Diver drifts 3 miles

[Jax]

If I ever have a fatal or near fatal accident diving (or anything) I hope everyone picks apart everything I did wrong or could have been done better. Then I hope everyone puts this in their toolbox to use should they find themselves presented with the same problems.

Yep, one thing I can say I learned at ITK was "grab that what's-its-name line"!! :lol:

 

[snewland01]

I was the fourth diver to make the mistake to jump into this dangerous situation. My mask flooded just after the surface ball which as several feet under the surface. That’s when I decided this dive was going bad quick. I made it back to the boat but needed to hang on for what seemed like hours, but was only a couple of minutes while the diver ahead of me struggled to get back on the boat. When it was my turn I was exhausted, but made it back in the boat with some appreciated help from the boat crew.

I should have been smart like the other halve of the boat and stayed on shore.

I classify dives as either a good experience or a learning experience. This was a definite learning experience.

I learned there is just nothing worth the risk of diving in these conditions.

The boat crew did a good job. I think the only things that could have been improved would be if the boat ladder would have been a T style, eliminating the need to get your fins off before getting on the ladder. That would have made my struggle to get back on the boat a bit less stressful.

 

[DennisW]

My only disagreement here is the T style ladder. If you get back on the boat with your fins in 5 ft seas, you are likely to wind up with a flat nose.

 

[scubadada]

I was the fourth diver to make the mistake to jump into this dangerous situation. My mask flooded just after the surface ball which as several feet under the surface. That’s when I decided this dive was going bad quick. I made it back to the boat but needed to hang on for what seemed like hours, but was only a couple of minutes while the diver ahead of me struggled to get back on the boat. When it was my turn I was exhausted, but made it back in the boat with some appreciated help from the boat crew.

I should have been smart like the other halve of the boat and stayed on shore.

I classify dives as either a good experience or a learning experience. This was a definite learning experience.

I learned there is just nothing worth the risk of diving in these conditions.

The boat crew did a good job. I think the only things that could have been improved would be if the boat ladder would have been a T style, eliminating the need to get your fins off before getting on the ladder. That would have made my struggle to get back on the boat a bit less stressful.

Thanks for the comments, that puts it in some perspective.

Which wreck was this dive on? Did anyone make the dive?

Thanks, Craig

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

My only disagreement here is the T style ladder. If you get back on the boat with your fins in 5 ft seas, you are likely to wind up with a flat nose.

A "T" style or Christmas Tree ladder is the only way to go in any serious seas. Taking your fins off in the water is a practice that should be limited to flat, calm Caribbean or southwest Atlantic waters and not something you want to do with any sort of sea conditions.

Check out dive boats on the east and west coast and that is what you would expect to find.

 

[Walter]

Safely removing your fins in rough seas isn't difficult, it merely requires technique. Sadly, many haven't learned the technique. Climbing a ladder (even a T or christmas tree ladder) is much easier without fins than with them. After making it to the deck, moving to your seat is much safer without fins than with them.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Safely removing your fins in rough seas isn't difficult, it merely requires technique. Sadly, many haven't learned the technique. Climbing a ladder (even a T or christmas tree ladder) is much easier without fins than with them. After making it to the deck, moving to your seat is much safer without fins than with them.

Agreed however there have been a couple dives where the seas were angry enough that I proved my technique was not perfected. The mistake is handing off your fins before you are on the boat. Slide them up your arm (or clip them somewhere to your body) and climb, but have them just in case you fall back in.

 

[Walter]

That's part of it. The other part comes first. Stiff arm the bottom rung of the ladder so that no matter how rough the seas or how much you are tossed around, you are swinging free in the water and never hit anything solid like the ladder or the boat. Another (2nd choice for me) option is to take off your fins on the current line.

 

[Indian Valley Scuba]

Hmmmmm....recalling that leverage thing....so you grab the part of the ladder that is the furthest from the swinging boat........sounds like NOT a good idea to me!

 

[ONESPEED]

Hmmmmm....recalling that leverage thing....so you grab the part of the ladder that is the furthest from the swinging boat........sounds like NOT a good idea to me!

Now you've done it....