I was rescued last month

Hello everybody, my name is Rich neely, I was rescued last month off the Great Barrier Reef with my girlfriend Ally Dalton, I'm pretty sure some of you may have followed the story.....

I have finally moved to california to be with Ally and I finally have a fast connection, and I have finally found the courage to have a peek at Wetpixel to see if there have been any conversations about Ally and myself.

And the good news is, I hope, I can't find any.

Or am I just not searching correctly? I am not too familiar with the wetpixel site, even though I am a member, I have been living in Thailand for 5 years and it's not easy to get a fast enough connection when you work on a liveaboard.

If anyone can direct me to any chat about Ally and myself I would be interested, although terrified, wetpixel means a lot to me thus far, as I am entering the realms of DSLR photography now, and I don't want to be hated or berated as we have been everywhere else.

If anybody is interested, I am more than willing to tell the truth about what happened to us. Everybody has read how we flouted safety, broke the rules, did what we were told not to do, PLANNED IT, sold the story, made a million pounds, should pay for our rescue etc and all of it is the exact opposite of the truth, but people believe what the media print and nobody wanted to print that Ally and I did what we were told and that we are deeply thankful to our rescuers.

Anyway, I just wanted to get a general idea if I should dare to show my face on wetpixel again....!

Hi Rich,

Welcome to Wetpixel! It's great to have you here.

There has been a lot of discussion here lately - mainly after the diver rescue in Komodo - about EPIRBs, personal location devices, etc. It sounds like your experience will be very educational for us.

CheerS

James Wiseman

I don't remember reading about you here, but David Doubillet stirred up quite a storm with his photos of nudis in National Geographic.

Hello Rich

Welcome.

The media are scum mate, the only thing they are interested in is making money and they will cut a story any way they can to achieve it.

Feel free to post your story when you feel like it if you want.... would be good to really know what happened.

So what are you going to do with that 1 million anyhow

Anyway, I just wanted to get a general idea if I should dare to show my face on wetpixel again....!

Sounds like you've been through a lot more scary sh#t than Wetpixel. Though Dean B, Simon and Mike Veitch drunk and dressed in drag can be intimidating ( just kidding).

Welcome.

Hi Rich, welcome back, very glad you're safe. I have read every post for the last year or so when I wasn't off diving ( It's a personal addiction I'm trying to work on) and I can tell you I didn't see anything posted here about your experience. One of the things I like most about wetpixelians is that they don't believe everything the media puts out. I think we've learned that whatever the first reports of a happening say is usually wrong. Is there a site you'd recommend where anyone interested in getting the "truth" can go and read your version? I like to read it just to improve my dive planning and be a safer diver.

I think as long as you don't have a record of poking other divers with a sharp pointer you'll be fine. Heck they even let us Canon shooters get a word in sometimes.

Steve

Anyway, I just wanted to get a general idea if I should dare to show my face on wetpixel again....!

To echo what James said there will be interest in what actually happened and doubt anyone will drag you through the coals (I think I had seen you incident mentioned elsewhere but not here.) I would guess people would ask questions more to learn, so if that happens do not take it the wrong way.

So welcome, relax and have fun. (But be warned once in awhile people can get silly, so do not read posts with a drink in your hand, can wind up on the keyboard )

Though Dean B, Simon and Mike Veitch drunk and dressed in drag can be intimidating .

Intimidating is not the word I would use, scary and disturbing maybe

Welcome back. Glad you're okay.

Don't sweat all the b.s. ... this is a photography website. Occasionally the egos and opinions start swanging around, but mostly just in the galley forums, and even then usually in fun.

You could've always created a new safe 'anonymous' ID but you didn't...that's a brave move and a credit to ya. I don't think anyone will crucify you unless you question craig about some sort of technical minutia only he and the PhD's who design Bayer sensors understands.

"That which does not kill us..." yadda yadda yadda. OK, I'm outta cliche's.

