Six left at sea - Thailand

[supergaijin]

SE Asia exists in the diving world based on the fact that diving prices are relatively low. While mandatory SMB's are a low-cost safety option for any dive center, any technological solutions are unlikely to gain much ground there.

Thailand receives a lot of the flashpacker crowd and cater directly towards them. A cheap suit looks.... like a cheap suit. You cannot expect the same attention to detail by paying $30/dive as you would if you pay $50/dive. However you can have good experiences paying both. IMO a good dive center proves themselves when things go wrong just as much as when things go right.

SE Asia does have a good safety record. There are thousands of divers in the water each month- accidents occur but it is not the Bermuda Triangle of dive locations. I actually wonder if there is such a a place.... where more accidents seem to happen for apparently no reason.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Who's going to receive the signal? The only radio on some of those boats looks like one of these -

Carry a light, a mirror and a PLB. You can signal in the dark, signal during the day, and call in the calvary when you need to.

Agree that carrying an SMB should be mandatory, especially for most ocean diving. I stow one with an audible signaling device in a BC pocket, along with a few other goodies. I have only had need of it once, but was really glad it was there when I needed it. I do not currently own a PLB..., yet.

I am reminded of a conversation I had with a gentleman I met on trip a few years back. We were swapping stories when he told me about a night dive he went on where the DM/Guide and the Captain were all one in the same (one man crew), so there was no one on the boat while everyone was diving. Apparently the boat became unanchored while they were down and drifted out to sea, stranding them way out away from shore in the dark, and also in an area that apparently had some current. He said they huddled together until another boat just happened along, saw their lights, and picked them out of the water. Thankfully that incident didn't get any worse, but I had to admit that I had not considered that type of scenario before. Most would probably never think about the boat gettig stolen, highjacked, or that it could catch fire or possibly sunk either. I guess you can never be prepared for everything, but it certainly does not hurt to try.

 

[drbill]

I've been diving for more than 50 years and have logged thousands of dives. The only time I've ever carried a SMB was to practice deploying them. I'm not suggesting these aren't potentially valuable safety equipment, and I will probably get one for my ever increasing foreign dive travel.

However the three times I can think of where one might think a signalling device would be useful, they wouldn't have been. First time I surfaced from a 200 fsw dive and was offshore from the dive boat in a thick fog that built up while I was submerged. I couldn't see the boat and the DM would not be able to see a SMB. I judged the direction by listening to the waves break on shore (our steep offshore slopes leave me fairly close to shore even on deep dives). The second time was when I surfaced from another deep dive close to shore in clear skies and the boat was not in sight. It had dragged anchor and gone around a nearby point. They returned and picked me up.

The third time I was diving in Thailand with a beautiful Dutch dive master. We did a long dive and surfaced with no boat in sight. I was hoping tyhey had abandoned us and that she and I would be marooned on the island. As it turned out we had halfway circumnavigated the island and the boat came around from the other side to pick us up. Curses.

Diving here off Catalina I am always close to shore even on very deep dives... easy swims to the beach. However, I can see the utility of a SMB during blue water dives or dives on offshore features like Farnsworth Banks.

When I travel, I'm often not sure exactly what conditions or boat operator skills I'll encounter and certainly feel a SMB is a good thing to have.

 

[Akimbo]

LOL. I chuckle at the imagery of diving along and suddenly the dive boat comes slowly down to rest on the sandy bottom in front of you!

That has always been high on my deep and dark list of things to worry about. Years of imagining an accident like the following has probably over-sensitized me though.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/399964-six-divers-trapped-sea-bottom.html

 

[dhaas]

Amigos,

I'm kinda' with Dr. Bill here.......43 years diving and I count on Numero' Uno' - ME....

I carry a simple safety sausage when diving the Big O, a sturdy lanyard with signal mirror and indestructible STORM whistle tucked into my pocket. A small flashlight (LED model that'll burn 10 hours on one set of batteries) and a knife plus a plain Jane "J" snorkel tucked behind my back mounted BC are what I consider my most important safety items.

In Galapagos I deduced Air Horns were worthless unless within 50-100 yards and no wind, waves etc. That's when I went to the whistle.........Not saying people don't like the Air Horns or use them, just not my cup of tea......

As a retired instructor (not since 1991) I think having new divers actually blow up a SMB (safety sausage in my understanding) is a good thing. But I still see too many new divers uncomfortable about clearing their mask, bad buoyancy, terrible balance and fin kicks, no idea how to find the anchor, etc.

Not trying to sound cocky but 99% of divers I see have way too much gear on and would be better served gaining some fitness........Most couldn't likely swim 400 yards or jog a mile.......Terrible physical condition for the most part and even a tropical diver has 40 - 60 lbs. of crap on........It's a stress on the body I think most don't acknowledge.....

Concerning too much gear my brother bought a battery operated sonar gizmo once......He'd forget to tie the "sending unit" to the anchor or burn up his air screwing around with it before I taught him how to use a compass It went to the closet after maybe 2 trips.....

Then there's what I call "Sea Sense" that'll save your life more than all the gear you can buy.....Watch the damn dive guides at most decent locations and you'll see how diving can be done with less effort and greater efficiency!!!!!!!!!

I've been stealing every good idea I observe for decades

YMMV........

David Haas

 

[IamScubaDog]

I once read an article about one person dying of hypothermia in tropical waters when they were left by the dive boat; the woman who died of hypothermia was the only one not wearing a wetsuit. I go "home" to South East Asia yearly to dive and although it is nice and warm, I am now convinced to wear a full suit instead of a shortie. Always borrow money from the captain before you go diving so he will remember to look for you.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

The third time I was diving in Thailand with a beautiful Dutch dive master. We did a long dive and surfaced with no boat in sight. I was hoping tyhey had abandoned us and that she and I would be marooned on the island. As it turned out we had halfway circumnavigated the island and the boat came around from the other side to pick us up. Curses..

You should have added some sugar to the gas tank right before the next dive with her...

 

[bluejaykaren]

If the boat had mechanical problems and could not either anchor or moor to remain at the dive site, called to have another boat pick up divers, then what other option did they have? If they became dead in the water in a current, if there was any, they would not have any way of staying to pick the divers up anyway. Wouldn't they have done what was standard operation procedure for most charters.

 

[Silver knife]

Just back from Thailand diving 2 weeks on the Thailand Aggressor. They issued each diver who did not have one, an SMB and a Lifeline Radio, no charge. Every dive was a drift and every recovery was by skiff after deploying the SMB. Diving open water without at least an SMB is suicidal. I have my own Lifeline and PEPIRB (Personal Electronic Position Indicating Radio Beacon) that when activated will hit orbiting SARSATS (search and rescue satellites) to alert airborne forces as well as all commercial shipping and other vessels that are voluntary members of AFRAS (Association for Rescue at Sea). I figure that if I can afford to travel and buy space on dive boats, I should do what I can to assure that I will get home again.

 

[DandyDon]

I just post the stories I find generally, but I did see this as an example of minimum gear divers who don't even carry SMBs. The title was catchy I know, and perhaps I should have included "for 45 minutes" as it was not a big deal. It could have been, but it wasn't.

The story has remained popular on google since tho, with its resemblance to the movie, focusing on the nice looking couple, showing closeups of her - and she is pretty, nice hair and all.