Eric,
You've got more patience than me. It was the right decision and must have been tough.
The disruption the last few weeks has made me want to stop reading. I can't begin to describe how much Wetpixel has helped me. My pictures still suck, but at least they're getting better. 
It's a shame that Dan couldn't have joined in with the correct mind set, to learn all he could in a field where he had no experience. Granted, he obviously has experience with land photography and could possibly have been a beneficial contributor.
Dan...you may totally ignore this, coming from an amateur and all, but if you would just stop trying to impress everyone, you might actually make some friends here.
This statement made yesterday, however, pretty much sums it up for me:
"What you may not know is that there is a whole lot of underwater photography shot in pools in NYC, for ad agency work, where fickle art directors look over, and judge you by your gear."
Never having been involved with an art director I may be all wrong, but hopefully the end product would weigh more than the price of the gear.
I've got my calendar marked for December 5th. Should be interesting.