Canadian woman presumed dead - Roatan, Honduras

[dumpsterDiver]

I don't remember noticing much currents there so I doubt "pulled away from the boat pretty fast" would happen. It does match my experience that the DM would be helping out the new arrivals: ours had to get me some extra lead (he had it on him) and then get back to the boat to fetch more for my better half. We were at TBR, they don't really have a shore do dive from, and you do your dial-in on your first boat dive. AKR does have some shore diving apparently, but then again: you have to arrive early enough to check in, settle in, get the gear etc. while the shop is still open, to do your first dive the same afternoon. So far we have not managed that anywhere...

If a diver is dropped from a boat that is unanchored, the current has no effect whatsoever on how the diver and boat will be separated or "pulled away" from each other.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Had the group been dropped on the top of the reef instead of off the wall, the victim could have been returned to the surface in a timely fashion.
It might not have changed the outcome, but at least nobody else would have been at put at risk by attempting a deep water rescue. I can say that I would have gave chase but don't really have the experience to do so safely.

I am curious, so this dive was set up for the divers to enter the water off the stern, swim (in a mild or inconsequential) current forward on the surface and then pull down a fixed mooring line which the boat is tied into? And the mooring location and mooring line scope is such that the boat does not necessarily end up over the reef, but is actually hanging over the wall in hundreds of feet of water?

If this is the case, it is not a desirable situation - exactly because it makes this sort of scenario so dangerous. I would think the moorings would be located a decent distance from the wall.. i.e., up on top of the "break" - reef .

If I were dropping tourists day in and day out in several hundred feet of water (over the wall),, that would make me nervous as an operator. I think that if the wind and current were not such that the boat would be positioned over the reef, then I might want to drive by the mooring ball and let the customers jump off the boat, swim to the ball and descend. Assuming the ball itself would be located on top of the reef.

I am really curious about the relative position of the mooring ball, the mooring anchor and the edge of the wall.

 

[Steve_C]

Same with starting a wall dive over the wall or over the shallow, in a perfect world sure drop in the shallow, but it's not the 'law' not the rule, as certified divers we are supposed to be able to dive over the shallow or over the abyss, let's not confuse what would be ideal or 'nice' for what should be a required. We hope for the best, but plan for the worst in diving.

Umm you are dropping some tourists, some have not dove for months, they do not know how much weight to use, some forgot to check if DM put in their weights.

 

[mmmbelows]

Umm you are dropping some tourists

You mean snorkelers or something? I'm pretty sure everybody had a C-card.

 

[Stoo]

Ok, both are beyond my paygrade. If available, I'd bet on the O2 & chamber.

In water recompression for a missed stop is a widely used and successful exercise and has been for decades. The best option would be to get back in AND on O2 (or some high O2 content gas) in an effort to avoid what would almost certainly have become a legit hit.

Certainly O2 on the boat is good as well. Even following a return to the missed stop, I would recommend going on the high-test once the diver is back on board.

 

[Stoo]

Umm you are dropping some tourists, some have not dove for months, they do not know how much weight to use, some forgot to check if DM put in their weights.

Unless something has changed, any time I have been at AKR ALL divers are required to do a buoyancy check including a mid-water hover, and mask clearing right at the dock, before they're allowed on the boat. The first time I was there, I probably had 3800 dives in my logs, and showed them my fancy gold NAUI Instructor Trainer card... and they still made me do it.

To my recollection, it's the only resort I have ever been to where that was required and it says a lot about how they run their operation.

 

[Steve_C]

You mean snorkelers or something? I'm pretty sure everybody had a C-card.

No I meant C card. In an ideal world the C card means that they know what they are doing. Most of my diving is from boats in NC and some in the Keys. I have seen a number of divers that did not know how to set up their gear, had no clue what their weight should be, or how to check things before they enter the water, nor could they hold position without swimming. This is especially true in warmer waters., Had one instabuddy who told me he was trying to make his air last longer by holding his breath. Sometimes it is because they have not dove for a while and when they do it is infrequent. Sometimes it is because during open water they got a C card because they managed not to drown. The written tests are pretty simple but they do not even have to know all that. The fact that the instructor goes over missed questions does not mean they have learned it nor that they will remember it later.

 

[archer1960]

If a diver is dropped from a boat that is unanchored, the current has no effect whatsoever on how the diver and boat will be separated or "pulled away" from each other.

If the boat is drifting, yes. If the boat has their props running so they maintain the same location over the bottom, with a current running at the surface, they will be pulled by the current, just as if the boat was moored in a current.

 

[Tool Belt]

Unless something has changed, any time I have been at AKR ALL divers are required to do a buoyancy check including a mid-water hover, and mask clearing right at the dock, before they're allowed on the boat. The first time I was there, I probably had 3800 dives in my logs, and showed them my fancy gold NAUI Instructor Trainer card... and they still made me do it.

To my recollection, it's the only resort I have ever been to where that was required and it says a lot about how they run their operation.

CCV does the same.

 

[KeithG]

CCV does the same.

CCV makes you do a shore based checkout dive before you can get on a boat. No mask clearing or overt demonstrations of any skills was required. The check out dive was about 45 minured long.