Am I behind the times? - What a sad story

[HammerNoMore]

You folks know this thread is 10 months old?

 

[Scubaroo]

If you read the fresh posts James, they are all by a family member of a couple who died in this incident. No need for the "old thread" reminder.

 

[HammerNoMore]

My sincerest apoligy. No I did not read thoroughly enough, for which I am ashamed.

 

[Teresa Mars]

My sincerest apoligy. No I did not read thoroughly enough, for which I am ashamed.

I am the wife of another victim of the Wave Dancer tragedy, not "accident". Ray Mars was 52 years old, but mortality was not in his thoughts as he was in perfect health and top physical condition. They all, regardless of their ages, were simply going on a long-anticipated diving vacation, to relax and enjoy themselves, not die. And, none of them died because of anything they did, or because they even knew what Bart Stanley was thinking. I have seen no evidence that he told any of the divers what he thought they should all do. They were most definitely not told the truth by Phillip Martin, nor were they helped in any way by Peter Hughes himself.
I was also surprised to see that Natasha said, just one year ago, that she couldn't say very much because of ongoing lawsuits. That's sure news to me. We, the family members of the deceased, were forced to settle with Peter Hughes Diving, by accepting the ridiculously low dollar amount from his insurance on the Wave Dancer. And, that small amount was reduced by the over $1 million it took to refloat the Wave Dancer, and to add insult to injury, pay Peter Hughes' attorneys' fees. I guess it is very nice to have such fantastic corporate advice and counsel, because in the end, Hughes did not lose one dime. And, he just goes on today, as if nothing ever happened.
I have been severely chastized by Natasha and Kim, moderators of this site, by things they told me that I had previously written. They were unable to find them to make me believe that I actually said some of the things they said, which makes it very strange, that I don't remember them at all, and they just happened to delete them. I also find it so extremely odd that Natasha said that she herself had spoken to Peter Hughes at some convention or something. I guess that because he said he wasn't responsible, that was enough for her. Now, just a couple of weeks ago, Kim offered to see about arranging a face-to-face meeting between Peter Hughes and me, thinking that "maybe it will help." Help who? Not me, that's for sure.
Hughes is known world-wide as the owner of the Peter Hughes Dive Corporation, and everyone, including he himself, refers to him that way. However, he has managed to incorporate each dive boat separately from the others, so that regardless what happens on one ship, none of the other "companies" can be touched. I guess you really can have your cake and eat it too. He can be widely known as the owner of the company, until it comes to responsibility, especially financial. Our lawyers, all of them, advised us that it was impossible to pierce his "corporate veil", and that Hughes and his lawyers would drag the case out for years, which our lawyers thought would add to our already overwhelming suffering. So, all of us felt that we had no choice, we had lost yet again, making the deaths of our loved ones insulting as well as horrific beyond our wildest imaginations.
I certainly hope that this posting is not yet another one that the moderators will have to pull because I have been such a bad widow, saying only my true feelings, giving the facts as I was given them, but apparently hurting the sensibilities of some of the moderators. I would really like to have my thoughts accurately stated, and I seriously want to support everything Heather has said, and she is also completely truthful, and we both know what really happened, but some who so severely criticize us do not.
So, how about some equal time for the families of the victims? If nothing else, there is the old freedom of speech thing, or at least I thought there was.
Teresa Mars

 

[Kim]

Teresa, I find it regrettable that you have chosen to publicize elements of my private messages to you. I find it unacceptable that you then misquote them. As you persist in twisting much of what I say to something else, I am now responding publicly so that there can be no doubt what is actually being said.

I originally PM'd you to ask you to stop attacking Peter Hughes on our board. You have made it very plain what you think of him and been given ample chance to say your piece. However I felt that reviving old threads simply to directly or indirectly attack him again had gone far enough. In the case that you claim above you did not say, you actually tried to suggest to someone who had asked for information about a live-aboard in Papua New Guinea in May 2003 that:

You should read the book "No Safe Harbor" by Joe Burnworth, before you even think of going on any Hughes boat. Unless you don't care about staying alive, that is.

