10 yr old Wreck Diver

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I'm not opposed to kids learning to dive. But everyone (in this case, the videographer and the kid) needs much better buoyancy control to go into an overhead environment. Also...who was looking after the kid while the other diver took video? Or maybe that's why the video is a spaz-disaster...the diver wasn't looking at the screen...he was looking at the kid. That would be great!

I see 0 issue with the video. They seem to be doing fine considering the conditions.

I wonder if a ten year old can give informed consent considering that young people often view themselves as "immortal" and can't realistically concieve of their own demise. When an adult buys it doing something with inherant risk we can at least say they did so knowing the consequences... but can we say that about someone so young? Dad is certainly assuming some big responsability that may not be his to assume - hope he can live with it.
Forgetting the legal ramifications, it poses an interesting moral question.

OMG.. So everyone pull your kids out of gymnastics because you could get seriously hurt.. Ohh, and while you are at it, pull the kids out of Karate, swim team, track, football, soccer... Geesh.. do you even have kids? Get real.

Sorry, in my opinion that is crazy and dangerous. Not only was such a young kid wreck diving crazy but the young boat operator who wasn't even tall enough to see out the windows was a hazard! I wonder if the kids get to drive the car too!:shakehead:

You dont get out much do you? Same kid. as stated before. Notice the adult voice in the video guiding him? Wow. thats like .. umm.. TEACHING! Novel approach.. Teach them young! Works great with guns too.. Keeps them from being ignorant and shooting the neighbor kids accidentally.

N² - O² diver;4615997:
since i will follow the padi standards a wreck diver can only being certified within an age of 15 years old. So that will make the boy muth too young.

Ugh.. No rules in SCUBA, just guidelines.. Before there were agencies and greedy people seeking instant wealth, people dove because they wanted to damn the risks!
Pretty sure thats how we got into air flight..

That's one of the saddest things I've seen in my whole life. I really wish I would have read part of this thread as I would never have clicked the link.

You really need to get out more.. I have seen much sadder things.. Like parents smoking cigarettes with their kids in the car.. Now thats pretty bad.




I personally applaud you dumpster... I would do the same thing (I just dont really enjoy wrecks as I feel they are rather boring..). My kids all dive and I am sure we are not on many peoples fav list because we dive our own way..

I dont see different as "dangerous"..
 
I bet dumpsterdiver's son knows more about diving and boat handling than 75% of the people on this board.

This may be true but it still doesn't mean it is safe for the boy to operate the boat when he cannot properly see what is in front of him. I have been a boater for many years and it is often dangerous for even the experienced boater. Part of the problem here is that there is no licensing so anyone can just buy a boat, turn the key and pilot it.

Last week a local 49 year old man and his 5 year old son were killed when their jetski slammed a dock. I wonder if the 5 year old was steering. The local papers said they both "loved the water". Too bad they won't enjoy it anymore......
 
In our modern society we are raising our boys to be sissies for the most part.
Boys need fathers to teach them things only a man can.
Too many kids are raised only by women with absentee fathers.
I was with my father and he took me places and we did things my mother would not approve, my fondest memories.

Good for you Dumpsterdiver.
 
Where is the boys life jacket? Coast Guard requires children to wear life jackets while on board.
 
IMO there was no reason why the kid should not have been driving the boat. At no time was he close enough to anything to cause damage and he was under direct supervision at all times. As long as you are keeping a lookout and don't drift to close to hazards it is really easy to handle a boat. It was clear that he could see where he was going the whole time because you could see him moving around on the boat to ensure that he could see.

As for the choice of dive site, it would seem that some standards were not followed but as I don't know anything about the site, I will refrain from comment on the appropriateness.
 
Dumpster:

First, keep up the GREAT work with your son, he'll remember it all his life as what was REALLY important and meaningful when he was younger.

As for the rest of you here, respectfully, here's the deal:

West Palm Beach has a CURRENT known as the GULF STREAM. To land on a wreck like that in such a CURRENT requires a bit of maneuvering and negative buoyancy. For those of you that don't understand what you're seeing in the video, they started up current, GUESSED the location of the wreck and used the scooter to adjust position by cutting across the current coming in. Please note, NO ANCHOR LINE. That's why he was saying "good job, good job!" when they "crashed" into the wreck. I think most of you have no idea how hard it was to do what they just did, while shooting a video at that. Diving the open ocean in these conditions ISN'T quarry diving. I see SO MANY "perfect" buoyancy divers on boats off VB and NC - often from this board - hanging upside down on the drift lines it's pathetic. What REALLY tics me off is when they are so UNDERWEIGHTED it pulls the lines to the surface as I'm trying to deco. Please...

