MarcLaukien

I recently contacted Cobalt Coast Dive Resort because I was interested in going to their Innerspace 2008 event. I was especially interested in diving my new Hammerhead CCR in the 200' range (Normoxic Trimix).

Unfortunately, this turned out to be more difficult than I thought.

As background, I'm certified by TDI for Normoxic Trimix for Open Circuit, and I hold an O2ptima Rebreather Diver certification from IANTD, as well as a Hammerhead CCR Rebreather Diver Level 2 certification from ANDI. (I'm also full cave certified, as well as all kinds of PADI certifications, but this is not relevant for this discussion.)

I have about 70 hours on the O2ptima, but only about 20 or so on the Hammerhead CCR (since I don't have it for very long).

I asked Cobalt whether I would be allowed to dive with Trimix with my Hammerhead CCR.

The first response was that this would be ok, provided that I have at least 50 hours logged on my Hammerhead CCR, and that I would do a shortened version of the CCR Trimix course, namely one confined water skills dive, 1/2 day of class, and two dives with a minimum of 150 minutes dive time.

Personally, I thought this would be a bit of an overkill, given that gas laws don't change simply because I'm diving a CCR now. The only difference is really the bailout procedures, which in my opinion doesn't need that much course work. Besides, I was diving Trimix on CCR before anyway, so I know the rules, I just don't have any special CCR Trimix card.

Nevertheless I agreed, since it can never hurt to brush up your skills, and the course length wasn't excessive.

However, I then explained that I have only about 20 hours on my Hammerhead CCR, since it's new, but that I already have about 70 hours on my O2ptima. I further explained that the emergency procedures between the two are essentially the same.

Furthermore, there was a miscommunication, i.e., Cobalt thought I would be full Trimix certified, but I'm only Normoxic Trimix certified (on Open Circuit).

With this information, Cobalt told me that I would first have to get 50 hours on the HH before I could do any Trimix diving (regardless of the number of hours I logged on the O2ptima before), and furthermore, that I would have to do a full one-week Normoxic Trimix CCR course.

Personally, I believe this doesn't make any sense whatsoever. How many certifications will dive resorts require? Every time I change the rebreather I need a new cert not only for the basics, but also for Trimix? Every time I change the rebreather, my logged hours are reset to zero? Everything I learned about gas laws in my prior Open Circuit Trimix course is now different somehow?

What is your opinion regarding this? Are these reasonable requirements, or is it certification madness? I believe it is the latter, and that we as a Rebreather community should try to convince training agencies or dive resorts to revise their rules.

In closing, please let me point out that I don't want to bash Cobalt or any other dive resort or agency in particular. On the contrary, the Cobalt staff was very friendly and responsive. However, I think an open discussion about this issue is necessary, which should ultimately benefit both the divers and the resorts or training agencies.