If a cab driver drops you off in a known bad area of town, should he check to see if you have a black belt in Karate first? Could he be held liable?
I have seen both ends of this spectrum. I remember one operator who advertised on SB a few years back who said he would not let anyone dive off his boat unless they had full on DIR gear (with plugged burst disks) and he had done some check-out dives to ensure they were good enough. Of course that operator took some flak and he pulled all his posts but my point is are those who are deciding who is qualified to perform a certain dive, qualified to make that decision? That is why many charter operators allow a free spot for a shop to include an instructor or DM when booking a trip. They recognize that the shop instructor is more knowledgeable on that matter.
When I was working for a charter boat who's owner was also a lawyer he said unless you see them doing something blatantly stupid don't get involved in how they dive anymore than discretely checking that their tank valve was open all the way.
I wish all boat operators worked that way.
I have seen both ends of this spectrum. I remember one operator who advertised on SB a few years back who said he would not let anyone dive off his boat unless they had full on DIR gear (with plugged burst disks) and he had done some check-out dives to ensure they were good enough. Of course that operator took some flak and he pulled all his posts but my point is are those who are deciding who is qualified to perform a certain dive, qualified to make that decision? That is why many charter operators allow a free spot for a shop to include an instructor or DM when booking a trip. They recognize that the shop instructor is more knowledgeable on that matter.
When I was working for a charter boat who's owner was also a lawyer he said unless you see them doing something blatantly stupid don't get involved in how they dive anymore than discretely checking that their tank valve was open all the way.
I wish all boat operators worked that way.