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Don't forget your safety sausage
Diver rescued 3 miles from wreck | KeysNews.com
Diver rescued 3 miles from wreck
BY STEVE GIBBS Free Press Staff
sgibbs@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0] KEY LARGO -- A scuba diver was swept away from his commercial dive boat in 5-foot seas Sunday and drifted almost three nautical miles before being rescued.
Chances are good that James "Jim" McMerta, 46, from Satellite Beach, Fla., was saved by the bright orange, inflatable safety tube he brought along.
McMerta was with a group of scuba divers on the Bibb wreck Sunday morning when he drifted off in a stiff current. He was diving on Atlantis Dive Center's, "The Lost Continent."
Divers were instructed to hold on to a "granny line" to pull themselves through strong current to the wreck site, but, according to Atlantis owner Capt. Spencer Slate, McMerta missed the line.
"No one saw him on the wreck so we called the Coast Guard," said Slate. "Some 45 minutes later the 'Tropical Voyager' found him floating off French Reef, almost three miles from the Bibb wreck.
"He had blown up his [buoyancy compensator] and dropped his weight belt. He was fine," Slate said. "He didn't follow directions, but he did everything right to save his own life after he screwed up."
McMerta was picked up in over 100 feet of water by Capt. Graham Garson of the "Tropical Voyager" out of Rainbow Reef Dive Shop.
McMerta carried an eye-catching, roll-up inflatable "sausage" that Capt. J.D. Wood, owner of Rainbow Reef, said aided in his recovery.
"Likely the sausage helped spot Mr. McMerta," he said.
The "Tropical Voyager" was just about to head into port when the call came in that a diver was missing. Several commercial dive boats that searched Molasses Reef had not been able to locate him, so Garson headed for French Reef to check. French Reef is down current from the Bibb wreck.
"We spotted him about a quarter mile southwest of French Reef," said Wood.
Capt. Bob Bates of Horizon Divers, whose dive boat helped look for McMerta, said rival dive shops all work together when the call for help goes out.
"If you're going to get lost at sea, this is the best place to do it because of the community response," he said. "As soon as the call came in we all did search patterns to find the diver."
McMerta was not available for comment.
sgibbs@keysnews.com
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Diver rescued 3 miles from wreck | KeysNews.com
Diver rescued 3 miles from wreck
BY STEVE GIBBS Free Press Staff
sgibbs@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0] KEY LARGO -- A scuba diver was swept away from his commercial dive boat in 5-foot seas Sunday and drifted almost three nautical miles before being rescued.
Chances are good that James "Jim" McMerta, 46, from Satellite Beach, Fla., was saved by the bright orange, inflatable safety tube he brought along.
McMerta was with a group of scuba divers on the Bibb wreck Sunday morning when he drifted off in a stiff current. He was diving on Atlantis Dive Center's, "The Lost Continent."
Divers were instructed to hold on to a "granny line" to pull themselves through strong current to the wreck site, but, according to Atlantis owner Capt. Spencer Slate, McMerta missed the line.
"No one saw him on the wreck so we called the Coast Guard," said Slate. "Some 45 minutes later the 'Tropical Voyager' found him floating off French Reef, almost three miles from the Bibb wreck.
"He had blown up his [buoyancy compensator] and dropped his weight belt. He was fine," Slate said. "He didn't follow directions, but he did everything right to save his own life after he screwed up."
McMerta was picked up in over 100 feet of water by Capt. Graham Garson of the "Tropical Voyager" out of Rainbow Reef Dive Shop.
McMerta carried an eye-catching, roll-up inflatable "sausage" that Capt. J.D. Wood, owner of Rainbow Reef, said aided in his recovery.
"Likely the sausage helped spot Mr. McMerta," he said.
The "Tropical Voyager" was just about to head into port when the call came in that a diver was missing. Several commercial dive boats that searched Molasses Reef had not been able to locate him, so Garson headed for French Reef to check. French Reef is down current from the Bibb wreck.
"We spotted him about a quarter mile southwest of French Reef," said Wood.
Capt. Bob Bates of Horizon Divers, whose dive boat helped look for McMerta, said rival dive shops all work together when the call for help goes out.
"If you're going to get lost at sea, this is the best place to do it because of the community response," he said. "As soon as the call came in we all did search patterns to find the diver."
McMerta was not available for comment.
sgibbs@keysnews.com
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