AquaSafari

[okiraku_diver]

Never seen a divemaster towing a flag off a boat in Cozumel. Not the op I use or any others I've seen in the areas we've been at. Actually, never seen a towed dive flag in Cozumel.

As far as Aquasafari, DM begins to tow sausage when first diver of his group shows less air sign to DM.Then keep towing until last diver come up to the suraface.

I never seen DM towing diver flag from boat , not only Coz, but where I have dove.

 

[cicopo]

I have dove that location several times, always from a boat, and I think 3 times with Aqua Safari (one was a night dive) and no divemaster towed anything EVER. The drill was always the same as all of my dives in Cozumel (around 140) and as always a sausage is sent up when either the first diver will begin their ascent due to reaching the "low air" number on their guage, or it's time for the group to go up as a group. Never once in all of my dives has someone towed any kind of marker, but I have never done a shore dive.
Years ago I saw many divers do shore dives from the pier area at the Sol Caribe (now the Park Royal) who either went out to explore Airplane Flats or just the general area and again none of them towed anything. The practice then was to descend right by the pier, hug the bottom, and return still hugging the bottom. Simply put the only person I ever saw tow a flag on my visits was me, but I was snorkeling & I also wear a very bright orange T shirt when snorkeling BUT after the realization that I was the only one using a flag I went and bought a sausage.
(TND, FYI my flag system is very similar to the one in the link you posted but with a much heavier lead weight to help keep it upright. It was bought many years ago in the Florida Keys but I have had to replace the flag once due to age. I would think it's a bit larger then 12 X 12 inches but not as big as 18 X 18 inches.) My dive sausage is bright yellow and about 6 feet long and far more visable.

 

[Mawg]

Seems like Coz DMs generally wait until close to end then shoot a sausage on a line.

My first dive in Cozumel was Aug. of 1993. I dove out of the Presidente with Scuba Du. There were 8 of us on a small boat. We dove Palancar Caves. I loved it but being a brand new diver, I ran out of air quick, 28 minutes. My " dive buddy " showed up at the boat just as we were about to leave, still drunk from the night before.No, I didnt know her. Anyway, at 700 pounds I gave the signal to our DM and he motioned for me to go up. My dive buddy was nowhere near me. I had been staying close to the DM all through the dive because of her lack of " buddiness ". I went up ALONE with no sausage or anything else. I stopped at 20 feet and hung in the current for seven minutes and then surfaced, alone. FYI, the DM didnt use a sausage on the second dive either. I managed to stay with the group on that dive.

 

[tedgarner]

While training dives are conducted from shore there, they are typically conducted closer to shore than where Tek claims he was. The boats don't come that close into shore. By his own admission, he swam from the shore out to the reef and back...putting him in the navigational channel during at least some portion of his dive. This is something that local instructors and DM's don't encourage or recommend for various reasons...boat traffic being the big one, with unpredictable currents closely following.

I am not sure that all DM's fill the same way you do I dove with one that I will not name as well as his father They said that dive is fine. They did warn about current to the north end of paradise. As for how close boats come to shore lets not kind ourselves. We have all seen the boats over the area where the snorkle boats drop swimmers. This is where the dive master put his students in the water. I do not see why you will not except this as the location of the boat. The contact was not in the Channel. I did some of my training in this very same area with a local DM the one I dove with on Friday. I still feel as if this could have been resloved on the spot by the capitan or the DM with a simple "I'm sorry"

 

[Christi]

I am not sure that all DM's fill the same way you do I dove with one that I will not name as well as his father They said that dive is fine. They did warn about current to the north end of paradise. As for how close boats come to shore lets not kind ourselves. We have all seen the boats over the area where the snorkle boats drop swimmers. This is where the dive master put his students in the water. I do not see why you will not except this as the location of the boat. The contact was not in the Channel. I did some of my training in this very same area with a local DM the one I dove with on Friday. I still feel as if this could have been resloved on the spot by the capitan or the DM with a simple "I'm sorry"

Here we go again...picking out only the part of the post that conveniently suits you guys:

First of all, based on Jonathan's "cute little drawings" he provided us with, y'all were in the navigational channel. If those "cute little drawings" are incorrect, don't chastise me...I'm not the one who drew them...I'm basing that statement on HIS claims.

