Back Roll and a Flip?

[Bombay High]

I have a question about the accident you described above:

Was the Zodiac in Goa moving forward, as in our search and rescue exercises, or was it halted, with the prop engaged, while divers were in the water? THAT would make huge difference in risk factors.

It was engaged and moving very slowly. We were in really choppy seas (west coast India monsoon seas) so strong throttle is required to hold position and keep from flipping over. I used to have some before and after photos of the guy somewhere, but that was about 18 years ago and I may have problems locating them.
The before picture might make you lose your lunch (the after is not that much better )

 

[gypsyjim]

It was engaged and moving very slowly. We were in really choppy seas (west coast India monsoon seas) so strong throttle is required to hold position and keep from flipping over. I used to have some before and after photos of the guy somewhere, but that was about 18 years ago and I may have problems locating them.
The before picture might make you lose your lunch (the after is not that much better )

Ah, sounds like perfect diving conditions. :shocked2:

Kind of easy to see how risky the entire dive was right from the word go. I can not begin to imagine the pain your diver went threw!

Definitely NOT the sort of dive situation I was describing. I am quite sure that under no circumstances would I want to be diving in the conditions you described, moving prop or not!

 

[Bombay High]

Ah, sounds like perfect diving conditions. :shocked2:

Kind of easy to see how risky the entire dive was right from the word go. I can not begin to imagine the pain your diver went threw!

Definitely NOT the sort of dive situation I was describing. I am quite sure that under no circumstances would I want to be diving in the conditions you described, moving prop or not!

True ... I would not choose to dive there either, in seas high enough to make a 280 ft long cargo ship break anchor and get tossed aground.
As a commercial diver, the diving is just one part of the job. It is like the transportation to take you to your job site which just happens to be in a really inhospitable place. You take that for granted along with the risk that entails.
There was a lot of pressure on us to start breaking the ship down because it ruined the view from a very high end five star luxury resort.
The salvage job was postponed until after the monsoons after two weeks of futile attempts to make any headway. 3 divers were injured in the process.

 

[gypsyjim]

True ... I would not choose to dive there either, in seas high enough to make a 280 ft long cargo ship break anchor and get tossed aground.
As a commercial diver, the diving is just one part of the job. It is like the transportation to take you to your job site which just happens to be in a really inhospitable place. You take that for granted along with the risk that entails.
There was a lot of pressure on us to start breaking the ship down because it ruined the view from a very high end five star luxury resort.
The salvage job was postponed until after the monsoons after two weeks of futile attempts to make any headway. 3 divers were injured in the process.

It sounds to me as if someone was letting financial concerns override diver safety all along the way on that venture, until reality finally set in, which was probably also a financial decision. Injure or kill enough divers, even locals, and eventually the folks wanting their resort view cleaned up would face lawsuits I assume.

Dam sure glad I did not pick your career. Those kinds of seas and that rough sort of diving are way beyond recreational, fun diving. Yours might sound like a romantic career, but I bet those were not the only harsh realities and conditions you ever faced, and to have survived means you took such diving very, very seriously.

 

[SCUBASailor]

This is good enough for me to steal and put on my facebook page.

 

[Bombay High]

It sounds to me as if someone was letting financial concerns override diver safety all along the way on that venture, until reality finally set in, which was probably also a financial decision. Injure or kill enough divers, even locals, and eventually the folks wanting their resort view cleaned up would face lawsuits I assume.

Dam sure glad I did not pick your career. Those kinds of seas and that rough sort of diving are way beyond recreational, fun diving. Yours might sound like a romantic career, but I bet those were not the only harsh realities and conditions you ever faced, and to have survived means you took such diving very, very seriously.

We were actually commissioned by the shipping company, who was trying to avoid a lawsuit.
The nature of the job demands that you take it seriously. Darwins hard at work ... you WILL be taken out of the gene pool if you dont

HUGE WAVE HITS DUNBAR OIL RIG NORTH SEA - YouTube

A sampler of choppy seas on the North Sea oil platforms.
I know that Akimbo and Sat Diver have been here as well. I would be happy to never have to go down there ever again .

 

[gypsyjim]

We were actually commissioned by the shipping company, who was trying to avoid a lawsuit.
The nature of the job demands that you take it seriously. Darwins hard at work ... you WILL be taken out of the gene pool if you dont

HUGE WAVE HITS DUNBAR OIL RIG NORTH SEA - YouTube

A sampler of choppy seas on the North Sea oil platforms.
I know that Akimbo and Sat Diver have been here as well. I would be happy to never have to go down there ever again .

Dam, that is some serious pounding! Hard to get a true perspective on the size of the waves, without a known object to compare them to. I imagine the oil rig is a seriously large structure.

I remember one DM describing being caught in a large storm, a full day out from Puerto Rice in a small dive boat. He said he kept flipping between fearing every second would be his last, and wishing he could just die and get it over with. And the seas he faced probably would have seemed calm, compared to those in your video!

Somehow, I do not see me willingly facing either such seas. EVER

 

[Mossman]

I think the most challenging back-roll entries I've ever done were in the Galapagos, in big swells at Darwin Island. Given the way the swells and currents were jerking the boat and divers around, we were constantly bumping into each other, winding up under the boat, dropping stuff, etc. We finally made the guy wearing the pony bottle sit at the stern end on the rest of the dives after we all got smacked in the head with it once or twice. Doing that with the engines running would be suicidal IMO.

 

[Colliam7]

I have done both. . . . surface conditions, height above water, and timing of the boat pitching sometimes make the rotation faster or more complete. They key is get in the water away from the boat and don't kick anyone.

What he said!

 

[gypsyjim]

I think the most challenging back-roll entries I've ever done were in the Galapagos, in big swells at Darwin Island. Given the way the swells and currents were jerking the boat and divers around, we were constantly bumping into each other, winding up under the boat, dropping stuff, etc. We finally made the guy wearing the pony bottle sit at the stern end on the rest of the dives after we all got smacked in the head with it once or twice. Doing that with the engines running would be suicidal IMO.

Differing dive conditions can dictate different techniques. If one is not taking risk factors into their dive planning, they are asking for trouble.