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Most divers know that John Prescott was a diver, though lately they have not exactly been spreading the word about it. All felt greatly relieved that the big buckle given to him by gambling bosses was apparently for his weightbelt.
For a moment, however, it seemed that far more worrying news was coming in. For it was whispered to me in great confidence that Blair is a diver, too.
Now we all know that Tony B, in the days when he was an active PM, used to take many of his holidays at Sharm el Sheikh in the Red Sea, but there was never any suggestion that he actually dived there.
Beachcomber was pondering this new threat to diving's good image when his top Egyptian Leak texted a cancel message: "Not T Blair u no this I Blair top cop".
And so all divers can breathe a sigh of relief. The red-top stories that were about to emerge about Blair taking a two-week diving holiday referred to controversial Met Police chief Sir Ian Blair.
But whether this is a good or bad thing for the future of diving depends on whether you handed in your diving knife in the recent knife amnesty...
While on the subject of the good name of diving, Beachcomber has received a nice email from one of those RAF team-members responsible for replacing the British Legion Remembrance poppy that had been stolen from the wreck of the Thistlegorm, sunk in the Red Sea by a German bomber in 1941.
Sadly, although he and the other divers thanked Beachcomber for his support, they regretted to report that the new poppy had already disappeared. Whether this was due to fast-flowing current or some unfeeling diver removing it, we don't know.
The RAF team is not admitting defeat, however, and another replacement poppy is on its way to Sharm.
Those who care about diving's good name should make sure it remains untouched.
Beachcomber had just put down one of the many American magazines that carry diving features when one of his veteran Leaks made an outrageous comment about US divers.
"They're all soft," he alleged, "and by the looks of the number of British divers who go for warmwater diving, we're heading the same way!"
When questioned about what led him to this conclusion, he said that you had only to look at the advertisements for British diving in US magazines to see what he meant.
Beachcomber found himself a little confused, and pointed out that there were very few, if any, ads for British diving holidays in the American travel press.
"Exactly," said the veteran Leak, "it's too tough for them. Wonderful wrecks and marine life, but the water can be chilly and the vis is often not that hot."
Beachcomber made some excuse and left. Is my old Leak right? Or is it the fault of the travel companies across the Atlantic for failing to promote the best of British diving to their clients?
I decided to investigate, but a long and desperate search through the magazines produced in the States turned up one small advert for diving UK - and that was for the Scilly Isles.
Of course, we all know that the Scilly Isles are superb for divers, especially for devoted wreck-hunters.
So we should congratulate the Scillonian man or woman who managed to break through the barrier to British diving that somehow seems to have been erected in the US diving press.
Last month, one of my top warmwater Leaks told of a miscreant diver who long ago had carved his name on a brain coral.
The carver delighted in telling people that his name would grow larger and larger as the coral grew, until that particular reef would be forever known as his reef.
All right-thinking divers were much angered about this at the time but, as the years went by, it seemed to be forgotten.
My Leak of days gone by told me that only recently he had found himself within an easy RIB trip of that damaged reef. Much to his delight, when he visited the location the huge brain bore no sign of the carved name. The coral had swallowed it up.
The Leak asked me to track down the carver and tell him that his stupid actions had come to nothing.
I would have liked to have done so, but he died some years ago. And there, it seemed, the matter ended.
Sad to say, it was not quite over. Another of my Leaks in tropical waters told me that much more recently he caught a diver doing the same thing.
So much for my belief that divers of today are much more protective of marine life than those of years ago. But this diver did not benefit from seeing the mature results of his handiwork, either.
According to my Leak, the protection of corals in those waters was taken very seriously and the carver had found himself deported from the nearest airstrip within two days.
He was told that if he ever returned, he would be in prison for the next 10 years. Let that be a warning...
Will all UK dive holiday operators who list their affiliations with PADI in their glossy brochures kindly take another close look at those publications.
If, when you turn to page 29, you find yourself looking at diving in Turkey, you may well be the one I'm talking about.
Now ask yourself if you and PADI really want to be seen to advertise turtle surfing.
Of course you don't - so why not get rid of that picture of a diver hitching a ride by clinging for dear life onto a turtle's carapace from your brochure.
Otherwise divers may get the wrong idea about the kind of diving holidays you are selling them.
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