Posted by JoeDiver on April 19, 2004 at 19:38:46:
A few days ago I was talking with fellow divers and it turns out we know the same "accident waiting to happen". This diver thinks he's a very competent diver, but he has terrible buoyancy control, no sense of direction, seems to lack common sense as well, and frequently dives beyond his ability, to name a few symptoms. I won't dive with this diver because frankly, I'm frightened to. My diver buddies feel the same way. Now, if this diver was just diving solo, it would be one thing (maybe) but he likes to take newbies out on dives.
On one hand, I don't want to meddle. Who am I to judge another's diving skills? (I'm not alone though in questioning this diver's abilities.) However, I would feel terrible if anything were to happen to a newbie buddying with this diver. For that matter, I would feel terrible if something happened to this diver and I did nothing to try to prevent it.
An analogy is that of a drunk driver. If you knew someone was drunk and likely to be in an accident, would you let that person drive with children as passengers? Would you let him drive alone?
I realize that as divers, ultimately we are responsible for ourselves. However, even if diving solo our actions affect the diving community. So I don't think you can use the argument of letting face his own consequences.
Oddly enough, as I was thinking about this dilemna I came across a similar thread on another bulletin board:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=52910&page=1&pp=10
People on that BBS had various reactions. I'm curious what the local dive community thinks. Comments?
Thanks