Northwest Dive Club

Some people are determined...and well...yeah

"Dropping beneath the surface with an oxygen tank some 40 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico, the only thing I see is oil". Hmmm, I see a potential fire hazard here. I know I blame the writer but it was probably a clueless editor.

Sick and wrong.

SIDENOTE:
Um . . . so how does one dive for 10 years and become an instructor with only 50 dives under their belt?

ktb wrote:Sick and wrong.

SIDENOTE:
Um . . . so how does one dive for 10 years and become an instructor with only 50 dives under their belt?

where does it say he's an instructor?

I can't help wondering what he expected to see........

spatman wrote:

ktb wrote:Sick and wrong.

SIDENOTE:
Um . . . so how does one dive for 10 years and become an instructor with only 50 dives under their belt?

where does it say he's an instructor?

It just says he is a PADI diver with 50 dives in ten years. So maybe he does think it is an oxygen tank.

That is a true masterpiece of journalism. Sarcasm off.

If he was scared because of low viz ("It was quiet, and to be honest scary, with extremely low visibility."), I hope he doesn't head up to Puget Sound to dive anytime soon.

spatman wrote:

ktb wrote:Sick and wrong.

SIDENOTE:
Um . . . so how does one dive for 10 years and become an instructor with only 50 dives under their belt?

where does it say he's an instructor?

Form the bio at the bottom:
Associated Press journalist Rich Matthews is certified with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He has been recreationally diving for about 10 years and has about 50 dives under his belt to depths of 120 feet.

I don't get it.

ktb wrote:Associated Press journalist Rich Matthews is certified with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He has been recreationally diving for about 10 years and has about 50 dives under his belt to depths of 120 feet.

I don't get it.

see bolded text above.

I haven't done a ton of blue water diving, but, I would imagine that just dropping into an ocean 40 miles from the coast and in the middle of nowhere, that you are unlikely to see much, oil spill or not.

Has anyone done dives like this before, without the oil of course, and seen lots of life? I would think that the pelagic stuff might swim by once in a while, but, that you would be unlikely to see much. I certainly wouldn't expect to see huge schools of fish.

Wouldn't the pelagics have left when the oil started coming up?

Don't misinterpret this as defending what is happening down there, I just wasn't that surprised that he didn't see a bunch of stuff.

If the other divers wouldn't dive it without a Hazmat suit on, don't you think he should at least put a hood on?

spatman wrote:

ktb wrote:Associated Press journalist Rich Matthews is certified with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He has been recreationally diving for about 10 years and has about 50 dives under his belt to depths of 120 feet.

I don't get it.

see bolded text above.

Ok, so the funny thing is, I've heard so many of the WRONG things PADI stood for that I guess I never learned the real thing. I kid you not.

There was just so much wrong with that dive, not to mention the story. The AP should be ashamed of it.

And, just for kicks, what WAS the news value anyway? Gee, there is a lot of oil in the water now? Who'd've thunk it? Or, hey, all this oil sticks? Again - who knew?

This just shows the worst of "modern journalism" as far as I'm concerned.

In my planning process for a dive trip in July I've been looking at everything I can find on Keys diving. This "story" fits right in with the rest. A combination of self-serving yap, hysteria, CYA lard and noise. By the time a guy is done reading it is hard to discover what is actually going on; other than without a doubt there is a disaster.

ArcticDiver wrote:In my planning process for a dive trip in July I've been looking at everything I can find on Keys diving. This "story" fits right in with the rest. A combination of self-serving yap, hysteria, CYA lard and noise. By the time a guy is done reading it is hard to discover what is actually going on; other than without a doubt there is a disaster.

I had a dive operator refuse to give me a quote on a trip for summer of 2011 this far out because of the concern about not knowing what is going to happen in the Keys. They said that maybe after September, that they would be able to know a bit more about the situation.

ktb wrote:

spatman wrote:

ktb wrote:Associated Press journalist Rich Matthews is certified with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He has been recreationally diving for about 10 years and has about 50 dives under his belt to depths of 120 feet.

I don't get it.

see bolded text above.

Ok, so the funny thing is, I've heard so many of the WRONG things PADI stood for that I guess I never learned the real thing. I kid you not.

I always thought it was Instruction instead of Instructors....

Fun thing is with there phone number PADI Americas
30151 Tomas
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-2125
USA
Ph: 800 729 7234 (US and Canada)

It spells out PAY PADI

oh man! wonder if they planned it that way...

It's actually SAY PADI. It just happens to work both ways.

eliseaboo wrote:It's actually SAY PADI. It just happens to work both ways.

Yeah, but PAY PADI is so much more appropriate, don't you think?

Wait a minute....


We missed the most important thing (or, I did, anyway.)




Barbara started this thread!

BABS! How are ya'? Is there diving out there in our nation's capitol? When are you coming back to dive? (You gotta take a vacation some time!
:occasion5:

here's the video associated with that article:

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/ ... l=20240840

ktb wrote:

spatman wrote:

ktb wrote:Associated Press journalist Rich Matthews is certified with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He has been recreationally diving for about 10 years and has about 50 dives under his belt to depths of 120 feet.

I don't get it.

see bolded text above.

Ok, so the funny thing is, I've heard so many of the WRONG things PADI stood for that I guess I never learned the real thing. I kid you not.

So what does the fact that this moron, who happened to be certified by PADI, have anything whatsoever to do with the PADI organization ??

Pigeon holeing PADI for this idiots actions is like blaming Boeing for 911.

Jaksonbrown wrote:

ktb wrote:

spatman wrote:

ktb wrote:Associated Press journalist Rich Matthews is certified with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He has been recreationally diving for about 10 years and has about 50 dives under his belt to depths of 120 feet.

I don't get it.

see bolded text above.

Ok, so the funny thing is, I've heard so many of the WRONG things PADI stood for that I guess I never learned the real thing. I kid you not.

So what does the fact that this moron, who happened to be certified by PADI, have anything whatsoever to do with the PADI organization ??

Pigeon holeing PADI for this idiots actions is like blaming Boeing for 911.

huh? where do you get that from?