Dive Accident on Belize Aggressor

[Wookie]

Jan -

It is a very rare occasion that the main boat would send 2 operators in the chase boat. They just aren't that big to hold 2 divers with full kit and cameras, as well as 2 operators. In that event, they would have probably had to leave one of you behind, and no one to watch the dive deck unless the Engineer or Captain were available to do it. My procedure is to send one DM in the chase boat, and recover all divers.

In this case I would be shocked if you did receive a response from Aggressor Fleet with an apology. There is something you need to know about the dive industry. It operates on the thinnest of margins, and a lawsuit or potential lawsuit can completely wipe out an operation. Perhaps you don't intend to sue now, but we all have to think about (and all many of us think about) is what if you suffer another heart attack right now while reading this post and succumb to it. You certainly won't sue, but your survivors might and in my experience will. The lawsuit has little chance of success, but if Aggressor Fleet writes you an apology, your next of kins lawyers would use it to show culpability, and their lawyer would be right to do so. If you think this is far fetched, look up (on the internet) the lawsuit filed by the survivors of a California man who had a heart attack on one of the Galapagos Aggressor boats, was successfully evacuated and died 2 weeks later at home. Aggressor fleet did not make out too well in the ensuing battle.

Our job (the liveaboard industry) is to provide a fun relaxing experience for you and to do all that we can to provide for your safety during that experience. You must, however, meet us part way and thumb a dive that you aren't ready for. Yes, some trips are rougher than others, but if we all called off trips that were a little uncomfortable, the price would be much higher, and the number of operators would be much fewer. None of us are in this business to get rich, we do it because we love it. None of us want to see anyone hurt, it's bad for business.

By the way, I'm glad you survived, I 'm happy you are getting better. I was a 48 year old sedentary overweight white male for a year <grin>, but I'm happy to report that I am now a 49 year old less sedentary less overweight person, although I haven't done anything about the white or the male. At some point in our lives, usually after a significant emotional event, we realize we aren't 21 and bulletproof anymore. I hope you don't give up on diving, or liveaboards. Remember, we liveaboards are selling an experience and an adventure, not just diving. There are inherent risks to going out on a small craft in the big big ocean that may trump the beauty of the location. It's an individual choice, and I hope you are able to make one you are comfortable with.

 

[Mark Derail]

I learn a lot on SB! From stories such as these, that I prefer where the OP = diver (as in, alive) VS Dandy Don posting an accident story...

As to removing this thread, that makes just about the same sense as removing the Gabe & Tina threads. Divers, captains, DMs and instructors all have something to learn from stories such as these - perspective.

POV's vary greatly. As for the Agressor crew implementing a few changes - I seriously doubt it. If they have a perfect track record with their way of doing things, they won't change any procedure.

Ankle weights and full 3mm wetsuit + boots - your whole body should have been positive even with 1lb per foot.

Well, I appreciate all your responses. Sorry I have been slow to respond. I have a lot to learn...


To the writer who suggested removing this thread - that's ok with me. I just hope someone reading may learn from my situation. If you are a dive instructor or boat captain, share my story as an example of why not to wear ankle weights. But, please know I have learned from reading your posts.

 

[kevmiami]

Jan,

Thank you for both your initial and follow up post; your candor and courage are very much appreciated. Glad to hear you are slowly getting better - diving for the majority of us is a passionate recreation and it's always unfortunate for anyone to be hurt in pursuit of their recreation. Your messages - never, ever put yourself in a position of being negatively buoyant and don't use equipment potential rescue personnel or other divers may not see or be familiar with, are great lessons learned. Unfortunately, your valuable lessons were a little overshadowed at the end of your post, by your understandable frustration with the outcome.

As someone who holds a 20+ year old dive card, but only started really diving recently (about 30+) dives, I'm really somewhat appalled by the recreational dive industry's lack of focus on personal risk assessment. As the dive industry appears to have grown and is really pushing all kinds of skill certifications for people of all skill sets, I don't see an adequate focus on educating divers to continually assess their safety and their risk at any particular moment.

I'm currently diving with my loving partner who has over 300+ dives on her weight belt. This is a great opportunity for me to learn so much from her, but I also must be careful to not let her experience and expertise lull me into a false sense of security or become lazy. It would be so easy to simply rely on her judgement as to when we should dive, where should we go and when we should turn back.

Diving with a buddy or a group is very similar to riding motorcycles in a group - everyone has to stick together, be moderately proficient and subjugate their personal desires for the moment to the enhanced safety of the collective group. This only works however, when you always remember no matter how large or small the group: "You always ride your own ride." Translation - just because half the pack went through the yellow light to not be separated, you have to assess your own risk profile, skill set and environment (bike behind you) to decide if you stop or not.

Most important lesson from your unfortunate ordeal: Constantly assess your risk, your skills and your environment; then never hesitate to make the safest choice. Thanks again for sharing, Kevin.

 

[cruiser]

Jan--

How heavy were your ankle weights? Sometimes I dive with ankle weights too, but after my gear is removed, they don't make me negatively buoyant.

 

[Hank49]

Well, I appreciate all your responses. Sorry I have been slow to respond. I have a lot to learn...

