They come as a team from jobs as disparate as engineers or elevator technicians to wherever the disaster may be, hoping to pull closure for despondent families from the deep water.
The specialty divers have no official name, pay for their training and equipment, and earn no money for their efforts, whether they are finding bodies, black boxes or murder weapons in water so deep that even seasoned county rescue divers cannot reach them.
Eight deep-water divers, trained under the Florida-based Global Underwater Explorer program, helped last week in the effort to recover the bodies of three men who died when their boat crashed Jan. 11 in Castaic Lake. With the help of remote-controlled sonar equipment, they found the three bodies, two of which they brought to the surface Friday. Saturday afternoon, the body of Nelson Roy Brinkman, 30, of Phelan, was pulled from the lake after divers using sonar equipment located the body. The bodies of Charles Wiseman, 47, of Castaic, and Steve Coulombe, 38, of Agua Dulce, were recovered Friday. Los Angeles County lifeguards found the fourth victim, Ken Lane, 41, of La Canada Flintridge, floating in the water immediately after the crash.
The four men--all avid speedboat enthusiasts--allegedly were testing a new high-performance boat manufactured by Coulombe's company, High Torque Marine, when the twin-hulled craft flipped and sank. Witnesses told authorities the boat was traveling at about 80 mph at the time.
Lane and Brinkman worked as engine builders for Coulombe. Wiseman, a concrete subcontractor, was a customer and friend.
The boat's wreckage and the bodies were located 247 feet below the surface--nearly 100 feet beyond the limit county divers are trained to go.
About 20 divers in California are trained to participate in such deep-water recovery efforts, led for eight years by Beverly Hills accountant Michael Kane.
"Closure is the driving force," Kane, 39, said. "People exploit tragedy all the time, but we do this for love of the sport."
High-profile missions such as airplane crashes cause the most pressure, the divers say, but the most gratifying are those in which they help people like Amy Comtee through the grieving process.
Comtee's 62-year-old father, Wayne Derx, was missing for 15 days after disappearing last Sept. 2 while diving off Catalina Island.
Kane contacted Comtee after the Tempe, Ariz., woman posted a message on an Internet bulletin board asking the dive community for help in finding her father's body. His team found her father on the first day of its search.
"When someone dies, it's not just the need for closure, it's needing to know where they are," Comtee said. "I was so incredibly touched that someone would risk so much just to bring us some comfort."
The team's rigorous training prepares them for cave exploration and deep-water diving and helps reduce some of the risks. Those risks include the possibility of paralysis or death due to accumulated dissolved gases bubbling in the body if a diver surfaces too quickly from water deeper than 100 feet.
"With every rescue and recovery that you go on, you're going into an environment that's already killed someone else," said Mark Lonsdale, a member of Kane's team and a training officer for the county divers. "In deep-water diving, there's no room for error."
County divers, about half of whom are volunteers, are trained to go only as deep as 150 feet because it is too expensive to maintain the capability for the rare deep recoveries, Lonsdale said. To maintain their deep-water certification, divers must perform hundreds of deep-water dives on a regular basis. Kane and each of his volunteers spend about $50,000 a year on equipment, he said.
"Diving is a very, very tiny part of what sheriff's [rescue teams] are required to do in the big picture," said Lonsdale, 46, of Santa Monica. "The best option is to use guys who train to that level because they want to."
Kane said it took a while for county rescue officials to gain confidence in his deep-diving team. When he first offered the group's services, he said, officials were reluctant to work with them, instead referring them to families in need.
Within a couple of years, though, he said his team was invited by law enforcement officials to help with missions ranging from finding guns discarded in the ocean to retrieving the black boxes from fallen airplanes.
Last week's Castaic Lake recovery was the first time in Lonsdale's 13 years with the Sheriff's Department in which divers went to that depth, he said.
The deep-water divers who participate in recovery efforts place themselves in the sport's upper tier, Global Underwater Explorer President Jarrod Jablonski said. Kane requires that his team members--all volunteers who pay for their own equipment and training--undertake hundreds of dives deeper than 200 feet before being allowed to help with recoveries.
