Posted by Kendall Raine on June 19, 2001 at 13:25:41:
In Reply to: Renewing/recertifying posted by Ken Kurtis on June 19, 2001 at 10:40:02:
Ken;
I agree with everything you say here and applaud you for saying it. I'd like to note that you do something on your boats no one else does (that I like, that is). That is asking people to list number dives-trailing twelve months and lifetime. Anybody can BS this one, but what's the point? It reminds the divers that perhaps they're a bit rusty and puts the DM's on notice that they may need to pay extra attention to certain people/buddy teams.
A recertification or whatever where divers have to attest to/demonstrate proficiency by some standard would be a real step forward. Seems to me that any agency not number 1 has nothing to lose by taking the high road on quality. Even the market leader, PADI, could make hay from this by claiming that this is yet another innovation by the market leader in the interest of diver safety. While economically self-serving, the message would at least have some truth to it. Personally, I think the idea would be transcendental for PADI and will never fly unless someone else does it first (like GUE).
Something I'd like to add is an idea Bob Halstead (former owner of Telita in PNG) put forward 10 years ago-a probationary card issued upon completion of Open Water. Bob's idea was that a diver would be issued a card saying "Probationary Diver" or some such until they had reached, say, 100 dives. That would serve to add psychological support to the meassage that an Open Water cert. is a learner's permit and that the process was just beginning. Contrast this with PADI's Advanced Open Water card available to people with ten dives! Barf. Or better yet, Master Scuba Diver, (I suspect a craven and imbecilic rip off of the Navy's Master Diver designation) with something like 25 dives. Howl.