Diver lost - Stetson Bank

[BetterLateThannever]

I just read this post on another board and thought some of you might want to know, especially the Texas divers.


"The owner of Adventure Sports, Shawnee, KS and a bunch of our divers were on the weekend trip to the Flower Gardens, and Stetson Bank on the Sea Searcher. While at the Stetson Bank a diver off the other boat that does these trips was lost. Both boats were locked down for 5 hours as the Coast Guard did the search. As of today, the diver has not been found.
Mark Figgins, the owner of Adventure Sports said the dive was not one for the new or weak at heart. Pulling down current line throught a cloud of jelly fish into ~ 15' visibility and the 3 knot current made the inital trip down complicated and could have been more than a new diver could handle. On the bank Mark said the visibility lifted and the current was present but not as strong. He stated the trip was worth the ride and effort just for the Stetson Bank, and the oil rig dives done late on Sunday. He doesn't remember seeing that many fish since his Red Sea trip.

Texas divers should keep eyes open for news on the accident.

Kent"



I would be interested if anyone can fill in the details, such as the experience level of the diver, what the buddy had to say, and whether or not these boats check logbooks for diver's experience before allowing them into stressful conditions?

 

[socaldiver]

condolences go out to the family.

Jimbo, I was reading something about this on another board earlier today and from what I can gather the man was diving with his wife and another person. Supposedly they were ascending to go back to the boat when they noticed he was gone.

Hopefully they can locate him and pray that he survived.

 

[Mitch]

BLT, a buddy of mine was on that trip, was on the water during the dive which the diver was lost, and this is what he told me Monday when I talked with him. However, I thought he was on either the Fling or Spree instead of the Sea Searcher so I will have to ask him.

It was a husband and wife buddy team and they were doing the first dive of the day on Sunday at Stetson Bank. For those of you who do know how weekend trips to the Flower Gardens and Stetson Bank go, the plan is you leave at about 10:30 pm on Friday and head out to the Flower Gardens through the night. By Saturday morning, you are at either the West Bank of the Flower Gardens. You do two dives in the morning on Saturday there and then move over to the East Bank for the two afternoon dives and then the night dive. During the night, the boats move to Stetson which is located closer to shore and you do two morning dives on Sunday at Stetson then a rig dive on the way back in.

Anyway, my buddy told me that what happened is that they were at the end of the dive. The wife evidently saw something that she thought was really cool and went to check it out. When she looked up after checking out what she checked out, her husband was nowhere to be seen. She then came up to notify the boat crew. My buddy and his girlfriend were the last ones out of the water besides the lost diver and they were asked if they saw anyone else which they said no. It was at that moment that everyone was stood down, the Coast Guard was notified, and the search was began.

That is all I know about at this time. I did not ask my buddy how the visibility was but he sounded like conditions were favorable and it would have been hard to lose you buddy. If I hear anything more (I am in Houston), I will let y'all know.

BTW, I have done the Flower Gardens/Stetson Bank trip twice myself and will agree that it can be nerve-racking if the conditions are so. However, by the same token, it can also be a very easy dive again dependng on the conditions. Both times I went out there, conditions at one site or another were pretty rough to the point where they had to cancel the dive. I do not know about the Sea Searcher but I can tell you that Rinn Boats (Fling and Spree) will not let anyone in the water if the conditions are very unfavorable. Also, when the conditions are "favorable", they still do inform you of the conditions in the water and then allow you to make your decision whether you want to go in or not. Only you know best whether you should dive in "stressful conditions". From what my buddy told me, the dive operator did nothing wrong.

 

[Mitch]

UPDATE: This was in the 7/18 Houston Chronicle. It does not look good

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

GALVESTON -- The Coast Guard on Tuesday continued searching for a man who was diving near a reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

The man, 57, whose name was not released, has been missing since about 7:30 a.m. Sunday near the Flower Gardens, a reef popular with divers, said Chief Duty Officer John Biles.

Coast Guard boats and aircraft have been searching an area about 73 miles southeast of Galveston.

 

[TexasMike]

Mitch....please keep an eye on the newspapers and TV for us if you can. And find out which operator it was.

From the one time that I was on the Spree, I found it to be a very high class operation divemastering wise. Natalie did an excellent job ensuring that everyone was aware of what was going on under the surface current wise, what to do during entries, and how to handle the exits up the ladder.

So for those looking to do the Flower Gardens, I can highly recommend the Rinn Boats and the MV Spree in particular.

 

[socaldiver]

Mike,

Here is a thread that I read earlier today that gives an account of what presumably happened.

http://www.scubadiving.com/talk/read.php?f=1&i=321819&t=321254

 

[jbd]

From another board a crew of the boat involved gave a report of events. The boat crew did all that could be done the moment they knew there was a problem. Other divers that were on the boat have mentioned some possible scenarios of what may have gone wrong. Of course all is speculation. Actions of the two boat crews sounds very professional. Its my understanding that the search was called off Tuesday afternoon. Its sad that the man apparently died while diving but it may not be a diving accident and does not sound to be anything that the dive operation could do anything about. Maybe it was just his time to go. Prayers to the family.

 

[Mitch]

Mike, I talked to my buddy tonight, he was on the Spree. Also, what he told me was pretty much what was said in the thread provided by socaldiver. From all indications, Rinn Boats did all they could do.

I will point out again to everyone that Rinn Boats is an excellent operation and I do recommend them for trips to the Flower Gardens. I know they have run trips out there for years and this is the first time that I have heard about any incident such as this involving them. That is a credit to them as it can get rather dicey out there in the Gulf.

 

[WetDane]

Hey guys,

I know we all feel the loss - I just want to say thank you to those of you who have travelled with the outfit for standing up for them - it is easy for peopel to paint an black and that is a hard business to be in to begin with - I know where to go if I ever get down that way...

Dane

 

[Mitch]

Dane, by all means, go with Rinn Boats for trips to the Flower Gardens. The things that they can control, they do with vigor, but when you are dealing with the sea, there is a lot you can not control and the Gulf of Mexico is no exception. On both of my trips out there, I saw one extreme from another. On Saturday morning, it was so rough out there that half of the divers on the boat were "feeding the fish", by late afternoon, it is so calm and smooth that you could have skipped a rock all the way back to Galveston.

In case you did not know, Rinn Boats does not deal with divers directly, they wholesale the trips to the dive shops who then book the divers. Should you decide to go with them, check out their web site at http://www.rinnboats.com and take a look at the schedule. Should there be a time that you want to go, note the dive shops who have that time slot and contact the shop directly.

Of course, if you have any questions, let me know.