I am 56 years old. Yes, I wore boots with my fins. I wore the ankle weights because my legs would float at the end of the dive. The ankle weights made the safety stop more comfortable. I wore 3mm shortie over a 3mm long john. By the way, the ankle weights are no longer in my possession. I hope they were thrown away, so no on else will ever use them.

.

Glad to hear you're alright. It must have been really traumatic being under the boat and not being able to breath.

Just out of curiosity, (I live and dive here in Belize) where was this dive?

And DON'T throw the ankle weights away. I'll buy them from you. I can make them into a neck weight.

 

[beaverdivers]

It appears you have learned a great deal from this unfortunate incident.

At any time did you feel that you needed to get rid of your camera or your integrated wts, before the inflatable came.

The reason why I ask is divers are hesitant to dump weight, cameras or their prize lobster.

Do you think it may have helped you to dump your camera or B.C. weights earlier?

As far as needing ankle wts., your wetsuits, your booties and positive fins contributed to your fins up, head down attitude. Also, women tend to have a lower center of gravity.

When you are able to dive again, I would recommend using a thinner full suit ( 1mm ), not a farmer Jane. The farmer Jane added to your buoyancy attitude problem - too much neoprene in your legs.

Also, use negatively buoyant fins and less buoyant booties.

We have tried to use ankle wts. in the past to solve your exact dilemma. We have progressed to using trim wts in the upper part of the B.C. or a tank wt. around the tank valve, having the neoprene all around the diver instead of more the lower half and neg. buoy. fins.

Please take note: if you use non-ditchable weight, it should only be a small part of your total wt.

How much wt. were you wearing?

You have stated that you are 6'1", if you don't mind sharing How much did you weigh in Belize?

You seemed to be quite fit before, being able to swim 40 laps.

The reason I ask is I am just trying to get a handle on your buoyancy and the % your ankle wts. were to your over all wt.

I have done that trip, but on a different vessel. We had similar conditions. The wind was blowing!

We had 8' - 10' seas and were only able to dive in the lee of lighthouse atoll.

Which dive site did this occur?

Was the current more of a surface current caused by the wind?

When I was there we had little current U/W, but strong surface currents.

It sounds like you may have also had a strong current U/W.

I remember doing safety stops and the vessel was swinging on the mooring 180 degrees.

We would wait what seemed like forever for the vessel to swing back to us as we hovered in the blue low vis. water, ( for the Caribbean ).
Or you could get the ride for you life by hanging on to the safety stop bar. I was on the Sundancer, it had a fixed bar below the Stern.

How did you signal the vessel when you surfaced?

Most Aggr. boats require a safety sausage or flag and an audible device ( dive alert ).

I do appreciate the challenging conditions that you faced.

I spend a lot of time around white water and rafts. I kayak and occasionally row or paddle a raft.

I have pulled many "swimmers" back in the boat.

The key is you use a rhythm to get them in.

One of my biggest fears is getting caught underneath the "Rubber" ( the raft ).

It happened to a fellow kayak-er on a Grand Canyon trip, he barely survived.

I feel that you should give yourself and your buddy a big hug and thumps up.

I believe that you have mentally moved on and learned a great deal from this ordeal.

 

[AfterDark]

Glad you are doing better. These are tough lessons you don't forget. I hope you get back in the water as soon as your doctor gives you the OK! Next time you're in a strong current inflate your SMB and wait for the boat. By the time they get to you, you'll be rested, relaxed and ready to jump in the boat!
Good luck, get well soon.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Jan,
After reviewing all of the above, as a lawyer who has practiced for 34 years, and a dive profession for the past 12 years, let me say that it is wonderful that no one needs to raise a liability question here. There would need to be a lot more information on your event and other history of all people involved before any responsible person would render a legal opinion on liability or fault. Fixing blame is not so worth while as fixing problems, and it appears that you have learned from your experience. However, some posters were overly harsh or terse in their comments about your view of this event. I will apologize for them. In my experience, it is natural to feel that those around us, especially those we pay to assist/ watch over us, act at a high standard to assure our safety. But there is no assurance of safety in a sport like scuba. Accordingly, each of us must do all we can to minimize risk and maximize safety. That includes maintaining good skills and habits, and remembering them and applying them.
I too hope you will get back in the water soon, as you are able. And I thank you for your courage in sharing this event with the rest of us. Your experience has and will continue to teach a lot of divers. Best wishes in all things, and when the time is right, Happy Diving!
DivemasterDennis

 

[Hatul]

And I do question the wisdom of any weight configuration that when the ditchable part is gone, leaves you negatively buoyant . . .

- Tim

That's my thought as well. There is important lesson here: your weight configuration should be such that when you ditch your weights (wt belt or the ditchable weights in your BC) and your Scuba unit, you should be positively buoyant. I recall someone on another forum proposing stuffing weights into his drysuit which made me cringe.

I'm a little surprised that the ankle weights made you negatively buoyant with the 3mm shortie farmer john. The other problem with ankle weights is they make finning more difficult as you have to stop the inertia of the weights with each fin cycle. Thanks for sharing the story.

 

[The Chairman]

It sounds as if she was battling rough seas. You can just be positive and waves can give you a fit. This is especially true when your view of them is blocked by a rubber dinghy.