Dive boat capsizes, spills 9 divers - Victoria Canada

[empressdiver]

The Transport Canada Compliance Notice on a boat sets out the limits of people and weight for that boat, but those limits apply only in good weather, and they assume the weight is evenly distributed on board.

In this case apparently the weight shifted with the wave action and contributed to the capsizing.
Bottom line here is that for the number of people on board, the weight of all the dive gear, and the wave conditions, this boat was overloaded and not safe.

 

[Shinythings]

The Transport Canada Compliance Notice on a boat sets out the limits of people and weight for that boat, but those limits apply only in good weather, and they assume the weight is evenly distributed on board.

In this case apparently the weight shifted with the wave action and contributed to the capsizing.
Bottom line here is that for the number of people on board, the weight of all the dive gear, and the wave conditions, this boat was overloaded and not safe.

The difference here is that as a Navy dive club, their vessel is a DND boat and is not subject to a compliance thru TC.

 

[wgw04024]

10 people, 22' boat, 7' seas. LOL Someone needs to stick to diving and not captaining.....

 

[Darnold9999]

Just a comment - I live within sight of Race - the weather can change from benign to storms within an hour and the weather forecasting is more of a lottery than a science. Particularly in November. My forecasting is look out the window to the West - you get about an hour's warning of possible bad weather. You can still get surprised even with lots of local knowledge.

Don't know the boat but it does sound like quite a load on a 20/24 foot boat no matter how much freeboard you have. Probably could not get moving fast enough to outrun the following seas and once one wave goes over the stern you are in deep trouble.

Would have been a tough call - wait the weather out or run for shelter. Race is not a fun place to be in a storm, so given the fact that everyone is wearing essentially safety gear probably would have made the same call - run for shelter. A risk, but with everyone wearing dive gear not an unreasonable one. Bet they take a spare drysuit for the helmsman next trip. And the Nautilus in pockets rather than in the gear bag.

 

[Hawkwood]

Based on this particular incident, I ordered a Nautilus Lifeline. Ordered Friday, scheduled to come today.

FYI, Nautilus Lifeline offers "keyman" pricing right from their website.

 

[DandyDon]

Based on this particular incident, I ordered a Nautilus Lifeline. Ordered Friday, scheduled to come today.

FYI, Nautilus Lifeline offers "keyman" pricing right from their website.

Keep in mind that it's important to keep it very handy on the boat ride, not just the dives - as this case illustrates. PLB vs Nautilus is a personal choice, but I keep my PLB with my person until I am ready to mount up for the dive - then hang it on my BC, but then - I am often the only one of the boat wearing a flotation device, too.

I just got back from helping escort a bus load of international students on a fast weekend trip to the Grand Canyon, viewing from several different points on the south rim, then on to Sedona for a jeep ride & more, then the Walnut Canyon NP & Petrified forest NP, etc. Most places, when I got off of the bus, so did my PLB - just in case. Your Nautilus is worthless on inland adventures, but good to have it handy and ready anywhere on or near the sea.

 

[Shinythings]

Based on this particular incident, I ordered a Nautilus Lifeline. Ordered Friday, scheduled to come today.

FYI, Nautilus Lifeline offers "keyman" pricing right from their website.

$245 isn't much of a key price...

 

[Hawkwood]

Good for you.

But I paid less than that from Nautilus.

Beats what I can get for it locally.

Thanks for your concern though....

 

[tridacna]

Good for you.

But I paid less than that from Nautilus.

Beats what I can get for it locally.

Thanks for your concern though....

Why would you get a VHS radio and not a EPIRB? The Nautilus does not broadcast to satellites and relies on line of sight to a marine vessel. If you're out of range or the vessel is not tuned into the right frequency, you're also out of luck. If you're drifting, it won't take long to drift out of range.

I've been very confused about this (since being stranded a few weeks ago) and did a load of research. I eventually ended up with a PLB which broadcasts to satellites and relays your position to the Coast Guard (in the US) among others.

I'm not sure why someone would choose a Nautilus over a EPIRB PLB. Can someone explain this? I gotta say that cost figured into my thoughts but not THAT much...

 

[Hawkwood]

One has to do their own risk assessment.