Dive boat capsizes, spills 9 divers - Victoria Canada

[wedivebc]

Okay, 14 ft open boat with up to 10 ft waves?

From the Vancouver Sun:

However, in a posting on its Facebook page, the “all-volunteer” Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue station in Victoria said it was tasked with a mayday call "for nine people in the water from an overturned vessel 300m south east of Race Rocks. The scuba divers were in a 14’ open aluminium boat with up to 10' waves. They were extremely lucky to have been able to call for help and not have Dover's (sic) down at the time."

The post continued: “Two divers were treated for hypothermia by BC Ambulance and the Fire Department. This is our third call to Race Rocks for divers with 1 fatality. Please use extreme caution around Race Rocks and only dive there with very experienced divers.”

It also said: “(One person dove under Vessel to retrieve hand held marine radio to call for help) Weather was cause of vessel overturning – sea conditions 4/5 FT waves piling up into 10FT waves."

It was a 22ft open aluminum boat with high freeboard and was well within it's laod limit. Guess the Vancouver Sun was wrong. Also coast gaurd report 6-7ft waves not 10.
As decompression mentioned above, he and I were both members of the club at one time and I for one have done many trips on that boat.

 

[aaen]

Holy crap! Glad to see everyone was okay. This hits close to home as many of us probably know the divers that were on the boat.


Regards

Steve

 

[LowDrag]

Definintely glad to hear they made it back safe Kudos to the rescue team and to the divers and crew for keeping their cool in a bad situation.

 

[wgw04024]

What are you implying or how about what is your point? Something special about Maine? Other than that you have to go a helluva long way out to do "rec fishing".

btw the whale watching boat that sank a few weeks ago was near Tofino, nowhere near the Race Rocks dive site.

Look, don't get your panties all in a bunch. My point is, boats just don't 'flip over' out of the blue. Having a bunch of divers on board, I can't imagine putting the boat in a position where it could even consider going under. If they hit something, that would be reasonable in my mind.

On the fishing...we can fish inshore or offshore. I find offshore more fun.

Lastly, I'd love to see a picture of this boat. Whether it be 22' or 24', with 9 people, 6 or 7' seas consistently, is a pretty uncomfortable ride.

 

[Hawkwood]

Hard to believe a news report got something wrong, but the Aquarius 2 isn't 14' it's 24'.


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Geezus, even I should have thought to question that report. Seemed stupid small in hindsight. Thanks for pointing out the correct size.

Bill

 

[Shinythings]

As Dave said it would take a lot to sink that boat. I was out in the area as well but we chose not to do a second dive at Race because of the weather forecast and experience level of the divers in our boat. The guys from Aquarius are very experienced divers and know the local sites.

And once again, the Nautilus Lifeline saves the day.

---------- Post added November 17th, 2015 at 12:32 AM ----------

I have been at Race Rocks in similar weather fully loaded with 8 divers in a similar sized boat, and although it was a hairy ride, we came no where near capsizing.

 

[wedivebc]

As Dave said it would take a lot to sink that boat. I was out in the area as well but we chose not to do a second dive at Race because of the weather forecast and experience level of the divers in our boat. The guys from Aquarius are very experienced divers and know the local sites.

And once again, the Nautilus Lifeline saves the day.

---------- Post added November 17th, 2015 at 12:32 AM ----------

I have been at Race Rocks in similar weather fully loaded with 8 divers in a similar sized boat, and although it was a hairy ride, we came no where near capsizing.

From a first hand report I heard they were in a following sea, leaving the dive area and after the third wave broke over the stern they were swamped. One diver donned gear and went into the overturned boat to retrieve a waterproof VHF radio in the cockpit and was able to call for help.
Pretty heroic if you ask me.

 

[jbomb001]

I'd like to see a pic of this boat loaded as well. Even at 24 feet it seems to me it would have been rather full. I have a 27 foot Boston whaler center console and with 6 people on it with gear it's a full boat. And I would not go out in it with that many people in 7 footers. Not on the great Lakes anyway. Idk much about sea conditions on the open ocean or whether or not there is any difference in wave frequency. But here on lake Ontario 7 foot waves generally come one after the other and it's not likely you will see any boats out on that. Maybe if your in the 30 plus foot range but no way anything under that.

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[DandyDon]

Hard to believe a news report got something wrong, but the Aquarius 2 isn't 14' it's 24'.

Their dive site says it's a 20 ft boat. The site is restricted, but got this from the preview...

Aquarius has grown to become the largest active dive club in the Canadian Forces. With a 20-foot custom built aluminum boat (the Aquarius Too), 10 divers can ...

Or this from Aqaurius Dive Club located in Victoria, British Columbia V8Y 3H2, Canada

A recreational SCUBA diving club based at CFB Esquimalt, (Victoria BC)
The club is made up of military personnel and their dependents, Regular Force members, employees of Dockyard & some civilians.

Our boat - "The Aquarius Too" - is a 20 foot purpose built dive boat with a Honda 200 engine. It has enough room for up to 10 divers and is trailered to dive sites both locally and up island. Aquarius Dive Club

 

[decompression]

20'.....sure. Memory fading....


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