In Reply to: Regarding the SC scandal posted by eric S on June 27, 2007 at 15:29:17:

Rather than think the worst…that Sport Chalet is “out to get” the boat owners…why not see that Sport Chalet has pumped a lot of divers into the dive community and they have done a good job at supporting the dive boats..

Could it be this is not some major SC conspiracy, but rather one mans attempt to make himself look like a hero for his boss, or simply a misguided attempt to exercise his power due to testosterone poisoning?

I got certified at a dive shop other than sport chalet…and it sucked, the rental gear sucked and was old and worn out, the gear stunk like piss, the reg mouthpiece had a rip in it as did the 20 year old wetsuit…etc. They tried to sell me new gear over list…and the charter they stuck us on was really stuffed and the locations of the dives sucked too.

My daughter was certified at sport chalet…her rental gear was new, she had a computer, her instructor was very competent and attentive…and the charter was on the GE and NOT packed to the gills like my experience was.

My AOW class at Sport chalet was great, and my instructors Doug and Elaine were very friendly and really into diving.

Sport chalet is NOT the evil empire…but I cannot say all employees are great people, and the charter master is on the up and up. I really cringe thinking anyone would chisel Tim, Greg, and Arnold. I for one believe the boat rates are too low. I have my own boat…and I know now, running a boat is an iffy thing.

So let’s get off the conspiracy thing, back the open boats when we can, and hopefully SC comes around. And lets not forget what PADI stands for…Pay Another Dollar Idiot! If anyone watered down dive instruction…it was PADI, but they also opened up Scuba to a ton of people who would never have tolerated the old school drills we old timers dealt with back in the late 60’s…which were much superior, but probably too strenuous for recreational fair weather bahama resort divers.

Now let the slamming of this post begin….