Secondly, I said, y'all were in the navigational channel AT SOME POINT during your dive if you swam out to the reef and back as Jonathan claimed.

I'm going to say it again, whether Jonathan likes it or not...he handled this inappropriately...I don't care what the verbal exchange was. Mature adults go to the supervisor of an insubordinate employee before slandering the entire operation on five internet medias...he had a temper tantrum and wanted to damage the reputation of AS....and you won't convince me otherwise.

I would also be willing to bet based on the defensiveness and personal attacks on me on the other forum, that he was not a passive victim of the verbal exchange.

I'm not going to waste any more of my time with this. Bill runs an exceptional operation and despite Jonathan's attempts, I hope that Bill earned more business form this publicity!

 

[tedgarner]

I was not trying to upset you I am sure we have all been well too short with eachother. I have also seen that written words often offend. Please except my deepest regrets for wasting any of you time. I regret that my time has been use to cause anyone distress. Your friend and neighbor

 

[tedgarner]

I am so sorry that I posted on this subject again. I only have been try to show my personal point of view. I hope that you will except my deepest regret for causing you to waste your time on this matter. I also regret wasting my time. In a battle of words. Many times when we write things we come across as short or direct I feel this has been the case on both sides. Agian I am sorry for the hurt feelings Your friend and neighbor

 

[boomer68]

Has anyone ever seen the movie "Groundhog Day"

 

[tedgarner]

Sorry I have been on two different sites and forgot where I was. As bad as this has gotten I could not go wrong saying sorry Twice twice.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

By his own admission, he swam from the shore out to the reef and back...putting him in the navigational channel during at least some portion of his dive. This is something that local instructors and DM's don't encourage or recommend for various reasons...boat traffic being the big one, with unpredictable currents closely following.

So.....when boats take divers to Paradise reef, they take them to the close-in sand, not the reef?

Where we were at "some portion" of the dive is completely irrelevant to where we were when the incident happened. It doesn't matter. These are the facts that matter:

1. Divers were in the water
2. The divers were under an internationally-recognized dive flag.
3. A boat violated any idea of safe distance from a flag that may exist anywhere in the world (zero feet)
4. A diver had to take immediate action to avoid death/injury.
5. The boat crew responded rudely.

Those are the facts, the details that have been hashed over here a million times really have no bearing on the events. Navigational channels didn't matter: there was a dive flag. A divemaster being present doesn't matter: we were under a dive flag at a dive site. The record of the company doesn't matter: what happened, happened. It is an inconvenient truth for many people, but it is what it is. I cannot change the facts, I cannot change what happened. All I can do is present them to the people here, and to Mr. Horn. If for some reason a person refuses to accept that these facts are true (facts, that have indeed been verified by Mr Horn himself), then what can I say? That person, whoever it may be, cannot be swayed by anything I, or anyone else, says.

I'm going to say it again, whether Jonathan likes it or not...he handled this inappropriately...I don't care what the verbal exchange was. Mature adults go to the supervisor of an insubordinate employee before slandering the entire operation on five internet medias...he had a temper tantrum and wanted to damage the reputation of AS....and you won't convince me otherwise.

I'll say again what I said on the other forum.....the vast majority of your posts on this topic have consisted of this exact statement. We are aware of your feelings, thank you for sharing them yet again.

5 internet medias? How about 3. No need to get carried away and exaggerate things.


I know that since you are a fellow operator in Cozumel, you are somewhat obligated to stick up for your fellow businessman. But why do you refuse to even consider the possibility that the actions of AquaSafari were even slightly wrong? Time and time again, you throw facts aside to remain in support of your friend, then attack ME personally whenever you can. Why? I guess if you cannot be convinced of anything but what you already thought before this incident ever happened, then there is nothing more I can do, and there is also nothing that you would be willing learn from this incident. Thus, at least for Blue XT Sea, it is a lost cause.


At some point, something has to give. I give. Obviously the facts are not enough. They have been verified by 3 sources, Mr Horn has agreed with my version of what happened, yet here we are, unable to agree on the color of the sky, let alone this topic. There is obviously too much pride in everyone...myself included...for this thread to come to any benefit. This is crushing to me, as I truly thought something good could come of it. But no, it is obvious now that it cannot.

So, I'm going diving. And if an AquaSafari boat runs me over, I'll just keep swimming.