Dive boat capsizes, spills 9 divers - Victoria Canada

[DandyDon]

Nine rescued after dive club boat capsizes near Victoria | News Talk 980 CKNW | Vancouver's News. Vancouver's Talk

Nine people have been rescued after their boat capsized in the Race Rocks area near the Victoria suburb of Metchosin.
Cpl. Aubrey Hachey of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre says Coast Guard crews got the call around 2:45 this afternoon, and aren’t sure yet what caused the boat to flip over.


He says the vessel belonged to a dive club, and fortunately eight of the nine people aboard were wearing dry suits at the time.
BC Emergency Health Services says one of the victims was assessed at the scene and released, and a second person was taken to hospital in stable condition.
Race Rocks is a popular Scuba dive spot, known for its population of sea lions.

 

[wedivebc]

It is interesting to note that Ogden Point Diving, was involved in a couple of accidents this year chose not to go out yesterday and cancelled their charter due to weather conditions.
I'm glad everyone made it back safe.

 

[DandyDon]

It's been less than a month since a whale watching boat sank off of Vancouver Island. Maybe the two accidents have nothing else in common?

I've seen only one recent article addressing last month's sinking, but it says rogue wave: The Gilmer Mirror - Texas A M Expert Though Rare Rogue Waves Can Cause Big Damage

 

[JFS]

It is interesting to note that Ogden Point Diving, was involved in a couple of accidents this year chose not to go out yesterday and cancelled their charter due to weather conditions.
I'm glad everyone made it back safe.

Dave, was it charter op then or ?

 

[wedivebc]

Dave, was it charter op then or ?

It was the Aquarius Dive Club boat which is a recreational club operatted by the military at CFB Esquimalt.

 

[wgw04024]

Man, I live in Maine, and we get our fair share of rough ocean conditions (we go rec fishing out 30-50 miles on occasion). It certainly takes some doing to sink a boat of any size. What is going on over there?

 

[decompression]

Dave and I have both been involved with the club sometime ago. Sad but luckily no one was hurt. I've been out a few times when it's been a bit questionable but you use your best risk assessment, in this case it didn't workout for the best.


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[Canadave]

Man, I live in Maine, and we get our fair share of rough ocean conditions (we go rec fishing out 30-50 miles on occasion). It certainly takes some doing to sink a boat of any size. What is going on over there?

What are you implying or how about what is your point? Something special about Maine? Other than that you have to go a helluva long way out to do "rec fishing".

btw the whale watching boat that sank a few weeks ago was near Tofino, nowhere near the Race Rocks dive site.

 

[Hawkwood]

Man, I live in Maine, and we get our fair share of rough ocean conditions (we go rec fishing out 30-50 miles on occasion). It certainly takes some doing to sink a boat of any size. What is going on over there?

Okay, 14 ft open boat with up to 10 ft waves?

From the Vancouver Sun:

However, in a posting on its Facebook page, the “all-volunteer” Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue station in Victoria said it was tasked with a mayday call "for nine people in the water from an overturned vessel 300m south east of Race Rocks. The scuba divers were in a 14’ open aluminium boat with up to 10' waves. They were extremely lucky to have been able to call for help and not have Dover's (sic) down at the time."

The post continued: “Two divers were treated for hypothermia by BC Ambulance and the Fire Department. This is our third call to Race Rocks for divers with 1 fatality. Please use extreme caution around Race Rocks and only dive there with very experienced divers.”

It also said: “(One person dove under Vessel to retrieve hand held marine radio to call for help) Weather was cause of vessel overturning – sea conditions 4/5 FT waves piling up into 10FT waves."

 

[decompression]

Hard to believe a news report got something wrong, but the Aquarius 2 isn't 14' it's 24'.


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