divers rescued at barracuda

[lionfish-eater]

Captain lost track of group.
Called for help.
Divers found.

Double rescue at sea




COZUMEL, March 19 .- In two different events, personnel of the Secretariat of the Navy Navy of Mexico (Semar) performed, first rescue of a group of divers, and in another event the rescue of two fishermen who had been lost in the sea, at the height of the northern area of the coast. The seven rescued were found safe and sound after a few hours.
The first event occurred this weekend when the 911 report was received where the distress call was received, in which it was reported that sailors from the boat "La Charra" had lost sight of four divers on the "Barracuda" reef, in the northern part of the island, so they requested the immediate support of the coast guardians.
According to information a Defender class vessel, sailed from the Marine Search, Rescue and Surveillance Station (ENSAR), located in the south hotel zone, heading towards the northern coastal area where after a few hours he managed to locate the four divers of the that it was known, they were of American origin, putting them in shelter of the boat to transfer them to the installations of the Naval Sector.

Fishermen

In the second incident recorded the morning of this Monday, around 11:45 a report was received of another distress call to 911, which referred to the boat under the name "Rosalia", had problems, since two of its four passengers were missing on the northern coast, at the height of Punta Molas.
The whale-type vessel, 25 feet long with a green stripe, does not belong to any group, but rather operates independently, so it is unknown whether or not it met the maritime safety standards .
Workers of the sea, identified the lost fishermen, because they claimed, they are dedicated to independent fishing and they are known as José Caamal Escalante, who was the first rescued, while Pablo Pérez Bacab and Rafael Chulim Martín, had gone astray in The sea while diving, but were found until 14:57 hours by the same rescue boat.
It should be mentioned that in the case of the rescued divers on Sunday, as well as with the fishermen, the Naval Health personnel carried out the medical check-up, finding themselves safe and sound, so in both cases the saved came out on their own. Navy facilities.

 

[Christi]

Lesson as I've said many times : Never ever dive Barracuda or the more remote sites with anyone but a known operator/Captain who knows the area and knows how to follow divers in the area.

 

[The Chairman]

What's so good to see there?

 

[cicopo]

Good to know the boat captains asked for help quickly. Not everyone wants to admit they aren't in control. The quick response did it's job but I'm wondering why they didn't ask for an aircraft or heli's help in spotting them.

 

[Skittl1321]

Were the US divers not with an established op? (It sounded like the description said the fishing boat "operated independently" but the same thing wasn't said about the dive boat. With so many boats, I only know a few by name and who owns them, so I obviously don't know who operated La Charra) I agree with cicopo it's good they contacted help quickly.

Curious but how would one know which ops it is safe to dive there with? (Moot question for me- I'd never dive Barracuda; but wondering- how do you know if you have a "known" operator. If you are diving with them, they are obviously known to you.)

I assume, that even many of the well known ops don't go to remote sites very often. So which captains do know the area well?

 

[Sloeber]

What's so good to see there?

Unspoiled reef, basically.

When the conditions are right, and the divers are skilled, we go there. It's a deep wall with usually strong currents. Many of the times I'm flying my SMB from the moment we descend so our Captain can follow us. I've been there leading a group of instructors before and we've had to call the dive due to currents.

Of course the currents are what bring life to Cozumel. If you can compare, say, Palancar where there is usually minimal current to say Cedral, where there is usually a current, there is a distinct difference in quantity and quality of marine life. The same holds true for Barracuda Wall, minus the schools of regular divers.

 

[Sloeber]

Were the US divers not with an established op? (It sounded like the description said the fishing boat "operated independently" but the same thing wasn't said about the dive boat. With so many boats, I only know a few by name and who owns them, so I obviously don't know who operated La Charra) I agree with cicopo it's good they contacted help quickly.

Curious but how would one know which ops it is safe to dive there with? (Moot question for me- I'd never dive Barracuda; but wondering- how do you know if you have a "known" operator. If you are diving with them, they are obviously known to you.)

I assume, that even many of the well known ops don't go to remote sites very often. So which captains do know the area well?

I cannot speak for the Captain as I haven't heard who it was, yet, but the Divemaster of the group is a very skilled, very experienced local DM.

 

[The Chairman]

I'm wondering why they didn't ask for an aircraft or heli's help in spotting them.

That would be above the Captain's pay grade. You call it in and they send who they send. They might have had more vessels out but they only reported on the one who made the rescue.

 

[H2ODoc]

My wife and I dove Barracuda a few years back. We probably had 120 dives under our belt at the time, and I felt mostly confident in our abilities. Barracuda was a challenging dive for us, and probably something better left for divers with more experience. Current was high and the feeling of fighting to stay on the reef ramped up our anxiety levels. We sucked down the air on that dive!

That being said, our DM was watching us the whole time and had a GPS signaling device in case we found ourselves being swept towards Cuba.

 

[cicopo]

My comment about help from the air referred to S & R calling it in. It's a quick drift to open ocean when diving Barracuda. Heads would be easier to spot from the air vs being just above water level on a boat.