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The liveliest letters from the DIVER mailbag...
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Dealing with diving's outlaws
I think a fundamental point about diving safety is being overlooked within the industry - that people are still able to dive even if they have never been qualified by a recognised training agency.
Go into any dive shop in the UK and ask to purchase dive equipment. Will they ask to see your qualifications? Will they enquire about your abilities? No. Anyone is free to buy the equipment without the most fundamental of checks.
Dive shops will quite happily fill your cylinder with air without checking, even though they will do a check for nitrox fills, a case of double standards.
I know of one individual who was so frustrated that his training was taking too long that he ventured off to a famous inland dive-site on his own. He kitted up, strapped on the 16kg of lead that "someone had told me I needed", and jumped in off a platform into 6m of water with his BC deflated.
On hitting the bottom, without having cleared his ears, he then attempted to get back to the surface by inflating his BC. This didn't have enough lift, and he didn't want to ditch his weightbelt because he had just bought it.
Luckily for him the platform had a ladder, so he simply climbed out. This individual is now an instructor, and freely relates this story as a warning to others.
I had a student who bought all his gear before starting to learn to dive. I took him for his knowledge-development sessions while he was awaiting his medical, but when the doctor advised him not to dive, I gave him his fees back.
I saw the student two months later, at 30m at the same inland dive-site. Later I asked him how he had completed his course.
He admitted that he had never completed it, but said: "Who checks?" His "buddy" was horrified when he found out, and it appeared that the club he had joined was no wiser.
While I appreciate that selling diving products only to "qualified" divers would be very prescriptive, there is no excuse whatsoever for clubs, dive operators, dive sites and boat skippers who fail to check qualifications. Indeed, I believe they have a legal as well as a moral obligation to do so.
So while we are bashing training organisations for their supposed failure to police, let's not forget the other, better-placed "police".
Chris Kitson, Doncaster
Sheer buddy-mindedness
After reading your article on bad buddies (Reasons to Dive Solo, May), I would like to add my worst buddy to the list:
About five years ago, when I was a member of the SYSAC BSAC branch in Swansea, we were diving the Copper Wreck, three miles south of the city. It lies in about 40m and is so-called because of the copper ingots it was carrying.
I was buddied up with John. He had dived with my girlfriend previously and had worried her slightly when his computer had started beeping during a dive and he had asked her what it meant (it had just gone into deco).
With this in mind, with a dive plan decided on and kitted up I went through a full buddy check.
Clouds of anger closed in on John's face and he tersely went through the check. We then rolled into the water.
The Copper Wreck is always a good dive, normally pitch black but with reasonable viz. John "bounced" around the wreck and we returned to the line and started our ascent with a minute or two at 6m and five at 3m.
A number of divers were already decompressing on the line, and with the tide now running, their weight was pulling the top of it below our stop level. I indicated to John that we should detach and launch a delayed SMB, which we did.
So there we were, me holding position in the water at 3m and John going up and down between 2 and 6m, one minute right way up, the next upside-down. But afterwards, I felt the dive had been successful. We had returned safely to the boat and John's reputation was firmly intact.
Little did I know, until later that night, after John had told everyone who would listen in the bar, that he would never dive with me again because I had "made him do a buddy check".
The mag is as good as ever. I used to get it in the UK and continue to read it out here in NZ.
Iain Brice, New Zealand
Lobsters in a fair fight
While we all sympathise with Terry Maloney's grievances about a couple of divers taking two lobsters at Trevor Pier (Lowdown Lobby-Looters, Off-Gassing, May), maybe we should look at the broader picture.
1) Life and Death: Sea life should be considered within the full cycle of life, and then death. Lobsters are notorious cannibals and countless juveniles were probably gobbled up by those two. The divers who took them have allowed younger lobsters a safe haven.
2) Natural Selection: Lobsters have the upper hand. They can evade capture by out-swimming divers; employ claws with pressure-sensitive antennae and armour-plating with spines; and can give a nasty, bone-crushing nip. Well done to any diver who can outwit a lobster.
3) I hope the divers who took those lobsters didn't boil them alive. They should have used the following recipe:
Chop the lobster longitudinally in half and run fresh water over the innards. Place both halves in a pan shell-first. Pour oil to cover the base of the pan. Heat for five minutes with no lid, then turn over and repeat.
Add a handsome measure of brown rum and watch the children's faces light up as you flambˇ it! Add 3lb of steamed peeled tomatoes and two cloves of garlic. Simmer with lid on for 20 minutes. Serve on a bed of rice.
As far as the "one for the pot" policy goes, there is a simple solution for those two divers - buy a second pot.
