Posted by kelphead on July 02, 2001 at 19:41:56:
In Reply to: about "that" Wreck... posted by Wood on July 02, 2001 at 19:11:07:
"So let me ask you this; why can’t an experienced diver go and dive the external of the wreck and enjoy a perfectly safe “reef” dive? I use the word “safe” in
local context, as in just as safe as a kelp dive to 90 feet that is also unprotected. Do we not trust them to stay outside? Why are
we so intent on being chaperones?"
wood, you hit the nail squarely on the head. this
is EXACTLY the crux of the argument as it was laid
out at least a year and half ago.
some historical background (for what it's worth):
slang, seahunt, jason, and i debated w/mhk on this
very board re:the same issues you have brought up.
at that time, mhk was very vocal in not allowing
ANYONE "access" to a wreck w/o oe training and
experience.
each of us--seahunt, slang, and jason--had our
own reasons in this debate. my personal stake
in all the fuss was that as someone
who gives a rat's ass about penetrating wrecks,
i certainly did not want to be excluded from diving
the EXTERIOR of the wreck--as a reef!
((after a lot of prodding, mhk did modify his
stance and mentioned that he was only referring
to a ban on penetrating w/o oe experience, but he
quickly followed that up w/his sentiment that
if he were to charter a boat going to a wreck,
he would not allow anyone on board who was not
oe trained & experienced. this should all be in the
archives lest someone desires to confirm or
deny what i'm writing here.))
the bottome line, as you have correctly writtern,
is that one can't police all the behavior all the
time of all the divers travelling to a wreck site.
you asked the pertinent q: can we not trust divers
who say they won't penetrate? once again, that
was EXACTLY the issue that some people could not
come to terms with: some divers did not trust
that other divers would stay the hell out of the
wreck if they didn't belong in there (based on the
appropriate lack of training & experience).
i think this distrust is a crying shame, but i do indeed
understand that there are idiotic divers out
there who will do stupid things that will indeed
jeopardize their safety, as well as the safety
of others. in such scenarios in a free-living
environment, one can only turn to stats to
try to minimize the morbidity/mortality rate
and the way to use stats is to accept that a
certain % of divers will do stupid things no matter
what. the way to minimize morbidity/mortality
rates is to increase awareness and provide
better and more accessible training for those
who are interested in penetrating wrecks, but
the key goal here is to MINIMIZE rates, since
one can never 100% completely remove the potential
for morbidity/mortality...no matter how much
one cares.
and, ultimately, banning anyone from 'diving'
a wreck reef is still a lame idea.
thanx!! for your post, it serves as yet another
reminder.
kelphead.