Posted by The Bitter End on February 07, 2005 at 10:00:41:
In Reply to: Dan expected to be picked up after the dive posted by northcoast diver on February 05, 2005 at 13:25:11:
Dan should not have even been on that trip to begin with. Oil rig diving is advanced no matter how flat or still the water is. Dan was also expected to follow the rules of diving oil rigs and at least have a mitigative attitude in his own rescue. It was not the boat and DM's fault he screwed up to begin with. It was the boat and DM's fault they didn't report him missing until after the next dive site.
Crazy as it may sound, but I heard talk from a West Los Angeles producer friend of mine the very next day after Dan went on his fist TV show, that his studio suspected the Dan may have realized there was to be money in his situation and was taking advantage of it. With that in mind, he therefor acted less than focused in his eventual rescue. The dive boat and DM are guilty of reporting him missing late. The shop is guilty for even letting him on the trip to begin with. Dan is guilty of being too lazy to facilitate his own rescue my mitigating his situation. I'd say it's a 1/3 by 1/3 by 1/3 distrubution of the overall responsibility for Dan getting loss, with perhaps a slight add of 1 or 2 points to Dan for even trying the dive since he is the only real person responsible for his own safety at any give time on the boat, or in the water.
What's going to screw it up for all of us is when the govt tries to regulate the local scuba industry in order to prevent this Do-Do Dan thing from happening again. This is all thanks to one diver who shouldn't have been on that dive to begin with trying to make some high bucks. With the money he's awarded and collects, I hope he plans on buying his own boat to dive from because I doubt any shop or charter companies will ever allow him on their trips again. Going forth with the litigation for the reason of preventing others from finding themselves in a similar situation indeed! That's horse-crap.
Thank you Dan for screwing up the future of our diving freedom here in Californina, you are really saving us and are a God send to the industy and customers.