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From: tony cooper on 4 Aug 2010 18:07 On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:30:51 -0500, George Kerby <ghost_topper(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >>> Obviously "Resort Trained". He needs to be certified by PADI or The Y. >>> Someone on the boat should have asked for his card beforehand... >> >> He was certified. He couldn't have rented a tank from the dive shop >> that owned the boat without being certified. Being certified doesn't >> mean being comfortable diving. I didn't chat with the guy, but this >> was probably his first dive below 30 feet and going down an anchor >> line. Maybe even his first dive after his open water final dive for >> certification. All of his equipment was new and expensive. > >I got both cards with certification in the late 80's. I don't know if it was >a PADI or a Y requirement for a 60' open water dive, but I had to do so in a >local lake and pass written exam before I got paper to get tanks filled. Here in Florida, the open water qualifying dive can be either in one of the springs around the state or in ocean or the bay. I did my open water at Ginny Springs and then a two-dive drift dive off the coast near Vero Beach...one shallow dive and one deeper dive. It's been over 40-some years, but I don't remember a depth requirement for the open water. The springs are clearer water than our lakes, and deeper. Ginny Springs is only about 18 feet deep in the basin. The caverns are deeper, but novice divers don't do the caverns. >He clearly had no business having that card and leaving his buddy to go it >alone, although he probably had a divemaster buddy up, I would think. The card only certifies that you've taken the course and taken the requisite qualifying dive. It doesn't determine that you are mentally prepared to go diving in the ocean. Knowing the basics and the mechanics doesn't always prepare a person for this. The diver's log book would tell the dive master if the diver had any experience, and I'm sure the dive master put this newbie out with an experienced buddy, and that the buddy would have joined another pair immediately after seeing his buddy didn't make it down. There were about 12-15 divers on the boat. I've been on dives off Florida and the Florida Keys, the Caymans, the Virgin Islands (both the American the British Virgins), Bimini, Hawaii, Cozumel, and Bon Aire. I've seen several newly-certified divers who couldn't handle it in the ocean. They did fine in the dive shop's pool and a lake or spring dive, but just couldn't hack it in the big water. I've been on night dives where experienced day-time divers couldn't handle it. They said the night dive made them claustrophobic. It is disorienting at first. Me, I could *never* handle a cave dive. Just the thought of it gives me the willies. -- Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
From: George Kerby on 4 Aug 2010 19:54 On 8/4/10 5:07 PM, in article nenj56dupr6105vc62p70u17mt2t9p8pfl(a)4ax.com, "tony cooper" <tony_cooper213(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:30:51 -0500, George Kerby > <ghost_topper(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > >>>> Obviously "Resort Trained". He needs to be certified by PADI or The Y. >>>> Someone on the boat should have asked for his card beforehand... >>> >>> He was certified. He couldn't have rented a tank from the dive shop >>> that owned the boat without being certified. Being certified doesn't >>> mean being comfortable diving. I didn't chat with the guy, but this >>> was probably his first dive below 30 feet and going down an anchor >>> line. Maybe even his first dive after his open water final dive for >>> certification. All of his equipment was new and expensive. >> >> I got both cards with certification in the late 80's. I don't know if it was >> a PADI or a Y requirement for a 60' open water dive, but I had to do so in a >> local lake and pass written exam before I got paper to get tanks filled. > > Here in Florida, the open water qualifying dive can be either in one > of the springs around the state or in ocean or the bay. I did my open > water at Ginny Springs and then a two-dive drift dive off the coast > near Vero Beach...one shallow dive and one deeper dive. It's been > over 40-some years, but I don't remember a depth requirement for the > open water. The springs are clearer water than our lakes, and deeper. > Ginny Springs is only about 18 feet deep in the basin. The caverns > are deeper, but novice divers don't do the caverns. > >> He clearly had no business having that card and leaving his buddy to go it >> alone, although he probably had a divemaster buddy up, I would think. > > The card only certifies that you've taken the course and taken the > requisite qualifying dive. It doesn't determine that you are mentally > prepared to go diving in the ocean. Knowing the basics and the > mechanics doesn't always prepare a person for this. > > The diver's log book would tell the dive master if the diver had any > experience, and I'm sure the dive master put this newbie out with an > experienced buddy, and that the buddy would have joined another pair > immediately after seeing his buddy didn't make it down. There were > about 12-15 divers on the boat. > > I've been on dives off Florida and the Florida Keys, the Caymans, the > Virgin Islands (both the American the British Virgins), Bimini, > Hawaii, Cozumel, and Bon Aire. I've seen several newly-certified > divers who couldn't handle it in the ocean. They did fine in the dive > shop's pool and a lake or spring dive, but just couldn't hack it in > the big water. > > I've been on night dives where experienced day-time divers couldn't > handle it. They said the night dive made them claustrophobic. It is > disorienting at first. Me, I could *never* handle a cave dive. Just > the thought of it gives me the willies. As I recall, there were extra certificaion needed for cave diving. I must admit, I never had any interest is such things. Hell, I get weird in a MRI machine! I just wanted to blow bubbles and take pictures on pretty reefs. I have been to Flower Gardens in the Texas Gulf and Cozumel. Bonaire, I understand, is a destination that ant diver should add: It's on my 'Bucket List'. How do you like the Pennekamp Park? We're planning a trip to the Keys in January.
