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It's quite amazing the difference isn't it. Around here, they don't let you on a boat unless you have dived here recently. Reason being a couple of years ago a "warm water" diver with no cold water experience (and I believe only the training dives to his name) jumped off a boat and drowned. Over-weighted, inflator hose not connected, tank turned off etc
Looking forward to a post-training report...
:zen:
It's quite amazing the difference isn't it. Around here, they don't let you on a boat unless you have dived here recently. Reason being a couple of years ago a "warm water" diver with no cold water experience (and I believe only the training dives to his name) jumped off a boat and drowned. Over-weighted, inflator hose not connected, tank turned off etc
Here in Quebec, you don't cold water dive from a boat if you don't have a FQAS card. To prevent the same silliness of DSD divers applying Darwinism to themselves.
FQAS is basically 3 skills at depth plus showing you can achieve neutral buoyancy with an instructor. Many - especially divers from Ontario or NY/VT - see it as an unnecessary TAX and don't dive in Quebec (unless shore diving) anymore.
However, the opposite should be true. If a diver has never dove in the ocean, they should "qualify" first.
It's quite amazing the difference isn't it. Around here, they don't let you on a boat unless you have dived here recently. Reason being a couple of years ago a "warm water" diver with no cold water experience (and I believe only the training dives to his name) jumped off a boat and drowned. Over-weighted, inflator hose not connected, tank turned off etc
Aren't those just the skills of any OW cert? How is that different than showing your certification card from any other agency, other than as a "tax"?
When was the last time you walked into a LDS and wanted gear or just tanks & weights, and they asked you for your cert card?
The only time I have to show my PADI-OW card is before boarding a dive boat to the captain/dm and filling out a form.
I'm just stating facts - I don't like that this "tax" has slowed the number of divers coming to our exotic & cold waters of Northern Quebec.
Did I misread your original post or didn't you say it was "diving from a boat"? In which case, you'd be showing your OW card, right? I don't know that I'd ever get up to Quebec for diving (though winter carnival is fun) but I'm pretty sure I'd be somewhat annoyed with having to show proof on top of my certs that I'm not an idiot. Nothing you guys can do to express the silliness of it and get it reversed?
When was the last time you walked into a LDS and wanted gear or just tanks & weights, and they asked you for your cert card?
The only time I have to show my PADI-OW card is before boarding a dive boat to the captain/dm and filling out a form.
I'm just stating facts - I don't like that this "tax" has slowed the number of divers coming to our exotic & cold waters of Northern Quebec.