Diver hit by powerboat off Boca Raton

[DebbyDiver]

Boca Diver Hit; A scuba diver was struck by a boat propeller one mile east of Boca Raton - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Diver hit by powerboat off Boca Raton

Propeller slashed shoulder and arm

By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel
2:51 PM EST, January 22, 2011


A 50-year-old man was struck by a boat while diving in the Atlantic Ocean about one mile east of Boca Raton, according to Boca Raton Fire Rescue.

"He was in about 80 feet of water and he was actually cut by the propeller," said Battalion Chief Robert Nelligan.

The victim was part of a group with a dive boat when it happened around 10 a.m. Saturday near the Boca Inlet, Nelligan said.

The incident was being investigated, he said.

Boca Raton Fire Rescue, Boca Raton Police and Boca Raton Ocean Rescue responded in separate boats and brought the victim to shore where he was airlifted to Delray Trauma Center with cuts to his shoulder and upper arm, Nelligan said.

The diver was listed in stable condition, he said. "That's pretty lucky."


Copyright © 2011, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 

[mselenaous]

Wow...holy crap, not again.

Please wait for more specific details before we start speculating or blaming.

Hope the victim makes a full and speedy recovery.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

"Both the diver and the commercial vessel were displaying dive flags at the time," Ferraro said. "Both were in compliance with the law."

The operator of the 23-foot boat that struck the diver stopped at the scene and was being "very cooperative" with investigators but charges were pending against him, she said.

It would seem that even though the bottom was 80' that the diver himself was at a shallower depth as at 23' boat would not have a draft of 80'

I guess it is a good rule of thumb to always assume that there is going to be a boat zipping past you as you try to surface. He is pretty lucky that is was his shoulder and not head. That is too close for comfort.

What do you recommend as an ascent procedure to help avoid this sort of thing? According to the article not only did the boat have a flag, but the diver did too. I know you can't avoid everything, but you can certainly hedge your bets.

 

[Chugwhump]

Wow...holy crap, not again.

Please wait for more specific details before we start speculating or blaming.

Hope the victim makes a full and speedy recovery.

OK I have the following ideas. (FAIL)
#1 The boat could not see the flag.
Why, because it was dead calm today on the inside with a west wind that is at this time still blowing from the west, but if the boat was moving west to east, sometimes a flag will turn into a little line and the buoy cannot be seen for a sometimes good reason.
I really need to get myself a tri-flag of some kind that stands out better.
#2 The diver was outta gas.
We can typically hear boats coming close sometimes upon ascent, but unless you can breathe water, sometimes you just have to surface even if there is a motor boat sounding very close.

Just speculation on my part.
We will know more tomorrow.

Chug
Hates news like this.

 

[mselenaous]

Info keeps getting updated on the original article. Here's more than in the OP.
Diver hit by powerboat off Boca Raton

S.C. man in critical after propeller slashes shoulder and arm

By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel 4:15 p.m. EST, January 22, 2011

A 46-year-old man was struck by a boat while diving in the Atlantic Ocean about one mile east of [URL="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/news/bocaraton?track=tax-bocaraton"]Boca Raton[/URL], according to Boca Raton Fire Rescue.
"He was in about 80 feet of water and he was actually cut by the propeller," said Battalion Chief Robert Nelligan.

James C. Shelley, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was surfacing when he was hit at 10:08 a.m. Saturday off the Boca Inlet, according to Gabriella Ferraro with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is investigating the incident.
"Both the diver and the commercial vessel were displaying dive flags at the time," Ferraro said. "Both were in compliance with the law."

The operator of the 23-foot boat that struck the diver stopped at the scene and was being "very cooperative" with investigators but charges were pending against him, she said.

Boca Raton Fire Rescue, Boca Raton police and Boca Raton Ocean Rescue responded in separate boats and took the victim to shore, where he was airlifted to Delray Trauma Center with cuts to his shoulder and upper arm, Nelligan said.
The diver was listed in critical but stable condition, he said. "That's pretty lucky."

 

[Ana]

...continuing the speculating mode

OK I have the following ideas. (FAIL)
#1 The boat could not see the flag.
Why, because it was dead calm today on the inside with a west wind that is at this time still blowing from the west, but if the boat was moving west to east, sometimes a flag will turn into a little line and the buoy cannot be seen for a sometimes good reason.
I really need to get myself a tri-flag of some kind that stands out better.

I imagine the tri-flag could work, but also your boat needs to be alert. Just like you say there are angles of view when the flag pretty much disappears in the water, sometimes because it is flat calm, but also depending on the time of the day, when the sun hits the surface just so. Those "blind spots" should guide the place where your boat hangs waiting for you.

Granted when a boat is guarding several flags it may be difficult, but my personal experience is with just one diver down. I'll make a point to circle around the flag and try to guess from which direction will a punk on a fast boat come from, being close to an inlet gives you an easy answer.

Yes the flag should protect the diver, and boaters should be careful. All the "shoulds" go no where when a running boat is on top of a diver. The boat guarding the diver should be very proactive in our coast, just being down current may be fine for certain locations but with lots of boat traffic, current would be the least of my worries.

In a perfect world, boaters would actually look for dive flags, not just encounter them. But in our reality I'd rather see news of dive boats intercepting distracted boats and crashing instead of distracted boats running over divers. A few destroyed pleasure boats may give a better heads up to others that you can't get away running over divers.

Just my philosophy. If I'm operating the boat, it will be totally destroyed before I let any vessel get close to a flag I'm guarding, and I know my husband will do the same when it is me, the one at the other end of the flag.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I wanna dive with your outfit!

 

[DennisW]

I was diving off the coast of FL years ago and although I can't remember who I was diving with now, the Captain of the dive boat actually put it's bow over the front of a fishing boat and threatened to sink it when it got too close to us. Wish I could remember who that was.

I surely hope the diver recovers fully.

 

[metaldector]

People said cave diving is dangerous, but we never have to worry about boats running us down!

 

[joystershell]

People said cave diving is dangerous, but we never have to worry about boats running us down!

Tru dat! It's the manatees you've got to watch out for.