Fiona Sharp death in Bonaire

[Johnoly]

There's still the 300 m swim between there and "on the reef at 80 feet" as per #38

You make an excellent point on the long swim. Some of the prior posts asked the question was this a Planned dive? If you were going to "plan" this I'd guess you would want to do the dive by following the high/low tide times so you could use those inflows and outflows to benefit and help your swim both outbound and then back inbound. If I want to get somewhere far and need help, I want to plan my dive times to match the ingoing and outgoing tide times to help me get there (and back). Or atleast not have to fight the tide and be able to dive right at 'slack tide' . If I'm going to 'plan' ,,I'm going to time the dive at the right tide time.

I don't know the area, but can someone tell us the high tide times and low tide times for that day? And then if those match up to the time that @tursiops saw her enter the water? {ie: speculation}

 

[shoredivr]

You make an excellent point on the long swim. Some of the prior posts asked the question was this a Planned dive? If you were going to "plan" this I'd guess you would want to do the dive by following the high/low tide times so you could use those inflows and outflows to benefit and help your swim both outbound and then back inbound. If I want to get somewhere far and need help, I want to plan my dive times to match the ingoing and outgoing tide times to help me get there (and back). Or atleast not have to fight the tide and be able to dive right at 'slack tide' . If I'm going to 'plan' ,,I'm going to time the dive at the right tide time.

I don't know the area, but can someone tell us the high tide times and low tide times for that day? And then if those match up to the time that @tursiops saw her enter the water? {ie: speculation}

There is a negligible tidal difference in Bonaire. Currents at the Buddy Resort dive site at the middle of the island, are occasional and in my experience mild.

 

[tursiops]

You make an excellent point on the long swim. Some of the prior posts asked the question was this a Planned dive? If you were going to "plan" this I'd guess you would want to do the dive by following the high/low tide times so you could use those inflows and outflows to benefit and help your swim both outbound and then back inbound. If I want to get somewhere far and need help, I want to plan my dive times to match the ingoing and outgoing tide times to help me get there (and back). Or atleast not have to fight the tide and be able to dive right at 'slack tide' . If I'm going to 'plan' ,,I'm going to time the dive at the right tide time.

I don't know the area, but can someone tell us the high tide times and low tide times for that day? And then if those match up to the time that @tursiops saw her enter the water? {ie: speculation}

Maybe you haven't been to Bonaire?

 

[Johnoly]

Maybe you haven't been to Bonaire?

No, I've never been there. I did find the high/low tide times and you are right, no ripping currents
2019-10-17 Thu 12:30 AM AST 0.30 meters Low Tide
2019-10-17 Thu 3:06 PM AST 0.53 meters High Tide

What time did you see her at the dock??

 

[dmaziuk]

I don't know the area, but can someone tell us the high tide times and low tide times for that day?

It's a channel between two islands. Currents go in and out the channel, I've only ever seen them parallel to the shore. The swim is perpendicular to the current.

The way I see it, any problems caused by not-enough-wrong-gas at 90 msw didn't hit until some 10-20 (?) minutes later and 60 msw shallower and I'm not quite seeing an unconscious body drifting there on a tide, current, etc.

 

[sea_ledford]

Thanks for the reply!

So, have you heard a CCR diver with air diluent in 2 40s for diving to 91M survived to tell the story?

Look for videos of Innerspace in Grand Cayman. Seems a fair number of them just dive with 2 40's for bailout. Hopefully not air though.

Exhibit A: Not sure of the depth of those dives, but some are certainly deeper than 200'.

 

[hroark2112]

Team bailout. Most of the divers are in groups of several divers. Also there is no solo diving allowed on Grand Cayman. Knowing firsthand how they run InnerSpace, everyone has the proper gas.

 

[tursiops]

What time did you see her at the dock??

10'ish

 

[divezonescuba]

As to the accuracy of the Bonaire Reporter:

They do not know how many feet there are in a meter.

 

[stuartv]

Definitely helpful if there was a BOV (there was), but not so sure of the benefit for a solo diver.

The French military rebreather study showed an amazing survival rate (94% of divers who lost consciousness!), but it depended on a buddy being present. If you are solo diving and lose consciousness, I guess there might be a scenario where the diver could recover spontaneously. But for the most part, I don't think that the gag strap would make a huge difference. If you pass out from toxing or hypoxia when you are alone, that's probably not survivable even if the mouthpiece stays in.

Presuming a gag strap that has a lip shield (like the rEvo one), if the diver passes out as a result of toxing or hypercapnia (from overexertion - not a breakthrough), why would you not think they might live for an indeterminate amount of time, while passed out, simply because the loop is breathable, in their mouth, and not flooded?

I read the whole thread. I did not read anything that was at odds with the possibility that a gag strap could *possibly* have kept her alive until she was found.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I would dismiss the idea a gag strap would have changed the outcome. The purpose of the gag strap is largely for jaw fatigue during long deco and/or to buy time for a buddy to assist a diver that is toxing. You also have to remember that it takes a conscious human to control whether their airway is open or not. A gag strap would not do this for you and assuming you could get a perfect seal on the mouthpiece to keep water out while unconscious you would still likely embolize on the way up to the surface.

I think it's pretty safe to say that if you go unconscious while on a dive, 99% of the time you will not survive.

As above. When people simply pass out, they don't usually stop breathing (I don't think). Why should it be different under water? If they loop stays in and sealed against the diver's lips, and the nose stays occluded by a mask, it seems entirely possible that SOME conditions could result in a diver passing out but continuing to live for an indeterminate amount of time.

In particular, for someone who toxes, even without a buddy, if they are found on the bottom at 80 feet, an hour later, but the loop is in their mouth and not flooded, why is it that unlikely for them to survive? Why is it that likely that they would embolize if they happened to float to the surface? DCS? Sure. Lung overexpansion? Why?

FWIW, the rEvo mouthpiece/lip shield/gag strap does a pretty good job of holding the mouthpiece in and maintaining a seal. When I want to vent gas from my loop, completely relaxing my mouth and exhaling does not work. The gag strap keeps the lip shield in place and the seal is maintained. I have to go head up, to get my mouth to be the highest point in the loop, THEN relax my mouth as much as I can, tilt my head to the side, and then exhale. Even then, I can't get all the gas out. I don't think I could flood the loop on purpose, with the gag strap in place.

The dil was air, gases were analyzed, according to Buddy Dive staff.

The dil cylinder was air. But, is it confirmed that that cylinder was what she was actually using for her dil (versus using that for wing and using her offboard TX20/20 for dil)? Not that it makes a material difference to her ppO2....