Dive Boat Sank???

[scubafanatic]

It's done a hundred times a day.

"Don't swim to the dive boat, the boat will come to you."

to be honest, I've never been uber thrilled with this 'procedure'. I'm guessing it's a sad commentary on the poor skill of the average diver they see that makes them feel this 'procedure' is appropriate.

 

[Keith.M]

Look at the Reef Cat dive boat picture when it scrolls around here:

Cozumel Scuba Diving at Scuba Club Cozumel Dive Resort and Scuba Cozumel Dive Shop

What was the point you were making here?

 

[scubafanatic]

Is it known whether the boat sank or was just swamped?

Did people lose a lot of personal stuff because of this incident?

...all I can say is given how much $ (and elbow grease) I've invested in my gear, I'd be VERY upset to see it end up at the bottom of the sea!

 

[ggunn]

to be honest, I've never been uber thrilled with this 'procedure'. I'm guessing it's a sad commentary on the poor skill of the average diver they see that makes them feel this 'procedure' is appropriate.

I'm guessing that it's just a more efficient way of picking up divers. What 'poor skill' are you talking about? Sometimes we come up separated by quite a bit, especially when we are diving our air/computer and don't come up at the same time. It's drift diving, remember? Are you suggesting that I should swim the 100 feet or more to the boat rather than letting it come to get me?

 

[Ron Lee]

What was the point you were making here?

Boats that have the divers start/end the dive from the rear of the boat....as opposed to the side of the boat.

 

[scubafanatic]

I'm guessing that it's just a more efficient way of picking up divers. What 'poor skill' are you talking about? Sometimes we come up separated by quite a bit, especially when we are diving our air/computer and don't come up at the same time. It's drift diving, remember? Are you suggesting that I should swim the 100 feet or more to the boat rather than letting it come to get me?

I expect the dive boat to get to within a reasonable distance of me for pickup, I'm OK with a bit more swimming and a bit less spinning props getting too close to me. I didn't think swimming 100 ft. was an Olympian feat, but that could be yet another sad commentary on the skill set of the average diver today.

 

[DandyDon]

It makes sense that the skipper would have everyone move forward to balance the water in the back, but it'd be a bad place to be during an accelerated sinking. I remember a lady dying in Florida that way. Glad they all got out ok. It does sound like operator error.

to be honest, I've never been uber thrilled with this 'procedure'. I'm guessing it's a sad commentary on the poor skill of the average diver they see that makes them feel this 'procedure' is appropriate.

It saves time. The boat can come to you faster than you to it. Just don't dive with anyone who will back up to you. Pangas board from the side, while larger boats board from the rear - but I don't want either backing up to me.

 

[Ron Lee]

If the DMs were in the water, were the divers are geared up and ready to dive?

 

[cvchief]

It saves time. The boat can come to you faster than you to it. Just don't dive with anyone who will back up to you. Pangas board from the side, while larger boats board from the rear - but I don't want either backing up to me.

I can't believe you missed the safety aspect. If you are diving your tank and you don't come up as a group, you should Never swim to the boat. You will swim out of sight of your DM and maybe not be in sight of the boat. You are then vulnerable to boat traffic. Unless by prior arrangement you are shooting your own smb and your captain and DM are in agreement, you should stay by your DMs smb. Beside in the drift you want to chase the boat? You don

I watched some jackanape in December. I guess he ran out of air and came up, but still wanted to be part of the dive. So he is in a blacksuit swimming around watching his group I guess. Occasionally a fin tip might break the water. We had to veer away when we spotted him. I saw a panga screaming at him, but his head was in the water. They actually had to motor up beside him and drag his head out of the water by grabbing his tank..

 

[Ron Lee]

I expect the dive boat to get to within a reasonable distance of me for pickup, I'm OK with a bit more swimming and a bit less spinning props getting too close to me. I didn't think swimming 100 ft. was an Olympian feat, but that could be yet another sad commentary on the skill set of the average diver today.

My suggestion is ask what their protocol is for diver pickup.