The following is a true story, this happened to a fellow diver two days ago. The story of the disappearance, and rescue effort was televised here in Southern California. The news however had and therefore reported very little of the details surrounding the tragedy. I know the crew of the Blue Escape personally and have dove the Yukon a few dozen times since its sinking. The most recent being a few hours ago. This is what really happened
Monica Vilca boarded the Blue Escape, http://www.blueescape.com a charter boat operating out of the Quivera Basin in Mission Bay, to dive the 366 ft Canadian Destroyer HMCS-Yukon http://www.hmcs-yukon.org The Yukon is the newest addition to San Diegos wreck alley, right off of Mission Beach. The destroyer was intended to be sunk in mid July as an artificial reef by the San Diego Oceans Foundation http://www.sdoceans.org/ but sunk on its own a day before intended, due to heavy seas where she was being prepared to be put to her final resting place. The fact that it sank the way it did made it a true wreck, but she is laying flat on her port side which was not the plan. The historical ship was Swiss cheesed in an effort to make it diver safe. There are 6 permanent buoys attached to it on her starboard side from bow to stern. She lays in 91-99 feet of water depending on the tides.
The day of the tragedy the air was clear and sunny, the water temp was 59 on the surface and 57 at depth. The visibility was the standard 15ft in these waters. The proximity of the boat to shore is about 1.25 miles off of the Roller coaster in Mission Beach, close to her neighbors the Ruby E, El-Rey and the Navy NOSC tower. Surface conditions were calm, with no large swell, no current nor surge to speak of (unlike today).
Monica was diving with her husband and her brother-in-law, as most of you are thinking right now, its not advised to dive in a 3-man buddy group. Though Monica was of German descent, she lived in Los Angeles and formerly in Chile. The total number of dives she had under her belt was around 20 or so. She was reported to be competent in assembling her gear and entering the water.
Her last words before doing her giant stride entry was you guys have good service. Here is a minute by minute report from the boats Captain and DM.
10:40 Three man buddy team descends on the Yukon.
10:45 One of the three divers surfaced briefly, gave the DM an O.K. sign and then descended again.
10:54 Two divers surfaced reporting a lost buddy, and the thought that she was presumed to have continued to dive with a different group of divers.
10:57 The two divers were back onboard the boat.
11:00 Lookouts were posted with binoculars.
11:07 Two divers enter the water, the boats DM Philip, and a DM (Paul) certified diver that happened to be diving with the boat that day, with a well planned search plan.
11:07 The boats Captain, Robin calls the Coast Guard.
11:20 The first San Diego County Life Guards were on scene. The lifeguard arrived on scene with a 13cuft pony bottle and a 3mm wetsuit. Clearly not prepared to do a lost diver search.
11:30 Paul came back onboard with no luck finding the lost diver.
11:38 Philip came back onboard with no luck finding the lost diver.
11:45 The first Life Guard dive team entered the water.
12:10 The Blue Escape was relieved by the San Diego Life Guards.
15:45 The San Diego County Lifegaurds brought the body of Monica Vilca to the surface.
According to reports, the brother-in-laws cylinder came loose at depth, the brother attempted to give him a hand in securing it while Monica looked on. When they turned around she was no-where to be seen.
She was found 30ft or so from the stern of the boat, in the sand. The regulator was not in her mouth, her mask had a little water in it. The gear was checked and reported to be in good working order. The pressure gauge read 2600psi. The gear is currently at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography for testing http://www-sio.ucsd.edu/ , they can hold the gear in their possetion for a period of one year for analyzing the causes of the accident.
The two divers that were with Monica reported a dive profile of 60ft for 17minutes. The two divers did not follow training guidelines of searching for one minute and then surfacing with the intention of meeting there.
The following is my professional opinion: This accident could have been avoided with the right type of gear. Though the Yukon is not a very advanced dive, it certainly isnt a newbie dive either. The gear Im referring to is a full face mask like the Aga Divator II and OTSs http://www.oceantechnologysystems.com/ underwater communication gear.
With a full face mask, there is no chance that a regulator could just fall from a divers mouth, in fact there is a large portion of technical divers that use full face mask because it reduces the risks of drowning due to unconsciousness in water. With professional quality communication gear like OTS comms, the divers could have communicated with not only the missing diver but with the boat as well, aiding significantly in the rescue effort. A team of divers would spend less time on the surface with a game plan, they could just hit the water and begin searching, reporting all clear or over here! The boat could map everything out on a slate directing where divers should go by marking off areas that have already been searched. Professional gear could have made a difference.
In my professional opinion: If for example the missing diver was reported in time and the rescue attempt was carried out immediately, she could have been located in time, still breathing, and therefore saved. The difference could have been a shaken-up diver that was around to tell the story of her near miss. Take a moment now and evaluate whether this type of gear is needed, and whether it would be worth a loved ones life to invest in it. Ill be putting in my order for a full face mask and communication gear on Tuesday. The next time I dive, I will have the proper tools in my gear bag to make a difference. I wont be settling for second best, my friends and families lives deserve better. Do yours?
