Ginnie Enforces CCR Cave

Apparently, Ginnie is going to enforce the CCR Cave Certification now. I was there today and they asked to see my CCR Cave card, and would not let me dive the breather in the cave without it. One of the young kids that work there was being a stickler about this and when myself and another rebreather instructor asked him who started this and when, he stated that the manager wanted this rule to be effective pronto.

LOOKS LIKE IT'S TIME FOR ME TO PURCHASE A NEW BOAT AS WELL!:mad:

P.S. Rich, mind if I borrow yours Wed. night.:-D

See posts in TDS....

Dive safe,

Celia

just get a boat and go for it! OC cave + ccr = ccr cave in most cases!
have a nice day at stroke "pit"

I may just have to scratch Gennie from my list. I designed my system and have been diving it for 7 years and they are telling me I can't dive it?

I noticed it on their sign in waiver, but didn't broadcast that I was diving it, just dove it. The scuba nazis must have been off duty that weekend.

Dale

If they are going to tighten up on things like this I wish they would enforce some of their general rules. I was there on Saturday and there were people jumping off of the railing next to the sign that says "No jumping off the railing". I was almost hit twice. Imagine someone cannonballing a $10k Meg at the start of the dive. Also, there were so many people crowding the stairs, that's signed for divers, that I had no room to get to the side of the stairs to clip off bottles before exiting.

I don't mind too much the $22 entrance fee but it seems like all I am doing is paying $22 for a parking space. I'm definitely not diving there on a summer weekend again.

Mark

Guys, see the thread in TDS, it is all a big miscommunication between the management and the summer hires that hear what they want to hear.

You only have to show proof of training in the rebreather you intend to dive and your full cave card, that is all.

Hopefully it will be put in writing and posted clearly by the front desk so the iddie summer hires can refer to it and stop screwing up.

Dive safe,

Celia

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amphipod06

Guys, see the thread in TDS, it is all a big miscommunication between the management and the summer hires that hear what they want to hear.

You only have to show proof of training in the rebreather you intend to dive and your full cave card, that is all.

Hopefully it will be put in writing and posted clearly by the front desk so the iddie summer hires can refer to it and stop screwing up.

Dive safe,

Celia

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Celia, I must say that I don't feel that the front desk employees deserve so much grief. Management has been divided on this issue, and park staff has been enforcing whatever they feel like no matter what managers tell them, some days. (by that, I mean the staff up by Devil's.) And those of us at hte front desk don't get any say in how much Ginnie prefers to take money from the campers and tubers than from the divers. Ginnie management is the one who deserves to be criticised for policy matters like this. If it was merely an employee making a mistake, that is one thing, but when I have asked management in the past about this issue, I have been given answers different than some coworkers who asked. They are finally resolving this issue. But the problem has not been due to the guys at the front counter. It's a problem of miscommunication in management primarily.

Ginnie won't ever post the rule anywhere....but if you look around you'll see they've posted up more, stricter rules for us "kiddie employees" to follow......

I wrote a longer version explaining how messed up this has been, from an employees standpoint, in the TDS thread. No one is more annoyed at Ginnie management for rules and policy enforcement than myself and Marchand, and one of the managers, Jen.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amphipod06

Guys, see the thread in TDS, it is all a big miscommunication between the management and the summer hires that hear what they want to hear.

You only have to show proof of training in the rebreather you intend to dive and your full cave card, that is all.

Hopefully it will be put in writing and posted clearly by the front desk so the iddie summer hires can refer to it and stop screwing up.

Dive safe,

Celia

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Celia,
I have been talking with one of the long time employees there and he told me that it was Rose's intention to enforce this rule. It may not be a misunderstanding at this point. I intend to call Rose this morning and talk to her personally.

Keep us informed about that conversation. If I am 'required' to do a specific CCR cave course just to dive Ginnie, I hope Ginnie will either refund course fees/annual pass fee or grandfather me in. At this point in time we are allowed to dive there with cave and CCR certs, changing the requirements afterwards would warrant an allowance for current users.

What will Ginnie's stance be on a homebuilt CCR unit? :smt102

Can't take a course from anyone when you design your own....

Imagine that. a former cave instructor enforcing rules!

I truly think this is a misunderstanding. Never had a problem after showing a full cave and ccr cert. Would love to hear how this pans out as I am planning to be up there at the end of the week.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tegg

What will Ginnie's stance be on a homebuilt CCR unit? :smt102

Can't take a course from anyone when you design your own....