Disclaimer: There are two Steven Barskys in the diving world. I am based at Weymouth, Dorset; the other Steven Barsky, who coincidentally happens to have written Lobster Hunting, is at Malibu Beach and dives with other Americans. I know which one I'd rather be.
Steven Barsky, Weymouth
When water is just liquid land
I am sure that divers everywhere will welcome the news that John Collinson was freed on appeal in May (see News). However, Mr Collinson's experience highlights a number of legal issues which all divers should bear in mind.
In England and Wales it is very difficult to establish that a person has "abandoned" ownership of property, even if it has been lost in a river, lake or the sea. Fresh water is simply treated as a form of "liquid" land and, unless there is an established public right of navigation, divers must have the landowner's permission to dive.
In fresh water, the law of salvage does not apply, so all "finds" should be handed in to the police. "Finders keepers" is definitely not the rule, as Mr Collinson discovered to his cost.
In the sea, the law of salvage applies, but to avoid the police drawing the inference that a diver intends theft by finding, all recoveries should be reported promptly to the Receiver of Wreck.
Theft requires an intention to deprive the owner permanently of the recovered property and reporting manifests the opposite intention of reuniting an owner with his or her property.
Theft is a serious offence, and to avoid accusations of that crime divers should report recoveries immediately, to the police or the Receiver as appropriate.
Mike Williams, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Wolverhampton
Cuban controversy
While on holiday in Cayo Coco in Cuba, I dived with an outfit called Blue Diving and as a PADI Rescue Diver was astonished by what I saw. While the staff were very friendly and helpful, the operation was like something out of Fawlty Towers.
I was speaking to one couple who had just completed their PADI Advanced. They had apparently done this in three open-water dives, not the required five.
Their navigation dive took place in the pool, where the square-pattern swim was based around four lead weights placed as corners.
When the weather on the north side of the island was extremely choppy one day, it was decided to visit the south. The divers boarded a boat in the town of Trinidad. There was insufficient lead on board and this was supplemented by filling BC pockets with rocks. Some of these fell out when one diver was exiting the water and a young girl received a blow to the head.
I had taken my own gear but the hire stuff was dreadful, streams of bubbles coming out of every joint. Most dives seemed to feature air-sharing as the norm. On one occasion three sets of regulators were tried before a working set was found. On another, the instructor was seen stripping down a second stage in the water.
Very few buddy checks were carried out and on one occasion I pointed out to two separate people that their inflator hoses were not attached. It seemed that no checkout dives were done and very novice divers were struggling with poor kit, poor instruction and poor diving techniques.
In the two weeks quite a number of PADI certifications were made, with several non-PADI instructors running PADI courses under the name of one Enzo Cendron who, according to the staff, seldom even visited. Forms were then signed stating that you had been taught by this character - in Italy!
I enjoyed my diving in Cuba but would implore your readers to check out the dive centres when they visit and take their own equipment where possible. Jonathan Hall-Smith
Blue Diving's Managing Director Enzo Cendron replies: The Advanced course we run is to PADI standards, which requires five dives. The couple you mention had not in fact completed the course at that stage.
The navigation dive in the pool is additional to dry-run training on the beach before the open-water dive. We find that a confined-water session gives divers a chance to practise buoyancy control while using a compass before the navigation dive. The lead weights are not used on the open-water dive.
The dive operation in Trinidad is separate to Blue Diving. As a result of its poor equipment, insufficient weights, poor instruction and safety standards - everything you commented on - we cancelled our contract and have not used it since the end of February. We now run our own dive excursions. Blue Diving refunded the couple you mention, even though the incident was not our responsibility.
I am a fully credited and licensed PADI Instructor with many years' experience, and carry out all certifications on courses I conduct. Nowhere, to my knowledge, does anything appear concerning being trained elsewhere in the world.
We are also a licensed SNSI training facility. SNSI Instructors and Divemasters often lead guided dives for experienced divers only but do not conduct PADI courses.
I am disappointed that you made no comment to me or my staff, including the comments questionnaire, during or at the end of your stay.
We value all comment and do act on it where appropriate. Many satisfied customers regularly return to dive with us, including many with whom you dived.
Going out of your way to make friends
Regarding Darren Tong's letter commenting on the so-called clique within clubs (Life Outside the Clique, Off-Gassing, May). I think people are a little too impatient when it comes to making friends within a new club or organisation.
I joined a BSAC club in September of last year with a view to learning how to dive. As any new member finds, the existing members all have their friends and allegiances and it takes some time to be accepted.
I had an added disadvantage as I had just retired as a police officer, and no matter what people may say, police officers are always treated initially with a certain amount of reservation. However, with what I hope is a cheery smile, easy manner and loads of enthusiasm, I am close to achieving my first qualification as a Club Diver and in the process have made some good and lasting friendships.