Monica Vilca boarded the Blue Escape, http://www.blueescape.com a charter boat operating out of the Quivera Basin in Mission Bay, to dive the 366 ft Canadian Destroyer HMCS-Yukon http://www.hmcs-yukon.org The Yukon is the newest addition to San Diegos wreck alley, right off of Mission Beach. The destroyer was intended to be sunk in mid July as an artificial reef by the San Diego Oceans Foundation http://www.sdoceans.org/ but sunk on its own a day before intended, due to heavy seas where she was being prepared to be put to her final resting place. The fact that it sank the way it did made it a true wreck, but she is laying flat on her port side which was not the plan. The historical ship was Swiss cheesed in an effort to make it diver safe. There are 6 permanent buoys attached to it on her starboard side from bow to stern. She lays in 91-99 feet of water depending on the tides.
The day of the tragedy the air was clear and sunny, the water temp was 59 on the surface and 57 at depth. The visibility was the standard 15ft in these waters. The proximity of the boat to shore is about 1.25 miles off of the Roller coaster in Mission Beach, close to her neighbors the Ruby E, El-Rey and the Navy NOSC tower. Surface conditions were calm, with no large swell, no current nor surge to speak of (unlike today).
Monica was diving with her husband and her brother-in-law, as most of you are thinking right now, its not advised to dive in a 3-man buddy group. Though Monica was of German descent, she lived in Los Angeles and formerly in Chile. The total number of dives she had under her belt was around 20 or so. She was reported to be competent in assembling her gear and entering the water.
Her last words before doing her giant stride entry was you guys have good service. Here is a minute by minute report from the boats Captain and DM.
10:40 Three man buddy team descends on the Yukon.
10:45 One of the three divers surfaced briefly, gave the DM an O.K. sign and then descended again.
10:54 Two divers surfaced reporting a lost buddy, and the thought that she was presumed to have continued to dive with a different group of divers.
10:57 The two divers were back onboard the boat.
11:00 Lookouts were posted with binoculars.
11:07 Two divers enter the water, the boats DM Philip, and a DM (Paul) certified diver that happened to be diving with the boat that day, with a well planned search plan.
11:07 The boats Captain, Robin calls the Coast Guard.
11:20 The first San Diego County Life Guards were on scene. The lifeguard arrived on scene with a 13cuft pony bottle and a 3mm wetsuit. Clearly not prepared to do a lost diver search.
11:30 Paul came back onboard with no luck finding the lost diver.
11:38 Philip came back onboard with no luck finding the lost diver.
11:45 The first Life Guard dive team entered the water.
12:10 The Blue Escape was relieved by the San Diego Life Guards.
15:45 The San Diego County Lifegaurds brought the body of Monica Vilca to the surface.
According to reports, the brother-in-laws cylinder came loose at depth, the brother attempted to give him a hand in securing it while Monica looked on. When they turned around she was no-where to be seen.
She was found 30ft or so from the stern of the boat, in the sand. The regulator was not in her mouth, her mask had a little water in it. The gear was checked and reported to be in good working order. The pressure gauge read 2600psi. The gear is currently at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography for testing http://www-sio.ucsd.edu/ , they can hold the gear in their possetion for a period of one year for analyzing the causes of the accident.
The two divers that were with Monica reported a dive profile of 60ft for 17minutes. The two divers did not follow training guidelines of searching for one minute and then surfacing with the intention of meeting there.
The following is my professional opinion: This accident could have been avoided with the right type of gear. Though the Yukon is not a very advanced dive, it certainly isnt a newbie dive either. The gear Im referring to is a full face mask like the Aga Divator II and OTSs http://www.oceantechnologysystems.com/ underwater communication gear.
With a full face mask, there is no chance that a regulator could just fall from a divers mouth, in fact there is a large portion of technical divers that use full face mask because it reduces the risks of drowning due to unconsciousness in water. With professional quality communication gear like OTS comms, the divers could have communicated with not only the missing diver but with the boat as well, aiding significantly in the rescue effort. A team of divers would spend less time on the surface with a game plan, they could just hit the water and begin searching, reporting all clear or over here! The boat could map everything out on a slate directing where divers should go by marking off areas that have already been searched. Professional gear could have made a difference.
In my professional opinion: If for example the missing diver was reported in time and the rescue attempt was carried out immediately, she could have been located in time, still breathing, and therefore saved. The difference could have been a shaken-up diver that was around to tell the story of her near miss. Take a moment now and evaluate whether this type of gear is needed, and whether it would be worth a loved ones life to invest in it. Ill be putting in my order for a full face mask and communication gear on Tuesday. The next time I dive, I will have the proper tools in my gear bag to make a difference. I wont be settling for second best, my friends and families lives deserve better. Do yours?
