Diver drifts 3 miles

[SeaLevelScuba]

OK, being the operator who chartered the boat, the facts are abit different than you guys are reading and speculating about. The dives were planned for the Bibb & the Eagle, due to the strong winds and rough seas the sites were changed to the Speigal & the Duane. In giving caution to the conditions about half the boat disembarked leaving half the boat to go dive. Jim was one of the first one in the water, the current was estimated at 4+ knots by accounts of thefolks on the boat. Jim did not grab the granny line when he went into the water an was immediately swept out of reach, he was unable to swim against the current and drifted to the buoy behind the boat and decended down it to reunite on the bottom, at some point he was blew off that buoy line and was drifting underwater not realizing how fast and where he was drifting. When he saw sand he surfaced and was unable to see the boat, he had already drifted to far, he just inflated his bcd & sausage and started blowing on a useless whistle, those flat ones that comes on most safety markers. There was only 7-8 people who entered the water before the captain called the dive due to the conditions, of those only 3 made it to the wreck who immediately aborted the dive because of the current and if they let go they would not have been able to return to the line. On topside the boat had no idea Jim had surfaced down current and they had to wait the time out of a typical dive, once they figured he was late the CG was notified. He had already been drifting for 20 some minutes. He was picked up several hours later on Frenches Reef.

Looking back, his first mistake was remaining on the boat given the conditions. As for missing the line, not grabbing it before jumping in was his second. Fortunately that most of his diving experience is in the Jupiter area on a boat that requires SMB's and some current. Jim was humbled by this experience and felt responsible for the other divers missing the second dive, he was unaware the dive was called when the crew realized the conditions were to crappy to dive. But since the remainder of the group could not do a second dive someplace else, he personally paid for a charter for the group to go back out.

I hope there isn't really a Jim McMerta out there, because the paper reported he was drifting at sea, there was no Jim McMerta on the boat.

Schott

 

[Jax]

Thanks! Super classy act for your Jim to make up to the other divers for the mistake.

 

[SeaLevelScuba]

BTW, he now owns a super loud whistle.

 

[stinkynewf]

OK, being the operator who chartered the boat, the facts are abit different than you guys are reading and speculating about. The dives were planned for the Bibb & the Eagle, due to the strong winds and rough seas the sites were changed to the Speigal & the Duane. In giving caution to the conditions about half the boat disembarked leaving half the boat to go dive. Jim was one of the first one in the water, the current was estimated at 4+ knots by accounts of thefolks on the boat. Jim did not grab the granny line when he went into the water an was immediately swept out of reach, he was unable to swim against the current and drifted to the buoy behind the boat and decended down it to reunite on the bottom, at some point he was blew off that buoy line and was drifting underwater not realizing how fast and where he was drifting. When he saw sand he surfaced and was unable to see the boat, he had already drifted to far, he just inflated his bcd & sausage and started blowing on a useless whistle, those flat ones that comes on most safety markers. There was only 7-8 people who entered the water before the captain called the dive due to the conditions, of those only 3 made it to the wreck who immediately aborted the dive because of the current and if they let go they would not have been able to return to the line. On topside the boat had no idea Jim had surfaced down current and they had to wait the time out of a typical dive, once they figured he was late the CG was notified. He had already been drifting for 20 some minutes. He was picked up several hours later on Frenches Reef.

Looking back, his first mistake was remaining on the boat given the conditions. As for missing the line, not grabbing it before jumping in was his second. Fortunately that most of his diving experience is in the Jupiter area on a boat that requires SMB's and some current. Jim was humbled by this experience and felt responsible for the other divers missing the second dive, he was unaware the dive was called when the crew realized the conditions were to crappy to dive. But since the remainder of the group could not do a second dive someplace else, he personally paid for a charter for the group to go back out.

I hope there isn't really a Jim McMerta out there, because the paper reported he was drifting at sea, there was no Jim McMerta on the boat.

Schott

Thanks for the info.

 

[flots am]

Okay, I'm confused. The diver came up . . . one would assume up the mooring line? And somehow, some way, missed the line.

Then, he would try to swim for it. How long does someone swim before they figure out they aren't going to make it? Wouldn't they still see the boat, but it's not getting closer?

I mean, wouldn't you surface and start blowing your whistle for the boat? How do you get so far away without somehow notifying the boat?

That depends on who is looking where and what you have for a whistle.

If the engines are running and nobody is looking in your direction, about all that would help is a Dive Alert. A big SMB is also a "must have". It doesn't take much for anybody to go flying off into the ocean. Without one, anybody that's much more than a few hundred feet away is pretty much invisible.

flots.

 

[Jax]

That depends on who is looking where and what you have for a whistle.

If the engines are running and nobody is looking in your direction, about all that would help is a Dive Alert. A big SMB is also a "must have". It doesn't take much for anybody to go flying off into the ocean. Without one, anybody that's much more than a few hundred feet away is pretty much invisible.

flots.

Yes, given the rest of the story, I can see where he would travel quite a ways before surfacing.

 

[Reef_Haven]

I wouldn't expect conditions on the Spiegel and The Duane to be much better than the Bibb and the Eagle. Although the ride out from Slate's would have been shorter.

 

[SeaLevelScuba]

I wouldn't expect conditions on the Spiegel and The Duane to be much better than the Bibb and the Eagle. Although the ride out from Slate's would have been shorter.

That was the point of changing destinations, prevent a 22 mile ride in rough seas, nobody had any idea of the actual in water conditions when the trip got underway.

 

[mike_s]

EDIT... already covered above.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Thank you, Schott. Jim had a series of mishaps that any of us could possibly do once in a diving lifetime. He sounds like a classy guy to make it up to his buddies, and a good diver for not panicking and just going with the flow until picked up.