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> > >One thing that you have to watch is what I call the "Florida" syndrome. This > >is diving advice which seems to be based on diving in Florida conditions but > >is pushed out on a world-wide basis. I have even seen it in AC. As an example, > >this rule about entering caves or wrecks to 130 linear feet and remaining > >within the natural light area. If I was to dive within the natural light zone > >I'd rarely get below 20ft in the River Clyde - forget the wrecks themselves. > > I think that in this case you are refering to the standards for "Cavern diver" > This level of training would not be appropriate for penetration dives in the > River Clyde. Indeed, it can be argued that my "full cave" and "tri-mix" > training would still not properly prepare me for such a dive. I do know > that > I don't feel qualified to do the OW hangs associated with the deep wrecks. > I do, however, feel quite comfortable in extremely low vis and have no problem > with the "hangs" in the nice calm springs. > > Remember that certification applies only to "conditions similar to those in > which you were trained." > I recently subscribed and perhaps soon will post an intro about myself. Briefly, I live in new York and have been diving the wrecks off the north-east coast for two years. In december I went down to Ginnie Springs and was certified to the Intro Cave level. For cave diving there is a well contemplated and prudent training procedure stressing a safe protocol to be followed on every dive. Examples are the S-drill and the 1/3 rule. It was my impression that even the most experienced cave divers heed these rules. In the wreck diving community, at least within north-east wreck divng, no such specified training exists and we can use it. The cold, lack of vissibility, current, depth and overhead environment make technical wreck diving different but no less challenging than cave diving. Why then, is there no appropriate wreck diving course(s)? Divers are left learning from other divers. That might work if propper protocols were in place but they're not. On a recent dive, a certain diver had to direct 3 out of about 10 divers to the ancor line. On returning to the anchor line, he was relieved to realize that he directed them correctly. This type of occurance is not even thought about twice. Perhaps in some areas, there is a proliferation of courses but that is far better than having a complete lack of relevant training. Philip Weissman
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