"Just the act of looking for a dead body adds stress to an already stressful environment," Jablonski said. "Only a reckless person would try this without hours and hours of specialized training."
Like Kane, dubbed "Mr. Showtime" by the group, the divers all have engaging personalities. Kane exuded confidence last week at Castaic Lake as he prepared for the dive, lugging 120-pound double tanks and swim fins.
In addition to having Type A personalities, the divers all revel in risky behavior and think clearly under pressure, Kane said.
"You have to have that gene in you to jump down to 400 feet to locate a dead body," Kane said. "But you can't be the type to panic when you see it."
Separating emotion from the task at hand is the most difficult part of a mission, said John Walker, a UC Irvine elevator technician who has helped Kane.
"We have to look at the bodies not as human beings but as targets, like, 'Yeah, we found it,' " said Walker, 40, of Westminster. "We want to help with the closure, but we have to be more clinical than emotional."
Most team members live in Los Angeles and Orange counties, although some are as far away as Monterey and San Diego. About one of every 10 seriously interested divers are chosen for the group.
"Your team is only as strong as the weakest link," Kane said. "If you have a cowboy or a solo player, he puts the whole team in jeopardy."
Although the divers use $200 worth of gases for each dive and take time away from work, they refuse payment for their services.
Instead of payment, families are asked to make donations to Catalina Island's hyperbaric chamber, which treats injured divers.
100days-a-year
January 23rd, 2002, 03:34 PM
Sad but cool Roak.$50,000 on gear,$200 on gas sounds kinda high tho.I'm gratified to see the class these guys show.
roakey
January 23rd, 2002, 03:52 PM
Originally posted by 100days-a-year
Sad but cool Roak.$50,000 on gear,$200 on gas sounds kinda high tho.
Yhea, when I read that I thought that those numbers are probably for the group as a whole.
Having worked with the media in past, inaccuracies in their reporting is expected.
Roak
100days-a-year
January 24th, 2002, 08:17 PM
Having known techdivers in the past there is a possibility someone exagerated.Maybe if you count my truck and the breakfast and dinner I eat on the way.Never the less it exemplefies the behavior those snotty DIR guys have.Imagine them doing public service diving and not wanting any compensation.
Rick L
January 24th, 2002, 11:03 PM
Um maybe its just me but who cares?
They did a great thing and asked for nothing in return!!!
These divers did us all proud and asked for no money!!
How can you put that down?
Maybe its just me Rick L
Divesherpa
January 25th, 2002, 02:22 PM
I agree with Rick L.
Although Mr. Showtime sounds more like an a-hole, they seem to present their mission as one of mercy rather than one of self glorification.
Mr. Showtime does sound self glorified, doesn't it?
100days-a-year
January 25th, 2002, 05:55 PM
RickL,sorry I had my tongue in cheek.Also a little baiting.I know and have met some of the fellas here in Fla who recover/rescue when local authorities are not trained in that area.Never have I heard of any compensation or "glory" being asked for.You're right about them doing us proud.
Rick L
January 25th, 2002, 09:27 PM
Im sorry! I just didnt see anyone pointing out how great this was
for them to do for the family!! And to not pick the familys pocket
in such a sad time. There are few people who could do this type
of diving and recovery!! I would imagine they could just about name a price! To do it for free wow what can you say?
sorry Rick L
100days-a-year
January 26th, 2002, 10:06 PM
RickL,no prob.I shouldn't be engaging in baiting and innuendo on the net anyway,so much is lost in the written word.
roakey
January 28th, 2002, 11:42 AM
Found a post on another board by Michael Kane, aka MHK, aka "Showtime" about the rescue.
