Yes indeedee, there you go, from the winner of the Kup ferchrisakes! Major huevos there SpongeJay. :king
Spearing
is a solitary deal and if it weren't I don't know if it'd be as enjoyable. Sure some of my most memorable dives have been with others helping and getting help from them getting the fish unfouled and strung, but there's just something about rolling up to the beach by yourself, ideally with dinner, and turning back to give thanks...
Ahh, well then Ocean you bring up more good and compelling points about the role or task of a dive leader. Lots of years ago while a member of a now defunct dive club in the SF area, a prospective member had to make three dives with other members of the club, those members being on a rotation to do the "checkout dives". While there were certainly instances of the prospective member having no business being in the water, most were so fresh out of the classroom that we'de let them join and kinda keep tabs on them as they went. True that the way to learn then was to go and hang out with those that knew and hope that osmosis kicked in. But a lot of those aspiring newbies turned into damn good divers and friends to this day so I guess not only did we luck out as a Club, but the new member lucked out as well. The practice died out after a couple of years as we just didn't want to drive all the way up to the coast to get stuck with a newbie, especially if we were in the thick of the Club competition and/or the water was really sweet. I can see this happening with everyone, even last week as I took a quick gander at evryone's game, knew I was outclassed, at least nasally and had to get after it. Feel free to say, "Hey!, that sounds familiar!" All of youz!
This gets to a gripe that both Sandbaggin' Styron and I both share, that current cert-ing of divers is laughable at best and a crime in real practice. Your interest in attending a Rescue Diver cert is laudable, and we share that concern. I was helping a fellow Instructor with a Rescue/Advanced SCUBA Rescue course a few weeks back more out of wanting to stay fresh and current than out of a real need to teach and while I'll freely cop to picking up a couple of things from a sub contracted EMT specializing in airway management, that there wasn't a whole lot going on different from the basic and Advanced certs that the students were supposed to have obtained prior to attending. Indeed the class was for me more of a sad expose of the sport diving industry going soft and allowing those that aren't physically capable to strap on gear and go diving. But this is getting away from the core concern of this thread...
Suffice it to say that I'm all about getting educated on the whats and if thens, but the real skill is in the admission to oneself that you're in over your head and/or are pushing that warm and fuzzy envelope. I get to dive alongside others that try to emulate the skills, techniques and catches of those appearing in magazines and videos and it's sobering to try to let them in on a little smarts in regards to their skills versus their intents.
Those are accidents in the offing just as there will
always be those instances where you'll just "do one more" to get that damn bug waaay back there, that holed-up fish or that last dive to free up the hook. But in my case, luckily, and I might speak for Jay and Bill here, I've been blessed with this little bell ringing thing in the back of my noggin and I don't think that it's available at the counter of the dive shop, I haven't seen it taught in any agency's certs and it's never been explained to me by any mentor. Flowery as it sounds, it's something that the Ocean has given to me and I'm a willing ear. (well, when I can clear them anyways...
)
sven
