Scuba diver dies after being found floating at Kurnell, NSW, Australia

[DandyDon]

Excerpting...

Quite a while ago, Marcia kidded back and forth with me about wanting a better flash for her camera. She was going to ship it to me so I could deliver it and then go diving in her backyard. The camera rig I saw being removed from the ocean was quite a piece. Nobody mentioned that. Talk about overtasked! A ill fitting suit, improper undergarments, no professional guidance with anything, a monster camera rig, a new cold water dive site, figuring everything out for herself, running out of time with respect to what she wanted to accomplish with her dives, nobody nearby, please feel free to jump in and add to the list…

That was indeed a major camera rig, seen in post accident recovery by police divers. I know from my clumsy experiences that my camera can distract my attentions, even tho I am hesitant too compare my diving to hers.

 

[clownfishsydney]

I am still working on trying to get agreement from those involved to post a full and detailed description of what led up to and happened on the day Marcia died. Sorry, but it may take a few more days or may not happen at all.

 

[gee13]

Closure on this will be a good thing Michael, look forward to it, if it does happen. And yes if Marcia had a camera with the strobes - they look like D2000? If it was a newish camera system as well even adds another element to the bouyancy/ redundancy should an incident arise.

 

[DiveWithPassion]

I'm only new to diving here in Sydney myself but I've been to the dive site in questions a few times. Only a week earlier I did dive 2 dives of an OWD course in the area. As many already pointed out, it is only a reasonably shallow dive site and with conditions as they were last week, an easy access to and from the water.
Water temperature was about 18C, at least at the opposite side of Botany Bay where I was doing another OWD with my students. I even talked with my DM that conditions would be better at The Monument because of the southerly wind. After I heard about the accident I was relieved that we didn't move (on the other hand, would we have been able to help?).

About the dry suit and wing/lift points:
To have a shell/tri-lam drysuit that fits very snugly seems a bad choice. I always had tri-lam dry suits in the fresh water lakes Switzerland, and the problem with tri-lam dry siuts is, the material doesn't stretch and doesn't do anything in regards of thermal protection. The only thing that keeps you warm are the thermals underneath and the air you add.
Having done lots of dives in a dry suits and having seen many people learning to use them, I can only repeat what was mentioned before: Even if you a an experienced diver and/or a pro, you should have proper training in a dry suit!

Then there is the issue of the 'fully inflated wing'. I saw that in a rescue course before, when one of the students put his gear (wing, steel BP, 15lt steel tank) in the pool, inflated fully and his buddy had to recover it from the bottom of the pool.
To get a balanced gear isn't easy if you change your setup a lot due to traveling and as instructors we might sometimes easily fall into the habit of 'I'll figure it out on the way'. It might work ... or you might make the news...
For the readers of this thread that wonder how to achieve a balanced gear, have a look at Doppler's book The six skills and other discussions where he explains this perfectly.

I haven't known Quero myself and I in no position to judge over her experience or actions. It still leaves me with sad feelings and makes me aware of our duties as divers and instructors. Not only in regards of the safety of students, but as well our own.
It is very easy to venture off a little bit further, or just drop down again to have a look at that cuttlefish. And how many times did I enter the water as an instructor or DM where I did my own buddy check?

Whatever the cause was, I hope we can learn from it.

 

[dbulmer]

Michael,
Your signature : There is no such thing as a bad dive, just some that are better than others

I would say: There is such a thing as a bad dive - it's when you don't come back and no one knows why.

Just something you might want to pass on to those witnesses - they need to be able to get it off their minds too but perfectly understandable if they wish to remain silent.

 

[lowviz]

...//... This isn’t about the buddy system, gear, or anything else. It is about lack of common sense.

Is this how we care for and welcome tropical divers to our world? ...//...

I note that there is a bit of ambiguity here that I wish to remove. I should have said: It is about our lack of common sense as coldwater divers in not seeing the threats to a highly accomplished diver entering our world from a greatly different diving environment. None of us should ever have so much faith in any diver, new to our environment, that we just let them go off on their own thinking that all will be well.

Yes, it appears that she set herself up just to dive the day and get some rare pictures for her collection. I just don't understand what those diving with her were thinking. I wasn't there and have no real idea other than speculation. I tried to keep out of this speculation...

