On Mon, 9 Sep 2002 10:07:07 EDT, Mark Goldsmith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I dove with Horacio and LU this past May on my annual five day trip.  My
>friend Hank and I had mixed reviews which in all fairness were mostly due to
>what I hope is the normal struggles of a start-up dive-op.  We have known
>Horacio for many years thru his tenure with Aldora and couldn't wait to dive
>with him when ge heard he was starting LU with one of the salvaged Aldora
>boats.
>
>Attitude was fantastic among Horacio and all his staff, but they were
>stretched by only having one boat.  He had trouble keeping up with schedules
>and we had a few side trips to the gas dock at the marina.  We wanted to dive
>with Horacio, because he is a trip to dive with, but although he promised us
>his time, he was not able to dive with us during our visit. He has adopted a
>business plan in which I think he wants to combine the best of Aldora with
>his own style and philosophy.  I worry that he could succumb to the greatest
>reason for new business failure, over expansion with under capitalization.
>He is a good guy and has paid his dues.  I wish him well.


Thanks for a very FAIR and INFORMATIVE review!

That's the problem with too much favorable publicity on ONE DM of a
dive op, and not realize that it's unrealistic to impossible to that
DM to dive with everyone who likes to dive with him.

That happened to Memo of Aldora when it had 4 boats.  EVERYONE wanted
to dive with Memo.  It was impossible for him to satisfy even 1/2 of
the customers of Aldora who wanted to dive with ONLY HIM.   He left
Aldora to set up his own shop.  :-)

The same appeared to have happened to Horacio.  Again, I am sure
everyone who knows about him wants to dive with HIM.  But he has many
other duties and obligations as owner or his new shop and his STAFF
(including OTHER DMs) is supposed to be running most of the trips.

Hence, you ran into what is reasonably expected -- that Horacio cannot
accommodate the wishes of all those who wanted to dive with HIM, and
him only.

That having said, I think the only FAULT I could find, with Horacio
and his new shop, given your very fair description, is

> although he promised us his time, he was not able to dive with
> us during our visit

IMHO, he SHOULD either not have promised what he could not deliver, or
SHOULD have given you the realistic expectation that he might not have
been able to dive with you, but would try to schedule a trip (or
however many) to dive with you.

-- Bob.