Imported post
Congratulations!, so you didn't get "paper B" then
I'm BSAC trained from the start, and although the "club rules" can seem a bit like they're designed to stop you diving, once you get more experience you'll see things a little differently.
Re using Dive Marshals, that's a sound safety feature and I've been glad of this system on a couple of occasions. Within the Branch this will usually be done quite formally, taking details of tank contents , expected dive times etc,
Outside of the Branch its not uncommon to have one or two people simply watching out for FUBAR situations from the shore. THe more adventurous your diving becomes the more important this system is.
(Incidentally, this would be a sensible precaution for YD troop gigs which aren't done with the benefit of experienced boat skippers , who are automatically Dive Marshals in such situations
Basically, you
should tell your DO about diving outside of the branch, even if purely out of courtesy (Ex DO myself so I can see both sides of the coin), you don't need his/her "permission"
unless you're using club kit, which generally makes it a "Branch Dive" and therefore your DO can land up in court if things go FUBAR on a BD (check what
your club defines as a BD, it's not set in stone).
As for who to dive with, as a newbie you need the safety of an experienced diver, usually this is Dive Leader or above, but your DO can give you the OK to dive with an experienced Sport Diver if they choose, I wouldn't recommend it at this juncture though.
Once you get into Instructor level buddies (there are several BSAC Ins on these boards) you really only need to tell your DO "I'm diving with XXX BSAC Instructor this weekend" he may ask for contact details of this person, which is perfectly acceptable in my book, but doesn't have any right of veto.
So, you got your own kit? If so there's a few of us likely to be at Capernwray or Lakes or similar on Sunday, typical places for your first OW dive.
Of course you can easily ignore all this, but let's not forget that diving can indeed be dangerous and we're a long time dead.
Chee-az
Steve W - cautious old fart planning to stick around diving until I can no longer lift my tanks
(Edited by Steve W at 10:51 am on Feb. 13, 2003)