Post can be found at: http://www.eboards4all.com/935869/messages/1378.html
****************
Posted by MHK on January 21, 2002 at 10:22:06:
IP:63.193.144.171
It seems as though some have seen the article about our efforts and I, as well, want to identify myself with John Walker's comments that not enough credit was given to the other team members. John and I had the opportunity to be interviewed and I know we both diclosed the team members names, but my sense is that space limitations precluded a full listing, so I share John's thoughts.. Without a full team effort we could NEVER have completed this mission. Thanks guys!!!
Further to my earlier report respecting the dive operation I thought I'd describe the events of Friday and Saturday. On Thursday evening Sgt. Connelly notified me that the sonar equipment that they had flown in from Canada was turning up some meaningful information and could our team be ready to go Friday morning. Once again, thanks to a herculian effort by Jim Hoffman, John Walker and Terry May the blending process was completed in short order. Early Friday morning our team arrived at Lake Castaic. The team consisted of the bottom diver's of John Walker, Kendall Raine, Mark Lonsdale and myself with Pat Farina & Terry May working as support divers. We were told that the sonar imaging located *targets* in the 240' range. We mixed to allow for some added safety margin and blended a 15/50, using 50/50 and 02.. The bottom water temp was 51 degrees and the visiblity was less then 5' and it was as dark as you could ever imagine..
The sonar technology was very helpful and was able to pinpoint certain targets, but was limited with respect to direction. In other words, the sonar image could show a target but it wasn't able to show which direction the target was from the sonar. It reads 360 degrees so the operators were aided by the use of ROV's to help with direction. Accordingly, we were told about a jump that we were scheduled to make at approx. 2:00.. However, we were faced with extreme wind conditions on Friday which prompted the boat to get swept off the target. It took another couple of hours of waiting in the cold and the wind to re-discover the target. All throughout all the respective governmental agencies were very helpful and cooperative. It was a totally professional operation and I believe that much of the credit for that belongs to Sgt. Connelly for his leadership abilities.
Finally at about 4:00 we were told of a pretty sure target so Mark Lonsdale and I were team 1. We were told that the bottom was 240' and that the target was within 30' of the down line. As it turned out the vis was much worse then Tuesday and we had 5', at best. Upon reaching the bottom I tied off a line and Mark and I began a search pattern and at about 180' degrees we located the body. Mark proceeded to secure the body while I attached the lift bag.. After Mark and I secured the body and cleared the area I shot up the lift bag. We left the bottom after a 10 minute bottom time and completed our deco in 50 minutes so we were out of the water in an hour. The major complexity of his dive was that we were told we were in 240', whereas the actual recovery took place at 262', so to answer Frank's question of last week, we needed to adjust * on the fly*..
About 7:00 Friday evening Sgt. Connelly asked us if our team would be willing to complete a night dive recovery since they had just acquired a pretty good target. John Walker and Kendall Raine agreed, with Pat & Terry agreeing to act as support. Once again, it's important to note that we had the lake closed off, we had ample support from the Lifeguards, Sherriff's and local law enforcement so the controlled conditions allowed for the night recovery. Kendall and John proceeded and were able to secure the body within 5 minutes of leaving the surface for a recovery depth of 259'..
Upon arrival at base camp, as Walker noted, the family members were all still awaiting word as they had set up a week long vigil in the remote hopes that we could retrieve a loved one. The elation in their voices and in their hearts is what this is all about.. One of the family members told me that he will sleep for the first time in a week because of the recovery.. That is what this is all about!!!!!
The bar had now been raised since three of the four had now been recovered and the boat had been searched, so we didn't want to disappoint the last family, however it's important to note that we can't let our judgement get clouded when it applies to dives in the 260' range. Accordingly, we needed solid information and we needed some sleep and fresh tanks..
We arrived on Saturday morning ready to go again.. Due to prior commitments none of the other bottom team was available other then Mark Lonsdale and myself with Terry and Pat once again available for support. What that meant was we only had gas, divers and support for one jump so the info needed to be solid. The wind had calmed down for Saturday and the conditions were much more favorable and at about 3:00 Mark and I received the call.. By now we had a routine going and Pat and Terry knew exactly what we needed, they preformed magnificantely and Mark and I were able to retrieve the final body at 256' with a bottom time of 9 minutes and a total run time of 51 minutes.. Again the vis was less then 5', the silty condition once we located the body and began to work reduced the vis to almost non-exsistent and the water temp was 50'..