The inside of that wreck was a HARD sand bottom. it was open and sunny. The camera probably made it darker than it appeared. Look at the kid in the video. His movements are calm, minimalized and you never see a time when he's separated any substantial distance from his dad. Listen to his breathing rate. He's wearing a TON of gas on his back (for his size and condition) with a separate bail-out circuit. I'd say he's doing GREAT. In fact, as another poster suggested, he's probably a better diver than most people reading this thread. And, just think, dad and son did such a POOR job coming into that wreck, they scared off all those 100 LB + giant groupers sitting there staring at them, LOL.

The boat the kid was driving (COOL boat, BTW) was in IDLE or just at low throttle in open ocean approaching the SMB. Notice how the boy keeps coming off the wheel and in and out of the house in response to what his dad is saying? He's doing that to keep visual on the SMB and to stay in line for the approach. His dad - the guy on the camera standing a FEW FEET AWAY - is TEACHING him how to handle the boat. Gosh, a GOOD thing, too, considering he lives in Florida, his dad owns a dive boat and is a diving instructor and - like, DUH - he goes diving a lot.

And FINALLY, as far as the "experienced" and "expert" diver from NC - the guy who got a bunch of cyber and pool diving experience while in college (BTW, son, did you log the time wearing doubles in your bath tub along with those pool dives? :D) - IGNORE him. The truth is that 99% of the people posting here - like him - have NO understanding of the GLORY of being at sea in your own boat, your son at your side, experiencing and sharing the wonder of the ocean. Instead, they complain or comment based on ignorance, not experience. Many of them live to work instead of working to live and, hunched in front of their little laptops every night reading this board, live vicariously through others who DO instead of DREAM. They criticize what they can't do because they KNOW they can't do it...

Keep the faith Dumpster, your boy will always love you for it...

:popcorn:
 
It looked like a pretty open wreck to me. I read a few posts before I watched the video and thought "Crap this kid must be inside the Andrea Dora," It looked more like a swim through.
I wonder how those Frieghter Captians see around all that stuff on the front of the ship. Oh yeah they have look outs.
 
Where is the boys life jacket? Coast Guard requires children to wear life jackets while on board.

I probably stand corrected:

Children: In Florida, all boaters or passengers under 6 years of age onboard any vessel less than 26 feet in length must be wearing a U.S. Coast Guard approved Type I, II, or III PFD while the vessel is underway in State waters. "underway" is defined as anytime except when the vessel is anchored, moored, made fast to the shore, or aground.

Florida law requires the owner and/or operator of a vessel is responsible to carry, store, maintain, and use the safety equipment required by the federal safety equipment requirements adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Nevertheless, if it were my child he'd be wearing a life jacket.
 
Drewski:

Thanks..It did look like we were scootering to the wreck, but we were just drifting into it while riding the current (without scooters). We got dropped 500 feet south of the wreck and hope the current is straight north and the visibility gives us a good approach (which it did that day). Also, some of those groupers were in the 250-300 lb range, I estimate.

As an aside, when we drop onto the deeper wrecks, we generally splash about 0.15 miles south of the wreck so that we have a decent chance of hitting the wreck.
 
I probably stand corrected:

Children: In Florida, all boaters or passengers under 6 years of age onboard any vessel less than 26 feet in length must be wearing a U.S. Coast Guard approved Type I, II, or III PFD while the vessel is underway in State waters. "underway" is defined as anytime except when the vessel is anchored, moored, made fast to the shore, or aground.

Florida law requires the owner and/or operator of a vessel is responsible to carry, store, maintain, and use the safety equipment required by the federal safety equipment requirements adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Nevertheless, if it were my child he'd be wearing a life jacket.

I was also looking at those laws and they are a little confusing, but I think it is safe to say that that it is a very good idea for everyone to wear a lifejacket in a small boat like that. Its hard to tell from the video, but it is possible that they may have recently got out of the water and he had not immediately put on the lifejacket which is not a big deal in my mind.
 
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