From: tony cooper on 4 Aug 2010 20:43 On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:54:40 -0500, George Kerby <ghost_topper(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > >As I recall, there were extra certificaion needed for cave diving. I must >admit, I never had any interest is such things. Hell, I get weird in a MRI >machine! I just wanted to blow bubbles and take pictures on pretty reefs. I >have been to Flower Gardens in the Texas Gulf and Cozumel. Bonaire, I >understand, is a destination that ant diver should add: It's on my 'Bucket >List'. How do you like the Pennekamp Park? We're planning a trip to the Keys >in January. Depends. If it's a family trip and there are non-divers in the group, Pennekamp is a good destination. Non-divers can swim and snorkel, and divers can shore dive. There's a reconstruction of a Spanish wreck about 100' offshore. For a group of divers, it's too crowded with swimmers and snorklers. It is a good compromise for a family group. The divers will want to go out on one of the many boats based in Key Largo. Many of the boats will take both divers and snorklers if you have family members that do snorkel but don't dive. The better diving and snorkeling is a few miles offshore. I usually go to Islamorada instead of Key Largo. However, there are good dive outfits all down the Keys. A little pre-trip research on dive sites, especially wrecks, is the way to go. January can be cold. Not cold like you have in the north, but uncomfortably cold for snorklers and divers. Skins are a good investment, and trap enough body-heated water to add to your comfort. Not a dive suit, but a Lycra skin like: http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-44/148276/Neosport-by-Henderson-Unisex-Sport-Skin-Jumpsuit.html About $30 in most dive shops in the area. I wear a full skin on every dive because I get a highly allergic reaction to Fire Coral. I have to get shots after or the wounds swell and fester. I have scars on my hands from Fire Coral when I forgot my dive gloves. My wife, a non-diver, wears a skin when snorkeling to keep her back from being sunburned. Here I am in a skin at Sting Ray City in the Caymans: http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/skins.jpg Note the "Dilbert's boss's hair". -- Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
From: otter on 4 Aug 2010 20:46 On Aug 4, 12:48 pm, "Charles E Hardwidge" <bo...(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: > "Peter" <peter...(a)nospamoptonline.net> wrote in message > > news:4c59a411$0$5518$8f2e0ebb(a)news.shared-secrets.com... > > > "otter" <bighorn_b...(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message > >news:81e22ec0-0a07-4eee-b72c-7110396cee3a(a)i28g2000yqa.googlegroups.com.... > > >>Although that seems like a lot of money to most of us, for many people > >>it is not. If you look at what gets spent on cars, houses, boats, > >>motorcycles, etc., clearly many people could afford a $10K camera if > >>they really really wanted it. > > > Don't be so sure. > > Many who spend a lot on overhead are spending over their head. > > I've found that to be broadly true. Many higher income types tend to > have a bad hair day when economic conditions hit a downturn or they find > themselves competing for jobs outside of their insulated niche. At the lower > end a lot of those shiny pimped out muscle cars are an outward status symbol > while the house is bare and other priorities are in perma-stasis. > > -- > Charles E Hardwidge I won't argue that $10K isn't too much for a camera for most people. However, for others that simply is not the case. I have a friend that is into astronomy: http://www.skyimagelab.com/imofricr.html Care to guess how much that telescope costs? I have no idea.
From: Wolfgang Weisselberg on 4 Aug 2010 16:43
tony cooper <tony_cooper213(a)earthlink.net> wrote: > The attitude of every hobbyist is "More, and better, equipment will > make me better". Not really. The attitude is more like "I spend that money on fun, so I well might treat myself well and buy better (usually more expensive) things than I would *need* (in a business sense) but which make me feel better." Of course you can do most shots with a camera phone, just exclude the ones you cannot and jump through hoops on the rest. No real problem. Just stuff the wild animals and put up enough hot lights. :-) Fun is something different, though. -Wolfgang |