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OFF-GASSING  The liveliest letters from the Diver mailbag...

Spirit of adventure
Many thanks, Diver, for telling it as it is. Especially, in the March issue, for John Bantin's honesty in telling us what happened to Rob Palmer. Thanks also to his widow Steffi for sharing her loss with us.
I read John's piece with mixed emotions. I only met Rob once, at a dive show for 10 minutes, but he impressed me with his zest and enthusiasm. I followed his story in the press, and read a couple of his books. I have great admiration for the man and his exploits. He broke new ground and developed new techniques, and we are all grateful to him for that.
An awful lot of divers do an awful lot of stupid things. Newer divers do them out of ignorance, or because they are led astray by experienced divers. The experienced divers do them, I suppose, out of a sense of adventure.
I have done a fair amount of diving in the Mediterranean, where many divers seem to think that the gas laws do not apply. Warm water, good viz, lots to see and away we go to 40, 50, 60m on air, without extra precautions. Or read the annual BSAC Incidents Report: in nearly every incident, someone has done something they have been trained not to do, or vice versa.
I guess a lot of people do these foolish things because they want to prove something to themselves or others. I wouldn't want to stop them, because people like Rob are an inspiration and example to others. They show us that one can still lead an adventurous life, even in this overly health-and-safety-conscious world. The spirit of adventure drives forward the human race, and that same spirit kills off some of the adventurers.
I'm truly sorry that Rob is no longer with us, and it concerns me that he died the way he did. But I'm ever so glad that he lived his life the way he did - the Rob Palmer Way.
"Bubbling Bill" , Oman

What's happening to our BSAC?
We are about to lose the reassuring thud of Diver landing on the doormat each month, so I must take this last opportunity to voice my opinion of what is happening to our once-beloved BSAC. Once Diver has been replaced by "the BSAC mouthpiece", reader's letters are certain to be censored by the party officials at Ellesmere Port.
We all object to the treatment given to Diver, we all think the changes to the constitution were unconstitutional and we all think the changes to the Instructor scheme are change for change's sake.
However these issues are nothing compared to the destruction of the training scheme and the resulting damage to the club infrastructure.
The first changes were to Advanced Diver. By preventing the teaching of this qualification at club level, BSAC hoped to increase revenue from its skill development courses. What it didn't realise was that many divers continue training because, in a club environment, it is convenient and enjoyable. If I wasn't already an AD, I'd continue to dive and train as Dive Leader, I wouldn't bother with the hassle and expense of separate courses.
Far from promoting Advanced Diver, the changes must have led to a decline in the numbers aiming for the qualification. So BSAC was neither getting the revenue it expected nor training the ADs needed to maintain its image.
Next up were simultaneous changes to Sports Diver and Novice Diver (now Club Diver). Using the excuse of "why should Dive Leaders do all the dive leading?", SDs would now be allowed to take trainees into the water. With just a few hours of training, even CDs could now go diving without needing assistance from other club members.
Unfortunately, that means it is the less experienced, less qualified SDs who will be put upon to dive with CDs. This change relies on the assumptions that CDs want to go diving with other CDs or SDs and that SDs want to dive with CDs! For a trainee it is reassuring, confidence-building and educational to dive with experienced ADs and DLs, but CDs will learn the hard, dangerous way.
Also, for those who enjoy passing on what they have learned, there is no longer a need to train to DL level, so each club will be starved of better-trained divers. Stagnation has been achieved at club level. DLs are discouraged from progressing to AD, and SDs can dive with "novices" anyway.
Step 3 is to abolish Dive Leader - the only way of encouraging divers to progress to Advanced Diver and therefore increasing BSAC revenue.
I see two likely scenarios for the future. Due to the recent increase in incidents involving CD buddy pairs and, to a lesser extent, CDs diving with inexperienced SDs, only ADs will be allowed to lead dives with CDs. Or ADs will no longer be allowed to assess CD or SD trainees. Only First Class Divers will be allowed to do this.
Unless there is a counter-revolution at BSAC HQ, it can only be a matter of time before whole branches defect to other dive organisations, or before another national dive organisation is started by all the disgruntled members.
P Slegg, Newton le Willows, Lancs