Afterwards, we had a major de-brief with all the players from the various agencies involved and at the briefing what was obvious to everyone in the room was that this was a total team effort, team commitment and team success.. Everyone involved was equally valuable and the entire project could not have been completed had it not been for a herculian effort by all involved..
For my part, I want to express pride, gratitude and appreciation to everyone but I wanted to specifically recognize the following:
Sgt. Mike Connlley
Mark Lonsdale
John Walker
Bob Titus
Kendall Raine
Terry May
Pat Farina
Scott Brooks
Jim Hoffman
I read somwhere in the L.A. Times that the * team is only as strong as the weakest link* ;-), but seriously truer words were never spoken because our team really helped three families get some closure..
Hope this fills in all the blanks, but let me know if you have follow ups..
Later
trymixdiver
February 4th, 2002, 12:18 AM
I met Mark lonsdale on a boat trip i did with my tech dive buddy. He was along for the ride and took a few photos of my buddy and me at deco which he was going to show at dema that year. We had manufactured a side block and custom hoses and fittings for use with a full face mask to allow gas switching. He seamed like a real nice guy and he mentioned he did recovery work at the time, im glad to see he is still doing this.
Therrin
February 25th, 2002, 01:04 AM
First off I'd like to say that I really appreciate the work of the guys who brought the bodies up. I work at the Valencia Sport Chalet, in the Scuba Dive dept, about a 15 minute drive from Castaic Lake. I've been on the water there many times and we were all initially shocked to hear about what had happened.
However... when i was working the day that those 4 men came into sport chalet to get their OMS doubles filled, I almost came unglued. At that time I didnt know their names, but they wanted a fill done and they wanted it fast.
Let me stop for a moment and explain something. Working for Sport Chalet, you have to be Fill/Visual certified before you can use a fill station. I was sent by SC Inc. to a course on fills and visual inspections which lasted 8 hrs, and now I am internationally certified through a company called PSI to do fills and visual inspections.
At the time they came in, I was the only person workin in my department, and i was *not* fill certified. I explained that my co-worker in Fishing was fill certified and would help them out as soon as he was off the phone with a customer he was talking to. One of the guys makes a big show of pulling out his wallet and showing me his 'blender card' and saying that he'll just step on over to the deck and fill them himself. Above the deck there is a huge sign saying "ONLY CERTIFIED, ON DUTY SPORT CHALET EMPLOYEES ARE TO USE THIS EQUIPMENT". I pointed this sign out to the man, and told him that my coworker would be over in just a few minutes. He started making a big fuss right there on the display floor saying loudly about how its sad that he couldng get any F*cking service and how regulations werent made to be followed, they were only there for people who didnt know what they were doing.
Meanwhile, his other 3 friends crowd back into my backstock room that is EMPLOYEES ONLY like they owned the place becuase they had OMS doubles in their shopping carts and started pullin the rental regs down off the hooks. The one guy says "Hey, look" and picks up a Titan reg. he says "these things are made of solid brass, they rock. I take mine sometimes and use it as my only primary at 500 feet." sure he does...
So anyway, my co-worker comes back over and gets ready to fill their tanks. The one guy gets pissed off that my coworker is even bothering to check for vis/hydro dates, and complains about how damn long sport chalet employees take to get anything done. My coworker then opens the valves on the tank to get filled, and goes to check the isolation valve. The guy just comes unglued at the seams, he's like "HEY DONT YOU TOUCH THAT F*CKING THING" My coworker gets pissed at the guy cuz he's only trying to do his job, and after threatening to call security on him if he doesnt calm down and start acting in a civil manner, procedes with the fill.
