frogman_5
Contributor
Using your logic, should we not post a dive trip on a national forum so no one in Alaska feels left out? How about international? We would not want to offend anyone in Botswana! If people are coming from far away, do I have to put them up in my house? Where does it end?
By posting in the Tampa forum, I am focusing on people in my area, whom I can reasonably expect to dive with more than once. But I am not being exclusive; I also welcome transients passing through the area. I have hosted divers from other states and Europe, invited vacationers staying in the area, etc. It all depends on the repor I can develop and the level of trust and confidence I can establish before actually accepting someone on board.
I haven't yet mentioned the costs I incur in order to have a boat to dive from. Throw in the cost of the boat, maintenance, insurance and the like and I am looking several hundred dollars per trip, my money, without even looking at the cost of fuel. Throw in dock and seawall maintenance, the cost of waterfront real estate, elevated homeowners and flood insurance, and now your looking at several THOUSAND dollars per trip. Just so I can have a boat in the backyard to dive from. I think I have the right to decide where my posting goes.
ASK NOT WHAT YOUR FRIEND WITH A DIVE BOAT CAN DO FOR YOU, ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR FRIEND WITH A DIVE BOAT!!!!
(Where's the insert button for patriotic music, anyway??.....)
By posting in the Tampa forum, I am focusing on people in my area, whom I can reasonably expect to dive with more than once. But I am not being exclusive; I also welcome transients passing through the area. I have hosted divers from other states and Europe, invited vacationers staying in the area, etc. It all depends on the repor I can develop and the level of trust and confidence I can establish before actually accepting someone on board.
I haven't yet mentioned the costs I incur in order to have a boat to dive from. Throw in the cost of the boat, maintenance, insurance and the like and I am looking several hundred dollars per trip, my money, without even looking at the cost of fuel. Throw in dock and seawall maintenance, the cost of waterfront real estate, elevated homeowners and flood insurance, and now your looking at several THOUSAND dollars per trip. Just so I can have a boat in the backyard to dive from. I think I have the right to decide where my posting goes.
ASK NOT WHAT YOUR FRIEND WITH A DIVE BOAT CAN DO FOR YOU, ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR FRIEND WITH A DIVE BOAT!!!!

(Where's the insert button for patriotic music, anyway??.....)