AquaSafari

[Aqua Safari]

I have Captain Ernesto Witzil's opthalmic results.

Allow me to preface that I called Dr. Planas and left a message that when Chivo's exam was over,
before he left the office, for Dr. Planas to please call me. Dr. planas told me his vision is 20/20. He recognizes all colors. No correction needed. Pressure fine.

She told me however, that having dialated and examined his eyes, something was off with the ocular nerve, that she would prescribe some drops to aleviate inflamation, he's been told to shield his eyes from the sun which he already does, and that she wants to see him in 6 months.

Chivo will give me the prescription for the drops and the 20/20 tomorrow.
I can scan it and email it to Jonathan and Morgan. The doctor's phone number is on it.
She's an opthalmic surgeon and speaks English.

Point of interest
Why did I go through that?
Because when it happens to us, boats and divers, I call the owner of the boat and offer to pay for the eye exam and glasses for his helmsman.
If I get anything but concern, I write it up - simply change names computer and print - and send it to the harbormaster.They get called in.
It pisses me off, I owe it to my men and to my clients. You get two of those letters in your file, and you don't get renewed to drive a boat. Try something else for a living. The owner can also lose the permit to move passengers comercially.

When we were acused of
"a professional dive operator intentionally endangered my life and the life of all the divers in my group,"
the eye exam is the LEAST I can do, perhaps just to show at least that there is no intentional to this.

If the Dandy rogue who posted the babe with a forked nose pic wants to post the prescription as well, and since unfortunately knows how, I could email it to him. You can cause nightmares with pictures like that. Hmm.

I hope to finish my analisis, version, defense, -my take on this incredible run of the mouth by Friday; for the weekend fans.
If not, there goes my one day a week off.

Sinceramente,
Aqua Safari
Bill Horn

 

[cicopo]

I don't have much luck with this but I will try to insert 2 photos showing sausages in use as seen from a dive boat, if the image doesn't appear click on the link. The first photo was from my trip in Feb and was taken from a raised platform that would have been about 12 feet above the water and I was sitting on it rather than standing to try to steady the camera.
Picasa Web Albums - Larry - Cozumel Divin...
The second image is from my Sept trip and for those of you that have dove with Blue XT Sea yes that's Pedro. This shot was from about 5 feet above the water and he was maybe 30 feet from the boat, but look at just how easy to see that buoy is.
Picasa Web Albums - Larry - Cozumel Divin...

 

[almitywife]

I have Captain Ernesto Witzil's opthalmic results.
.....

i for one dont feel the need to be privy to this mans private medical diagnosis but again, thank Aqua Safari for their way of dealing with this online ****fight

i wish your crew good luck and happy diving

cheers

 

[Gdog]

Another issue touched on, was divers in boat traffic areas. Although sounds like the OP was not. However, yesterday, we stopped to pick up divers at Casa Del Mar, and we could not approach the pier, as the Capitan noticed bubbles right by the end and side of the pier. Divers, no flag, and right at the pier. Good way to catch a prop in the head. No matter what the rules, situation, ect...a little dose of the God given common sense would sure go a long way.
PS...wikel.....although I have dove with Deep Blue for a while now, I would dive with either Christi, or Aqua Safari anytime. Both highly respected.
Bill.....the extent to which you are trying to do the right thing here is highly commendable.

 

[DandyDon]

i for one dont feel the need to be privy to this mans private medical diagnosis but again, thank Aqua Safari for their way of dealing with this online ****fight

i wish your crew good luck and happy diving

cheers

Nah, I am impressed that the didn't need glasses at 40, but then he comes from a different population. The important actions were done long ago, with all parties coming to a nice resolution.

Oh try this one: use :catfight: to get

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I appreciate your openness on this subject.

Does your flag design allow the flag to tip over quite a bit when towed?

Would you be willing to post an image of your flag to show the float design and where the line is attached? Or at least describe it?

Do you think this might be a factor in this incident? Does anyone else involved think so?

Do you think there is a possibility of other factors that might explain why three boat drivers approached the flag so closely?

Dave C

The extent the flag tips over seems to depend greatly on the speed you're swimming and what the current is doing. While diving normally, it stands up quite straight. Swimming in a way to cover distance can cause it to lay over a little bit. If you going into a really strong current, it will go underwater. This wasn't the case that day, but I've had it happen once before. It only happens when the current is really killer, though.

The flag is a 4' tall contraption, with a flag at the top, a foam cylindrical float in the middle, and a weight at the bottom. The factory location to tie the line to is at the weight. I think we will move this to the base of the float. Having the line at the weight gives it almost 2' of leverage to lay the flag over. Morgan can post a picture of it if his camera came back to life, he has it at his apartment.

I don't think this would have been much of a factor. The skipper of that particular boat is about 12' off the water when at the helm (rough guesstimation there), so even if it was rocking from upright to laying on the water, it's still a big chunk of white foam and dive flag out there.

I'm planning on trying a couple of different methods to make our flag more perfect; I always love redesigning something to make it better, plus it's an excuse to go diving!

EDIT: I found a picture of our flag: http://www.leisurepro.com/Image/Product/Large/AQUFD26.jpg So it's 5' tall, which puts about 2.5-3' out of the water. (Obviously ours has the key thing that the picture is missing, the red and white cloth bit at the top....)

 

[Hillmorton Scubie]

I dived with Aqua Safari 1 month ago. (collected from the Coz Palace jetty). My experience of this operation is that they are very organized and professional. The dive masters were not "young kids" that you get with some operations. They were older and experienced. The briefings were comprehensive, and they went around the group checking on individuals level of experience.-safety is obviously the top priority at Aqua Safari.
I can definitely recommend Aqua Safari as the "safety choice" when you are over in Coz. Their prices are also very competative. (60 US dollars for a 2 tank trip including soft drinks and fruit, on nice boats with a clean head is keen pricing).

 

[mississippidiver]

Wow....This has truly been a long trip...

I have only experienced EXCELLENT service and experiences with Aqua Safari in the past and will continue to highly recommend them in the future...

 

[kckid]

Aqua Safari,

Having him get an eye exam and publishing the results. I'm impressed. I was in a hurry yesterday when I posted so I didn't have a chance to review the entire topic before I went off the cliff. I'm sure I missed a few things. That's what I get for reading the initial post and then responding to it on page 18 or something.

Looks like you are following up on the incident in the nth detail. Let me apologize for not doing my diligence in reading the entire topic before flaming a response.

 

[ggunn]

I guess we will agree to disagree. And yes I am taking a lot of what teknitroxdiver said as 100% accurate.

And why is that, exactly? Do you know the OP personally? Were you there when it happened? He was upset and shot from the hip in the heat of the moment; are you completely discounting the possibility that he may have been a little bit biased in his report?

As to what he said, yes, I know; we all read it the first time. I took it with a grain of salt, just like I take everything else posted on the internet. There is no oversight; people can post anything they want - true, untrue, and everything in between (I mean that in general; no offense intended toward teknitroxdiver). You are (or were) in here pounding on a dive op on the basis of this information irrespective of your knowledge of its veracity, and you continued to do so even after the OP assured us that the incident had been ameliorated. Why is it that you took his word for it in the first place but completely discounted him in the second?

But as Netdoc says, in proliferating this thread you are doing Aqua Safari more good than harm. Keep it up. ;^)

EDIT: I posted this before I read your last response. I changed a bit of my wording after I read it.