Then the guy says "yeah, we're gonna go find BODIES ok? i be you guys never get to do that huh. you prolly wont ever have the kind of experience" Cowoker and i look at eachother and roll our eyes. Coworker asks him about the isolation valve, the guy then says "yeah we dont like people touching them cuz the damn guys at a LDS will screw them closed while they're filling the tanks, and we dont find that out till we are underwater and need the air. "
They leave, and coworker turns to me and says "so much for professonalism and training. If they bothered with a thorough predive check and buddy checks with special equipment then they would know about it and fix it *before* they had been in the water for 20 minutes." Personally, I agree.
Just a little insight for some of you to where the rubber meets the road. These people do perform tasks that most people are not experienced to do, and they do help out alot. But they sure arent angels, and and anger management class or a lesson on humility probably wouldnt hurt. I dont have a problem with people who know what their doing, and are experience in their field. but when it comes down to rudeness and boasting about how great it is what their doing.... that doesnt cut it. As a introductory technical diver, i hope i dont turn out that way.
Just something to think about guys.
MHK
July 11th, 2005, 05:21 PM
However... when i was working the day that those 4 men came into sport chalet to get their OMS doubles filled, I almost came unglued. At that time I didnt know their names, but they wanted a fill done and they wanted it fast.
At the time they came in, I was the only person workin in my department, and i was *not* fill certified. I explained that my co-worker in Fishing was fill certified and would help them out as soon as he was off the phone with a customer he was talking to. One of the guys makes a big show of pulling out his wallet and showing me his 'blender card' and saying that he'll just step on over to the deck and fill them himself. Above the deck there is a huge sign saying "ONLY CERTIFIED, ON DUTY SPORT CHALET EMPLOYEES ARE TO USE THIS EQUIPMENT". I pointed this sign out to the man, and told him that my coworker would be over in just a few minutes. He started making a big fuss right there on the display floor saying loudly about how its sad that he couldng get any *****ing service and how regulations werent made to be followed, they were only there for people who didnt know what they were doing.
Meanwhile, his other 3 friends crowd back into my backstock room that is EMPLOYEES ONLY like they owned the place becuase they had OMS doubles in their shopping carts and started pullin the rental regs down off the hooks. The one guy says "Hey, look" and picks up a Titan reg. he says "these things are made of solid brass, they rock. I take mine sometimes and use it as my only primary at 500 feet." sure he does...
So anyway, my co-worker comes back over and gets ready to fill their tanks. The one guy gets pissed off that my coworker is even bothering to check for vis/hydro dates, and complains about how damn long sport chalet employees take to get anything done. My coworker then opens the valves on the tank to get filled, and goes to check the isolation valve. The guy just comes unglued at the seams, he's like "HEY DONT YOU TOUCH THAT *****ING THING" My coworker gets pissed at the guy cuz he's only trying to do his job, and after threatening to call security on him if he doesnt calm down and start acting in a civil manner, procedes with the fill.
Then the guy says "yeah, we're gonna go find BODIES ok? i be you guys never get to do that huh. you prolly wont ever have the kind of experience" Cowoker and i look at eachother and roll our eyes. Coworker asks him about the isolation valve, the guy then says "yeah we dont like people touching them cuz the damn guys at a LDS will screw them closed while they're filling the tanks, and we dont find that out till we are underwater and need the air. "
They leave, and coworker turns to me and says "so much for professonalism and training. If they bothered with a thorough predive check and buddy checks with special equipment then they would know about it and fix it *before* they had been in the water for 20 minutes." Personally, I agree.
Just a little insight for some of you to where the rubber meets the road. These people do perform tasks that most people are not experienced to do, and they do help out alot. But they sure arent angels, and and anger management class or a lesson on humility probably wouldnt hurt. I dont have a problem with people who know what their doing, and are experience in their field. but when it comes down to rudeness and boasting about how great it is what their doing.... that doesnt cut it. As a introductory technical diver, i hope i dont turn out that way.
Just something to think about guys.
