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The liveliest letters from the DIVER mailbag...
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Living in Scandinavia at present, it's difficult to get anywhere, and Hurghada via Copenhagen and Cairo was no exception, but our appetites had been thoroughly whetted by an article in Diver two years ago about cruising around the area of St Johns, where big fish and sharks abound.
The travel agent promised us as much and a boat built for the purpose. The reality was a filthy boat which looked about 30 years old, with only one operating engine. Not a shark did we see.
I have lost count of how often we had read about the "superb diving/ unlimited visibility/year-round summer weather" of the Cayman islands, so following our disappointment in Egypt we decided, despite the extreme cost, to go there.
During our two-week stay we experienced six days of "the North-westerlies", a phenomenon that visits during three months of the year but which the tourist board chooses not to mention in its literature.
During those days even paddling was impossible and the water conditions on the days following were turbid, with hardly a fish to be seen. I received no reply to my letter to the director of the tourist board and when I phoned her London colleague was told that the weather was beyond their control. Perhaps, but it should have been less economical with the truth!
Pockets still smarting, we decided that a leisurely cruise in the Med this September couldn't go wrong. The operator outlined a seven-night trip along the Turkish coast from A to B and back again. What we got was a six-night potter around Fethiye, frequently bumping into the dayboats of a competitor!
What are we doing wrong? How is it that we seldom get the holiday we have paid for? We always book with what are said to be reputable travel operators. If diving is the fastest-growing leisure activity, presumably they feel they can do as they please - so must we accept more of the same in the future?
Thank you for a good-quality publication with superb photography.
J Latham
Comment: Don't give up - you must have had your share of ill-fortune by now! Perhaps some of the ideas in this month's Holiday Guide will appeal to you and provide a diving experience to savour at last.
I greatly enjoyed John Bantin's How Cool Is That? (November). Diving in the Bahamas is indeed seriously cool.
His comments concerning Bahamasair are fully justified. I have used it several times in recent years and been disappointed on every occasion. On a recent trip taking in Eleuthera and San Salvador, I found that its connections between Nassau and Eleuthera had been discontinued. Result: the best part of a day each way stuck in a departure lounge at Nassau airport.
It is true that Bahamasair staff are surly and rude, but this is just an exaggerated example of the split personality of the islands.
On the out islands, the locals are exceedingly kind and gracious to tourists, will refuse to accept tips and you can go anywhere without any sense of threat or violence. In contrast, the "big city" of Nassau has a sleazy underside, including drug-dealing, violence and theft from tourists.
If you wish to dive in the Bahamas, there is no need to go to the expense of direct flights to Nassau. American Airlines and Continental fly direct to many of the islands from Fort Lauderdale, a 40 minute/$50 taxi ride from Miami International Airport. If you choose to fly to Miami and stay in Fort Lauderdale after your transatlantic journey, you will find a much nicer hotel than you would staying overnight in Nassau.
Some dive operations run their own hotel charters from Fort Lauderdale.
It would be quite economical for a group to charter its own flights from one of the many small charter operations working between the islands, though these small aircraft are usually older than the oldest passenger!
In fairness to Bahamasair, I suspect that some of its current problems have arisen as a result of the implosion of tourism to the area after 9/11.
When we were in the Bahamas in July, the place was bereft of tourists. We had a really laid-back time with excellent uncrowded wall dives and really good company.
On our very first dive in San Salvador we saw hammerhead sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, turtles and a female dolphin with baby.
How cool is that? Now might be just the time to try the Bahamian experience.
Alan B Sim, Weymouth
In answer to Anna Sims' letter (Skippers Can't Dodge Responsibility, November), it appears that the lady has confused a number of issues into one polemic against the recreational diving trade in general and diveboat skippers in particular.
The duty of care is commonplace in modern life and well understood by most skippers.
I plan, brief and accept responsibility for getting divers into and out of the water and anything which involves their interface with the boat. I have neither responsibility for, nor control over, the conduct of diving operations. The diving supervisor/marshal has that.
Where a skipper provides specific diving services such as equipment hire or supply of breathing gas, he is responsible under the Merchant Shipping Act and to the HSE for the quality of those services. You can only be responsible for that which you control.
The suggestion that a skipper will omit maintenance to maximise profits or deliberately withhold information is perverse. For most skippers their major asset is their boat, which frequently has a value of well over £100,000. Not to maintain it properly would be commercial folly and contrary to its certification.
Perhaps Ms Sims is thinking of the unlicensed and illegal operators with whom some divers go to sea because it is cheaper. In that case divers and other passengers are likely to be exposed, because the vessel cannot have valid liability insurance in place (warranty of legality).