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Write a user manual and a training guide and self-certify. Charge yourself $1500, make a Photo ID card with a picture of the unit on the back and have some golf shirts made up with a logo over the pocket. While your signing in ask the kid behind the counter the last time they had the spring tested for DHMO (Dihydrogen Monoxide) and what the level is.

I forgot to include the link about DHMO
http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

When I renewed my annual pass I was told all I have to do is show full cave and a ccr certification. When I qualified on CCR there was no CCR cave cert. Some of my training for trimix CCR was done with Tom Mount, at Ginnie. So now I have to go buy another card? BS

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Originally Posted by cavemark

While your signing in ask the kid behind the counter the last time they had the spring tested for DHMO (Dihydrogen Monoxide) and what the level is.

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Priceless!

Has anyone actually talked to Rose about this. Appears to be angst over something without any official response from Rose. I have found her to be very helpful. There was a question posted once about annual passes and lots of speculation, so I just picked up the phone and she was very helpful.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tegg

What will Ginnie's stance be on a homebuilt CCR unit? :smt102

Can't take a course from anyone when you design your own....

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That can be a big problem for me. I designed mine back in the dark ages and the majority of dives in all venues have been MCCR since about 2001.

Does one actually think I would pay money to take a MCCR course on a non existant make and model?

I probably have more dives/hours on my unit than most instructors have on theirs!!


Dale

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BillBowden

When I renewed my annual pass I was told all I have to do is show full cave and a ccr certification. When I qualified on CCR there was no CCR cave cert. Some of my training for trimix CCR was done with Tom Mount, at Ginnie. So now I have to go buy another card? BS

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I believe we have already had it pointed out that your first sentence is correct and your last sentence is not ;)

Please do call Rose and ask her to make an official ruling on this matter. Please stop lambasting the Ginnie employees, because a few of us really do care and really do work hard for divers. We aren't all bad, though I do know atleast three who would seriously not know what dihydrogen monoxide is........

But we employees would appreciate it if cave divers would ask politely for clarification on this issue.

Please also realise that just because Rose makes an official ruling doesn't mean that our grounds crew at Devil's will follow it. They have a history of not always listening to what management tells them, and of enforcing the rules as they see fit. If this happens, call the shop and ask to speak to Rose.... Rose cares, she's just busy. An official ruling would be nice, so please do call and ask, but do it politely and don't be jerks to her, ok? ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JahJahwarrior

Celia, I must say that I don't feel that the front desk employees deserve so much grief. Management has been divided on this issue, and park staff has been enforcing whatever they feel like no matter what managers tell them, some days. (by that, I mean the staff up by Devil's.) And those of us at hte front desk don't get any say in how much Ginnie prefers to take money from the campers and tubers than from the divers. Ginnie management is the one who deserves to be criticised for policy matters like this. If it was merely an employee making a mistake, that is one thing, but when I have asked management in the past about this issue, I have been given answers different than some coworkers who asked. They are finally resolving this issue. But the problem has not been due to the guys at the front counter. It's a problem of miscommunication in management primarily.

Ginnie won't ever post the rule anywhere....but if you look around you'll see they've posted up more, stricter rules for us "kiddie employees" to follow......

I wrote a longer version explaining how messed up this has been, from an employees standpoint, in the TDS thread. No one is more annoyed at Ginnie management for rules and policy enforcement than myself and Marchand, and one of the managers, Jen.

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Not giving the kiddies grief, in fact we have been very polite. You must admit that it is frustrating for both, employees and RB diving customers.

BTW, it's probably not a good idea to be talking in a negative light about your employer in a public forum (I am sure you have heard that before) even if they are wrong...

Dive safe and don't take it personally. We are just trying to clarify the whole thing, seems to change with the moon phases or something.

Celia

Quote:

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Originally Posted by contender

Celia,
I have been talking with one of the long time employees there and he told me that it was Rose's intention to enforce this rule. It may not be a misunderstanding at this point. I intend to call Rose this morning and talk to her personally.

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Keep us posted, if that is so then she must have changed her mind (or someone with an agenda did...)

Dive safe,

Celia

PS Guess it may be time to spend my money elsewhere (and no crowds...)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amphipod06

Keep us posted, if that is so then she must have changed her mind (or someone with an agenda did...)

Dive safe,

Celia

PS Guess it may be time to spend my money elsewhere (and no crowds...)

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Will do, Rose had the day off so I will talk to her in the A.M. hopefully.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amphipod06

Not giving the kiddies grief, in fact we have been very polite. You must admit that it is frustrating for both, employees and RB diving customers.

