Posted by Ken Kurtis@aol.com on May 03, 2004 at 14:29:20:
I find it ironic that during the week of Chamber Day/Eve, a week when dive captains donate their boats, DMs donate their time, and many divers donate their money, that some of the comments about the drifting diver incident from last week (as well as some private e-mails some of the principals have received) have started to take a personal and semi-nasty tone.
Let's be clear: Mistakes were definitely made. This is NOT the way the SoCal diving community, as a whole, does things. And boats, retailers, clubs, and other charterers are talking and working together (along with the Coast Guard) to make sure this is an anomaly. There are lessons to be learned here from the standpoint of the diver, from the standpoint of the buddy, from the standpoint of the DM, and the standpoint of the boat.
If nothing else, it should cause us as a diving community to remember that we should take nothing for granted when we jump in the water and a divers who is "ready to respond" is in a much better position to deal with whatever the circumstances are rather than a diver who assumes all will be okay. In the case of Dan the Drifting Diver, he did the right things and we're all very grateful (thank you Boy Scouts!!!) that this incident had the ending that it did.
It seems to me that after a week of discussion, the major points have been made. And perhaps during this week of Chamber Day/Eve we can turn out attention from finger-pointing and the blame game, to seeing how when we all work together for the common good, we can truly make this a better and safer place to dive.
Ken Kurtis
NAUI Instr. #5936
Co-owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverly Hills, CA