Someone pointed this thread my way and I just wanted to make a point of saying that you have us confused with another team of divers that attempted the recovery. All of our tanks were blended by John Walker & Terry May at Scuba Toys. None of us dive OMS tanks, nor did anyone of us get our tanks filed at Sport Chalet.
Regards
Doc Intrepid
July 11th, 2005, 05:56 PM
Nice job Mike.
(Dare I say "slick"? ;) )
"Mr. Showtime"...
Heh.
Brando will wet himself laughing... :D
cool_hardware52
July 11th, 2005, 06:15 PM
Someone pointed this thread my way and I just wanted to make a point of saying that you have us confused with another team of divers that attempted the recovery. All of our tanks were blended by John Walker & Terry May at Scuba Toys. None of us dive OMS tanks, nor did anyone of us get our tanks filed at Sport Chalet.
Regards
I kinda guessed it wasn't you Mike.
1. Sport Chalet, probably not your first choice.
2. OMS, not likely.
3. Trimix at Sport Chalet? Ya right after they start pumping Nitrox........
Tobin
Otter
July 11th, 2005, 06:20 PM
First off I'd like to say that I really appreciate the work of the guys who brought the bodies up. I work at the Valencia Sport Chalet, in the Scuba Dive dept, about a 15 minute drive from Castaic Lake. I've been on the water there many times and we were all initially shocked to hear about what had happened.
However... when i was working the day that those 4 men came into sport chalet to get their OMS doubles filled, I almost came unglued. At that time I didnt know their names, but they wanted a fill done and they wanted it fast.
Let me stop for a moment and explain something. Working for Sport Chalet, you have to be Fill/Visual certified before you can use a fill station. I was sent by SC Inc. to a course on fills and visual inspections which lasted 8 hrs, and now I am internationally certified through a company called PSI to do fills and visual inspections.
At the time they came in, I was the only person workin in my department, and i was *not* fill certified. I explained that my co-worker in Fishing was fill certified and would help them out as soon as he was off the phone with a customer he was talking to. One of the guys makes a big show of pulling out his wallet and showing me his 'blender card' and saying that he'll just step on over to the deck and fill them himself. Above the deck there is a huge sign saying "ONLY CERTIFIED, ON DUTY SPORT CHALET EMPLOYEES ARE TO USE THIS EQUIPMENT". I pointed this sign out to the man, and told him that my coworker would be over in just a few minutes. He started making a big fuss right there on the display floor saying loudly about how its sad that he couldng get any *****ing service and how regulations werent made to be followed, they were only there for people who didnt know what they were doing.
Meanwhile, his other 3 friends crowd back into my backstock room that is EMPLOYEES ONLY like they owned the place becuase they had OMS doubles in their shopping carts and started pullin the rental regs down off the hooks. The one guy says "Hey, look" and picks up a Titan reg. he says "these things are made of solid brass, they rock. I take mine sometimes and use it as my only primary at 500 feet." sure he does...
So anyway, my co-worker comes back over and gets ready to fill their tanks. The one guy gets pissed off that my coworker is even bothering to check for vis/hydro dates, and complains about how damn long sport chalet employees take to get anything done. My coworker then opens the valves on the tank to get filled, and goes to check the isolation valve. The guy just comes unglued at the seams, he's like "HEY DONT YOU TOUCH THAT *****ING THING" My coworker gets pissed at the guy cuz he's only trying to do his job, and after threatening to call security on him if he doesnt calm down and start acting in a civil manner, procedes with the fill.
Then the guy says "yeah, we're gonna go find BODIES ok? i be you guys never get to do that huh. you prolly wont ever have the kind of experience" Cowoker and i look at eachother and roll our eyes. Coworker asks him about the isolation valve, the guy then says "yeah we dont like people touching them cuz the damn guys at a LDS will screw them closed while they're filling the tanks, and we dont find that out till we are underwater and need the air. "
They leave, and coworker turns to me and says "so much for professonalism and training. If they bothered with a thorough predive check and buddy checks with special equipment then they would know about it and fix it *before* they had been in the water for 20 minutes." Personally, I agree.
