- I declare this year the year we combat SUCCESSFUL DIVING DONE BADLY. Tons of divers (inside and outside this group) are diving time after time BADLY, but making it out of the water with no problems. Such is the nature of scuba diving. You could throw a monkey into the water with scuba gear on and he'd be fine for a while... until something goes wrong. Stand by in the coming weeks and months for lots of helpful articles and info on how NOT to "successfully dive badly". (Note: I'm not going to go GUE or DIR on everybody, but there are plain, commonsense things we can do to improve our diving.)
- No more posting of surf/swell reports/comments on event pages. If you have reports you'd like to share, send them directly to the Event Organizers. If you want to comment on the swell the news says is coming in... send it directly to the Organizer. Time after time we watch people work themselves (and the rest of the attendee list) up into a lather... with people dropping out of the event because of it... only to encounter gorgeous, flat conditions (or at the very least conditions much less than were predicted). This past weekend is a prime example. We did both a rigs and a Scripps event on Saturday. People looked at swell/surf reports for locations other than the dive sites and proclaimed the sky was falling. Suffice to say your Organizer will stay on top of things and cancel if need be. People who self-predict and drop out of a boat trip (that then successfully goes) will lose their money. People who last-minute-drop-out of Scripps trips will be barred from attending again (it's simply not fair to the Organizer or the people on the Wait List). DO NOT SELF-PREDICT OR WHIP THE MOB INTO A FRENZY.
- All boat trips will require you have a safety sausage and whistle in order to attend.
- Any diver who attends a dive event described as "Advanced" "solid skills & experience required" or similar... and then demonstrates they DON'T have the traits described... will find themselves looking for another group. I simply won't stand over your body as the lifeguards come to get you. People do a Scripps, Rigs, Hogan, etc dive on a day with great conditions and think they have the thing licked... until a current pops up, or there's surge at depths, or vis sucks, etc. There'll be plenty of non-Advanced dives for y'all. And the training is out there for you to get better, but don't blow smoke in my face and tell me the marine layer has fallen. (Tip #1: If the majority of your dive is spent with you in a vertical body position... and you're continually finning to maintain your depth... you're not Advanced yet (no matter how many classes you've had).
- You must read the Terms of Service before you come out with us. Heck, I even put some funny pics in to make it more palatable for you. You must also submit a Liability Release once a year.
- Your Event Organizers will now incorporate a little safety nugget each time they give their welcome speech, whether it be a Shore or Boat event. Probably won't be long, but SOMETHING to make you more "safety aware".
- For most of you I can't emphasize enough how important is is to get additional training after your O/W course. There are many shops and instructors who'll give you a decent price on their continuing education courses. Do one or two classes this year, whydoncha?
- People have been telling me, ever since it was apparent this group was going to grow large, that statistically speaking, one of my members would sooner or later have a diving accident. My (ex)military hackles raise and the phrase that always courses through my mind is, "Not on my watch". It will take each one of you dedicating yourself to increased safety to keep that true. Join me this year in saying,
Not on my watch!
