Wow !

[Doby45]

That was a total waste of a dive anyway. It was suppose to be a drift dive on the Lily and they flew by it so fast that there was literally no way you could enjoy the ship. The "French" divers below them did not seem to have a hard time fighting the current/drift and they were headed directly into it with some lazy kicks.

 

[kcprofessor]

The old axiom, "Plan your dive and dive your plan" applies here. Changing dive plans on the fly has nothing but bad consequences. It is obvious that these two were struggling from the start, but neither one would call the dive.

 

[stuartv]

I dived the Lily last month. I thought it was a pretty easy dive. Once you're down on it, you can swim around it without any real hassle. It was definitely not a drift dive. Descent and ascent were both on the mooring line.

Mr. Cameraman didn't know how to clear his mask. That pretty much summed up everything, for me.

And diving a wreck without any kind of gloves? I suppose some people do it. But I ain't one of 'em.

I still can't figure out how you could lose a fin on that dive. I guess maybe if a strap breaks.

 

[gcarter]

The lack of gloves was the first thing I noticed - you don't dive in this river without hand protection with the zebra mussels. The second thing was the buddy separation. And of course the fixation on the camera even when things were going south.

The Lily is a nice dive, as a straight up wreck dive, it is pretty easy and relaxed. The short drift coming off the stern is pretty easy too, and the current wraps you around to the east end of Sparrow Island. The current on the long drift - the deeper dive they were doing - is much stronger, and it is easy to end up in the channel if you get pushed off of the wall. Most of the local boats are pretty good about keeping track of the bubbles, so they can thank that for being picked up so quickly.

All around, a bit of a cluster.

Best not to wing it in the St Lawrence.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

These videos make my heart race. The first time I watched with the sound off, scary. Second time with sound on super scary. I would have expected more problems at the surface with that rapid ascent. Is that normal? If they were bent would it usually show symptoms later? Do you think they escaped without any repercussions? Well besides the stupid sign above them.

 

[stuartv]

He wasn't on the bottom for very long. I doubt he had any symptoms of the bends even later.

 

[Buliwyf]

Can't even clear a mask. LOLz. Can't hardly even snorkel without knowing how to do that. Currents and wrecks ain't the place for newbs. I was told to never pass my own bubbles on the way up.

It still amazes me how many people I meet on vacation that call BS whenever someone talks about currents or rips.

 

[DaveV]

speechless...

 

[Pinecube]

I was thinking of you when I coded that in.

It's easy to be incredibly hard on these divers, but I think that's an injustice. Panic can happen in anyone, given the right conditions.

Thank you!

I remember reading a lot about the incident pit in the accident and near misses forum and your comments about stress got me thinking. Lets say that he starts at the top of the pit at the beginning of the dive. (I know that's debatable but bare with me.) On the descent he has two problems, his loose weight belt and mask flood. This pulls him deeper in the pit. At the end of his descent he manages to fix both problems; adjusting his weight belt and clearing his mask. Even with these two problems solved he is still not out of the pit like he was before the dive. The added stress and distraction of having had the problems in the first place may not have been completely clear of his mind, leaving him still partially in the pit. He then has another two problems, but he is now deeper in the pit than he was the first time, that much more stressed, and that much more in danger.

Everything you said about panic and knowing your limits is certainly good, but I think there is another good take-away or two from this.

Plan your dive and dive your plan. Deciding mid-dive to "attempt" (their words) to double your planned depth seems a little foolish.

Use the right gear for the dive:
A snorkel is not something that should be attached to your mask when you know you're going to be pulling yourself down a line against a current. If he had his snorkel in a pocket, or no snorkel at all, I doubt his mask would have flooded so easily. (Did he even use the snorkel on the surface?)

The St. Lawrence can get pretty warm. In August when the dive took place it could easily be over 70F. That said, even if you dont need gloves for warmth you'll still need them thanks to the zebra muscles, and whatever else might be stuck on the rope. I've never seen anyone up here in my short time diving, dive without gloves.

I didn't see an SMB on either of them. In the St. Lawrence with the boat traffic, I wouldn't dive without one. Then again, maybe they had one and just didn't use it.

It was definitely not a drift dive. Descent and ascent were both on the mooring line.

It can be done as a drift. Hop in at the moring line drift past, keep shallow and eventually get caught in an eddy and exit on either Sparrow or Stovin island (I forget which is which now). I don't think that's what this group was doing though.

 

[TTPaws]

I dived the Lily last month. I thought it was a pretty easy dive. Once you're down on it, you can swim around it without any real hassle. It was definitely not a drift dive. Descent and ascent were both on the mooring line.

This can be a pretty fast drift, when they are letting water out. I've been on it with 2 kts and I've been on when the dive op said it was 6 kts. I was flying that day and when we went down the line to the Darryaw it was hard pull down. Usually we drop in upstream hot and drop fast. We go around the wreck on the North side and then use the chain on the South to pull ourselves back to the West (Stern I think...)