Missing Diver Off Vandenberg?

[Wookie]

At 400 fpm they got 1 minute 20 seconds

Those that hit it. Many didn't. But there is structure to hide behind and get in out of the current.

 

[Celt]

Those that hit it. Many didn't. But there is structure to hide behind and get in out of the current.

I understand, get into shelter. I put up with that when I was younger but at this stage if I can’t get out my camera and nose around the fun goes out of it

 

[Celt]

I saw the sunken mooring ball and I thought, "Someone is out here stealing those buoys"

We diverted to the Cayman Salvor. It's aft buoy was, "missing" too. We made the dive. It was very short and my arms were sore for days from hanging onto the current line, the buoy line and eventually the fantail railing. I was flapping around like a rag doll. I had to make it back to the forward line so I ducked into swirls and eddies and kicked like crazy. It was zero fun.

Fair play ye had a go at it, our tides are easy to predict so I try to make it as easy as possible on myself. At 67 I have to.

 

[Dody]

Then, they all believe in Santa Claus. There is a fundamental difference between " I have never lost a customer" which is the case for most of the diving professionnals and "I have never lost a customer because I am the best of the best of the best" which is laughable.

Most, almost all diving professionals will never lose a customer. But any diving professional who would claim he or she has never lost sight of a customer, even for just a couple of seconds is just a f... liar... unless he/ she always has 1:1 instructor/ student (or customer) ratio.

 

[Kay Dee]

"When one is put in charge of other divers, there in NO EXCUSE for "losing sight" of divers who have placed themselves in your care. NO EXCUSE whatsoever. It's just that simple. All REAL Dive Professionals know that."

Hogwash! While all dive professionals might 'know that', those that have not at least once lost tempory sight of a customer / student would be in the minorty, or only dive incrystal clear water while swimming backwards (if leading) a group. Simply by 'leading' a congo line of divers you have 'lost sight' of the divers - however tempotaly - whenever you are looking ahead. And as any experienced instructor / DM can tell you / should know, a student can bolt to the surface / or make an unannounced / unscheduled right / left turn into a wreck hatchway in a heartbeat. As the poster above so eloquently put it, if someone claims never to have lost sight - however breifly - of a diver in their charge, then they are ".............just a f... liar........" With all due respect that quoted comment above is extreme over-simplification and simply not real-world true.

 

[Kay Dee]

Why do people keep saying fully kitted divers are swimming against a 4 knot tide what kind of super humans are these divers, I’ve never seen any. How do they know it’s 4 knots

To answer you first rehetoical question so to speak, you are right, no kitted up diver can swim against / make headway into a 4 knot current. No one! And I believe just trying to stay 'unaided' (i.e. without holding on to something) in one place against a 4 knot current would be impossible. As for judging current strength there are several ways to get very much in the ballpark (whilst on the dive boat before entry).

 

[Steelyeyes]

Fair play ye had a go at it, our tides are easy to predict so I try to make it as easy as possible on myself. At 67 I have to.

What happened that day was the morning group wasn't the fittest group on the planet. It took nearly two hours to find suitable conditions and that delayed our departure. The other time we'd been on the Cayman Salvor you couldn't ask for better conditions. Zero current 100+ feet of viz.

 

[bob27]

I'm a little late to the discussion but:

Olympic record for 100 meter freestyle: 45 seconds.
100meters/43seconds = 4.3 knots

A normal swimming speed for a diver is 50feet per minute. No one is normal.
50feet/minute = 1/2 knot

A one knot current is a lot.

 

[boulderjohn]

Divemasters/guides who work for operators who expect them to be responsible for diver safety (and that is true of a large percentage of operations) will take the obligation seriously, but if any think that they cannot lose a diver, they are sadly mistaken. I would say that pretty much every one of them is at least a little lucky on every dive.

A few years ago, a dive instructor in Virginia completed an OW training dive by leading the tour portion, with divers swimming in a line behind him. He led them all the way to shore, where he learned that the last diver in the line was no longer with them. The instructor was expelled from his agency within a week of the body recovery.

How many DMs in Cozumel lead divers in similar lines through coral swim-throughs? How many other ways is it possible for a diver to disappear during any of the many moments the DM is not looking at him or her?

As I said, I think everyone who has ever led dives has been at least a little lucky on every one of them.

 

[boulderjohn]

A divemaster in Mexico told me this story. An instructor from his operation with a class of 8 students took a DM along. When the 8 students were comfortably kneeling on the ocean floor in preparation for doing skills (I know, I know), one of the students had a minor problem that needed correction. The instructor left the class with the DM and went to the surface with the student. Then one of the other students had a problem, and the DM assisted that student. At that point the instructor and the first student returned. Once everyone was back in place, they noticed that one of the students was dead.