What do we need to do to satisfy the wind gods? Once again we tried for SBI only to end up at Catalina. The wind is killing us. But, on the up scale, Catalina has had some great diving. The water is warming up, the Black Sea Bass are out and around, and the kelp is flourishing.
On Saturday a diver perished. As of this writing, the autopsy is being performed. And the "Dive Ghouls" are lining up. There are several BBS's out there, and on the two that I read, both are talking about the death. So far one of them is respectable, the other is waiting to see if in fact the person dove alone, and I guarantee, if that is the case, they will not send condolences, only " I told you so". This type of response to a diving accident is not acceptable. Several people that I have known for a long time will talk about this, and I hope in a positive way, to help others learn from this, not demean the person. I hope this will happen, but I am sure it will not. I will respond to their comments with all that is necessary. You may want to check them out. I just got off the phone with some other people who feel the same as I do, so this may be very interesting reading. One group of divers has decided that their way of diving is the only "Safe Way" to dive. That is total bullshit. There are many good ways to dive, and after seeing over 30,000 divers dive off my boat, as long as you have a good time, and come back, it was the correct way to dive for that diver.
My heart goes out to the family of the diver. Hopefully he was doing something he really enjoyed, and it was just his time to go.
Captain Tim Burke