Diving sites are normally chosen by the divers. They are always chosen in consultation with the skipper, who always has the last word on whether a dive proceeds in the prevailing conditions.
With regard to recall signals, I keep three Mk 8 military thunderflashes in a container in the wheelhouse. The detonation of one of these, when weighted and dropped (not thrown) into the water, is clear and unmistakable. Divers are briefed that this is the recall signal.
In-date items are readily obtainable and no licence is required for their possession or deployment. Divers can, if they wish and for the cost of a replacement item (£3.85), have a demonstration at the end of their drift dive. I use them in anger about once a year.
In the penultimate paragraph of Ms Sims' letter we come to the heart of the matter. She says that skippers "should hold adequate liability insurance" which, it must be noted, is what she sells. I can do no better than requote the comment of the HSE inspector in the same issue, that liability insurance "can only help you if you stay within the industry codes of practice".
Mike Snelling, Skipper Girl Gray, Brighton
In response to the letter What Price Air? (November), my BSAC club carried out costings of its compressor running/servicing/air filter change and found it necessary to charge members £2 a fill.
Add to this a retailer's profit margin and the dreaded VAT man, who takes 52p from retailers, and it is not too surprising that fills are costing £3. So stop whingeing, Terry.
Perhaps those on the coast wish to attract trade by offering loss leaders, or else their annual throughput is lower than city dive shops, but it is doubtful that they are cutting costs by cutting corners.
Bob Bryant, Severnside SAC, Bristol
I saw the review of my book Silent Symphony (On Getting There First, August 2001). I completely support the right for you and/or your contributors to say what you think, but it appears that Gavin Parsons never read it.
For example, Gavin critiques that some of the images are quite common. It was intentional to start the book with "easier" and "more common" images and work toward the less common, more difficult and rare. This dovetails with the text and underscores the theme of the book.
Gavin states that the images are not original, as David Doubilet's are. Oddly enough, David Doubilet sought me out to get a copy of the book and to ask detailed questions about where and how I took many of the pictures, precisely because he found the images to be original. I'm sure this hasn't happened to Gavin.
Amusingly enough, Gavin demonstrates that he didn't read the book, first by not referring to the text or storyline that ties it together, and second by identifying us as Japanese. The names "Wu" and "Tan" are about as Chinese as you get, but I guess we're all the same to Gavin.
Tony Wu, Singapore
Gavin Parsons comments: I apologise whole-heartedly for saying that the authors were Japanese. I meant to convey that the book would do well in Japan, which has so many affluent divers.
I reviewed the book from the point of view of a diver with hard-earned money to spend on a glossy, photographically rich publication, and said that many of the pictures were brilliant, some stunning. I still maintain that the other books I cited are more original in photographic content and so more appealing to the layman.
I did read the text and it does tie the photographs together, but with limited space for the review, I focused on the images. As a work of art Silent Symphony deserves accolades, but as a commercial project in the UK, I don't think it will work. Perhaps I am wrong - it's only my opinion.
Before people continue to blow off steam about the raising of the HL Hunley (Why Bother To Raise The Hunley?, September 2002 and Sympathy Over Civil War Sub, December 2002), they should get their facts straight.
I sat through a very interesting session on the excavation and scientific study of this famed Confederate submarine at the annual Society for Historical Archaeology conference in Mobile, Alabama last January.
Being familiar with the raising, study and curation of the Mary Rose, I can see little difference between the two cases.
Work on the HL Hunley is producing a great deal of new information (despite her relatively recent age) about the engineering of this first successful "attack sub" and the composition of her crew.
Those studying the Hunley are, for the most part, academics from the University of Charleston and the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthroplogy, and their work is already producing useful scholarly artricles and will culminate in an important monograph.
The submarine is being conserved for public display and the reinterment of her crew in Charleston will be a national event of great ceremony later this year.
In all of this I am merely an observer, but I feel it my duty to point out that this project has been ill-served by the television documentary in question, and by the comments on these pages of Mr Thorn and Dr Martin.
Dr Kevin C MacDonald, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Archaeology, London
I read International Divers of Mystery (October 2002) and was very surprised to see Portugal included. I'm a Portuguese diver and international magazines like Diver don't say much about diving in my country.
Sofia Santos Mooney talked about some good diving spots, but missed a few very interesting and good ones, such as Pedra do Barril, near Tavira in Algarve, a rock dive where a diver can see, among other marine life, plenty of coral. Also not to be missed are Berlenga, Farilhies and Estelas islands near Peniche, a small fishing village about 60 miles north of Lisbon.
