) >> >> So what is a person to do? I will not stop diving. I will not not >> dive. It is my sanity and my savior. And who wants to be in the >> water with a person that you have to watch the entire dive (a >> stranger, who happens to be on the boat)? > >Most people don't like being in that position but I think that as a >group more experienced divers OWE IT to the sport to be someone's more >experienced buddy. When I first started diving in the Northeast I had a >dive where I was buddied up with someone. He had about 7 yrs experience >on me and was infinitely more graceful in the water. I was totally >screwing up with a new rig, totally trimmed wrong, struggling with a dry >suit. When my guideline came loose because I screwed up in attaching it >to the downline, this guy calmly sent up a safety sausage with an upline >and we got back to the boat. When I got on board I felt like a total >idiot, apologized profusely and this guy calmly told me not to worry >about it, everyone's new at some point. Although he had every right to >make me feel small because I'm sure I screwed up this guys dive, he >didn't. Maybe you should either get comfortable with the idea of being >the more experienced diver in the buddy team or put more effort into >developing a network of people you can buddy up with. > >When you talk about not wanting to buddy up with someone because it >might spoil your dive it strikes me as the height of >self-centeredness.. Diving at all levels is safer as a team project be >it as buddy team or a larger support team. > >> I don't really have the money to waste (45.00 a trip for >> recreational, and 60.00 a trip for tech) to call the dive simply >> because there is no one on the boat that I feel comfortable diving >> with. > >> I had that happen this summer. >> >> I had an instructor who advocated drinking immediately after a dive >> when he was fully expecting to do another dive (he was *teaching* a >> tech class). And there were a whole lot of other problems on that >> first day of diving (we did the Rodeo the first dive---couldn't get on >> the Guy Harvey due to as fishing boat on the wreck) To the point that >> I went to my instructor, who also owns the boat, and told him I would >> not get in the water the next several days, even tho I had already >> paid for the dives. That was an extremely dangerous situation. >> >> Now, you and I discussed that situation privately----and I would ask >> that the names be kept silent, as that *instructor* is still under >> investigation by two organizations. >> >> However, as a matter of aside, I would like, in a separate post, >> discuss all the problems that I saw on those dives, and get some >> *positive* feedback. I am not interesting in attacks, but rather some >> learning, if everyone is open, > >If you're not interested in attacks what are you doing on tech diver? >I've made more than a few stupid posts on this list but I'm grateful to >all the responses, attack or friendly, because I'd rather someone bruise >my ego than let some stump dumb behavior go unchecked. Besides if your >diving system or personal preference can't stand up to an attack maybe >you should reconsider how you dive. > >Eric Nelson > ___________________________________________________ GO.com Mail Get Your Free, Private E-mail at http://mail.go.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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