(6/19/05) Diver missing off Bald Head Island, NC

[Kriterian]

I just saw this on my local news site:

ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. -- Coast Guard crews on boats and in aircraft are looking in the ocean off Bald Head Island for a diver who went missing Saturday afternoon. One man was rescued last night.

Coast Guard Ensign Andrew Greenwood said three Wilmington men were diving off their boat in choppy seas Saturday. One man climbed safely back aboard, but called for help when he couldn't locate his companions.

The link to the rest of the story

 

[herman]

I happen to be at Oak Island this weekend and as normal I listen to a marine radio. I have been following this since it started yesterday. I had not heard that one had been found but guessed as much as the Coast Guard radio broadcast had changed from 2 missing to 1 missing. The last notice was just a few minutes ago so he is still missing. These guys were way out, Frying Pan Tower is 35 miles off shore and they were reported 25 miles farther out. Why anyone would dive that far out is beyond me. There are plenty of ledges around the tower. From the radio descriptions I heard yesterday, they were spear fishing. I hope they find the other diver but I suspect the odds are not too good.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

This makes two divers adrift in the ocean today, being searched for by Coast Guard as well as others; this Greg Mickey who apparently was swept away by current Saturday, and Frank Langon, the diver lost off Jupiter Point, FL on Friday.

Everytime I read threads like these (which is far too frequently) I say to myself "damn, I need to pick up a GPS unit and some dye packs and attach them to my doubles in an 'AwS***' tube"...

Any of us who have been diving offshore out of Nags Head, Hatteras, Morehead City, or Beaufort know what Greg Mickey is likely experiencing currently, simply drifting in 2' to 4' seas, its coming up on 24 hours or so, hoping like hell someone finds him.

Prayers for his survival, and I'm going to take another look at GPS units today...

Doc

 

[realdiver7]

I have been diving the Frying Pan Tower area for 11 years because I live in the area, and the current in that area can be extreme as it passes over the shoals from shallower to deeper water. Anyone who plans to dive this area should take extra precautions by carrying more than one surface signaling device, which includes a large safety sausage. They should also stay with their buddies, surface together using the anchor line, have a spotter topside on the boat whenever possible, be more conservative with air time remaining and NDL, use current lines, tag lines, down lines, and all of the other conservative diving measures that should be taken that far out, in that type of current and environment. Buddies that I dive with in that area go to extreme measures to maintain safety due to hard lessons learned from experience, and some of those experiences could have been disastrous.

The water is much warmer in that area, and the visibility and spearfishing is usually excellent, so divers will sometimes venture out that far on days the sea is 1-2 ft. However, the conditions can change rapidly and you can surface in very choppy seas without warning.

I know from experience how it feels to surface out there, alone in a ripping current due to an equipment problem. I also know that I feel like a very tiny ant out there in that huge expanse of ocean. Many divers in this area know each other, or know divers who are buddies of other divers. This is another unfortunate eye-opening lesson and reminder for all of us. I can only hope and pray for the missing diver and his family, and wish for his safe return.

 

[Kriterian]

Everytime I read threads like these (which is far too frequently) I say to myself "damn, I need to pick up a GPS unit and some dye packs and attach them to my doubles in an 'AwS***' tube"...
Doc

I know this is a tragedy but that name for your tube gave me a good chuckle.

To the other poster talking about a spotter on the boat and all the other tips: Was is it just me or did it sound like they were ALL diving and the boat was empty? They mentioned 3 people diving, one of which was the captain, and that was it.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

I know this is a tragedy but that name for your tube gave me a good chuckle...

Heh, yeah I've got the tube already - I just haven't purchased a marine GPS unit to go in it yet. I've been waiting for them to come down in price, and they keep evolving so fast that its tough to find the right product...

But situations like this reinforce the notion that all sorts of things can go real wrong when you're 30-70 miles or more offshore in the Atlantic. If Greg had a GPS handy, he'd already be drinking beer and telling the tale...

 

[Sasquatch]

"But situations like this reinforce the notion that all sorts of things can go real wrong when you're 30-70 miles or more offshore in the Atlantic. If Greg had a GPS handy, he'd already be drinking beer and telling the tale..."

If I had more time I'd delve deeper into the forums and maybe answer my own question but I'm behind schedule so bear with me. My question is this: how would a GPS system help the lost diver? If the answer is that while down he could see how far he's drifted from his exit point and correct his route to surface near a line then I get it. However, as my GPS system I use up here in the Cascades only tells me where I am in the woods and where I need to go to return wouldn't really help a drifting diver.

I really hope he is found soon, telling the tale and blowing the foam of a cold one.

 

[BabyDuck]

doc, i guess the ones you're talking about are like beacons?

 

[Kriterian]

"But situations like this reinforce the notion that all sorts of things can go real wrong when you're 30-70 miles or more offshore in the Atlantic. If Greg had a GPS handy, he'd already be drinking beer and telling the tale..."

If I had more time I'd delve deeper into the forums and maybe answer my own question but I'm behind schedule so bear with me. My question is this: how would a GPS system help the lost diver? If the answer is that while down he could see how far he's drifted from his exit point and correct his route to surface near a line then I get it. However, as my GPS system I use up here in the Cascades only tells me where I am in the woods and where I need to go to return wouldn't really help a drifting diver.

I really hope he is found soon, telling the tale and blowing the foam of a cold one.

I think he means the kind that transmit your location to a remote receiver, or the Coast Guard. I guess a better term than GPS would be a PLB, or Personal Locator Beacon.

Here is an example: SeaMarshall PLB

 

[pufferfish]

I think he is refering to the personal locator beacon (PLB) which is used as part of the search and rescue satellite aided tracking (SARSAT) system. To date there have been 10 PLB rescue incidents saving 14 lives as reported here:
http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov./
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/s1168.htm

I agree with Doc in that these events are far too common and have been involved with one myself searching for a lost diver in the Pacific for over an hour. She was separated from her buddy in a current and surfaced in a 4 foot sea far from the dive boat. No Dive Alert, but she had a safety sausage which ultimately allowed us to see her.

The PLBs are nice but expensive. I have just ordered up a couple of these for $40 which are probably a good locating device to throw in your pocket when on the open ocean. The Survivor II is 2 x 7 inches and comes in a plastic holster.
http://www.seerescue.com/ (go to civilian site)