Miami Beach charter leaves divers in open waters off Key Biscayne

[cruiser]

Some changes to the captain's story and quotes.

My browser had fits on this CBS Miami website so I'm posting it here so others don't have a similar problem.

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MIAMI (CBS4) – It is a scuba diver’s nightmare and one that was portrayed in the disturbing film “Open Water.”

In that film, the two divers who were abandoned at sea by their charter boat did not survive.

In the latest case here in South Florida, two divers from two countries who also became separated from their charter boat last Sunday are speaking about their ordeal and are admitting that they also could not help but think about what happened in “Open Water.”

“Now I’m not going to see that movie,” said 43-year-old Fernando Garcia Puerta, a tourist from Madrid, Spain who was one of 25 scuba divers aboard the charter boat when he and fellow diver, 44-year-old Paul Kline of Austin, Texas were fighting for their lives.


Kline said he paid $85 for the four-hour trip which involved two one-hour dives. It was on the second dive when they got into trouble.

When they surfaced, they were all alone.

“We came up and there was nothing there,” said Kline, who is a Director of a Hospitality company and who was in South Florida for a hospitality convention at a Sunny Isles beach Hotel.

“I was sort of in disbelief at first,” Kline told CBS4’s Peter D’Oench.

When asked by D’Oench if he was scared, Kline said, “I was a little concerned at first. You try to think about what is happening and my first thought was that someone will realize that you were missing. We talked about kids and our families and realized we would have quite a story to tell our kids.”

Kline, who is married with six children, said “I was pretty determined that this was not going to be my last day. I always think through a plan and we found a buoy that was anchored and we hung on to that and that way we couldn’t drift. We didn’t panic. That is the worst thing you can do. Once panic sets in, all sorts of bad things happen.”

Garcia Puerta told D’Oench that, “When I was in the water, I thought I don’t want to die. That’s the first thing you think about and you hope that somebody will realize what’s going on and will rescue us. You think about your wife and your children.”

After two hours, the two men were spotted by a passenger on board the Miami-Beach based yacht, “No Compromise,” an 80-foot Sunseeker yacht that was headed back to Miami Beach from Key Largo.

“At first I thought they were Cubans adrift at sea or two divers who got separated from a boat that got loose,” said Eli Trichet, the Captain of “No Compromise.”

“I feel good,” he said. “I feel great. I am very happy they are alive today.”

CBS4 was with Trichet when a grateful Garcia Puerta gave him two bouquets of red roses.

“Great, great,” said Garcia Puerta. “I have no words for this.”

“We are very, very appreciative,” said Kline. “When were found it was 6:40 at night. That was the last opportunity because by the time we got to the dock, it was dark. Had they not found us, we would have been there all night.”

Kline said he was on a dive boat from R.J. Diving Ventures of 300 Alton Road on Miami Beach. Kline said Captain Mike Beach apologized to him, saying somehow he missed the names of Kline and Garcia Puerta when he checked the log before leaving with the other divers.

Kline did not return telephone calls from D’Oench but he did tell CBS4 News partner The Miami Herald that, “Everybody is OK, no one is hurt. Everybody is happy.”

CBS4 was with Garcia Puerta when he visited South Beach Divers of 850 Washington Avenue. Garcia Puerta and Kline had booked their scuba dives through that company. Its owner, Sasha Boulanger, told D’Oench that he had “no comment” but he did say that Garcia Puerta was given a refund.

Boulanger told the paper that his company has an excellent record and the incident is the fault of the boat operator. “This falls on (RJ Diving’s) back,” he told the newspaper. “They are in control of the divers and their security.”
“They made a mistake,” Garcia Puerta said of RJ Diving Ventures. “Anybody can do it. And they did apologize.”
“I spoke to the boat captain and he apologized to me and I believe he was sincere,” said Kline. “But I don’t know how this could have happened. There are very specific procedures to follow when on board. I’m happy that we are still alive but that may not have happened and that stays with me.”

Kline returned to Austin on Tuesday and told D’Oench that he would have quite a story to tell his children. He told D’Oench that he has been on some 70 dives and nothing like this has ever happened to him before. Without question, he said, this was his most memorable dive.

The Coast Guard is investigating this incident.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed material for this report)

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[DandyDon]

Divers’ 25-Hour Left at Sea Case Resolved: Undercurrent 04/2001

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/25379-key-largo-any-recent-experience-2.html

post#18 is the federal courts news release


reefman
key largo

Wow, so it wasn't just overnight. 25 hours - gawd! I noticed their comment...

To meet our time constraints, we had been traveling light and not checking luggage. So we left our own BCs at home and rented. This would have been fine had we brought our safety equipment that we normally attach to our BC or carry in the pockets — a whistle, a safety sausage, or even a mirror.

I always take my own gear, but even if not - yeah, take the signaling devices. I really like this idea...

