WICKED_WIZARD:
Cool, thirst. Would you now dive with that charter knowing what the DM is up to? (Fontao) I would, just to dive the wreck, but will take extra precaution by taking a buddy with I know and trust.
Then for the shoal dive, I do not like to mention charter names unless they are directly responsible or to blame. What happened is also my point of view and it would be unfair to put a dive charters name on the line because I happen to have a issue on how the DM leaded the dive. Then also, why single out the whaler. As I did see other deploy boys on the weekend and the DM actually transferred to another charter to DM for them after our dive while still at see, cos there is a shortage of DM's.
If you really want to know the charter name, mail me directly on
anton.swanepoel@unilever.com.
I agree. And this is one of my personal gripes, about public forums, one that I've campaigned and evangelized for many times on scubaboard. I just wish divers would stick to posting accurate and honest stories of what occured. When this is done the discussions that ensue are far more lively, plus readers are able to make more accurate evaluations, draw realistic conclusions. Let's face it, we weren't there, but you know most of us have been around the reef a few times, in life, and underwater. Some of the best posts often end with a little moral to the story or the summary of a lesson learned will sometimes fall out for others to glean something too.
Of course any story worth telling should allow room for some color and emotion, but readers can quickly dismantle a biased story intent on drawing sympathy from its readers or with the undertone of pursuading readers to side with the author against some entity, organization, staff, or person. When its justified the details bear it out anyway, because the content leads to that conclusion.
But how many times have we seen a "tale" unravel because the poster heavily embellished and smudged, or blurred out details which point back to themselves. These authors often find themselves in the predictament of being forced to tell one fabrication after another to defend a position they never held with solid footing from the beginning. These threads are often ear-marked with belated posts accepting some minimal personal responsiblity or blame. Or the author might take up a defensive posture citing "It's just a mystery who can understand it" or "You had to be there to understand", perhaps. But in all fairness, it's not that black and white. Details are forgotten, some stories are very old, it's human nature to elaborate, exaggerate, create a little hyperbole, and it's responsible to not disclose details to protect the innocent or avoid legal ramifications. Within these guidelines there seems to be plenty of room in this world for the distinctively clueless too.
But if you have the capacity to type and thus share your story, if you have the courage to tell it like it really happened, and a bit of meekness to learn from your experiences - then the resulting artifact will be something most divers can use and relate to. There is plenty of entertainment, humor and other distraction on the board, without lowering yourself to the position of wasting yours and everyone elses time dumping something that smells like crap but disguised as truth. :05:
Thanks for this last entry, I enjoyed it.
