Multiple deaths diving off NC coast May 10, 2020?

[Sam Miller III]

@Qminus
I am the admin at Graveyard Hunters that made the original post on Sunday as the news came over the VHF.
It was requested that the post be removed until the official investigation could be done and we complied with the request.
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I just read most of the Grave Yard Hunters posts in doing so I suspect I accidentally joined your group.

As far as can be determined as gleaned from the many posts the Grave Yard Hunters (GYH) is a lose knit group of consumptive hunters and scavengers, with absolutely no official title or position with the state and local government .

Therefore.all future disclosures of the dual falitalies will be generated and disclosed via official channels of the governing organizations and or via press releases.

Should my assumptions be incorrect please fee free to make corrections

SDM 111

 

[Marie13]

45 minutes, roughly.

@telemonster threw out the possibility of a contaminated fill. Never having dealt with such things, how long does it take for a contaminated fill to affect divers at depth?

 

[Johnoly]

.. Never having dealt with such things, how long does it take for a contaminated fill to affect divers at depth?

There are all kinds of "contaminates" and each is different. Just one personal incident with me was a tank just out of hydro. I checked it before diving with both a CO and O2 meters and both readings were as expected. Jumped in solo as normal and started searching for bugs in 90ft deep. About 6 minutes into the dive I'm getting a hint of oil taste. Like every other accident chain of events you read about, I dismissed it and kept going. Another minute or 2 later I swipe my tongue on the back of my teeth and definitely feel a slippery feeling. Now I know I have a bad tank. I switched immediately to my pony to get off the bad tank and slowly & easily make my way to the surface without a safety stop since it was the 1st dive of the day and so short, I had no N2. Get back on the boat tell the capt what happened and my diving for the day was terminated. On the way home(2hrs) a bit of a headache but nothing else. At home I rechecked for CO, still zero point zero. I drained the tank, tossed a light inside and there was some moisture and definitely a film. It went back for a cleaning and air dry with Simple green and before refilling, I looked inside again to reverify no problems.

The most important lesson I learn from reading all the accident threads of Scubaboard is to always "break the chain" of events that leads to death. I knew exactly to get off the bad tank and get on a pony. Pony's are cute and will save your life>Always Ride a Pony !!

 

[stuartv]

There are all kinds of "contaminates" and each is different. Just one personal incident with me was a tank just out of hydro. I checked it before diving with both a CO and O2 meters and both readings were as expected. Jumped in solo as normal and started searching for bugs in 90ft deep. About 6 minutes into the dive I'm getting a hint of oil taste. Like every other accident chain of events you read about, I dismissed it and kept going. Another minute or 2 later I swipe my tongue on the back of my teeth and definitely feel a slippery feeling. Now I know I have a bad tank. I switched immediately to my pony to get off the bad tank and slowly & easily make my way to the surface without a safety stop since it was the 1st dive of the day and so short, I had no N2. Get back on the boat tell the capt what happened and my diving for the day was terminated. On the way home(2hrs) a bit of a headache but nothing else. At home I rechecked for CO, still zero point zero. I drained the tank, tossed a light inside and there was some moisture and definitely a film. It went back for a cleaning and air dry with Simple green and before refilling, I looked inside again to reverify no problems.

The most important lesson I learn from reading all the accident threads of Scubaboard is to always "break the chain" of events that leads to death. I knew exactly to get off the bad tank and get on a pony. Pony's are cute and will save your life>Always Ride a Pony !!

I hope you mean Simple Green Crystal, and not Simple Green.

 

[tbone1004]

I hope you mean Simple Green Crystal, and not Simple Green.

regular simple green is fine, just have to rinse it properly

 

[BrackaFish]

There are all kinds of "contaminates" and each is different. Just one personal incident with me was a tank just out of hydro. I checked it before diving with both a CO and O2 meters and both readings were as expected. Jumped in solo as normal and started searching for bugs in 90ft deep. About 6 minutes into the dive I'm getting a hint of oil taste. Like every other accident chain of events you read about, I dismissed it and kept going. Another minute or 2 later I swipe my tongue on the back of my teeth and definitely feel a slippery feeling. Now I know I have a bad tank. I switched immediately to my pony to get off the bad tank and slowly & easily make my way to the surface without a safety stop since it was the 1st dive of the day and so short, I had no N2. Get back on the boat tell the capt what happened and my diving for the day was terminated. On the way home(2hrs) a bit of a headache but nothing else. At home I rechecked for CO, still zero point zero. I drained the tank, tossed a light inside and there was some moisture and definitely a film. It went back for a cleaning and air dry with Simple green and before refilling, I looked inside again to reverify no problems.

The most important lesson I learn from reading all the accident threads of Scubaboard is to always "break the chain" of events that leads to death. I knew exactly to get off the bad tank and get on a pony. Pony's are cute and will save your life>Always Ride a Pony !!

Thank you for a reminder that even after checking with O2 and CO analyzers, problems could still remain. Seems like experience and good instincts were your friends. Any thoughts on what and where the film was and came from?

 

[stuartv]

@telemonster threw out the possibility of a contaminated fill. Never having dealt with such things, how long does it take for a contaminated fill to affect divers at depth?

The rumor is that they were diving on the Schurz. The depth there is around 110'. At least, that's what my log shows for dives on the Schurz.

If they were diving single tanks and down for 45 minutes, I would guess they ran out of gas.

If it were tank contamination, I think the question of "how long" can only be answered if you know "how contaminated". If they had CO at 10ppm I think it would take longer than CO at 100ppm.

But, that is all guessing and speculation.

 

[O-ring]

I haven't been down there in a while, but Discovery used to bank EAN30 and, of course, air. It doesn't mean it can't happen, but I am unaware of there ever being a bad gas issue at Discovery. That's not to say they got their fills at Discovery, but IME most people diving on their boats do. If they filled at Discovery we'd likely see more folks on the boat with a similar issue so I am sure that will come out eventually once they test the gas. I've been on the Schurz a bunch of times and can tell you that the chance of getting lost inside the wreck or entangled and running out of gas is extremely low. The Schurz has been down there over 100 years and has little relief.

I'm with Stuart on this one until other facts come out. NC is the only place I think I have seen real OOAs in the wild and I have seen more than one. Warm water, good viz coupled with relative depth for recreational profiles then throw in bug hunting or spearfishing and it makes for a perfect scenario for someone getting distracted and losing the anchor line or running out of gas.

 

[tursiops]

even after checking with O2 and CO2 analyzers,

CO not CO2, presumably.

 

[stuartv]

regular simple green is fine, just have to rinse it properly

My bad. Thank you for correcting me. It seems like I may have been given some bad info recently.