A personal perspective on California Live-aboards

[raftingtigger]

First, my background. I am a Tech rated and Divemaster rated diver with over 600 dives, mostly in cold CA waters. I have worked for many years as an emergency paramedic (6), airline captain (12), and now urgent care physician assistant (18). During that time I have earned an Aviation Safety Certificate from USC, and been a member of a national level safety committee for a type specific commercial airliner.

In the last 6 years I have slept overnight in the bunks on 4 Southern California live-a-boards a total of 13 nights. These include the Conception, the Truth, the Pacific Star, and the Horizon. The last night I slept in the middle bunk directly below the escape hatch (Horizon).

Does this make me a maritime safety expert? No. But it does make me more of one than the vast majority of readers on ScubaBoard.

With the above in mind this is MY perspective on the safety of California live-a-boards.

1. NOTHING in life is 100% safe. We all say “Safety First”, but anyone in the industries knows this is really at best “safety second”. It is all a calculation of risks vs. benefits. Every diver does that on every dive. If they don't, then they are deceiving themselves. This is sometimes not an easy calculation, and whole books have been written on it.
2. California live-aboards serve a diver driven need. They are not like warmer water live-aboards (as I understand, haven't been on any), but they do the job quite well. Much of what they offer cannot be done with day trips.
   
   
3. There are certain circumstances that have little to no survivability. Examples are mid-air explosions, loss of a wing, and major in-flight (especially at cruise) cabin fires. A completely engulfed Salon fire is one such circumstance if you are below decks in the bunk area.
   
   
4. The above circumstances are most impacted by prevention rather than improved escape means. Do we equip all our airline passengers with parachutes?, escape pods?
   
   
5. Each and every time I have been on the above boats I was given a complete and comprehensive safety briefing. That doesn't mean that everyone listens attentively.
   
   
6. Each and every time I have been on the above boats we were told there was a NO illicit drug or firearm policy. Anyone found with either of these would cause the captain to inform the Coast Guard, immediate return to port, and arrest of the offending passenger.
   
   
7. Each and every time, the crew has been entirely professional and helpful. They assist when asked, they are competent, and they do top notch accounting of each diver in the water/return to the boat. A double check is done by name and only by the person called before the boat is moved.
   
   
8. Each and every boat had all the expected safety equipment. This includes at least: PFDs, Fire Exinguishers, Fire hoses, First Aid kit, Medical O2, Chase boat, radios. I'm sure I'm missing something they all have.
   
   
9. I have never seen a DPV, charging or not, anywhere but on the open deck or in the water. They wouldn't really fit in the Salon, and certainly not downstairs, nor would I expect the crew to allow DPVs in either of those places.
   
   
10. I have seen cameras and batteries charging both in the Salon and below decks, often off of extension cords with multiple outlets (all of which were in use).
    

Given what I have seen, read, and surmised I would go on the same type trip, same density of passengers, with the same (or similar) boat, and the same crew as the Conception disaster without hesitation. I have been wanting to do such a trip again and will book it as soon as it fits in my schedule. I will even sleep in the bunks. The risk of a repeat situation, even as catastrophic as it was, is less than my calculated benefits of such a trip. Your calculations may differ.

Not to diminish anyone's level of pain, but in my mind, the most affected long-term in order are:

1. Surviving crew. They have to live with the events for the rest of their lives. There will be survivor's guilt, public questioning, and constant questioning if they could have done something more – even if there was nothing more they could have done.
   
   
2. Owner of Truth Aquatics. Same as above on a lesser level
   
   
3. The lost divers' surviving families. They will no longer have the lost divers in there lives.
   
   
4. The lost divers' and crewmember themselves. Depending on your belief system, they are either in a better/higher place or in oblivion. I believe in the former. But they certainly left this life too early.
   
   
5. And finally, the whole diving community.
   

My heart aches for ALL of them.

Where do we go from here? We let the NTSB do their investigation and come to their recommendations. This may (may not) include:

1. Better escape routes
   
   
2. Better fire watch procedures
   
   
3. Better fire suppression
   
   
4. Changes to battery charging on boats
   

In the aviation safety industry there is (or at least was) a term called “blood priority”. What it means is the more deaths, and the more tragic they were, the more likely (and faster) there will be a safety improvement. Is that right? NO!, but it is reality. The Conception tragedy should rank quite high on the “blood priory” scale.

God Bless (if you believe), Stay safe, and do your own risk vs benefit calculations. Your safety is ultimately YOUR responsibility and the choices you make.

 

[Colliam7]

An EXCELLENT summary, from a diver with considerable first hand experience! THANK YOU.

 

[Scott]

Over the 35 years I've been submerging, I've spent a number of one or two night rec or tec trips on SoCals waters and there are many who have considerably more trips than I do. I'll say you've summarized my same thoughts on this event very well.

Given what I have seen, read, and surmised I would go on the same type trip, same density of passengers, with the same (or similar) boat, and the same crew as the Conception disaster without hesitation. I have been wanting to do such a trip again and will book it as soon as it fits in my schedule. I will even sleep in the bunks. The risk of a repeat situation, even as catastrophic as it was, is less than my calculated benefits of such a trip. Your calculations may differ.

