Death in Monterey

[arenny]

I am sad to say a diver died in Monterey yesterday, Saturday. Apparently, he was doing an advanced class at depth and passed away on a boat charter. I don't know any details except that he was in his 30s and from Northern CA. Does anyone have details on this case? Equipment failure? Narcosis? I didn't see anything in the news or papers. I am terribly sorry for his family.

 

[drbill]

I had heard about this from some friends who dive Monterey but no details. My condolences to the family and friends. We had an incident yesterday that had a much happier ending.

 

[MoonWrasse]

Nothing yet in the SF Chronicle or Monterey herald.
Maybe on the local news tonight.

Yesterday was windy and rough in SF at the beach - only the kiteboarders were out. So I'd expect Monterey might have had similar conditions.

 

[ba_hiker]

the local diving new group is reporting as follows:

> Duane Fey <dfey@...> wrote:
> My buddy, who's a Lt. Commander in the Coast Guard,
> said a recreational diver died on a commercial boat
> today. He thinks it was the Monterey Express. Does
> anyone have any info?
>
> At 11:42 PM 1/28/2006, Kawika Chetron wrote:
>The Express was doing a dive at or near the mile buoy
> in, IIRC 130 ft, according to an informational broadcast
> Tim sent out over Ch 16. A few minutes after I heard
> this broadcast, Tim called the Coast Guard to request EMS
> support for a diver that he said had embolised. I think
> they were on the dock in about 5 minutes, but according
> to one witness I saw later, the diver was not conscious
> at that time.
>
> At 7:29 PM Marcos Perreau Guimaraes wrote:
> Yes the depth is about 130' at the mile buoy (at the bottom
> of the chain), your memory is good. I dove it a few times,
> there were some whale bones scattered around but beside
> that it's not too high a dive spot if you don't enjoy sand as much
> as I do. That's not an easy dive on a day with large swells,
> as the BIG chain trash around and silts everything out. And you
> really don't want to get close to it. It's also seal territory and
> they are not shy about letting you know it. Mile buoy reef,
> a couple of hundred yards away, it's a little deeper, with
> just a few rocks getting up to 130'.
> Marcos.

 

[Jim Ernst]

diver (brett) passed away on the monterey express this weekend, he was a 34 yr old male with an expecting wife, he was on the bottom and started acting strange, instructor (don, sports chalet) noticed and he went out , they brought him to the surface (boat) once on board the express raced for the break water, this poor soul of a diver did pass away!!! i talked with his friends and instructor and they speculate that he had a heart attack, i also listened to the call from capt tim over the radio to the coast gaurd,who thought of the possibility of an enbolisum, i was on a differant boat, very sad!! best wishes to the friends and family of brett!!!

 

[Jorbar1551]

I work at sport chalet(pleasanton), and am friends with dons wife. Ill ask what happened to him tomarrow. Hopefully, i can shed some light.

Jordan

 

[Jim Ernst]

I work at sport chalet(pleasanton), and am friends with dons wife. Ill ask what happened to him tomarrow. Hopefully, i can shed some light.

Jordan

jordan, i hope the info i have posted is not disturbing to any family or friends, this was the best fact info i had and i do think if not misstaken it was your elk grove store!! these were nice people that i talked with, jim ernst

 

[jmani]

The dive was at the buoy just past breakwater about 1/4 mile out at a depth of 130&#8217;. The water was calm with maybe 1&#8217; swells. We were told there was some small surge at depth. The class of about 10 divers (I did not count the divers in the class) splashed while the rest of the divers waited. The class was completing their deep specialty and was on a short (7-10 minute) dive to complete skills. 5-7 minutes into the dive we say a diver surface, pitch forward into the water and kick fins. It looked like the diver was attempting to go back down. A moment later, another diver surfaced and grabbed the first diver from behind, signaled the boat for help and yelled for Oxygen. The boat Captain and Crew demonstrated outstanding abilities with the rescue. They managed to get all the divers back on the boat and got back to the coast guard dock in about 10 minutes.

Even being there we got very few details, and I don&#8217;t want to speculate or spread rumors. The divers on the boat that were not part of the class waited on the end of the dock for the coast guard and paramedics to finish up. We were given the option to go back out and do the days diving or get off the boat and call it a day. I choose to call it a day with most of the other divers.

As I brought my car around to gather my gear I spoke to one of the divers from the class group and he told me that the diver (Brett) was in the hospital and responding to treatment. Last night the captain of the boat called me to let me know things did not go well for Brett and he passed in the hospital. The coroner was scheduled for autopsy and there is speculation about the cause.


Thanks for listening and sorry I could not provide more details.

John

 

[arenny]

Again, I am sorry for everyone involved. Hopefully we will get some more information on what happened.

 

[mtbrider]

I've dived twice with a new diver named Brett, is the last name Schoel? My compassion goes out to the family and friends of this unfortunate diver. Dive safely everyone.

Ryan