Diver Drowned in Pompano

[showboat]

(I Found this article from the Sun-Sentinel tonight, I was at another beach today and did not notice any currents out there today with the waters all calm throughout the day).

-----------------------------------------------

A 42-year-old man died Sunday when he drowned off of Pompano Beach.

Terry Zobel, of Plantation, and his brother-in-law Don Silver, 50, of Davie, were scuba diving around noon on Sunday in about 20 feet of water about a quarter mile offshore when the accident occured.

According to a report from the Broward Sheriff's Office, the men were finishing their dive and Zobel was in the water, handing most of his diving equipment to Silver. But before Zobel got on the boat, police say a current pulled him about 25 yards from the boat. Zobel was still wearing his weight belt, and it apparently pulled him under. Police say Silver dove in to save his brother-in-law, but couldn't pull him up from the bottom.

By this time, a BSO boat had arrived on the scene and a BSO diver brought Zobel to the surface, but by the time he was brough to shore near the 2600 block of North Riverside Drive he was pronounced dead.

Police do not suspect foul play in the incident.

 

[ScubaRon]

It is sad that ignoring a simple rule like taking off your weights first led to such a tragedy.
ScubaRon

 

[Otter]

hand up the weights first, fins last. And if you begin to sink, ditch the belt....

 

[Gator Diver]

Hard to ditch a belt if you got a weight integrated
BC. Maybe that is what that diver was wearing.

 

[Drifter]

.... doubt it was integrated that would have been his best bet it said he was at the surface handing equipment onboard so it would reason his BC should have been inflated with tank attached.

 

[showboat]

if he had a weight intergrated BC that he not be able to ditch his weights fast. it seems he did not inflate his BC after his dive and panicked when heading back to the boat..

 

[Scubaroo]

article extract...
.... handing most of his diving equipment to Silver ....

.... Zobel was still wearing his weight belt, and it apparently pulled him under....

Lots of guessing taking place in this thread. Instead of guessing about weight integrated BCs not being inflated, how about we see if anyone can find further details?

 

[Padipro]

It shouldn't matter wather it was intagrated or not, weights can be removed from an intragrated BC nearly as easily as you can remove a weight belt. And if it were an intragrated BC if he had removed it to hand it up to someone on board the weight was removed from him as well.

Just to let you know, I did a search for the story on the Sun-Sentinel web site but came up blank.

Scott

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Scott - here's the link.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/lo...g928,0,7524417.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Marc

 

[MikeJacobs]

Whatever happened I'm sure the families are devistated. Never having had an accidential death in our family I can only imagine what this will be like. My prayers go out to them.