The liveliest letters from the Diver mailbag...

---

Why I like to stand out
Let me congratulate you on an excellent and informative magazine, which I greatly enjoy every month. I am new to UK diving, and it was Diver that drew my attention to the fact that I was not properly prepared for my first 'real' dive here.
Although I had good equipment, a trusted buddy and a very experienced skipper, I had overlooked the possibility that I might surface from the dive to discover that the boat was not there!
After reading the harrowing article about Rob Hadfield, who had almost certainly surfaced safely but been swept away by the current and was never recovered (What Happened To My Son?, September 1999), I took stock of the surface safety equipment with which I was about to chuck myself into the English Channel.
A whistle. Great - if the wind was blowing in the right direction! My suit and BC were mostly black, the tank was dull grey, and the only thing I had which stuck out of the water more than 15cm was my black-gloved hand.
Following a frantic call, my first-rate local dive shop sorted out for me at short notice a locator strobe/emergency torch, a bright orange delayed surface marker buoy and collapsible flag. It was unable to supply flares, which are apparently 'no longer used much by divers'.
If this is true it's a pity. Flares are of course dangerous in their own right, and require careful handling and storage, but they are the best way of being seen from a distance.
The dive went as planned, which was lucky for the other divers. Lots of dark colours and only one other whistle and strobe (my buddy's) in a boat of 10 of us. That was it, apart from a few DSMBs.
I now wear plenty of yellow but would still like to get some flares and find out if there are any laws relating to their safe storage. Can anyone help?
Will Stewart, Horley, Surrey

Editor's reply: It sounds as if you have a pretty good selection of emergency surface location devices already, Will. The Health & Safety Executive in its latest report on the subject advises against the use of 'pyrotechnics', because they are not designed for 'excursion under water'. They are expensive, inconvenient to transport and their reliability after long-term exposure in the sea is unknown, it concludes.

On the ale
Following John Bevan's article (Deep Breath, Stick to Drinking Beer, October 1998), I take it that nitrox divers will have to calculate an EBD - Equivalent Beer Depth!
Roger Mathison, Buchan Divers, Peterhead

No welcome at the pool
I have been diving for a number of years, having decided to take PADI's fast-track diving courses instead of a club-based education. I practise my skills whenever I can, especially when I can't dive in the sea, as I wish to pursue a career in dive instruction.
I recently started work at a swimming pool as an NPLQ lifeguard, a qualification I have held for more than 10 years, and was interested to hear about three different BSAC branches which use the pool and wanted to get to know the members.
My initial overtures received no response, so I moved to the full-on 'Hello, mate, I'm a diver too' approach, which was met with various nods and grunts. I then made the fatal mistake of mentioning that I was a PADI Dive Master candidate, at which point I was dismissed as an amateur.
Worse was to come. My colleagues at the pool told me that the group that met on the Friday night were great and that I should give them another go. I phoned the club chairman and asked if I could attend a pool session. He told me they did not have enough tanks that week but I was welcome to come for a snorkel. I thanked him and decided to bring my kit up from the coast for the next session, as I could then provide my own bottle.
When I called again to suggest this, I was told that the club's insurance would not cover me in the pool with my own equipment. I explained that I had my own insurance, but this still was not good enough.
I then said that I was an employee of the swimming pool and its insurance would cover me, but no. Even offering to join the BSAC did not seem to interest this guy. I was banging my head against a brick wall and decided that enough was enough.
If I can't dive in the pool with my certification, who can? How does the BSAC recruit new members? If you do run a try-dive, is anyone insured to do it? If the club doesn't have extra equipment for people to use, where will its new members come from?
I made every effort and was quite prepared to do any cross-over courses, but a club which does not encourage new membership is doomed to failure. I'm beginning to believe that the bad reputation the BSAC has earned itself is well deserved. I hope this is not the case, but I have talked to many other divers with stories similar to mine.
I believe that it is possible to dive safely and still have fun, or what's the point? I will now encourage potential divers to do PADI courses, as I believe this is a modern, forward-thinking organisation with a flexible approach to diver training and is the future of recreational diving, whereas the BSAC is increasingly becoming an anachronism.
Kevin Cavanagh, Deptford, London

Editor's reply: It's a depressing story, Kevin, though perhaps you shouldn't condemn the whole organisation because of one branch's attitude. Perhaps some more enlightened branches might care to step in?

