Diver left behind off of Palos Verdes or Catalina?

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headhunter

headhunter

Renaissance Diver
ScubaBoard Supporter
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Location
So Cal (Altadena)
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Has anyone heard any info about a diver that was left behind by a boat off of Palos Verdes or Catalina Island a week or two ago?

I was talking to someone on the phone who was under the impression that someone had been left behind and that the DM after being told by other divers that there was someone still in the water, insisted that everyone was on board without a roll call.

This sounded awfully strange to me, especially after the "drifting Dan" incident.

I don't want to mention any names of people, shops or boats, since this is all hearsay at this point. It may not be true at all and may simply be a product of the rumor mill.

Just curious.

Christian
 
You think that the diving industry would have learned by now....
 
Thanks Phil.

I've pasted it below to make it easier for people who may have slow connections to reference.

Christian
JR Gordon at the diver.net BBS:
Posted by JR Gordon on April 07, 2005

It happened aboard the Island Time last Saturday at Long Point. The very young, female DM didn't listen when other divers told her that there was still someone in the water. She said no he's below (I'll assume the head is below on the Island Diver?), and they pulled anchor and left.
The diver surfaced to see the boat driving off into the distance. Luckily there was a private boat around the cove, and he swam to it. They then radioed the Island Time who returned for him.

The DM never spoke to the diver afterward, though the Captain was apologetic. Apparently no roll call was taken....Later he overheard her talking that she had just come to So Cal from a resort in the Carribbean.

The diver, who is my friend, prefers to remain annonymous. He received an unsolicited voice mail call from a "Director of Training" at Sports Chalet on Monday asking "what he wanted". He left a return message asking for better training and standards.

FTR, Obstensibly he was solo though he entered the water with a guy who was shooting video. They parted ways after awhile as the video guy was just staying in one spot very shallow. They surfaced and communicated, then my friend went off by himself. He had a 50 minute BT and was diving his own PS95.

JRG
Click to expand...
 
Sure glad most of my diving is shore-based or off boats who know me. Of course I did have my own boat drift away from me while I was under a few decades ago! I guess I was never very good at setting an anchor.

Dr. Bill
 
Having been on the Island Time before I am a bit surprised. I always thought that was a squared-away boat. Perhaps it was just that particular DM, whom I've never had before (it's always been males when I've gone).
 
I have been on two boats for Catalina trips, both were chartered by Sports Chalet and both had the DM with a log checking divers out/in at the gate; then when everyone is on the boat according to his log he calls out names with the assigned numbers for another body count...If this is the standard procedure, it's almost impossible to miss anyone. Obviously this particular DM was not following this standard SC procedure.
 
Why don't the dive boats make up little clip-on chips that say;
"I owe you 1 Million Dollars" and the dive shop name.
Attach one to each diver and retrieve upon re-entry to the boat.
If you get left behind, you get to keep the chip.
If you survive, you get a million bucks. Just a thought.
 
for one million bucks, i'd float for a day and a night, and then activate the
emergency beacon i had forgotten i'd brought along! :wink:
 
sneaky Andy, sneaky. Maybe that's "why not".
 
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