I have undeleted your post in this thread and it can be found here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=27377
As I told you by PM your post was simply another example of attacking Peter Hughes at every available opportunity, in this case by also suggesting that by going on a Hughes boat someone was actually likely to die. Further more you posted this into a thread that was over 2 years old.
These kind of persistent attacks are not allowed on SB, and this is what I asked you in as nice a way as possible to stop doing.
To accuse me of making this all up (so therefore lying) is ridiculous.

On the matter of possibly arranging a meeting with Peter Hughes what I actually said was:

One last thing. I believe that if you were interested I might be able to arrange a face to face meeting with Peter Hughes. I don't know if that would help you at all.....but I could try if you like.

I did not tell you that "maybe it would help" as you say above. It was simply one of the offers I made to you to try to be of any assistance that I could.

As I told you right at the beginning, the entire staff of ScubaBoard has the deepest sympathy for all the victims and their families for the deaths that resulted from the Wave Dancer tragedy. However, we are not prepared to allow the board to be used for persistent and continuing attacks on those who you find to be responsible. We are also not prepared to accept attacks on our Moderators.

 

[Teresa Mars]

Teresa, I find it regrettable that you have chosen to publicize elements of my private messages to you. I find it unacceptable that you then misquote them. As you persist in twisting much of what I say to something else, I am now responding publicly so that there can be no doubt what is actually being said.

I originally PM'd you to ask you to stop attacking Peter Hughes on our board. You have made it very plain what you think of him and been given ample chance to say your piece. However I felt that reviving old threads simply to directly or indirectly attack him again had gone far enough. In the case that you claim above you did not say, you actually tried to suggest to someone who had asked for information about a live-aboard in Papua New Guinea in May 2003 that:

I have undeleted your post in this thread and it can be found here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=27377
As I told you by PM your post was simply another example of attacking Peter Hughes at every available opportunity, in this case by also suggesting that by going on a Hughes boat someone was actually likely to die. Further more you posted this into a thread that was over 2 years old.
These kind of persistent attacks are not allowed on SB, and this is what I asked you in as nice a way as possible to stop doing.
To accuse me of making this all up (so therefore lying) is ridiculous.

On the matter of possibly arranging a meeting with Peter Hughes what I actually said was:

I did not tell you that "maybe it would help" as you say above. It was simply one of the offers I made to you to try to be of any assistance that I could.

As I told you right at the beginning, the entire staff of ScubaBoard has the deepest sympathy for all the victims and their families for the deaths that resulted from the Wave Dancer tragedy. However, we are not prepared to allow the board to be used for persistent and continuing attacks on those who you find to be responsible. We are also not prepared to accept attacks on our Moderators.

Don't worry about any misquoting or anything else ever again. This board will be completely deleted from my computer, as it is obvious that you will stop at nothing, including listening to another opinion than yours, to make me look as crazy and deceitful as possible. I do not accept your interpretation of my words, but apparently that makes no difference at all. You are right, and I am the big bad wolf. So, I just give up. You win, I lose. Enjoy yourself, and be very proud that you have made an extreme sadness much worse by your mailings to me. I hope you are proud of yourself. However, you will be talking without my audience from now on, so say whatever you want. I just do not care anymore.

 

[HammerNoMore]

*Sigh*,

Theresa I tried to send you a PM but you've evdently blocked them. I sincerly hope you find what it is you need.

James

 

[500 PSI]

Peter Hughes boats are off my dive boat list after I read this story as I would hope is the case with others who read this baord. Incompetancy and stupidity cannot be tolerated by the dive community. Hit them in the wallet by your non patronage and they will feel the loss too!!!

 

[pants!]

also, don't forget your source. CDNN is notoriously anti-PADI and will put the
worst spin on any story involving PADI. Also, they are not exactly unbiased
reporters, more like a tabloid at times.

So... I don't take everything CDNN says as gospel, but do read them once in a while to see what they're up to.

It's a National Geographic story.

 

[ReefGuy]

I also will never dive with Peter Hughes, or give him a dime of my money.

Peter Hughes boats are off my dive boat list after I read this story as I would hope is the case with others who read this baord. Incompetancy and stupidity cannot be tolerated by the dive community. Hit them in the wallet by your non patronage and they will feel the loss too!!!