Partner up with another team on the boat. One diver called this the ‘boat-buddy system.’ We have buddies for our mutual safety while diving. Why not ask another team to agree to make sure that you team in on the boat before departure, in exchange for mutual consideration? You can’t assume that other divers you converse with on the way out will notice you’re missing on the way home.

 

[redacted]

There is just something very reassuring, when you are well out of sight of any land, having the captain with a roster come up to you and say, "Gary, how are you feeling".

 

[TexasKaren68]

This thread just cemented my decision to bring along my safety sausage on my upcoming Florida trip (really really trying to pack light, but it's not working) I'm hoping, however, that going out on a six-pack and not a "cattle boat" will make it a little more obvious that I'm missing

This also reinforces my opinion that I prefer smaller boats to the large ones. With 25+ people crammed on to one boat, Captains need to be extra careful with roll calls and head counts. Noticing that you only have four people instead of six is easy, 23 instead of 25, not so much.

 

[DandyDon]

OMG Karen, you were considering not taking it? :shocked2:

 

[Tigerman]

Wookie's input on the subject:

Head counts are completely inadequate and only a new captain would consider performing one. Roll calls are little better. When I do what we call a "welfare check", every diver meets the eye of the captain. If someone is in the head, in their bunk, making out on the bow, whatever, they will have to meet my eye and tell me that they are OK. This gives me an opportunity to look deeply into their eyes and see if they have a nervous twitch, like might result from a type II hit. It also gives me the opportunity to hear in their own words how they feel. Of course, it also means I have laid my eye on every stinky diver on the boat, and the boat may now move.

You'd be surprised at how many folks regard this as an invasion of their privacy. They get upset that I interrupted their nap, dinner, makeout session, etc. They are offended that I didn't take their word for it that their wife, brother, sister, whatever is OK, and that I want to see everyone's smiling (or other) butt on this boat before I let the deck crew off the deck.

I am one of the very few captains that has left someone at sea forever. We never found them, their body, or any evidence of their passing. I knew, however, before all the divers were up that he was missing. He should have been the first one on the boat as he had been every other dive. Before half of the divers were up from that dive I was calling the other boats, then the Coast Guard. My system works for me, not for everyone, but it works well here. I hate the shorter trips because the captain doesn't have time to learn the divers names. It is critical that the captain come down from the flybridge and conduct the roll call where he can see every diver, and not have to worry about missing one because 2 divers yell "here" when the name "Mark" is called.

On most boats Ive been on its been clearly stated beforehand that NOBODY shall answer for anyone else, regardless of relation. Telling whoever does the roll call where to find the person inevitably happens but most people having been told before boarding that there WILL be strict roll calls try to be available when it happens and I have fortunately never seen people get upset by getting "checked on" in person.

Personally I would rather have my nap or "makeout session" interrupted over risking being left at sea or bent in the head..

Sorry to hear you lost someone at sea, do you have any "educated" guess what happened? Was he surfacing early because he used lots of air and him running out a likely reason? (If you dont mind me asking. If you do pretend I never did)

 

[Doubler]

This is why I always have my Marine Band radio/GPS in my McMurdo dive canister attached to my tank for every dive. This is just as important as an SMB IMO.

 

[lionfish-eater]

This is why I keep a loaded 45 in my glove compartment. If I were the captain, I would watch my back.

Seriously though, glad the divers were rescued safely.

This is inexcuseable as the boat is a very important part of the life support system for offshore dives.

Unfortunately this will happen again.

Seriously though, Captain and crew should watch their backs and not shrug this off as something that happens if you are in business long enough.

 

[rednekscuba]

I dived two times with this boat and this captain in january and april 2011.
They did roll call at the end of the dive operation prior to returning to Miami Beach South Marina both times. I rented the dive excursion with Tarpoon Dive Center (Tarpoon Dive Center).
January 2011
View attachment 104975
The guy with the blue Nike hat is Capt. M. Beach

April 2011
View attachment 104973
Here again Capt. M. Beach and Mercedes Smith

RJ Diving Crew (Meet the Crew of RJ Diving Ventures - Miami Beach, Florida USA)

I also insist always that my name is listed in the roll list.

I notice that Mike is standing on the back on the boat with role in hand. They ALWAYS check role. I trust them with my life any day on the water. Will be back soon to dive with them again.

 

[Wookie]

Sorry to hear you lost someone at sea, do you have any "educated" guess what happened? Was he surfacing early because he used lots of air and him running out a likely reason? (If you dont mind me asking. If you do pretend I never did)

I don't mind, the full story is on a number of forums, it happened back in 2001. He was first back on the boat because he was hard on air. He was left on the up line by his buddies and never surfaced. We, the CG, and any number of Gulf of Mexico work boats searched for 3 days following. All things being equal, he would have had to float 17 hours following his disappearance due to gas production in his body. He wasn't wearing enough lead to stay down longer. As to what happened to him, we'll just never know. And that's all I'm saying about that.