Error Two abandoned divers saved by yacht - Florida (2016)

[DandyDon]

Stories like this make me glad that I carry a PLB - everywhere, in my car console, in a backpack on other trips like the one I just finished in my daughter's car, diving, anywhere...

Stranded scuba divers saved by passing yacht

PA Two scuba divers stranded three miles from dry land have been rescued by a passing yacht after their charter boat returned shore without them. Paul Kline and Fernando Garcia Puerta surfaced from an afternoon dive in the Atlantic Ocean, three

ca.movies.yahoo.com

Two scuba divers stranded three miles from dry land have been rescued by a passing yacht after their charter boat returned shore without them.

Paul Kline and Fernando Garcia Puerta surfaced from an afternoon dive in the Atlantic Ocean, three miles from Miami to find no trace of their boat.

Incredibly, the pair managed to cling to a buoy for two hours until passengers on a yacht, heading back to Miami from Key Largo, spotted them and alerted the captain.

The men had paid $85 for a four-hour boat ride in Biscayne Bay that included two one-hour dives at different locations.

"We were in shock. We could easily have died," Mr Kline, 44, told the Miami Herald. "If night had fallen, the situation would have turned into panic."

He said they kept talking to each other throughout their ordeal "to try to keep up our high spirits".

Mr Kline and Mr Puerta, who did not previously know each other, kept talking to each other throughout their ordeal and are recovering in Miami.

Sasha Boulanger, owner of South Beach Divers, which organised the trip, is due to meet the scuba divers but he said the incident was the fault of RJ Diving Ventures, the boat operators he contracted to take the divers out. Mr Boulanger said that his own company enjoyed an "excellent" safety record.

The Miami Coastguard is currently investigating the incident.

 

[Jaan]

Forgot to count the divers. Really? Crazy Indeed. Carry those PLBs even in Miami

 

[sheeper]

A REALLY BIG dSMB and a PLB is a good lesson....

 

[johndiver999]

Never pay until you get back, they may notice they are short on $$$ ???? Sounds like this will be a very lucrative dive for these two.

 

[Kendall Raine]

Sure thing plaintiff's attorney's have been calling. Drifting "Grifting" Dan Carlock got $1.7 mm (less his contributory negligence) when Sundiver left him at an oil rig in SoCal some years back.

 

[Allen-1]

This happened back in 2011. My google-fu is weak, I can't find any follow up.

 

[heftysmurf]

This seems to be ~13 years ago...

Boat Operator Who Stranded Divers Receives Hateful Messages

The owner of the company whose dive boat left two divers temporarily stranded last weekend received several hateful emails and phone calls since the incident.

www.nbcmiami.com

 

[Trilobite]

The OP is posting a story from 8 years ago? (Dated 2016).

 

[Luca Brasi]

Amazing they were able to hold on to the buoy for 8 years

 

[Eric802]

Amazing they were able to hold on to the buoy for 8 years

The will to live is a powerful thing.