Divers lose boat, no pilot left aboard - Florida

[FullThrottle]

Sounds like there needs to be some kind of law banning unattended boats or some such. People won't stop doing it if they aren't forced to. Sure, THIS group of people probably won't do it again for a while. Most will continue the practice.

I wonder how much it cost for a helicopter or two, plane, and possibly other USCG vehicles to search for these buffoons.

No there doesn't need to be "some kind of law". But boaters and divers need to inform themselves, take responsibility for themselves, and be diligent in considering all the things that could possibly go wrong.
Divers to whom the norm is paying to go diving on a dive boat with a professional captain can't imagine leaving a boat unattended, but that's the norm for divers with their own boat. And those divers that always hire a dive boat might assume all private boaters are irresponsible, which certainly some are, but not all or even most.
Diving from an unattended boat can be done safely by conscientious, diligent, and informed divers and boaters. As previously mentioned this boater likely didn't use adequate scope, especially considering they knew the weather was deteriorating. And any boat that goes so far offshore that vhf contact is questionable should definitely have an ELT or PLB. And divers that far from shore diving off an unattended boat should definitely have a PLB too. They're only $250.
Checking the anchor set, using adequate scope, swimming up current, diving only when currents are mild, and generally being responsible and knowledgeable boaters and divers can prevent this sort of incident.
Irresponsible and uninformed people will end up in the accident reports no matter what sort of laws are passed.

 

[FullThrottle]

if you get lost in the mountains in NH and a search is mounted, you're responsible for the costs....

And that may be a reasonable way to discourage unprepared people from getting themselves in trouble and costing lots of search and rescue money. But outlawing mountaineering seems like a bad idea.

 

[FullThrottle]

I think you could create some reasonable rules about leaving a boat unattended in a few paragraphs. Sure, there will be some who ignore the law just as there are some that ignore any law. I'd like to believe the vast majority of captains/owners try to be law abiding citizens. A law would change the practice of leaving boats unattended those folks that wish to be on the up and up.

I just don't think it's a good idea to have a bunch of non-diver, non-boater politicians write laws that you think you can count on to keep people safe. They might legislate that sport diving is just too risky. No more diving for you. Or they might legislate that every child be issued a crash helmet and a bubble wrap suit at birth, lest they fall and bump their head or skin their knee.
Just remember that politicians who would write the laws are not generally wiser than you, not more conscientious than you, not more competent than you, not more virtuous than you...
In fact most professional politicians are people who shouldn't be trusted or depended on for much, and they mostly don't dive, or boat.

 

[tursiops]

And that may be a reasonable way to discourage unprepared people from getting themselves in trouble and costing lots of search and rescue money. But outlawing mountaineering seems like a bad idea.

Would you agree to charging the negligent boat owner for the costs of search and rescue, similar to mountaineering? I think people are just looking for an incentive to keep the idiots from acting that way....

 

[FullThrottle]

It is a fact that an unattended boat is a shipping hazard. It is also the case that a charge of negligence would be held against you in UK waters. Coming across an empty boat with no indication of divers beneath would not have you facing charges. It might be that laws in other countries are different but no-one at the helm = abandoned vessel. K

Are diver down flags not used in UK? Because the dive flag certainly qualifies as an indication that divers are beneath. I just thought the use of dive flags was a given, so....

 

[FullThrottle]

Would you agree to charging the negligent boat owner for the costs of search and rescue, similar to mountaineering? I think people are just looking for an incentive to keep the idiots from acting that way....

That would be arguably reasonable if it would discourage irresponsible and uninformed boaters and divers from endangering themselves at taxpayer expense. But we don't want to discourage everyone from diving from their own boat, do we? People just need to be responsible or face consequences.

 

[FullThrottle]

I was pleased to find one installed on my boat when I bought it. I don't foresee myself owning a boat without one anytime soon. I still have memory of hauling the anchor on my Dad's boat. His still does not have one.

This summer, we took my boat down to the Keys. A friend rented a boat down there. When we were pulling anchor, my daughter sat up front and operated the switches to pull the anchor while I was at the helm. We chuckled a bit as my friend's twin boys (same age as my daughter) were manually pulling the anchor.

Give it time. Tesla is releasing a "truck." That truck must be needed to haul a Tesla boat. Both will probably come with "Summon."

I recently tried out my new anchor ball for the first time. Worked like a charm. No lifting, just pulling in a floating anchor.

 

[FullThrottle]

In the same situation, I'd have probably ditched the gear. It brings up the question, Is it best for everyone to stay together and drift for what could be hours or have someone try to swim to the boat? What if a family member was part of the 3 person group. Would you leave them and try for the boat? The person swimming for the boat might not ever catch it ! 28 miles off shore....

Yeah, thank goodness the anchor caught. Even as an unencumbered snorkeler, fast and light, if the bottom contour wasn't favorable to the anchor catching there could have been a very different outcome. I hope lots of people learn from this incident and don't repeat it. The risks of diving from an unattended boat so far from shore have to be taken very seriously and appropriately mitigated.

 

[FullThrottle]

In my opinion, a PLB is not the best choice here, as triggering it starts a long chain of events that eventually gets notification to local authorities, but is often delayed by hours or even days. Other locating devices work better for local use with direct signals to boats in the area. A PLB talks to satellites, but does not provide a direct link to local boats. I did a write up on this in another thread, explaining the different types of signaling devices that are available & the advantages/disadvantages of each.

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Russian drifted for two days in 8°C/46°F degree waters - Sea of Japan

My personal opinion, is that a small handheld VHF with DSC is the best choice. It allows voice communication & can send your lat/long positioning to a specific boat of your choice or send it to all boats in the area as part of a distress signal. Unfortunately, this would require a good quality waterproof container, unless you leave it on a float. Other options that I would prefer would include AIS sticks, In Reach, etc. Of course, all of this requires your dive boat to have proper receiving equipment.

A Garmin Rino would be another viable option. I did not list it on my previous post, because it is not considered marine grade, as far as I know.

Does anyone think that my previous post should be a sticky somewhere?

PLBs reliably reach satellites, VHF is line of sight, and reach nothing beyond the horizon. PLBs are awesome.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Are diver down flags not used in UK? Because the dive flag certainly qualifies as an indication that divers are beneath. I just thought the use of dive flags was a given, so....

Yes, an alpha flag should be displayed from any boat with diving operations underway (recreational or commercial).