BTW, it's probably not a good idea to be talking in a negative light about your employer in a public forum (I am sure you have heard that before) even if they are wrong...

Dive safe and don't take it personally. We are just trying to clarify the whole thing, seems to change with the moon phases or something.

Celia

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I admit it is frustrating, but given the fact that I am only 19, I am one of the kiddies at the front counter ;)

I don't intend to be talking about them in a negative light. I intend to be truthful and somewhat candid. I will be the first to tell you that Rose will go to great lengths to resolve this matter and make it clear what the rules are. I will also be the first to tell you that Ginnie sometimes takes a while to do things because the lines of communication and authority are sometimes not very clear. I love Ginnie, and would never slander them on a public forum, especially considering they are my employer. However, I have no problem joking around about the fact that there have been some mishaps with communication about this issue at Ginnie. I do see that sometimes the humor in my tone can be lost an internet forum, since I'm using Times New Roman font and not Comic Sans ;) Please don't get me wrong, I'm trying to be lighthearded and offer a slightly funny insiders' view of how this and other issues are playing out/have played out. It can be a mess trying to get things accomplished, and that's trust of any business, and I don't mean it to be any sharp criticism of Ginnie Springs, which is, quite honestly, a great place to work. I enjoy my job, but I enjoy it best when everyone--customers, employees and management alike, are happy and arrived at a good solution. Didn't mean to put my employer in a negative light, I was just trying to shine a different light on this so you could all see that Rose is up to her neck in things that need to be done and she's doing them all as fast as she can :) While she gets the place back up to speed and working like the well oiled machine it can be, some things have not been communicated well, and that's not a negative thing, just a thing. It's a side effect of improvement, and I did not meant it to sound like any great criticism: I love my employer and my employer loves to make things run smoothly for cave divers!

Rose should be working all day on Tuesday. I know the manager today was looking forwards to a few days off :)

Pretty soon they are going to want stage and sidemount certs too!!

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Originally Posted by marinediver

Pretty soon they are going to want stage and sidemount certs too!!

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Chris, please don't give them ideas !

Just got off the phone with Rose and she is not going to require you to have a CCR Cave card to dive the rebreather in the cave:grin:. However, you must have full cave and a ccr card to use it. Dive Safe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by amphipod06

BTW, it's probably not a good idea to be talking in a negative light about your employer in a public forum (I am sure you have heard that before) even if they are wrong...

Celia

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The best advice in this thread.

Sorry, didn't mean to dis Ginnie staff. They have always been polite and tried to be helpful. The crew does an excellent job of maintaining and manageing the park. My frustration is too many instructors, chasing a limited number of students. Thus the need to create new "required" certifications. Yes, I am aware of the liability issues.

Thanks again for doing a great (underpaid and underapprediated) job.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by contender

Just got off the phone with Rose and she is not going to require you to have a CCR Cave card to dive the rebreather in the cave:grin:. However, you must have full cave and a ccr card to use it. Dive Safe.

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In that case, they will have to issue the annual pass holders new cards that say rebreather as well as DPV. One reason I get the pass is that I only have to show it and I'm in.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by contender

Just got off the phone with Rose and she is not going to require you to have a CCR Cave card to dive the rebreather in the cave:grin:. However, you must have full cave and a ccr card to use it. Dive Safe.

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That's pretty much what she told us about a month ago. I hope that everyone in the staff gets the word and there are no more issues about cards....

Thanks for taking the time to clarify policies and hopefully get them published somewhere...

Dive safe,

Celia

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jpdiver

In that case, they will have to issue the annual pass holders new cards that say rebreather as well as DPV. One reason I get the pass is that I only have to show it and I'm in.

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They just put "DPV" sticker on it if you get a DPV card while already owning annual pass.

rose was my full cave instructor and i have great respect for her and the job she is doing

Quote:

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Originally Posted by contender

Just got off the phone with Rose and she is not going to require you to have a CCR Cave card to dive the rebreather in the cave:grin:. However, you must have full cave and a ccr card to use it. Dive Safe.

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Will SCR use be similarly controlled?

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Originally Posted by JahJahwarrior

dihydrogen monoxide

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Are they still finding that stuff in the springs?:mad::mad::mad:

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Originally Posted by Oister

Are they still finding that stuff in the springs?:mad::mad::mad:

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Infact, it was the spike in dihydrogen monoxide levels two or so months back that prevented many cave divers from entering popular cave systems in the south here...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JahJahwarrior

Infact, it was the spike in dihydrogen monoxide levels two or so months back that prevented many cave divers from entering popular cave systems in the south here...

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That is horrible! Something has to be done.