Letters to the Editor

Dear Undercurrent,

With regard to a letter from Greg White about plastic packaging, a week ago I bought the new Scubapro Go Sport fins. They came in a cardboard box with a cardboard insert in the foot pocket and not a bit of plastic anywhere. Seems Scubapro did get the message and has taken steps to package their products more responsibly.

- Mike Chiapetto, Colorado Springs, CO

John Bantin replies: Joe Stellar, the boss of Scubapro, told Undercurrent that the company is getting rid of all single-use plastic in its packaging, but of course, retailers will still have older stock that is yet to get into circulation, which is where Greg White's disappointment probably originates.

Dear Undercurrent,

While some dive operators are promoting the use of sunscreens that are ocean friendly, many of these very same operators are pouring the toxic poisons into the ocean on a daily basis. I've found many of the liveaboards here in Indonesia are using a cleaner called Porstex. Every day boats are pouring this solution of hydrochloric acid down their toilets; some are even cleaning the decks of their boats with it, too. Most boats have huge stores of this stuff. Besides just poisoning the ocean, they are making their crew handle this stuff without any protection. Our oceans are already suffering from pH changes, and surely pouring acid directly into our oceans close to reefs is only worsening the matter?

- Graham Abbott, Bali, Indonesia

Dear Undercurrent.

With regard to your item on using nasal sprays while underwater (Undercurrent August) and as a member of the UHMS, as is Dr. Covington, I regret that you didn't add a few more codicils to the use of these medications while underwater.

[The 46-year old diver concerned] is a certified technical diver, a certified cave diver, whose skills include operating in pitch black, with redundancy of practically his whole kit.

One might try this only after completing board certification in anesthesiology and being promoted to the rank of Professor. Anyone with the above skills, experience, and obvious courage might be encouraged to try this.

- Ted Doering M.D., Jupiter, FL

Dear Undercurrent,

I purchased my Suunto EON Steel roughly two years ago. I have less than 200 dives logged on the EON Steel. During a trip to Palau, the System Error screen popped up while I was at 95 feet in strong current. I immediately aborted my dive, but had zero feedback as to remaining air, ascent rate, or deco stops [making it] extremely unsafe!

Upon my return to Los Angeles, I took my Suunto EON Steel back to the dive shop where I made the original purchase. They, in turn, sent it back to Suunto. After about a month, Suunto responded by saying the motherboard needed to be replaced and that motherboards were not covered by the Suunto warranty. I paid roughly $1,500 for my EON Steel and Suunto now wanted to charge me another $300 to replace a defective motherboard.

Instead of Suunto repairing the EON Steel free-of-charge, Hollywood Divers [the retailer] elected to pay the repair cost and is choosing to personally use the offending computer as their own.

I am beyond upset that Suunto refuses to stand behind its products.

- (Name withheld)

Craig Lees of Suunto replies: The computer was out of warranty. Suunto's warranty [including for the motherboard] is two years from point of purchase. If the customer is unable to provide proof of purchase, we go via the serial number, which shows the week of the year the unit was built. We always allow some time on top of this to take in [to account] distribution and stock time. Suunto also offers a global five-year warranty on pressure sensors.