Just a little insight for some of you to where the rubber meets the road. These people do perform tasks that most people are not experienced to do, and they do help out alot. But they sure arent angels, and and anger management class or a lesson on humility probably wouldnt hurt. I dont have a problem with people who know what their doing, and are experience in their field. but when it comes down to rudeness and boasting about how great it is what their doing.... that doesnt cut it. As a introductory technical diver, i hope i dont turn out that way.
Just something to think about guys.
Not sure of your motivation, but I strongly question the veracity of your post.
NWGratefulDiver
July 11th, 2005, 06:26 PM
Um ... you guys are aware that you're responding to a post that had been inactive for 3.5 years ... right?
:eyebrow:
There's several things in the post that indicate he's talking about a different bunch of divers ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
cool_hardware52
July 11th, 2005, 06:51 PM
Um ... you guys are aware that you're responding to a post that had been inactive for 3.5 years ... right?
:eyebrow:
There's several things in the post that indicate he's talking about a different bunch of divers ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Oops...... :sorry19z:
Slow news day?
Tobin
Dan Gibson
July 11th, 2005, 07:29 PM
Who knows, with the way the internet works, Mike could have posted his reply 3.5 years ago ;)
Um ... you guys are aware that you're responding to a post that had been inactive for 3.5 years ... right?
:eyebrow:
There's several things in the post that indicate he's talking about a different bunch of divers ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
D_O_H
July 11th, 2005, 07:49 PM
Oops...... :sorry19z:
Slow news day?
Tobin
I can see why MHK might want to unearth this and set the record straight (though I too was wondering when Sports Chalet started filling trimix).
Interested thread in any event.
MHK
July 11th, 2005, 08:15 PM
Um ... you guys are aware that you're responding to a post that had been inactive for 3.5 years ... right?
:eyebrow:
There's several things in the post that indicate he's talking about a different bunch of divers ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Bob,
I didn't notice that. Someone PM'd me with a link to this thread saying that someone was chucking us under the bus so I just responded. In any event, Tobin is correct, no way would I be using Sport Chalet for Trimix fills since they don't even pump Nitrox and we don't dive OMS tanks. However, I am aware that another team was hired by the family in the immediate aftermath of the accident. Their efforts were unsuccessful so law enforcement took over the search and used our team for the recovery. One of the other team members asked if he could be part of our team. Naturally, we declined. I suspect to the extent the underlying post has any merit to it, they may be confusing our team with the other team.
Sorry about bringing up an old post, but I didn't realize it wasn't a recent post.
Regards
boomx5
July 11th, 2005, 10:13 PM
Bob,
I didn't notice that. Sorry about bringing up an old post, but I didn't realize it wasn't a recent post.
Regards
Even so...I'm glad you cleared up the confusion Mike.
Otter
July 12th, 2005, 01:43 AM
Even so...I'm glad you cleared up the confusion Mike.
I noticed it, but since it had been resurrected, thought it needed to be laid to rest!
HarryH97
July 12th, 2005, 02:32 PM
Just getting back from SoCal and wanted to give a plug to Sports Chalet. Coming from out of state, I was very impressed with the professional service down there, especially the Mission Viego shop. Although the shops only pump air, they have a policy to fill pony 30cf and less for free. My 6cf DS Bottle was filled promptly with air, tank O-rings lubed and replaced, and she even provided handouts and contacts for local boats. I was in and out in a jiffy. Just wonderful.
Sincerely,
H2
NWGratefulDiver
July 14th, 2005, 03:07 PM
Bob,
I didn't notice that. Someone PM'd me with a link to this thread saying that someone was chucking us under the bus so I just responded. In any event, Tobin is correct, no way would I be using Sport Chalet for Trimix fills since they don't even pump Nitrox and we don't dive OMS tanks. However, I am aware that another team was hired by the family in the immediate aftermath of the accident. Their efforts were unsuccessful so law enforcement took over the search and used our team for the recovery. One of the other team members asked if he could be part of our team. Naturally, we declined. I suspect to the extent the underlying post has any merit to it, they may be confusing our team with the other team.
