On Saturday, February 02, 2002 7:08 AM, David Hale wrote:

> My point is I don't want the "security" of having the
> dive shop hold onto my driver's license. I want the
> security of a dive operator making sure that the boat
> leaves a dive site with the same number of divers it
> left the dock with. This does require the crew to be
> able to count, or better, maintain a passenger check
> list.

> If the shop doesn't make sure that the licenses are
> returned to all of their customers, how do they tell
> the difference between a lost customer and a customer
> that just failed to get his/her license back? Are they
> going to start an SAR operation over a customer who
> drove off without getting their license? Yeah, right.

If people are booking a dive trip through a store, then it makes sense for
that store to have some paperwork on all of the passengers contact details.
In some respects, especially when the sites visited may be a little more
'advanced', it's in the operators best interests to have prospective
passengers complete a basic form listing contact details for the diver;
people to be notified in the event of an incident, and diving qualification
and certification details.

But as far as leaving ID documents of any kind with a store, forget it!  No
matter how well you know the staff there's always the possibility that, in a
busy shop, those documents may be *mislaid* or fall into the wrong hands!

And as far as ensuring that all passengers return safely, that documentation
is - at best - merely of secondary value.

David!  You're right!  The ONLY place to check that divers return safely is
on the boat itself before leaving a dive site.  Even there, the signing of a
log following the dive should always be complemented by a double-checked
head count - and a simple request of the passengers that they remain still
while that takes place. And I don't know of anyone who'd regard it as an
imposition to be asked to cast their eyes around the boat to see, even then,
if there are any noticable absences from among the passengers!  :-)

Strike