Florida: Sailboat nearly runs over divers

[mike_s]

for those that might not know, they are on the marine radio yelling at him...!!!

Most sailboat captains/etc don't have a VHF at the helm but inside the cabin. I'd guess that 99% of the time it's not turned on.

Even if it was, the Jimmy Buffet music would have drowned it out. .....

... odds are pretty good that "further action" would mean the FWW deciding that the bridge should be put off-limits to divers ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

prob so.

 

[danvolker]

Most sailboat captains/etc don't have a VHF at the helm but inside the cabin. I'd guess that 99% of the time it's not turned on.

Even if it was, the Jimmy Buffet music would have drowned it out. ......

In the TV news video, you caN HEAR the captain of Deep Obsession, a dive boat, YELLING at the sailboat....the two boATS are about 60 feet apart...if you have never met Sean ( captain of Deep O), he does not have a diminuative voice....put another way, people in cars driving a mile a way, may have heard him
... he was warning and yelling BEFORE the situation was potentially catastrophic, but the sailboat captain did not care to listen....Again, it appears as though the Sailboat captain thought that he was so important that he had no reason to take care or precautions for something as insignificant as divers in his way--people in his mind, that were in his way illegally.....there is almost no other way you can read this..

 

[c0r3yz]

Hi folks,

I was referred to this story from another forum. As a newbie and a non-diver, I would like to add some perspective. I have noticed here and in some of the divers interviewed a pattern I see similar to what bikers often use. Basically, "Watch out for me." Your safety is ultimately YOUR responsibility.

If you watch the video again, you will see that the sailboat likely did not see the divers until he was committed. Those flags are near the back side of the bridge. And it looks like he may have slowed down or coasted through once he did see it. It would have been prudent to put a flag at the other side of the bridge to allow visibility at a greater distance. Also, the video is not clear, but those flags do not look like regulation flags. I don't think this captain had too many options.

I have a lot of problems with this statement. First off, BHB is one of the most popular shore dive sites in all of Florida. I find it hard to believe that someone boating in this area would go through this area with anything less than caution. Typically there are a lot of irresponsible boaters in the waters, more-so that irresponsible divers. Just ask all the manatees and sea turtles that get hit by boaters in no wake zones.

Secondly, the "watch out for me, Your safety is ultimately YOUR responsibility" baloney is just that. In your biker scenario, I am the kind of driver who is careful in areas where I know there are potentially lots of bikers. If I hit a biker, it's likely going to be my fault because I am bigger, etc... Noticing a pattern here?

 

[c0r3yz]

Again, it appears as though the Sailboat captain thought that he was so important that he had no reason to take care or precautions for something as insignificant as divers in his way...

It's been my experience that all sailboat captains are like this.

 

[octopuppy]

All sailboat captains are NOT like this. This one was terrible. Just as some divers are. When I used to dive (and sail) in the Midwest, power and sail boaters thought the dive flags were a nice slalom course set up for their enjoyment.

 

[mike_s]

In the TV news video, you caN HEAR the captain of Deep Obsession, a dive boat, YELLING at the sailboat....the two boATS are about 60 feet apart...if you have never met Sean ( captain of Deep O), he does not have a diminuative voice....put another way, people in cars driving a mile a way, may have heard him
... he was warning and yelling BEFORE the situation was potentially catastrophic, but the sailboat captain did not care to listen....Again, it appears as though the Sailboat captain thought that he was so important that he had no reason to take care or precautions for something as insignificant as divers in his way--people in his mind, that were in his way illegally.....there is almost no other way you can read this..

not arguing that the sailboat captain was wrong, or that the dive boat captain wasn't yelling LOUDLY.

I just replied to the above post he was yelling over the radio and it's not likely that the sailboat captain had the radio on. that's all.



seems to me the sailboat captain was VERY careless. In both running over the divers, not heeding warnings, and running a deeper draft vessel clearly out of the channel.

Lots of dumb asses driving boats out there.

 

[Dave1981]

It kind of looks to me like the sail boat makes a pretty good job out of a bad situation by minimising speed and avoiding hitting the bridge or the divers.

Notice there are divers on the port side, when the boat stops it drifts towards the bridge on that side closing down the gap. Notice how once out of that space then the boat turns head to wind indicating there was not enough way to maintain steerage (ie using minimum engine to limit risk to those in the water).

When they say he's warned beforehand, how long? Once you're in the channel you can't just stop and back up a sail boat, they don't handle like that.

The issue I see is whether or not the channel was open or not. If it is then you're diving in the overhead environment, shouldn't have a flag dragging through the middle of it and should surface clear of it. If not then the boater made a very serious error (which doesn't seem to be the case).

 

[Big Al41]

It kind of looks to me like the sail boat makes a pretty good job out of a bad situation by minimising speed and avoiding hitting the bridge or the divers.

Notice there are divers on the port side, when the boat stops it drifts towards the bridge on that side closing down the gap. Notice how once out of that space then the boat turns head to wind indicating there was not enough way to maintain steerage (ie using minimum engine to limit risk to those in the water).

When they say he's warned beforehand, how long? Once you're in the channel you can't just stop and back up a sail boat, they don't handle like that.

The issue I see is whether or not the channel was open or not. If it is then you're diving in the overhead environment, shouldn't have a flag dragging through the middle of it and should surface clear of it. If not then the boater made a very serious error (which doesn't seem to be the case).

You are absolutely correct sir!

 

[DandyDon]

You are absolutely correct sir!

So you said you are not a diver and came here from another forum? A boating forum I presume? Do you know the person piloting the boat in the video...??

Excerpting from this update: Boaters calling for awareness after sailboat nearly hits divers

Captain Sean Payne of "Deep Obsession," a dive boat with Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures, says dive flags were clearly in sight, but those flags and his loud cries over a PA system didn't stop the boat operator.

So the flags were clearly visible and the warnings were over a PA system, not radio.

 

[Splitlip]

Check out the last sentence in the article.