There are reasons I'm glad that I am not a dive boat captain, and no longer an Instructor or Divemaster.

I dont know for sure, but I it is only my opinion, (yes opinion, after all isn't what this free speech forum is about after all?) but I suspect that now the owner / captains / divemasters that were present that sad day at San Clemente
when the recent diver death occured, that some of these folks may have to expend efforts to defend their actions and decisions made that terrible day.

Some wil have to complete forms, answer calls from attorneys, make statements, perhaps be summoned to a hearing, perhaps pay funds out of their pocket in legal defense fees, some might even see their insurance rates increased.

And I wonder: What did they do to deserve all this?

What they did was allow a very fine person the following freedoms that tragic day:

The personal freedom to purchase a dive trip on a boat that they simply charted.

To board their boat and participate in a sport that has some known risks,

To exercise the personal choice to jump into the water or not,

To exercise the personal choice to dive with a type of gear that they wanted to dive with,

And to decide for themselves to dive solo or not.

Over my past 30 years of diving, here are some things I always try to remember every time that I go diving:

1. That I freely choose to go diving, nobody made me do it. I do this for a hobby.

2. That I realize that every time I put my face in the water, that I am taking an increased risk, that I could die. Should I suffer a gear malfunction, I am only one breath away from death. Its called drowning.

3. That I am now middle age and no longer a perfect human specimen. That any day I could have a heart attack, and that if this happens while undewater, I'm dead.

4. That when I dive solo, that I do so at my own risk, and that they may never find my body.

5. That it is my personal and sole decision to take such risks, that it was my decision to put myself at risk. Nobody made me jump in the water.

6. That I freely decided to rank my hobby and my personal enjoyment as being more important to me than the pain and grief that I will cause my family sould something tragic happen to me.

7. That regarding he gear that I put on my back, the gas that I breath, it is my responsibility to determine what I think is safe. Not what someone told me was safe.

8. That most dive buddies are ill trained and ill experienced to correctly cope with helping me out in a real emergency. Having been a SCUBA instructor, I've learned just how difficult it is to rescue another diver. Most "buddies" are not capable of dealing with such emergencies.

9. That when I do rarely dive with a buddy, that I will not depend on them to be my lifesaver. They are there only to support my lies about the big "bug" that got away.

10. That sometimes the safest method / system / gear / dive profile is the most simplest. Increasing complexity = increased risk.

11. That it is for me to decide what is safe diving practices, how to dive, what methods to use, what slogans and acronyms to recite and chant prior to my dive.

12. It is my gear, I can wear it anyway that I like.

• Re: I'm glad that I don't own a dive boat. FARMHAND 20:43:54 09/21/06 (0)
• Amen! Walt 14:01:16 09/21/06 (0)
• Re: I'm glad that I don't own a dive boat. Mike T 13:57:48 09/21/06 (0)
• Re: I'm glad that I don't own a dive boat. msblucow 13:52:29 09/21/06 (0)