Blackouts not forgotten
Thank you for publishing the review by Brendan O'Brien of my book Dive Free (Book Review, March). I seek to make the reader aware of the wonderful possibilities for those willing to dispense with scuba and give full rein to their freedom to explore. The absence of a costly infrastructure may prove a blessing. Free-diving is the norm for encounters with big animals such as mantas, whales sharks and humpback whales.
Your reviewer states of my book: "...there is no mention of that major threat, shallow-water blackout". However, a glance at the index should have informed him of pages 19 and 25 under the heading "shallow-water blackout". Because of its impornce it is referred to early on.
Those who pursue records for depth and breath-holding endurance are particularly susceptible, and having lost several close friends to this phenomenon I am acutely aware of its perils. However, so long as one is conscious of the danger, avoids hyperventilation and does not stretch oneself beyond personal limits of fitness, dives of 20 seconds to depths of up to 10m are within anyone's capability.
For decades it has been fashionable for scuba divers to sneer at those who free-dive, implying that they are not "real" divers. There are now signs of that pendulum beginning to swing the other way, yet it would be a great pity if over-emphasis of the danger of blackout to provide a macho image were to deter anyone from giving it a try.
Ian Roger, Bridport

Nightmares - for the marine life
I want to express my horror and disgust at the stories told by Mick Gee and Keith Holman in your article Let the Nightmares Begin (March). How could you, a magazine that mentions marine conservation monthly, publish stories about animal cruelty?
On the one hand you have Mick Gee, who deliberately interferes with a lobster quietly minding its own business, and loses his computer. He breaks the lobster's claw off to get his computer back. How much pain did he cause that creature, all because he couldn't keep his hands to himself?
Meanwhile, Keith Holman, for no reason whatsoever, sticks his knife into a peaceful flatfish. How can we try to teach any form of conservation when there are people like this around?
A Johnson, Bognor Regis

I qualified as a PADI Open Water diver and joined a BSAC branch in pursuit of further knowledge and experience. As with everyone embarking on a new, exciting hobby, I eagerly read your magazine from cover to cover, absorbing all the information as fast as I can to make up for lost time!
It was however with amazement and shame that I read Let the Nightmares Begin, in particular the thoughtless, uncaring and savage behaviour described by Keith Holman and Mick Gee. Your coverline "Dives of Shame" is more apt.
Mr Holman describes sticking his knife into a flatfish and then being surprised when it becomes aggressive. I may not be very experienced, but even I could have predicted that outcome! As a PADI diver, I was always told to care about the marine environment and leave it as I found it.
Mr Gee recounts breaking off the claw of a lobster to reclaim his computer, much to the amusement of his buddy. I fail to see anything funny about the malicious maiming of a sea creature. Is this the sort of underwater hooliganism condoned by BSAC divers?
Tony Kelsey-Stead, Luton

The items by Mick Gee and Keith Holman were both concerned with the treatment of sea creatures encountered on dives. Would these divers treat casually encountered land animals in the same way? I think not.
All divers should be much more environmentally sensitive when in the water. We should feel privileged to encounter sea creatures in their own environment, with the chance to see how they live and interact.
They are not there solely for our amusement. Remember, the more things that get killed, the less there will be for us to see when participating in our favourite sport.
Steve Munns, London

Editor's reply: It's good to know you all care so passionately. We don't "condone" all practices described in Diver, but we do believe in holding up a mirror to what actually occurs on dives. After all, that way you get your chance to voice the counter-arguments!

Success at branch level
Congratulations: since the announcement that the BSAC was going to break the association with Diver, the magazine appears to have gone from strength to strength every month. The March edition has to be the best yet - the fish recognition article was brilliant!
I have reservations about the route the BSAC appears to be taking. A small group of people at HQ appear to be making many drastic changes that are proving unpopular with the branches. I have spoken to the Diving Officers of other large branches in the South and nearly all have voiced concern, especially over the changes to grading and training.
I see that the BSAC has had to reconsider the extent of the changes. I will be interested to see what they finally come up with. The club has to be very careful, because the branch has always been its strength, and if it loses that support it will be a sad day for all of us.
Before, you could get qualified up to Advanced Diver for virtually nothing. Now it costs a lot of money. All the grades seem to be going that way now. I know of many divers who are just not interested in going any further because of that, which makes my job as DO even more difficult.
However, it is possible to run a successful branch. Ours has more than 120 members, and is run like a business (we make our books balance) and for the members! For about 60 in fees a year we provide a lovely clubhouse with a very nice, well-stocked bar, two lecture classrooms, an office, compressor bank, two RIBs, a very active social programme and a vast amount of diving for all grades of diver. But more and more members of our branch are becoming disillusioned with HQ decisions - it's time you took notice BSAC!
Keep up the good work, Diver, I will definitely be taking out a yearly subscription when the free issues stop coming via the BSAC.
John Rapley, DO, Kingston & Elmbridge BSAC