Hi Rich,

Perhaps I am out of the loop, but I am not familiar with your story. Please tell....

Hi Rich and welcome back to wetpixel, I did read the so called reports of what happened to you guys, I take what I read in the tabloids with a pinch of salt. They are lucky if they get the tv listings right. Tabloid journalists in the UK are about as good as our weather forecasters, which is not very good at all.

I would love to hear from the horses mouth what actually happened to you huys out there. I was there this time last year and know that the currents are tricky.

once again welcome back, stew

Intimidating is not the word I would use, scary and disturbing maybe

For disturbing you have to visualize how Veitch became Miss Cairns Backpacker in the woolshed back in the 90's... He still talks proudly of this moment.

As for the whole getting lost / rescued thing i'm sure the story will be insightful to many people here, i haven't heard anything about it

Hey Rich,

Firstly Glad you and the Lady are well... That to me is the important bit... I did read the press coverage of the incident and I must admit the first thing I thought it.. Phew glad their alright.. and secondly think about what i'd do with the money..hmmm ? new camera / Housing fantastic trips but thats the way i think .. If Elton John can be awarded millions for the tabs calling him a gay (which he is) then sell his story for even more to another tabloid then 'crack on' brother' is all i can say...

But as you seem to say you didn't receive any so.. oh well

Dive safe

Dean(Glad your both safe)B

I'd like to give you a very warm wetpixel welcome!

I think you've seen by the posts in reply to yours that everyone is happy to see you and have no intentions of putting you down because of some silly thing that appeared in the media. I, for one, would like you to tell your story here only when you feel completely comfortable doing so. If that happens tomorrow or if it happens next week or next month, the time will be right when it feels right for you

Yes, I did read about your story but I don't recall reading anything about you here.

We're good folks here and most of us are happy to help others who are interested in underwater photography.

It sounds like you are

Ellen

Hi Rich! Welcome, welcome. Here's to your safe rescue!

Personally, I'm very interested in hearing your side of the story - but only if and when you are ready and feel like it.

But if all you want to talk about is photography, folks around here will respect that too.

What kind of camera do you have?

Welcome. Like everyone else has mentioned - glad you are both safe. I'd say the IQ of the folks that post here is significantly greater than the general population and we take what we read in the media with a grain of salt. And given that Austrialia dive operations seem to have a disturbing habit of leaving people behind - I don't put a whole lot of stock in what they say.

Welcome...like Steve I'm sort of an addict...WIBES usually force me to quit for the evening...WetPixel Induced Blurry Eyes Syndrome... I haven't seen your story yet. Your story is valuable to anyone who dives and sharing your story would be beneficial to us...thanks.

Glad to hear the Aquatica housing didn't have to be ditched then you would have made the tabloid front page buddy !!!

As for Rich story, well as the tabloids would say, why spoil a great story with facts I'm sure that "the things to do while in Australia" list included one ocean drift night in rough weather with girlfriend, just after getting stung by Sea wasp, scorpion and/or bitten by poisonous snake while in the outback.

I love tabloids, just the right size for the litter box of the cat.

For disturbing you have to visualize how Veitch became Miss Cairns Backpacker in the woolshed back in the 90's... He still talks proudly of this moment.

Would be really disturbing if Mike did not look so good in a dress. It was just a dress, right?

I think the main thing is that you are safe. The next thing is analysis. We at WP are here because anaylzing and sharing ideas and experiences in fkn INVALUABLE. And what happened to you can happen to any of your fellow divers. I don't believe that anyone here is prepared to assign fault, just to discuss how to avoid something like this.

Joe

Hi Rich - I followed the story in the media in Australia. As a scuba diver I took most of what they had to say with a grain of salt. Regardless of what happened, what a lucky person you (and your girl) are. Im very interested to hear your story. Please feel free to PM me if you dont want to shout it for all and sundry to hear.

Cheers

Steve