---------- Post added October 12th, 2013 at 09:33 AM ----------

I am still working on trying to get agreement from those involved to post a full and detailed description of what led up to and happened on the day Marcia died. Sorry, but it may take a few more days or may not happen at all.

At first I thought "Why bother, it won't bring her back". Now, yes, I see your reasoning. It is so others will not place themselves into this situation.

It is easy to dump all the blame on the one person who can no longer defend herself. It was beginning to look like this would be the take-away. But there is another big lesson that I will take to heart: None of us should ever be guilty of allowing one of our dive buddies to place themselves into this situation. As we all can see, the stakes are just way too high...

 

[Jax]

On the other hand, while good advice from those familiar with the environment and condition should always be welcomed, no one but us is responsible for the safety of our dive.

I'm still not convinced that Marci succumbed to 'new diver panic', but reluctantly agree it could be.

In no way do her buddies have responsibility! One pointed out that she wasn't being a good buddy. That is *all* a responsible diver needs.

If indeed Marci was complacent about the impact of the new-to-her drysuit, so be it.

 

[lowviz]

...//... In no way do her buddies have responsibility! ...//...

I used to think this way also.

Now, however, if I am in any way associated with another diver on any given dive I'll take that association to heart and cover my responsibilies as I see them. -not as any particular agency dictates, but to the level that I feel comfortable with my participation in the situation.

 

[Diver0001]

Reading this post I have some serious concerns with my new setup.

1.8m 90kg, aluminium back plate, 2 x 12 steels with manifold, new waterproof hybrid (with inner layer), thin woollen thermal wear and I am needing 25 lb to sink when the tanks are at 30 bar. Ensured I had NO air in my lungs at all. Seems here people are suggesting I am too heavy. With twin independent's and no manifold I need about 34 lb to sink. The dry suit is as empty as I can get it as well and squeezing me at 3 metres.

Is this a reasonable weight? I have spoken to a number of people and they say only 12-15 lb but I suspect if they empty their rigs they will float and depend on having always 1/3 reserve so some extra weight. Is there anything I should be doing to check if I have the right weight to start with? Am I missing something?

I don't wish to be another statistic? With a wetsuit and BCD or wing I have always been very happy with my weight, rig and the "balance" of it. Always minimal weight. I have done significant dives with a wing, twins and wetsuit and always feel very comfortable.

Being the dry suit is new, and also reading of incidents like this I do have some concerns.

I normally set my rig as per; the diver can be neutral at 10' with no gas in their BC and a near empty tank

Any further thoughts???

I'm a little shorter than you but I weigh about the same and I need at most about 8lbs in salt water. That's using a trilaminate drysuit and a "winter" 300g undergarment. A lot will depend on the type of tanks you're using. The best advice is to check it every few dives for a while because the more you get used to diving in a drysuit the less weight you'll need.

R..

 

[tracydr]

Reading this post I have some serious concerns with my new setup.

1.8m 90kg, aluminium back plate, 2 x 12 steels with manifold, new waterproof hybrid (with inner layer), thin woollen thermal wear and I am needing 25 lb to sink when the tanks are at 30 bar. Ensured I had NO air in my lungs at all. Seems here people are suggesting I am too heavy. With twin independent's and no manifold I need about 34 lb to sink. The dry suit is as empty as I can get it as well and squeezing me at 3 metres.

Is this a reasonable weight? I have spoken to a number of people and they say only 12-15 lb but I suspect if they empty their rigs they will float and depend on having always 1/3 reserve so some extra weight. Is there anything I should be doing to check if I have the right weight to start with? Am I missing something?

I don't wish to be another statistic? With a wetsuit and BCD or wing I have always been very happy with my weight, rig and the "balance" of it. Always minimal weight. I have done significant dives with a wing, twins and wetsuit and always feel very comfortable.

Being the dry suit is new, and also reading of incidents like this I do have some concerns.

I normally set my rig as per; the diver can be neutral at 10' with no gas in their BC and a near empty tank

Any further thoughts???

---------- Post added October 12th, 2013 at 05:43 PM ----------



Ok what if you can stop with empty rig (30 BAR) at 3 m but cannot swim up with full rig? I don't know my full combination yet

There's a great chapter in Steve Lewis' book The Six Skills on exactly how to make sure you're balanced. I suggest reading this chapter. I've not seen a better explanation anywhere. Be prepared to spend some time in a swimming pool,doing the exercises.