Twelve and all ready to go
At the age of 12 my son took the BSAC Ocean Diver course and very proudly passed. He then wanted to do what all the literature suggested: join a club and go on to Sports Diver.
As a member of a BSAC branch I set about getting him joined up, which is when the problems started. I had never been told that he wouldn't be able to join or get any third-party liability insurance until he was 14. He can do an uninsured 20m open-water dive but is not allowed in the safe environment of a BSAC branch pool, so his training came to an abrupt stop.
I have tried numerous ways around this, including getting insurance from other sources as suggested by the BSAC, but have drawn a blank. The only viable way is to pay to cross over to PADI and take out its insurance - to get a qualification that would have cost less initially than the one he has.
I feel that the BSAC is taking money off people and issuing qualifications that it doesn't itself endorse or acknowledge. Members didn't vote to reduce the age limit to 12, but the BSAC went ahead with the Ocean Diver course from 12 anyway. It is having another vote on the age limit this month, but if it fails again, I hope no one else falls into the same trap.
William Butcher, Rotherham

Trust the military
I read Stuart Morrison's scathing and contemptuous response (February) to Nick Herbert's article on the use of twin inverted cylinders (A Turn-up for the Bottle, November).
I command the Defence Diving School based at Horsea Island near Portsmouth, responsible for training all RN Mine Clearance Divers, Ship's Divers and various Army Divers, using a wide range of equipment.
Despite various upgrades, improvements and replacement sets over the past 30 years or so, the one feature that has remained constant is the "classic" twin inverted cylinder arrangement for our basic air set.
We have no intention of changing this, because it is safe, simple to use and has stood the test of time by a large number of divers in the most hazardous and difficult conditions. I can assure Mr Morrison that none of us is "fat, unfit or lazy".
Many sport divers using our facilities with Horsea Island Dive Centre have enquired about why we use this arrangement. When it is explained, most see the sense in the argument and a good number are keen to adopt it for themselves. Sadly, Mr Morrison takes the short-sighted, "don't make me laugh" line which, I am pleased to say, is unusual in the diving community. His arguments about being prone to fouling and not being able to reach valves or regulators when problems arise are simply not borne out by our experience.
Should Mr Morrison be able to suppress his laughter long enough, I would be delighted to show him the virtues of twin inverted cylinders and let him come to a more considered conclusion. Might I also encourage your readers with the old Yorkshire adage: "Don't knock it till you've tried it!"
Lt-Col Robbie Hall Defence Diving School, Portsmouth

Join the pack
I am pleased to report that further to the coverage Diver gave to underwater rugby last year, we have been featured on national TV and have growing support. We are currently holding the Southern friendly heats in this exciting sport.
Eltham & District SAC is leading the league of friendlies, with Bromley SAC second and University of Greenwich SAC, which has been playing only a short time, running third. Should any readers or clubs wish to be included, they can contact me on 0181 854 7798.
Stuart Head, Federation of Underwater Rugby, London

Red Sea venture now all-agency
In 1995, when the BSAC Southern Egyptian Expedition was formed, I was asked how I would deal with applicants from PADI, or other diving agencies. "With open arms, let them see the strength of the BSAC," I said.
Since then we have logged more than 6000 dives and charted more than 200 sites, including an important archaeological site. Many members of the expedition have crossed over to the BSAC, impressed by what they have seen.
At the Divewise conference in March, Claire Peddie announced that anyone taking part in BSAC expeditions must now be a BSAC member. Other divers must join the Club before taking part, rather than being given the chance to find out if the BSAC is for them.
The 1999 Southern Egyptian Expedition will now be an all-agency venture. BSAC members will be welcome, and they will not need to cross over to any other agency. Once again, the BSAC hierarchy has shot itself in the foot.
Peter Collings, Shotley Bridge, Co Durham

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    Appeared in DIVER - May 1999
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