buddy dive incident - don't know if this is true or not

[edwants2dive]

Funny thing I googled the cruise ship they claimed to be on and could not find any cruises that had a stop in Bonaire. Makes me wonder.

 

[doctormike]

Funny thing I googled the cruise ship they claimed to be on and could not find any cruises that had a stop in Bonaire. Makes me wonder.

Strong work!

Hey, we should all go to trip advisor and ask these questions to "Angela Gaxiola".

 

[Zef]

Drunk driving is not OK if you make home accident free.

A boat leaving someone behind is BAD. There are a long list of emergency situations that could be taking place or the person is simply late returning. All of these are unacceptable if diving in the middle of the ocean or 50 feet from land. The fact the person made it back safe does not negate this near miss.

So lets break down the statement of the victim that she wrote on trip advisor and question the broader picture of what may have transpired?

She wrote that she "was having buoyancy issues and all groups dive groups left her behind and the boat left".

First question I would ask is: How did she get back to shore or the cruise ship?

If she was having buoyancy issues, perhaps that happened just below the surface and the boat did not know this, or perhaps the buoyancy issues were happening at the surface, which is common with inexperienced divers, and the boat expected the DMs to handle this.

The second question I would ask is: what was the stated role of the DM(s) in the water?

Was this a follow the leader type dive, with the DM(s) as leader? Were the DMs in the water to loosely monitor the group while buddy teams conducted their own dives and pursued their own interests within the vicinity?

Perhaps it is routine for the boat to take off and come back and search for the group/a DSMB at the surface, perhaps there was an issue that forced the boat to move away from the area. From my experience as Naval search and rescue officer (collateral duty on the ship's I have been stationed on) standpoint, a boat does not have to be that far away to be out of site especially if there are any swells....couple that with if the person in the water does not know which direction to look for the boat.

So my third question is the same as my first: How did she get back to shore or the cruise ship?
Did she regroup when her dive group hit the surface and was picked up? or was she picked up by another boat?

I can empathize with the woman regarding being frustrated that she missed the dive, and I could understand that she may have felt alone and scared on the surface. It seems likely that she lacked experience and it also seems likely that the DMs were acting as guides with the expectation that the group would follow. The protocol should be that if there are no defined buddy teams that the whole group surfaces if one person is separated. If there were loose buddy teams then the DM should have noticed that one team was a man short and that should have prompted him to take the group to the surface. Perhaps that did happen....there isn't enough information to speculate one way or the other.

What you state would be true if everyone boarded the boat after the dive except one person and took off. That does not seem to be what happened from what I infer from the little bit of information available...but we don't really know do we.

-Z

 

[JohnnyC]

According to this itinerary the ship was in Bonaire on the 19th. Pulled from this pdf: http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Deployment/2018_2019/17056061_NV_Caribbean_Flyer_Final.pdf

Left Miami on the 15th, would have been in Bonaire on the 19th. I know nothing about the rest of her story but the date is verifiable.

 

[JackD342]

So lets break down the statement of the victim that she wrote on trip advisor and question the broader picture of what may have transpired?

She wrote that she "was having buoyancy issues and all groups dive groups left her behind and the boat left".

First question I would ask is: How did she get back to shore or the cruise ship?

If she was having buoyancy issues, perhaps that happened just below the surface and the boat did not know this, or perhaps the buoyancy issues were happening at the surface, which is common with inexperienced divers, and the boat expected the DMs to handle this.

The second question I would ask is: what was the stated role of the DM(s) in the water?

Was this a follow the leader type dive, with the DM(s) as leader? Were the DMs in the water to loosely monitor the group while buddy teams conducted their own dives and pursued their own interests within the vicinity?

Perhaps it is routine for the boat to take off and come back and search for the group/a DSMB at the surface, perhaps there was an issue that forced the boat to move away from the area. From my experience as Naval search and rescue officer (collateral duty on the ship's I have been stationed on) standpoint, a boat does not have to be that far away to be out of site especially if there are any swells....couple that with if the person in the water does not know which direction to look for the boat.

So my third question is the same as my first: How did she get back to shore or the cruise ship?
Did she regroup when her dive group hit the surface and was picked up? or was she picked up by another boat?