My wife and I had this conversation about would we do another trip earlier in the week after this tragedy. Both of us would.
She is one that likes to sleep outside on the deck, not because of any safety issues, only because of the stuffy air, snoring and the wet smell that is sometime present. One trip a few years on the Magician she slept in the bunks, worst night of her life, in her words.

Will changes come from this? Absolutely! Whether the NTSB makes those changes or the boat owners themselves say, we want to prevent this from happening again.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I will certainly go on Socal dive boats but for now I will stick with day boats. I’m not ready to go down into the hole and crash out.
When I was 16 our ranch was part of a 16,000 acre forest fire which everyone living up there fought. We were almost burned to death when we were fighting the fire to save a neighbors house in the forest when the only road leading into the canyon closed out with fire. We were stuck in there for three hours trying to breath with fire all around.
Just two years ago the Northern California Tubbs fire came within two blocks from my house and burned out many of my friends and my sister.
Forgive me if I’m a little sensitive about feeling trapped in a location that I can’t escape if a fire breaks out.
I have a customer that lives up a windy country road and I will not go up to his house on a hot or windy summer day because it is heavily forested (lots of fuel) with only one way out - back down the narrow single lane road.
If there were no battery chargers plugged in over night and someone was sitting on watch all night in the salon I would consider it. Or if they let me bring my pad and sleeping bag I’ll sleep out on the deck under the stars, but the way things are right now with all the other boats designed pretty much the same way (CG approved with flying colors or not), no way I’m going down in the hole.

The only boat I would consider right now sleeping in a bunk overnight would be the Spectre. But they are a day boat that is docked in the marina all night and very few people stay on the boat the night before a trip. It’s also a steel boat that used to be an oil rig tender and there are multiple exits out of the bunkroom. It’s completely different from the late 70’s early 80’s plywood boats like the others.

 

[lionfish-eater]

If I went I would bring a portable/battery operated smoke detector and a CO detector and set them up outside my bunk.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

This is a wonderful post and does a great job stating almost exactly how I feel about the event and Southern California dive boats. I was scheduled to do the Channel Islands with Truth Aquatics on the Conception but the trip was canceled due to weather. I was very much looking forward to it and had heard nothing but great things about them.

As for the boats used in that area and people's comments on the berthing compartments, I wonder how many have been on any real working vessel. As a Navy veteran, this type of berthing is just normal for me. Anything more is fancy.

Thank you @raftingtigger for this well thought out post.

 

[happy-diver]

I've worked in a professional capacity in disaster victim identification and explosive
ordnance reconnaissance, and I am well acclimated to the effects of heat, and fire

It would be my pleasure to board one of the affected boats in a second, to show support

"Permission to come aboard Captain!"

 

[raftingtigger]

I will certainly go on Socal dive boats but for now I will stick with day boats. I’m not ready to go down into the hole and crash out.
When I was 16 our ranch was part of a 16,000 acre forest fire which everyone living up there fought. We were almost burned to death when we were fighting the fire to save a neighbors house in the forest when the only road leading into the canyon closed out with fire. We were stuck in there for three hours trying to breath with fire all around.
Just two years ago the Northern California Tubbs fire came within two blocks from my house and burned out many of my friends and my sister.
Forgive me if I’m a little sensitive about feeling trapped in a location that I can’t escape if a fire breaks out.
I have a customer that lives up a windy country road and I will not go up to his house on a hot or windy summer day because it is heavily forested (lots of fuel) with only one way out - back down the narrow single lane road.
If there were no battery chargers plugged in over night and someone was sitting on watch all night in the salon I would consider it. Or if they let me bring my pad and sleeping bag I’ll sleep out on the deck under the stars, but the way things are right now with all the other boats designed pretty much the same way (CG approved with flying colors or not), no way I’m going down in the hole.

The only boat I would consider right now sleeping in a bunk overnight would be the Spectre. But they are a day boat that is docked in the marina all night and very few people stay on the boat the night before a trip. It’s also a steel boat that used to be an oil rig tender and there are multiple exits out of the bunkroom. It’s completely different from the late 70’s early 80’s plywood boats like the others.

Eric, given your history I probably would do the same, those fires were horrific. Your risk/benefit calculation is different from mine, as it should be. Safe diving.

My biggest fear is not being burned alive, it is being horribly burned and LEFT alive.

 

[covediver]

Excellent summary. I would only add that the NTSB recommendations are that, only recommendations, advice to the regulatory agencies that must implement the regulations if they chose to. The NTSB has no authority to compel any changes. I recall a lecture by an NTSB investigator when I was studying aviation back in the 1970s. They are pretty dedicated and remarkable people.

 

[azstinger11]

Excellent summary! I was trying to explain the difference between overnight SoCal dive boats and their warm water brethren. The best I could come up with is the boats here are more like extended range local trip boats, where as the nicer/bigger/luxurious live aboard boats are more expedition/luxury yacht setup, it’s not perfect but it’s the best I could come up with.