Sorry about bringing up an old post, but I didn't realize it wasn't a recent post.
Regards
Understandable that you'd want to clear it up ... of course, I picked up on the "clues" right away that he couldn't have been talking about your team. But not everyone would ... and you have every right to want to avoid an Internet character assassination ... :crafty:
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
California Diver
July 14th, 2005, 03:19 PM
i reckon theres 2 sides to this story. ive heard one side, whats the gue side?
NWGratefulDiver
July 14th, 2005, 04:42 PM
i reckon theres 2 sides to this story. ive heard one side, whats the gue side?
The "gue side" was answered in post #13.
Having met Michael I can assure you that he ...
- doesn't use OMS cylinders
- doesn't use Aqualung regulators
- and definitely doesn't dive air to 247 feet
Michael is neither a braggart nor a bully ... and even though when I first met him he knew I was somewhat hostile to GUE, he was polite and engaging. There is nothing about him that would suggest to me that he would behave in the manner described by the Sport Chalet employee.
I have no idea who this employee dealt with on that day ... but I'm as certain as I can be without having actually been there that it wasn't Michael Kane.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
California Diver
July 14th, 2005, 05:54 PM
im not saying it was him that was there because i know who was at the sport chalet. i was wondering why they had not found the body and the gue guys were called in. i had heard they even had a helicopter
Divesherpa
July 15th, 2005, 12:09 PM
Hey Mike,
Sorry about throwing the A-hole bomb out there. You have always been very nice and answered any questions I have asked. I'd forgotten about this post a long time ago.
Cheers,
Jamie
MHK
July 20th, 2005, 04:02 PM
im not saying it was him that was there because i know who was at the sport chalet. i was wondering why they had not found the body and the gue guys were called in. i had heard they even had a helicopter
If the R.I.P. to Steve in your post is who I believe it is, then perhaps it's best to avoid this discussion. I purposely was ellusive in my post for that reason, and I see no benefit to discussing this issue publicly at this time.
Regards
MHK
July 20th, 2005, 04:04 PM
Hey Mike,
Sorry about throwing the A-hole bomb out there. You have always been very nice and answered any questions I have asked. I'd forgotten about this post a long time ago.
Cheers,
Jamie
No worries.. BTW, the funny thing about that comment is that I'm never referred to in that manner. John Walker made an off the cuff comment along the lines of good natured ribbing when he talked to the reporter. We all had a bunch of laughs about it and long ago moved on, but once something is in print it's pretty hard to undo ;-)
regards
Randy43068
July 20th, 2005, 05:03 PM
Someone pointed this thread my way and I just wanted to make a point of saying that you have us confused with another team of divers that attempted the recovery. All of our tanks were blended by John Walker & Terry May at Scuba Toys. None of us dive OMS tanks, nor did anyone of us get our tanks filed at Sport Chalet.
Regards
and thanks for clearing that up.
R.
Randy43068
July 20th, 2005, 05:05 PM
Um ... you guys are aware that you're responding to a post that had been inactive for 3.5 years ... right?
:eyebrow:
There's several things in the post that indicate he's talking about a different bunch of divers ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
delete key..
roakey
October 12th, 2005, 12:27 PM
Um ... you guys are aware that you're responding to a post that had been inactive for 3.5 years ... right?
If I had seen that last reply 3.5 years ago I would have given Mike a pointer then. As the originator of this note I'm a bit embarrased that I never saw it... :(
Roak
cmcloughlin
October 14th, 2005, 10:12 PM
Yhea, when I read that I thought that those numbers are probably for the group as a whole.
Having worked with the media in past, inaccuracies in their reporting is expected.
Roak
I just did a quick run down on my calculator
9 tanks, 4 regs 2 wetsuits, 1 drysuit masks fins computer reels 3 BC's tools etc etc.
tops 15,000. if I add my dive boat and my Rolex submariner I break 50,000 easy . :)
Chris