It is incumbent on the new member to push a little to ensure that he/she gets to dive. Don't just sit back and wait for others to come to you. The new members I joined with are all doing well and are accepted in the club as divers and socially.
So, Darren Tong, please persevere and I am sure that it will be worth it in the long run.
Ray Carlisle, Skegness
Spinal cord injury no bar to diving
In your April issue, Chris Suddes wrote a letter about diving with an SCI or spinal cord injury (Diving with a Disability). Chris, as a matter of fact you can dive. Here in the States we have the Handicapped Scuba Association. HSA members are trained to work with specially abled divers, and organise trips all over. The c-card you receive is just as valid as any other.
The HSA has an extensive website with a list of instructors and tours, handicap-adapted dive boats, gear sources, etc. Do check them out.
Every SCI diver I've met has loved the freedom that scuba has returned to them, plus it is of great therapeutic value. Good luck, dive safe.
Brock Frederickson, Oklahoma City, USA
Clipping on
I have been diving now for more than 30 years and read with dismay about another death in your May edition (Diver Dies on Scottish Wreck Dive, News).
We all have off-days and do things wrong or even get unlucky. Last year I experienced my first bend. Previously I had had the occasional niggle or felt rough when back on the boat, but this time I was truly bent, in the middle ear.
However, my reasons for putting pen to paper are the all-too-numerous reports of one or more divers being lost when surfacing from depth. When using an SMB or my infamous tape system I always clip myself on once the line or tape has been deployed safely.
If this was a recommendation for all divers, at least it would be easy to locate those in trouble and render appropriate assistance. Who wants to be left looking for a buddy in 50m, knowing all too well that he or she has been lost?
Tim Claridge, Weymouth
Diving with myself
As a PADI Dive Master, and having enjoyed the benefits of the buddy system, until a recent bank-holiday weekend I believed that this was the right way to go.
I had spent most of the previous week phoning around all my club members to see if they wanted to go diving, but by Friday all I had heard back was that they were either away on holiday or busy with the family.
What do you do? I needed to get into the water, because I had a holiday just around the corner and had not been in the water since my last holiday. I decided that a solo photographic session would be OK, so I set off with the wife as shore cover to Brixham.
After letting her know what my dive plan was - heading, maximum depth, estimated dive time - off I went. I must admit that it was the best dive I had had for a long time. At first I was a bit nervy, but I enjoyed the freedom of not having to keep looking over my shoulder to make sure that my buddy hadn't wandered.
I saw things that I would normally have missed. I used less air for the hour-long dive than I would have used on a dive of that duration with a buddy or two.
I still believe that the buddy system is the right way to go for the more difficult and deeper dives, but there also needs to be room for the solo diver. There is less stress, better air consumption and if there is a problem only you need be involved, though I believe that solo diving should be carried out only by experienced divers.
There has to be some scope for threesomes as well, as the inexperienced diver needs to gain experience. I have dived all three ways and they are equally safe if carried out properly. If the saying "plan your dive - dive your plan" was always followed it should reduce fatalities.
Martin Smith, Naughty Cal Divers, Bristol
Comment: One thing intrigues us, Martin - why did you feel that it was unsafe to dive on holiday without having dived since your last holiday, yet regard it as OK to undertake a solo dive in British waters? Why not simply start off your holiday with some easy dives to break yourself back in?
Serious prizes
I was very surprised and proud to have my letter about young divers not being treated seriously in dive shops printed by Diver (Don't Treat me Like a Kid, Off-Gassing, April).
It is nice to know that someone takes me seriously and listens to my opinions.
Thank you for the prizes of the lamp and strobe from Beaver, they're great. Please could you also give a mention in your magazine to thank Steve Warren for the underwater camera he sent me - it really made my day.
Tom Lowe, Warley, West Midlands
The Ol' Blue Eyes school of diving
I'm fed up with all this tekkie talk insisting that we should all configure our kit the same way. I agree with Adrian Turner (Why DIR is no Fun, Off-Gassing, April) and have for many years been diving FSS or Frank Sinatra Style - MY WAY!
I read the articles, absorb the info and then put into practice anything that suits my way of diving and will improve my safety. I don't think the Hogarthian configuration will suit me with my "single plus pony" rig. All those long hoses would just result in me strangling myself, but it might suit others. I don't mind if others want to follow the crowd, but please don't insist that I do.
As to the argument that if we all configure our kit the same way we'll know where things are in an emergency - that's partially what the buddy check is for.
Angie McDonald, Hitchin, Herts
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