Mactan to Negros dive trip

[Karl_H]

Your doubt (or should i say mistrust?) is amazing.

Be careful not to make a real :grinjester: of yourself though.

 

[Hammerhead]

Just asked the powers-that-be if it's possible to check the IP addresses for the guys who claim to have been on the boat. Hopefully we'll know soon enough...

 

[eagerbeaver]

Some pretty harsh accusation from you Karl. Based on what? I assume if Larry's suggestion can be carried out and you're proven wrong you will be eating various parts of your clothing and apologising?

If my company was being unjustly slandered on the internet or in the media then I would happily and openly ask customers of mine who knew the truth and would support me to open an account here or elsewhere and voice the knowledge of the FACTS.

 

[Karl_H]

Some pretty harsh accusation from you Karl. Based on what? I assume if Larry's suggestion can be carried out and you're proven wrong you will be eating various parts of your clothing and apologising?

If my company was being unjustly slandered on the internet or in the media then I would happily and openly ask customers of mine who knew the truth and would support me to open an account here or elsewhere and voice the knowledge of the FACTS.

I'm not sure about eating my clothing but I'll certainly hold my hand up and apologise if I'm wrong............

......although I'm quite confident I'm not (tempting fate there!)

 

[Julian Barson]

Hi Bowmouth,
I am one of the divers that was on board the Philippines Siren and yes I am new to ScubaBoard.
The facts of the Apo Island event are as related by my wife and I. The reason there is what appears to be a co-ordinated response is simply that we and a group of friends (from around the world) get together to dive at least once a year. All the respondents are friends and were on board at the time of the alleged incident.
Perhaps this will satisfy the sceptics.
Cheers
Jill & Julian Barson

 

[Bowmouth]

Hi Bowmouth,
I am one of the divers that was on board the Philippines Siren and yes I am new to ScubaBoard.
The facts of the Apo Island event are as related by my wife and I. The reason there is what appears to be a co-ordinated response is simply that we and a group of friends (from around the world) get together to dive at least once a year. All the respondents are friends and were on board at the time of the alleged incident.
Perhaps this will satisfy the sceptics.
Cheers
Jill & Julian Barson

Hi Julian,

Thank you for your post. I never doubted any of the posts submitted to this thread by first-time ScubaBoard posters; especially not after post # 17 from one of the owners of the vessel. We're living in the "cyber-age" and news travels fast and in this case I can imagine that divers who were on that trip and witnessed the incident would like to set the record straight and tell the real story. It's nice to see that there are divers out there who care and are willing to help keep up the good name of this boat and company.

 

[chip104]

thanks for all the first hand accounts.

To Gail, Sherwood, Jill and Julian - Just wondering if any of you have contacted the media about this to publish a correction? Or at least they can publish your letter response.

 

[Julian Barson]

Hi Chip
I have sent the ScubaBoard html link to "The Editor" of The Daily Star, with an explanation.
Regards
Julian Barson

 

[The Chairman]

Skepticism is part an parcel of the Internet... and I have had to deal with more than my share of sockpuppets. However, if you suspect such shenanigans, please use the

Post button and let us handle it, rather than hijack the thread with accusations and counter accusations. We have the means to ferret these kinds of things out. From our records, these are indeed distinct users publishing from several continents. No sock-puppetry is suspected by ScubaBoard.

The owner of the Siren is confident and very smart in my eyes. An accusation was made, and a serious one at that. Rather than trying to threaten us with a law suit, he simply got those who were there to tell their side of the story HERE on the world's largest forum dedicated to Scuba Diving. Obviously, the skeptics aren't going to take his word for what it is... a NEWSPAPER has declared otherwise. However, here we enjoy user generated content and a tech savvy staff that can sniff out shenanigans at a 100 paces.

We now return you to your thread and would ask that any more accusations be handled via PM. Thanks.

 

[Anniedos]

We were never contacted by the owners of the Siren to send a comment. We felt the dive community should know that the boat did not smash Apo Island.
Yes, we are new to Scubaboard but we were there.
Connie and Bill Ehler