Fourth Diver this year dies at Gilboa

[MikeFerrara]

I guess the question I have (which cannot be answered) is why is Gilboa experiencing this high mortality rate where as a similiar quarry like Portage is not experiencing the same issues? It really is a shame. I wonder how many folks were diving that day. Viz can go from good to zero quickly if a lot of divers are bouncing off the bottom.

I haven't dived portage but isn't Gilboa deeper and colder? Does portage have the same large crowds that Gilboa gets? Quit a few of the accidents at Gilboa have involved free flows and I remember an AOW student who lost a fin and ended up in a rapid ascent hitting the surface not breathing.

If a lot of divers are bouncing off the bottom? When is that not the case?

 

[Ber Rabbit]

One of the four accidents was a massive heart attack not a dive accident. Gilboa is deeper and colder than the other quarries in the area. Mike runs a tight ship, the number of people who grumble about him telling them what dives they can/can't do is testament to that. No matter what you think of his personality he does care about the safety of everyone who dives in his quarry and it causes him great pain to see anyone hurt. Thousands of divers go to the quarry every year and have a great time and safe dives but you don't hear about that in the news. Every diver needs to evaluate their physical condition as well as their training/experience and decide if both are compatible with the risks of the dive they intend to do no matter where they are diving.
My heart goes out to the family, friends and quarry staff.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[diver 85]

I agree with Mike- there is nothing different about Gilboa that you won't find in similar freshwater quarries.

Maybe????... quarries need to be looked into then........I know where I dive, the stats are much lower......

 

[scubapolly]

I have been to both Gilboa and Portage. Gilboa gets LOTS more traffic that Portage. In fact Gilboa gets more visitors on any given day than any other quarry I've visited (Haigh, White Star, Blue Springs, Mermet, Joe's Quarry in LaGrange, Fantasy Lake, Lake Rawlings) none of them even come close to the number of people who are at Gilboa most weekends.

As far as this incident goes, there is nothing that suggests this is anything more than a heart attack that happened in the water. Also it said she left the one group to join the other. ***pure speculation ahead*** That suggests she let her dive buddy know she was going with the other group. I've seen this happen many times at the quarry, when you have a group that plans to stay at the airplane and some others that plan to head down the road to the tubes. A diver thinks they can handle the cold, gets about 20 feet beyond the plane and hits the thermocline, and heads back to the plane to join the others who are there. Not saying that this scenario is advised, but I've seen it A LOT. *end speculation*

Gilboa is Deep, Cold, and busy. The first incident this summer was divers who were in over their head. I don't see (nor do I want to see) Mike do anything more to keep untrained divers with out the proper gear out of the deep end. For those who haven't been there, the quarry uses a system of coded wristbands to identify students, BOW, AOW and instructors. To dive off the deep dock you are supposed to file a deep plan which is reviewed by the staff to assure a diver has a reasonable plan, and the proper equipment. Many divers either break this rule, or just go in off of one of the shallow docks and swim over the edge.

Van's death was ruled a heart attack.

This incident it is too early and not enough info to make any speculation on COD.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Maybe????... quarries need to be looked into then........I know where I dive, the stats are much lower......

Why a by whom? Who is it that you think should take responsibility for my safety?

You don't know that the stats are lower. First you need to normalize you counting to consider the level of exposure and the conditions. If you used real statistics (probability) I don't think you would find that Gilboa is any worse than anyplace else.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Gilboa is Deep, Cold, and busy. The first incident this summer was divers who were in over their head.

By whos measure? I mean, I tend to agree but most training agencies don't.

For those who haven't been there, the quarry uses a system of coded wristbands to identify students, BOW, AOW and instructors.

Here's a question for you. What is the tested and verified difference in dive skill between an AOW diver and an instructor?

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Maybe????... quarries need to be looked into then........I know where I dive, the stats are much lower......

How many years has your site gone without a death? These are the first deaths at Gilboa in, I believe, at least two years. Statistics are just that, statistics. You have to take into account how many divers are not having accidents and you would still be comparing apples to oranges because we don't get as many vacation divers as the gulf coast does. Look at the Florida mini season, how many divers did they lose in a matter of days last year?
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[MikeFerrara]

Look at the Florida mini season, how many divers did they lose in a matter of days last year?
Ber :lilbunny:

The ocean is dangerous and someone should look into its suitability for diving

oops, wait! I redid those calcs and it looks like it's the lobsters that are dangerous.

 

[Steve R]

The ocean is dangerous and someone should look into its suitability for diving

oops, wait! I redid those calcs and it looks like it's the lobsters that are dangerous.

lol

I'll bet this thread is truly baffling to you Mike

If anything is a study in the obvious, it's scuba deaths.

 

[Hank49]

How hard would it be to put a false bottom on the deep mudhole parts of a quarry? Like a big net, that you can't get tangled in, so people don't get down in the muck and kick it all up?