Diver deceased at Manatee Springs, 2/19?

[H2Andy]

i wouldn't be too sure ...

there's a difference between not signing your son's waiver and telling your son he can't take a class he wants to take and has the ability to take without your consent

it's certainly worth exploring

but to be clear, if my parents would have been dead set against it, and i was living in their house, i would respect their wishes

i'm just saying, it's worth exploring

 

[fldiver1]

When I was a kid, living in my parents house, my mom was only 5'2" and I was 6'1" and 210lbs. If my mom said no, I wasn't about to try it any further. That little woman would've whipped my ***. I grew up in Texas and it seems the smaller the mom's are, the meaner in Tx. Not sure if that is the same here in Florida, but if so JAHJAH just go with what she says bro and void the asswhuppin. jk

 

[H2Andy]

lol

JJ is a bit of a diplomat, or so i notice

 

[sccaleb]

I would just like to say that while these diver deaths are very, very sad and tragic. And I pray for the families of individuals who lose people at sea... the fact that we talk about them and bring them into context on this forum is fantastic. I am fairly new to diving, and I remember when I was taking my OW cert, I got sucked into the mind set of it being "VERY safe". Diving can still be safe if you are calm and think through things, so that is not the point I want to make. The point I do want to make is that it is good we bring up diver fatalities on the Board because it helped me as I was getting my OW cert to come out of that cocky mindset to realize, hey... you need to be ready for an emergency and need to be ready to respond.

I can only hope that if something happened to me while I was underwater (which I hope won't happen), that it would be used positively and analyzed like we do so much on here.

A lot of diving "accidents" are carelessness or ignorance. And the unfortunate thing is that the families and friends of the deceased have to deal with the aftermath, not the person that was careless. I see this a lot at work (police department). Just as with law enforcement or any other field (or sport or hobby for that matter), carelessness of one can cause the negative image of many. So people need to take a step back and think about how their attitude towards diving will not only effect those immediately around them, but all over the world.

As a Lt. told me a few years ago, "Caleb, if you feel yourself in panic, that means you are about to get killed... so calm yourself down and get through it... and remember, if you live, you always have time to s*** yourself later."

Caleb

 

[JahJahwarrior]

i'm just saying, it's worth exploring

^the permission to get full cave, or the cave itself?


Once I'm in college, I'll be in Orlando--so I could go ahead and pursue further training. However, I think in college money will be the issue. As it is, I need a car, so I'm selling everything I can that I don't think I need anymore, to get $1500-$2000 by April 17th or so. I need a car before May 10th, when I drive to Orlando for a long weekend at a music festival. And, a car would be mighty helpful for getting to dive sites


^My dad would sell me his 86 honda accord stickshift, but it doesn't have airbags. They want me to have a car with airbags. Even in my future, it'll behoove me to respect them as much as possible, if I expect to still have my stuff at home when I'm done with college (since I can't take everything to college )


However, sometimes it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

 

[H2Andy]

no, i think you need to be straight up with yoru parents

if you accept their aid for college, you can't be dishonest about what you're doing

i would be upfront and tell them what you are going to do (not ask for permission). if they really, really, really don't want you to, i don't think you can in good conscience accept their financial aid and go ahead and take up cave diving

a good approach is the "frog" approach. just talk about cavern diving. get them used to the idea of the cavern, how safe it is, how it will teach you skills that will make you safer in all your diving ...

once you get the cavern class... it will be easier to get on to the cave class

(i went through this with my wife)

 

[webjr]

we could do the Catfish traverse (to Manatee)

Is the flow into manatee fairly constant? I knew people have made the trip before, but I was curious how anyone could stay in control of positioning going out the "out " into manatee? I've been about 8 feet or so up into the "out" in manatee before and it was all I could do to keep from being BLOWN back out like a canonball! I actualy was a little worried for a minute. Not that I couldn't get back out (the current could do that for me) but that I couldn't get back out without being bounced off the walls like a basketball!
Just curious.
I have NO desire to go back.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

^Everytime they mention divers dying, I tell them that I want to be as safe as possible, which is why I've gotten my gear checked out, etc. And I mention that the best way to be a safe diver is to not only dive more, but to get more training, like AOW, maybe a rescue class, then cavern, intro and full cave. They are actually warming up to it. I think they'll let me take the class in the future, and I think if I get my dad diving with an OW cert and show him how I dive, then he'll relax enough to say it's fine. I think they'd even let me dive in some caves on a regular basis if I always called them before and faxed or emailed them all of my plan info and called them before I went in and as soon as I got out, you know?

So these divers dying does help out us divers, I think, by reminding us that we participate in a sport that kills. It's like fire: usually it is useful, warms food, etc, but if you don't respect it and try to skirt the rules, it'll turn deadly in a heartbeat. Still, it is exceedingly sad to lose divers.



[edit] also, I'm paying for my college. There is some money from grandparents in different funds, but scholarships and the poor tax (lottery) is paying for me to go to school. They are however, matching what I've got when I buy a car. After that, it's al up to me. It means they don't control the purse, but it also means I have to pay for everything It's why I buy used stuff

 

[H2Andy]

Is the flow into manatee fairly constant? I knew people have made the trip before, but I was curious how anyone could stay in control of positioning going out the "out " into manatee?

not sure ...

my plan is to nab somebody who's done it before and talk them into diving it with me after a good briefing ( i have two good candidates in mind)

i can't do it yet (not full cave) so not quite ready to put the plan in action

 

[H2Andy]

[edit] also, I'm paying for my college. There is some money from grandparents in different funds, but scholarships and the poor tax (lottery) is paying for me to go to school. They are however, matching what I've got when I buy a car. After that, it's al up to me. It means they don't control the purse, but it also means I have to pay for everything It's why I buy used stuff

excellent ... it's how i did it also ... but we were so poor that i qualified for Pell grants, so was able to get through undergraduate without heavy borrowing.

then in graduate school i qualified for teaching assistanships and several scholarships, so no heavy borrowing either. i had never seen so much money in my life (it was like $12,000 per year between salary and living expenses allowances)

then ... law school ...

oy gavolt

:shakehead

i've been paying back accelerated amounts for the past six years, and i still have close to six years to go on those loans ... i did consolidate them at 3.9% so at least the interest isn't hurting me too much