She mentioned that the U1277 U-boat at Oporto can be very difficult to dive. I cannot agree, because it lies in 30m and is an easy and very pleasant dive. I have dived it more than 70 times. The problem is that this is the open Atlantic, and we dive in these waters only from May to October. This U-boat is one of a dozen wrecks sunk in Oporto waters and suitable for all levels, from beginner to trimix diver.
It's true that most divers from the north of Portugal usually dive in northern Spain, partly because schools in Vigo or Grove are good and cheap for a class of students or club-members. I believe that these Spanish dive centres make more money from Portuguese divers than from locals. They dive in estuaries where the water is shallow, calm and clear almost all year round, but these cannot compare to Portuguese sites in open sea with very rich marine life.
Finally, we have one of the greatest dive sites in the world, the amazing Azores islands.
Luis Mota, Oporto, Portugal
I have noticed that many divers are using an integrated alternative air supply which comes with their inflation hose on the left side. It seems a great idea, to get rid of the octopus. I recently purchased the Oceanic XS 2 but find I cannot keep it in my mouth, even biting as hard as I can, without using my left hand to hold it there.
I have tried to shorten it but have not found a solution. Other divers seem to have the same problem with similar products by Scubapro and Tusa.
I know this is a product for use in an emergency, but divers should know that they may have to use one hand just to keep it in place while the other hand may be holding their buddy. This seems risky.
I hope that you will review these products and address this issue. Does the typical diver have to use one hand to keep the alternative air supply in his/her mouth, especially when moving the head from left to right?
Jake, New York City , USA
Following a recent holiday to the Maldives, I want to forewarn Open Water Divers of an issue that can have profound effects on their safety, and potentially expose them to great expense.
The dive guides may be confident, friendly and generate an enthusiastic mood on the boat before a dive, but the problem arises when they announce that the maximum depth may be around 24m or more.
Peer pressure suddenly comes in. I am qualified only to 18m, so do I refuse and look foolish, or go with the flow, knowing the dive is beyond my training level. Often it's the latter: you're at the site and a few more metres won't hurt.
But what if you then become the victim in an emergency situation and need costly treatment? Will the insurance company cough up? No. Insurance is based on good faith; you must declare all known risks that may affect a policy.
You must either dive within your limits of training or advise your insurer that you wish to dive beyond them. The former is usually the most economic option and a great deal safer.
Steve Smith, Southsea, Hants
I am a PADI Advanced Diver and recently returned from my second Red Sea holiday. The dive centre was professional and well-organised.
However, on our boat was a mix of PADI divers at different levels and I was shocked that the divemaster allowed some who had just completed the Open Water course on holiday to dive to 30m.
One young man was to do a drift dive along a wall at that depth, and just before he jumped in from the moving boat his tank fell out of his BC.
Luckily this was spotted and corrected, but he still took the long stride into the water.
A number of insurance companies have told me that if something went wrong and the diver exceeded his or her dive limits (OWD 18m, AOWD 30m), it would not pay out.
We all use or should use dive computers which log our dives, and the first thing an insurer would request is the computer log if available.
Paul Byrne, St Helier, Jersey
Being new to diving, the subject that holds most interest is training. It makes sense that all training should be standardised, so that novices like myself have some form of stability. So some of the letters you have published over the past year have confused me a little.
Do experienced divers forget that we "inexperienced and easily led" divers read Diver, when they comment on confusing issues such as "solo-diving" and "wearing your kit as you feel fit"?
I can see that buddy checks serve to establish safety and locate equipment should it be needed, but is this always done? I have notched up 35 dives, mainly abroad, and in most cases such checks have been ignored.
If we all dive in the same format, if and when problems occur we will at least be able to locate the octopus. Having to search for it, because of a diver "doing it his way", could be a search too long. So I would call for the kind of diving that keeps us all safe - standardised diving. And long may training be the order of the day.
Mark Hartley, Doncaster
In his letter In A Perfect World (September), Philip Pope states that we divers should police ourselves. In that case we may as well throw our qualifications away and dive wherever and whenever we like. People such as PADI instructors who make a living from diving would go bankrupt, as we would no longer bother to do speciality courses such as wreck-penetration or cave-diving.
On a recent trip to the Bahamas I dived with Stuart Cove, which runs 15 hardboats, and every qualification was checked. For the rest of my two-week holiday I dived with the smaller Dive Dive Dive, and even though one of the receptionists was English and chatted to me regularly about the old country, she still greeted me every day with: "Hello, Mr Scullion, how are you, dive card please."
If American dive companies can check every diver's qualifications, why can't we do it here?
Mike Scullion, Mansfield
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