Posted by brianc@adcon.com on November 27, 2001 at 09:21:25:
In Reply to: Re: Legal implications of showing a 'lower level' card posted by Ken Kurtis on November 27, 2001 at 01:30:00:
My experience, especially on some boats in South FL and the Keys, has been that showing a DM card is the equivalent of volunteering to be unpaid crew. I do put my highest cert number on waivers, since that's a legal document but most crews don't think to look at that.
I DM as a volunteer for classes regularly and dive with a group that offers monthly opportunites for new divers to go out with more experienced divers at no cost. I do think that I should be able to do some of my own recreational diving where I don't have to supervise a new diver. I've refused to buddy with new divers when my dive plan was beyond their experience level. I've even had crews ask me to change my dive plan, but I've stood firm on being able to get in pleasure dives when that was the reason for the trip. Expecting a DM or instructor to always be available to supervise new divers is like asking an accountant on vacation to go over your taxes.