Krazy Kiwi wrote:

> Imagining Da Feeesh eyebrow dancin would be a sight to behold ;-)
> Ive earned my SOB Speciality Patch many times over by my reckoning.
> Many a time my *supposed* buddy for the dive has signalled they were bored
> so Ive escorted them back to the boat, watched them do their safety stop,
> then surface. After ensuring no fins, weights or camera gear floats down
to
> me during their exit I assume all is ok & carry on with my dive somewhere
> close in the shallows. My regular dive group pals know Im comfortable
> diving alone & that I would not be long behind the others as usually I am
> trying to finish off my film.

Sounds more like a solo course than SOB.  SOB requires the buddy be in the
same ocean and, if I read you right, yours no longer are.

A similar thread is going on in another forum.  My opinion on this is, as
some probably expected, not in favor of a solo certification for reasons
that pretty much boil down to:
1. Solo diving is a highly personal decision which, in my opinion, can only
be made by the diver contemplating it.  It's almost one of those things
where if you have to ask, you're not ready.
2. What it takes to solo dive safely is very, very condition dependent.
What you might do on one site, depth, current, whatever, you won't do on
another again, for reasons thare are very personal and unique to you.
3. I'm not real comfortable with any certification agency that has spent 40
years preaching that buddy diving is the only way, setting themselves up as
qualified to certify those who have been sucessfully diving solo for years.
Note, I'm not talking about instructors here but the agencies themselves.
An instructor who is competent and comfortable solo probably has a lot to
share with someone who is considering diving this way too.  On the other
hand, most that I know well happy to share the knowledge they have but would
not be comfortable certifying someone as ready for solo diving.

FWIW, the first agency I saw this from was TDI/SDI.  If my TDI nitrox course
was any indication, I can't think of any agency I'd trust less for such a
certification.  Hopefully, it wasn't.  It was the fastest, least in depth
course of any kind I've ever experienced.  Things are not made better by
Brett Gilliam's somewhat disturbing articles in recent dive magazines.  At
best, he's showing himself to be a poor communicator.

Lee