Posted by seahunt on August 31, 2000 at 16:03:27:
In Reply to: Re: My turn posted by tleemay on August 31, 2000 at 14:01:47:
>In fact, I see buddy teams out performing
>solo divers when nabbing bugs.
Uh. And where might you be? I have spent many years here in California with
many extremely avid bug hunters. Almost all of them do it solo. True, there
are some teams and a few of them actually do pretty good, but no way do they
get as many bugs, person for person, as the solo divers. (referring to the
Animals trips, Bugs-R-Us and the Dr. Death invitationals. These are pretty
much the most serious bug dives in California)
Also, most of the bug hunters (and certainly the best ones) I met in Florida
were solo, though admitidly I was there for less than a week.
>I have also seen some mighty fine pictures taken by photogs
>who always dive with a buddy... it works well when your buddy
>is taking shots too. It isn't ideal for everyone, but people do
>it.
That is fine for people with regular buddies, but that is unusual.
Most serious photogs are simply out there solo especially around here,
because most photography is macro.
.
Really, the issue here is solo diving, not how you leave this world.
Do divers have the right to solo dive or not? I think that is the
main thrust of these recent threads. I like to dive that way. I have
made an informed decision to dive that way. Do you find that
tolerable or do you believe that I should not be allowed to dive as I
like?
Consider the limitations I put on myself with a buddy.
1. If I want to beach dive, I have to scrounge up a skilled buddy on
short notice (that's all I get) who wants to go.
2. When I hunt bug, I basically swim as fast as I can. Covering territory
is how you find the big bugs. With a buddy, I can cover only maybe 1/4
the terrain.
3. What percentage of my diving task becomes keeping track of my buddy
and communication with them.
4. Just consider my favorite diving.
a. I like rough water like swimming in the boilers at San Nic and right
up on shore in the waves. Very few divers can do that and keeping in
contact with a buddy would be a real challenge.
b. I like to do 7 tanks in a day on a full day trip. Few buddys can do
that.
c. I am lucky in lobster season to get to do some serious night diving
at Catalina. The spots we go to are only for very advanced divers.
d. My favorite dive in San Diego is a flat bottom 90 foot dive off of
La Jolla. It is a beautiful dive, but it takes great skill to dive
safely because of the long open ascent.
.
The point of all this is that I simply couldn't do much of the diving
I do if I only dove with a buddy. In most cases, if I was with a buddy,
they would likely be at high risk just being there. I would have to
watch them very closely.
As an aside, I don't agree with much of the pro-buddy arguement. I
may be able to help another diver fairly often, but I have worked to
be an excellent diver and have unusual diving experience. Most divers
I have been with did not have anywhere near the experience or physical
stamina that I bring to diving.
Really, I have no objection to people wanting to buddy dive. I do it
occasionally with newbie divers. But where does someone get off telling
me that their 'one size fits all' buddy diving method is what I should be
doing and I'm wrong to solo dive? Hey, I've probably got more experience
as a diver than the person telling me that. I disagree with your statements
about buddy diving while hunting and photog. Amoung California divers, it
just ain't so.
I dive well within the parameters of what is considered sport diving. I
have done 30 years of avid diving in some spots most divers shouldn't go near.
The question is what business is it of anyone else, except maybe the person
running the charter or the skipper of the boat, how I dive?????
Enjoy your diving, seahunt