Lost At Sea

[k374]

A third non-diver in this same month has asked me if I have watched "Open Water" when I mentioned diving to them. I know it's a terrifying prospect to be lost in the ocean but I have not read any specific incidences in the Accidents forum so perhaps it is rare. I think it's my #1 anxiety right now when diving, getting separated from the group and being lost, I don't have good nav skills or use an SMB so those are next on my list.

Does anyone here have any personal experiences of being adrift in the ocean without being noticed for any extended period of time? What were the circumstances? If one were to ascend independently mid way during a drift dive for whatever reason is it reasonable to assume that you will ultimately catch up with the boat if you stay put and don't attempt to swim off course?

 

[SailNaked]

for about $250 you can buy a PLB and for another 40 a canister from OMS to put it in so that it does not get wet. then if you ever find yourself alone in the open ocean you can open it activate it and wait for the coast guard (or other national service) to come get you.

Never worry in a box.

For obvious reasons I have not read of it happening to anyone here, however there are a few in the near misses section.

 

[v--Locke--v]

in most cases if there are not strong currents you can make a surface swim back to the boat assuming it is anchored. in the cases I have heard where people get stranded, they swim in one direction for a long time w/o changing direction or making a reciprocal! or the boat isn't anchored and drifts.

for sakes man! get a safety sausage and a strobe light. also this may help as well:

http://www.rescuestreamer.com/buyonline.html#survivor

 

[diver 85]

30 minutes one time after an afternoon drift dive in the Bahamas....Boat driver fell asleep and the water got choppy, lost everybody down @ one point...Group(of about 15) got divided into about 4 smaller groups, we were the 2nd to last to be picked up..The last 2 guys spent about 15 more minutes in the water before being spotted...

&......this was in the late 80's way before SS....

 

[Jorgy]

Add a loud whistle to your dive gear....

All-Weather Safety Whistle Company - The Loudest Emergency Whistles

I also carry an air horn.......

Dive Alert Surface Air Horn | Hoses,Accessories | Simply Scuba UK

Hope this helps.....M

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

A third non-diver in this same month has asked me if I have watched "Open Water" when I mentioned diving to them. I know it's a terrifying prospect to be lost in the ocean but I have not read any specific incidences in the Accidents forum so perhaps it is rare. I think it's my #1 anxiety right now when diving, getting separated from the group and being lost, I don't have good nav skills or use an SMB so those are next on my list.

Does anyone here have any personal experiences of being adrift in the ocean without being noticed for any extended period of time? What were the circumstances? If one were to ascend independently mid way during a drift dive for whatever reason is it reasonable to assume that you will ultimately catch up with the boat if you stay put and don't attempt to swim off course?

I've not experienced anything life-threatening or particularly traumatic ... but I can relate a personal experience.

We were in Indonesia ... at a dive site off the east coast of Bali. I don't recall the name of the site, but it was off some tiny "islands" ... big rocks, really, since the largest one had just a few trees on it. We were to descend down into a crescent-shaped bay to watch some white-tipped sharks at a cleaning station. We descended and positioned ourselves at the station ... noticing a current that made it increasingly difficult to hold our position. There were four divers and two divemasters. Our divemaster came over and, taking my hand, placed it atop a coral head, wrapping my fingers around the coral. He did the same to my (then) wife. The current continued to increase to the point where we were literally "flapping in the breeze". Holding onto coral is something I was programmed not to do, and so as soon as I felt something rubbing (or "nibbling"?) on my fingertips, I let go. My wife saw me take off in the current, and she also released her hold to follow. The DM quickly came after us.

Shortly after regrouping we begain our ascent from about 80 fsw ... but at about 35 fsw we hit a downwelling that dropped us back down to our original depth. After a bit of struggling and inflating we were able to start back up again and eventually made it to the surface ... only to notice that the current had shot us between a couple of those little islands and we were already about a half-mile distant, and on the opposite side of them from the boat. We could not see the boat and they could not see us. The DM deployed a safety sausage, and we continued drifting for about 25 minutes, moving well beyond where the boat could possibly see us.

Eventually we saw one of those little pontoon fishing boats off in the distance, and started waving our arms furiously. The fishing boat came within sight of us, waved back, and kept going ... !!! He eventually disappeared behind that little string of islands and a few minutes later we saw our boat heading in our direction. Overall we were only in the water about 45 minutes before our boat picked us up. Not sure what would've happened if the fishing boat hadn't happened by.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Reef Tank]

Add a loud whistle to your dive gear....

All-Weather Safety Whistle Company - The Loudest Emergency Whistles

Hope this helps.....M

I may hate myself in the morning for asking this but...

The manufacturer states the whistle can be heard underwater. Does that mean it can be blown underwater? Has anyone tried it?

On our last dive the DM alerted us when a hammerhead appeared starboard but I didn't look to see what he was using.

 

[BarrelRoll]

There's a great thread stickied in the equipment section about this:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...ignalling-equipment-searchers-point-view.html

It's a great read.

 

[Diver0001]

If one were to ascend independently mid way during a drift dive for whatever reason is it reasonable to assume that you will ultimately catch up with the boat if you stay put and don't attempt to swim off course?

I think those are excellent questions to ask the crew of the boat during the briefing. I've seen it done a couple of ways. One way is that they just take the boat off anchor and drift along with the group while keeping track of the bubbles. Another way is that they move the boat to where the group will probably be doing their safety stop and then drive it back along the reciprocal course to pick up stragglers if someone surfaces early. It's not very common to drift more than a km or so during a dive so if the visibility above water is ok, then someone onboard with binoculars will probably see you as soon as you surface.

There are probably other ways too but I haven't seen them. I also don't dive from charter boats a whole lot.

In any event, there doesn't seen to be a universal way that they do this, so asking the DM exactly what to expect in case of separation from the group is wise and a good policy. (incidentally, this should be a standard part of the briefing).

Personally, I've been lucky. I've had to wait to be picked up for about 20 min or so a few times, but I never felt "lost at sea." all the times this happened I was within sight of shore and even though it would have been a drag to have to swim back, it would have been possible.

R..

 

[Web Monkey]

Does anyone here have any personal experiences of being adrift in the ocean without being noticed for any extended period of time? What were the circumstances? If one were to ascend independently mid way during a drift dive for whatever reason is it reasonable to assume that you will ultimately catch up with the boat if you stay put and don't attempt to swim off course?

You always need to be "findable."

I was on drift in FL, came up and there was no boat. To make a long story short, the boat showed up about 45 minutes later (he was double-dipping, doing OW checkout dives somewhere else while we were drifting), but it really brought home the need to be findable.

OTOH, I've also been on a boat that sank. It happened to sink near the harbor, so it wasn't a huge risk, but a different choice of dive site could have made it an entirely different situation.

The thread referenced above is a great read. In short, if you can make yourself big, bright and noisy, you stand a much better chance of being found. If you're somewhere remote (or could be remote if you miss your pickup), a good EPIRB will get you rescued pretty much anywhere on earth.

Terry