Indiana woman dies diving Vandenberg - Key West, Florida

[DandyDon]

You'd probably get some funny looks for mowing your lawn in January,

I'm almost in the Texas Panhandle, what we call the Central Plains of West Texas, where I wear longjohns many days, but I see people mowing winter weeds and wild rye. I'm spraying generic round-up on those in dormant Bermuda lawns on warmer days, like in Monday's shorts weather.

 

[dmaziuk]

I also don't think that most people are getting any info, positive or negative, from the gubment about what to eat.

Dude, this is A Merica! Gubmint telling us what to eat would be unconstitutional on the 2nd. Probably also the 1st and the 5th.

 

[MrBigfins]

Hi Norm,

This is the Accidents and Incidents Forum. We can do most of what you wrote about on this forum as long as we follow the rules. This forum is not for condolences. We can politely and respectfully speculate as to what happened. It is a good learning resource, I believe.
PLEASE READ FIRST: Special Forum Rules

Yeah, us aged people (60 plus) need to perform our scuba diving in the "old folks" end of the pool. It sucks to get old. No more "Victory At Sea" bravado for me.

I am now realizing that I am "that" old b*st*rd.

I was involved with some diving last week where two boats were damaged and one diver was injured (others suffered some minor contusions and bumps, but were not hauled off on a stretcher as the one diver was [he is OK]).

My wife asked me if she should go diving with the group. I told my wife that since I was 60, I would barely have the ability to save myself, let alone two of us, if the boat broached and turned turtle over the reef. She decided to stay on the beach.



There seems to be an inference on this thread that there aren't many young divers coming up through the ranks. They don't seem to be at the resorts. Are we the end of this avocation?



I would rather die as this nice lady did rather than rot in an old folks home that smells of fecal matter. My assumption is that she had a medical issue u/w.

On that note, cheers,
m

Can't speak to the resorts or dive ops that you visit. But my son is 16 and is one of the reasons I got into scuba, I'm 40 and started in my 30s (not young but not in the senior group) and have encountered a diverse age group on our trips. I've dove with young couples in their 20s, teenagers, and once with a lady who was almost 90. So while the older generation may make up the majority of our sport I think it's for a variety of reasons. No small part of it is the cost, it is an expensive sport that alot of younger people can't afford to actively pursue

 

[DandyDon]

Hi Norm,

He is no longer a member here.

 

[wgw04024]

"Banned" ?? Hmmm

 

[YankBoffin]

I had my closest “almost didn’t make it back” dive on the Vand. myself. I had pretty much accepted that that day was going to be my final day alive. There was another diver on the boat who said he had over 100 dives on her and had never seen currents so swift there before. I was 38 at the time and in excellent physical condition.

Just wanted to say that it is not a site to be taken lightly when the currents are ripping and the water is green/low viz. The shop I went out with did not put a DM in the water, obviously I have no idea if that was the case here or if that would have had any impact whatsoever. Again, I’m so sorry it turned out this way for this poor diver and her family.

I last dove the Vandenburg last Spring. It was only my second time doing so, and apparently we were very lucky the first time as the swift current was a real surprise. Like you, we didn't have a DM with us (he went down with a different group). Fortunately, for my wife/buddy and I (both just shy of 100 dives at that point) it ended up being an incredible confidence booster for us. Despite the ripping current, terrible vis, and being completely "alone" together 100ft down, everything went super smoothly. We became better divers that day.