I can empathize with the woman regarding being frustrated that she missed the dive, and I could understand that she may have felt alone and scared on the surface. It seems likely that she lacked experience and it also seems likely that the DMs were acting as guides with the expectation that the group would follow. The protocol should be that if there are no defined buddy teams that the whole group surfaces if one person is separated. If there were loose buddy teams then the DM should have noticed that one team was a man short and that should have prompted him to take the group to the surface. Perhaps that did happen....there isn't enough information to speculate one way or the other.

What you state would be true if everyone boarded the boat after the dive except one person and took off. That does not seem to be what happened from what I infer from the little bit of information available...but we don't really know do we.

-Z

I can’t make all the pieces fit so they make sense as described, but I wonder if there was a checkout skills exercise on shore, and the boat(s) left Buddy Dive without her rather than missing her at a dive site. If they return to the dock between each tank, that would explain the one missed dive, the various groups, etc. Might be equating roll call at departure with roll call after the dive.

 

[Charred]

So lets break down the statement of the victim that she wrote on trip advisor and question the broader picture of what may have transpired?

She wrote that she "was having buoyancy issues and all groups dive groups left her behind and the boat left".

First question I would ask is: How did she get back to shore or the cruise ship?

If she was having buoyancy issues, perhaps that happened just below the surface and the boat did not know this, or perhaps the buoyancy issues were happening at the surface, which is common with inexperienced divers, and the boat expected the DMs to handle this.

The second question I would ask is: what was the stated role of the DM(s) in the water?

Was this a follow the leader type dive, with the DM(s) as leader? Were the DMs in the water to loosely monitor the group while buddy teams conducted their own dives and pursued their own interests within the vicinity?

Perhaps it is routine for the boat to take off and come back and search for the group/a DSMB at the surface, perhaps there was an issue that forced the boat to move away from the area. From my experience as Naval search and rescue officer (collateral duty on the ship's I have been stationed on) standpoint, a boat does not have to be that far away to be out of site especially if there are any swells....couple that with if the person in the water does not know which direction to look for the boat.

So my third question is the same as my first: How did she get back to shore or the cruise ship?
Did she regroup when her dive group hit the surface and was picked up? or was she picked up by another boat?

I can empathize with the woman regarding being frustrated that she missed the dive, and I could understand that she may have felt alone and scared on the surface. It seems likely that she lacked experience and it also seems likely that the DMs were acting as guides with the expectation that the group would follow. The protocol should be that if there are no defined buddy teams that the whole group surfaces if one person is separated. If there were loose buddy teams then the DM should have noticed that one team was a man short and that should have prompted him to take the group to the surface. Perhaps that did happen....there isn't enough information to speculate one way or the other.

What you state would be true if everyone boarded the boat after the dive except one person and took off. That does not seem to be what happened from what I infer from the little bit of information available...but we don't really know do we.

-Z

To be clear, my comments were based on some previous responses that seemed to imply it was OK to be left behind since she would not be far from land. Distance from land does not alter the seriousness of being left behind.

I too wonder exactly what has happened. I've dove with Buddy boats and while don't recall specifics there were certainly running a tight boat based on classic Dutch efficiency.

One is certainly on their own in the water with BuddyDive (which IMO is a good thing). I recall the DM made it pretty clear he was there to protect the reef not babysit.

 

[Zef]

I can’t make all the pieces fit so they make sense as described, but I wonder if there was a checkout skills exercise on shore, and the boat(s) left Buddy Dive without her rather than missing her at a dive site. If they return to the dock between each tank, that would explain the one missed dive, the various groups, etc. Might be equating roll call at departure with roll call after the dive.

Yeah, although that did not cross my mind when I posted, I can see that happening as well. Interesting notion.

Though she did state she was "stuck in the ocean".

-Z

 

[martincohn]

ScubaBoard needs a dick tracy badge.

 

[doctormike]

This thread is so talmudic in nature.

We have the OP, who is citing a post on another board. The primary document is somewhat cryptic and written by an unknown author. We are all trying to read meaning into it, offering our own interpretations, analysis and commentary...

It's the Scubaboard Gemara!

 

[RIHappyDiver]

This thread is so talmudic in nature.

We have the OP, who is citing a post on another board. The primary document is somewhat cryptic and written by an unknown author. We are all trying to read meaning into it, offering our own interpretations, analysis and commentary...

It's the Scubaboard Gemara!

Ok, had to look this one up, but I get it. Seems to be a great comparison. Thank you for furthering my learning. And my wife says my time spent on SB is waisted!