March 24TH & 25TH 2007 Panhandle Dive N Dine

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Ah, figured with that amount of time and tanks, you guys were going offshore(deepish), that'd make for some short dives with simple one hour SIs. No need to get your blood all fizzy.

 

[mike_s]

The 5 dives would cost $190, plus tanks. If you have your own tanks, $190 He charges $7.50 per tank (includes the air). It's through Viking Diving Pensacola and he can carry 6 divers.

Hmm..... Do a search on this board for VIking Diving first....

Then make your own decision.

 

[Oriskany Divemaster]

How about it Oriskany Divemaster(Eric)? Do you want to change your date from March 18th to March 24th for an O trip and then we can meet up with everyone else and eat somewhere together?

Sound's good to me, but let me check the manifest first before I commit. It actually might work out better for me.

 

[frankc420]

Hmm..... Do a search on this board for VIking Diving first....

Then make your own decision.

I've already dove with them.. I liked it. I could care less what everyone elses experiences were, because, I know I enjoyed it

 

[wjefferis]

Call me a wimp, but 3 dives plus two night dives even in-shore is a bit much.

 

[mike_s]

I've already dove with them.. I liked it. I could care less what everyone elses experiences were, because, I know I enjoyed it

Well I'm glad you had a good dive with them.

Many of us just didn't like what he did and how he handled it and there are other reputable charters to choose from.

 

[snepdiver]

Might have to convince the wife it's a weekend Spring getaway to Florida!!!

Just bring her with you. I am working on getting my wife to go as well. I will not be doing any boat diving but jetties on Sat and then Morrison's on Sunday is great sounding to me. I am saving money for Bonaire and cant spend much on diving that weekend.

 

[denisegg]

Cameron and Clay,
I think it would be plenty to keep your wives busy. If the weather is nice they could sun on the beach :14: at the jetties and then eat out with us Saturday night. Sunday at Morrisons we can pull up some chairs and visit and have a cookout in between dives. I would appreciate some other ladies around to help me keep you guys in line......maybe we can steer the conversation away from "men's toilet etiquette, or the lack thereof"

 

[frankc420]

Well I'm glad you had a good dive with them.

Many of us just didn't like what he did and how he handled it and there are other reputable charters to choose from.

I'm guessing you are referring to the Oriskany trip that someone took something off the ship? How can he stop them from doing it? Unless he's following them the whole way, there isn't much he can do. And once they are on the boat with something, what do you expect for him to do? Tell them to throw it overboard? At that point, it's done.

I can see why he got defensive when someone confronted him about it, because he has no control of what the divers do underwater. It's his job to get the divers in/out of the water safely and to provide a ride to wherever the divers want to go.

Just my opinion, you may disagree... You can't expect a dive op to be the scuba police.. it's not their job! I may not agree with how he handled the situation, but some people react to situations differently!

I'm sure stealing from dive sites happens ALOT more than people talk about it. It just so happens, this time it hit the board! And the fact that the dive op didn't respond with, "oh i'm sorry, it won't happen again", people get all pissy and soil themselves.

The US puts a stereotype on everyone, no matter what race/gender/etc you are, and if you don't abide by that stereotype your considered 'abnormal' or 'out of wack', IMO, it's a bunch of BS. Human nature is to point fingers at others..

 

[mike_s]

I'm guessing you are referring to the Oriskany trip that someone took something off the ship? How can he stop them from doing it? Unless he's following them the whole way, there isn't much he can do. And once they are on the boat with something, what do you expect for him to do? Tell them to throw it overboard? At that point, it's done.

I can see why he got defensive when someone confronted him about it, because he has no control of what the divers do underwater. It's his job to get the divers in/out of the water safely and to provide a ride to wherever the divers want to go.

Just my opinion, you may disagree... You can't expect a dive op to be the scuba police.. it's not their job! I may not agree with how he handled the situation, but some people react to situations differently!

I'm sure stealing from dive sites happens ALOT more than people talk about it. It just so happens, this time it hit the board! And the fact that the dive op didn't respond with, "oh i'm sorry, it won't happen again", people get all pissy and soil themselves.

The US puts a stereotype on everyone, no matter what race/gender/etc you are, and if you don't abide by that stereotype your considered 'abnormal' or 'out of wack', IMO, it's a bunch of BS. Human nature is to point fingers at others..

Yep. This is the same Operation that I'm talking about. The one where things were forcefully removed/stolen from the USS Oriskany.

You're right that he can't keep someone from bringing something up that he didn't know about.... but he actually told the diver of another object to take and how to get it detached from the wreck on his 2nd dive.

As for the 'scuba police', yes that's not directly his job, but removing items from Florida reefs/wrecks is against the law, so condoning it on a vessel that he is the captain of is within his legal responsibility. It still happens though.

After pressure from this board, being reported to the FWC, etc, the captain here did assist with returning the items to the Oriskany. But many people here still didn't like how he initially handled it. He didn't win many friends here. Maybe this taught him a valuable lesson though.

Like I said above, there are other more reputable charters that do this trip that I would prefer to use that don't have this 'shadow' hanging over them. But also as I said, maybe he learned a lesson, and now he has gotten better when you used him recently.