Almost died today--Any captains out there???

[Louie]

I'm looking forward to blueanchor's followup on this one. It does look a bit odd that this person - with a virtually blank profile - puts up this dramatic sounding thread with an attention-grabbing headline. It resembles a tabloid item on one of those "Open Water Ordeals"

But it got people talking about important matters such as surface support, SMBs, buddy procedures etc. Maybe that was the motive?

 

[vladimir]

I once surfaced at Ko Doc Mai minutes before a squall blew through. The weather was perfectly diveable an hour earlier, when we entered the water. It was perfectly pleasant an hour later. But if the dive had lasted five minutes longer, I would have been sitting on the surface in zero visibility, torrential rain, and intense lightning with my safety sausage inflated, blowing my dive alert and hoping the boat didn't run me over. Not what I'd consider an ideal situation, but probably not particularly unsafe as long as the captain of the boat is competent and you keep your wits about you. There is no 100% safe way to jump off a boat in open water with the intention of reboarding it an hour later. All you can do is minimize the risks or decide not to go.

 

[alewar]

I'm glad you're ok. It's like they say:

 

[Doc]

 

[Rick Inman]

That's squarely outside of safe practices. A dive boat (IMO) should only be moved if there's an emergency or with prior agreement.

The OP says he/she is from Fl. In Fl they sometimes do drift dives where the group is dropped off and the boat follows a float someone is carrying. If a diver was to ascend alone, separate from the group, in a storm, without a signaling device, I can see how the boat might not see the diver and continue to track the group via the float. Then, at the end of the dive, the boat would trace back the drift route and recover the missing diver.

It's all speculation of course, this thread being a hit-and-run post.

 

[WreckDivingFool]

How can you place benefit of the doubt when the OP openly requests info to go after the Captain of the boat THEY chose to go on in the first place?

 

[redacted]

How can you place benefit of the doubt when the OP openly requests info to go after the Captain of the boat THEY chose to go on in the first place?

Are you saying a diver should only look to hold a captain liable if they were dragged, kicking and screaming, onto the boat and then forced to conduct the dive?

 

[WreckDivingFool]

A diver signs a waiver prior to boarding ANY vessel and that is SOP in our industry. It just seems that either it is a troll, or the diver was not ready and capable to be diving, and looking for someone to blame but themselves

 

[redacted]

I usually look at that waiver as just another piece of evidence that the judge will have to decide the worth of should things get real bad. But it does seem that the OP has again drifted off and, I'm afraid, may be permanently lost in the storm of responses.

Blame should probably always start in the mirror.

 

[Dantheengineer]

The OP says he/she is from Fl. In Fl they sometimes do drift dives where the group is dropped off and the boat follows a float someone is carrying. If a diver was to ascend alone, separate from the group, in a storm, without a signaling device, I can see how the boat might not see the diver and continue to track the group via the float. Then, at the end of the dive, the boat would trace back the drift route and recover the missing diver.

It's all speculation of course, this thread being a hit-and-run post.

Yeah. i guess i bit!

Such drift dives are not uncommon here either. Only with prior arrangement is the boat ever moved. If this gentman missed that part of the brief, whilst on a drift dive, he needs a shooing!

We had a videographer blended by the screws out here about this time last year. The only time i've seen engins powered up during a dive since then was a drift dive through a thin cutting where the captain needed to stay off the rocks. He still drifted with us and noone was in the water without assist for anymore than 10mins........