Florida Drifter Rescued

[DandyDon]

Fisherman saves missing diver

JUNO BEACH, Fla. - When the freezer at Flash Beach Grille is empty, Robert Breining goes diving for lobster to put in it to serve fresh food to customers.

"Spend many many weeks and you never have any issues, but every once in a while equipment fails and you find yourself scrambling," Briening said.

That's what happened Tuesday morning. It left him lost at sea for three hours.

"It was a little dicey, I had to dump all my gear and manually inflate my buoyancy inflator so I can stay above the surface," Breining said.

Manually inflating his broken buoyancy inflator, which is like a life jacket, got tiring after an hour, though. Especially since the wind and current had pushed him six miles northeast of where he dove in.

"I was tired and I was concerned because I could see the rescue people trying to find me, but they were close to shore," Breining said.

Frantically he tried to wave them down.

"I was hollering, whistling and waving a colored wand that we carry," Breining said.

Coast guard didn't see it, but Andre Jourdan did.

"All of the sudden I see something orange and I thought it was a big fish hitting the thing," Jourdan said.

The Jupiter salon business owner then remembered he heard on his scanner that a diver was missing.

"I said I bet you that's the diver and I pushed the engine in and I was happy that was the diver that was alive," Jourdan said.

"When Andre came along that was the game changer that he was out there trolling around in deep water and the fact he was out there was really a God send," Breining said.

One that saved a husband, a father and a Hobe Sound business owners life.

"For him to come along I owe him a debt of gratitude for sure," Breining said. "I want him to come up and have a nice meal."
Breining said he's so grateful, especially since Jourdan really wasn't suppose to be fishing at all.
Jourdan said his wife told him not to fish alone anymore after he had a heart attack a few years back.
When he told his wife, Jourdan said at first she was mad, but forgave him because he saved someone's life.

​

 

[danvolker]

All if have to say is this, for a diver to have been pulled away from shore like this, and been helpless, he MUST have been using SPLIT FINS!


DON, with all of your accident posting, you d*mn well better show the connection here

 

[Mike]

Christmas is coming, somebody who loves him should buy him a $2.00 signal mirror for his stocking.

 

[nimoh]

Christmas is coming, somebody who loves him should buy him a $2.00 signal mirror for his stocking.

...or a smb...or a nautilus...

 

[DandyDon]

DON, with all of your accident posting, you d*mn well better show the connection here

Connection...??

 

[Splitlip]

Connection...??

To split fins.

 

[DandyDon]

I don't shore dive. Did you see the other thread about the old Brit who got lodged in rocks?

 

[danvolker]

I don't shore dive. Did you see the other thread about the old Brit who got lodged in rocks?

Either one gets prevented by a diver having functional propulsive ability.....Diving with splits or diving barefoot, either one promotes diving without the ability to deal with currents.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Solo diver, bc torn or worn out or otherwise not working...Why are we talking about fins here? And BTW, while my frogs will jet me in any current, I love my split fins.
DivemasterDennis

 

[danvolker]

Solo diver, bc torn or worn out or otherwise not working...Why are we talking about fins here? And BTW, while my frogs will jet me in any current, I love my split fins.
DivemasterDennis

First, a diver does not need a bc at all once they are out of air and on the surface. It is a "crutch" many of us enjoy, but we should not NEED it..... As a shore diver, he should have had a snorkel, and would have been foolish not to. The BC would not get him back to the beach. the fins would get him back to the beach. If he was way over weighted, he could have dropped his weight belt...and then should be floating with great buoyancy, even without the bc.

I am well aware of how divers get certified with such poor propulsion skills, that the BC is treated like some sort of magical life-saver on the surface, but what I am saying, that is incredibly foolish for a person diving off of the beach.... And any diver with a high degree of competence, SHOULD NOT NEED a BC on the surface..that is ridiculous.

If you enjoy diving off of a beach, having some level of snorkeling or freediving skills would seem essential. Not having this skill set, would be just like a person taking their car for a drive on a major highway at twilight, knowing that they have no headlights...and just assuming that they can get back home before it get's dark.

There is no place off of the Juno Beach where a "real" freediver could get "dragged" out to sea, and find it impossible to swim back in. A rip current might create a marginal annoyance, but only for a few minutes at most. Similarly, there is no place where this could occur off of Singer Island, the Island of Palm Beach, or off of Lauderdale beach. It is RIDICULOUS.
It is a complete lack of propulsion skill, and a lack of knowing what to do on the surface. Either this, or he was using Split fins ..... You have to know I love getting this in