Northern line
I live in Yorkshire and am amazed that there are no flights to Hurghada or Sharm el Sheikh from, say, Manchester Airport. With diving becoming more and more popular and holidays to these two destinations reasonably priced and with bearable flight times, why has nobody taken advantage of the opportunity of saving four hours on travelling to this area for divers from further north? I'm sure us tight Yorkies and Scots could fill a flight a week!
Tobias Farnell, Bradford

Near-surface cover
While booking a trip to the Caribbean I enquired about holiday insurance, and being a cautious type of bloke, mentioned that I intended to dive during my stay. 'No problem, sir!' replied the booking agent. 'You're covered right down to 9 metres!'
'At that depth I'd find it hard to get wet, let alone enjoy a dive!' I replied.
'If you need to go deeper, sir, you can purchase separate cover down to 35m for £25,' she said. I had already paid £34.50.
I'm not one of those divers for whom a good dive is one you spend with your nose in the sand at 50m-plus, but after more than 14 years' diving, I feel I should not be penalised for wishing to explore the full range of the widely agreed 'safe diving envelope for experienced recreational divers' . Had I not needed to have the policy details to hand, I would have gone elsewhere for cover.
No other sport seems to attract the penalties that diving does. I will be looking for suitable annual cover this year. Perhaps insurance agents should start handling holiday insurance like car insurance, taking into account age and experience and giving a discount for no claims.
If things continue, you might find a new type of shark lurking behind rocks at your local dive spot, complete with waterproof pen, insurance contracts and a sliding scale for the more adventurous type of diver!
Adrian Mansell, York BSAC, Rawcliffe, York

Shark reminder
I was perplexed by John Bantin's comment in his review of my Red Sea Sharks book (December 1999) that, in discussing a variety of diver/shark encounters, I was playing on our collective unspoken fear of sharks. I was discussing the safety aspects, and to ignore such details would be as irresponsible as publishing a book on closed-circuit diving that neglected its dangers.
The tiger shark is a man-eater (a statement qualified in the accompanying discussion from which it was baldly excised). Citing Bahamian shark wranglers who handle stressed, anoxic and bewildered tiger sharks that, in one James Bond film at least, cannot even swim properly, hardly invalidates it. One might as well discuss wild tigers with circus animal trainers!
Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch, London

Who says no one fails PADI courses?
I am a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver who qualified as an Open Water Diver in 1996, on holiday in Plakias, Crete. A fellow-trainee was failed at an early stage and an embarrassed Instructor had to explain that his swimming skills and fitness were not up to standard. So not everyone passes! (So Who Fails PADI Courses? Off-Gassing, December).
With PADI qualifications, you get out of the courses what you put in. I worked hard for my qualification, took it seriously and professionally and feel affronted when people belittle it.
I also get upset when I read of qualifications being awarded too easily. I only hope PADI's Quality Assurance managers worldwide are aggressively seeking to maintain standards.
Tom Wilton, Chesterfield

I was trained in the Dominican Republic by a Dutch instructor. The standard of instruction was very high and he spent a lot of extra time with my wife, who was a nervous diver. I was impressed enough to complete an Advanced Open Water course and to return six months later for some sport diving.
On my second trip I was buddied with another diver who was working up for his Rescue Diver qualification. He completed the theory side of the course, but was failed on the practical due to poor fitness. So at least in some parts PADI examiners are not afraid to fail people who do not make the grade.
Campbell Geddes

Making friends and influencing people
Steve French isn't the only one to wonder about standards of customer service for divers (Off-Gassing, November 1999). Problem aren't confined to shops.
My branch organised a week's diving with a well-known operator on the west coast of Scotland. We had booked to stay in self-catering chalets recently constructed close to the dive centre. Our warm welcome comprised a 16-point lecture stressing that everything was perfect, that the coat hangers were special ones we couldn't take with us and that we'd be charged for the slightest damage.
The shop was very well organised and stocked, and impressive until we spoke to the staff. 'What sort of DV do you use?' I was asked. 'Oh, Brand X? You should use Brand Y!'
Was I buying a DV? No. Did this attitude put me off buying anything? Absolutely.
And so it continued. Visits to the shop were rewarded with unsolicited lectures on how we should use this brand of fin, buy that book instead of the one we wanted, how such and such a brand was rubbish. The only exception was the hardboat skipper, who knew his stuff, did his job and treated us as grown-ups.
On the last day we went to the shop to return the chalet keys, having scrubbed everything spotless for fear of retribution. 'I'll just have to check the chalets,' said the woman, leaving us feeling like naughty schoolchildren outside the head's office.
Twenty minutes later we learnt that we'd stolen a spatula and chipped a cup - that would be £7.50. We suggested she check again. Ten minutes later - yes, the spatula is there, that'll be just £2.50 for the cup.
I thought she was joking - we'd spent more than £3000 on diving, accommodation, air and bits and bobs. No, £2.50 please, and I didn't even get the chipped cup as a souvenir. Will we go back there next year? What do you think?
Martin Greaves, Walthamstow, London

---

Appeared in DIVER - January 2000

---

We want to hear from you Write now to diving's brightest, most controversial letters section. There is £10 for the author of the lead letter each month. Address it to Diver, 55 High Street, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 8HA, fax 0181 943 4312 or e-mail editorial@divermag.co.uk. Please include your full name and home address.

Go to Beachcomber
Previous Letters

---

DIVERNET NAVIGATOR