Back to the original topic: The active recovery phase is over. The grapevine & press report that the family of the victim has returned to the USA, likely with unanswered questions and surely with great sadness -- and without filing any complaint. The DM and boat captain testified before the port captain and await his decision re their fitness to continue working and any fines or other penalties he chooses to impose.
I extend heartfelt sympathy to the victim's family both from me and from many island residents and visitors.
Thanks for the update, Deb. Very sad, the thought of going on a vacation with your spouse and having a day of diving resulting in going home alone.
Whatever the port captain's ruling is, it doesn't change the outcome. My heart really goes out to the diver's husband and family. It's hard enough to lose a loved one, but harder to do so with all the unanswered questions.
Dive safe, everyone. Anything can happen to any of us, anytime. Experience and the number of dives you have under your belt doesn't exempt you from an underwater emergency or an accident.
---------- Post added April 3rd, 2012 at 10:38 AM ----------
To be honest I don't think that there are any dives anywhere that will duplicate the dives in any one location and in general 15 dives should mean 15 buddy checks, 15 descents, 15 opportunities for gas management, 15 minor issues as will happen on any dive and 15 safe ascents - a whole lot better than a new diver arriving on the island fresh out of padi course. Christi has to have some line in the sand and 15 seems a reasonable number as 15 in a year is more than just a "vacation diver"
Also to be fair 15 quarry dives - even at 30 feet - can result in a huge learning curve. With the lack of good viz and the cold that goes along with most quarry dives that is some serious task loading and I would sooner dive with a 15 quarry dive diver than a 30 dive vacation diver. At Dutch springs, PA where I certified, 30 feet is thermocline territory and although the zebra mussles have improved viz you are still talking poor viz with COLD water - now that makes for beefy divers.
I have dived approx 250 dives and still consider myself a beginner - I shudder to think that my 8th dive was in Coz off of a cruise ship with Sand Dollar and a deep wall with a ripping current - mainly because despite my training I had no idea what potential dangers awaited me - Hey I was on a cruise line with RCL - they would never let anything happen to me - Whew - there but for the grace of God goes I
If it was always an option, my buddy choice would be the diver who has the most dives in the location/destination I'm diving that day. Diving in the worst conditions doesn't make someone more skilled or mean they're going to excel in better conditions.
I know a few guys who've been doing blackwater SAR diving for 15-20 yrs. It was their first experience in diving. Some of them have never done anything else. For a few of them, the only other diving they've done is a handful of outings to a local quarry. I will never come close to their level on our SAR team, but I know that if I ever get to take them on a trip down to Cozumel, regardless of their skills, they'll be like flailing newbies in blue water. No tether line, no rope signals, no comm, no bottom crawling... Point being, you can be the most experienced diver with hundreds or thousands of dives in your particular specialty, but the minute you get into a different diving environment requiring a different skill set, it's a whole new ball game.
One thing I really like about the Cozumel shops I've used is that how many dives you have, and/or your cert level, while taken into consideration, don't determine which sites you'll be offered. They want to see you in the water, under Cozumel diving conditions and see how you do skill and comfort wise before taking you anywhere you want to go.
