Scuba diver dies after being found floating at Kurnell, NSW, Australia

[lamont]

Brings to my mind forum discussions where different diver perspectives are compared; some strongly believe in self-reliance, to the extent of not assuming assistance will be available, and some believe strongly in the 'team' approach, an example being a team of GUE DIR-trained divers with standardized gear configurations familiar with each other & one another's gear. With such divergent viewpoints, divers who don't dive together regularly over time are often not on the same page with buddy practices.

You also have to self-reliant to be a team member. In the worst case, not only do you have to get yourself out of the dive, but you have to drag a buddy who may be incapacitated or their gear may be severely compromised out of the dive.

Most of the problems that went wrong here would, in fact, be fixed by better self-reliance. Its not really either-or. Team diving (properly done) adds some defense-in-depth on top of that, and should add redundant gas (particularly for single tank divers), but it doesn't change any of the rest of the analysis.

 

[DaleC]

I don't know what happened to Quero so my comments are not directed to her case in particular, but there is an explainable way that such a situation with buoyancy could have developed.

A diver who needs to augment the BC with air in a too tight drysuit would not neccesarily have problems until after ascending and then re-descending.

Up until that point they would have a closed/partially closed shoulder dump so buoyancy shifts could be maintained without a hard squeeze.

After ascending, if they wanted to re-descend, they probably would reach over to open the dump valve wide.

If opened too wide, for too long, the descent could create a gradual squeeze that may not be alleviated by adding air (if they forget to close the valve) because the dump is open and venting.

An unchecked hard squeeze, in a too tight suit, may restrict movement enough so that it becomes difficult/impossible to reach the shoulder dump to close it.

How one regains buoyancy in this type of situation depends on experience and presence of mind. An experienced DS diver would know to keep the shoulder valve lower down to trap the air in. Many of us routinely dive with the valve partially opened using this technique. But an inexperienced diver may be looking up to the surface (where they want to go) and not orienting themselves properly.

A calm diver would know to dump weight if all else fails.

But even an initially calm diver may be caught up trying to resolve the issue by pulling oneself up slope along the bottom, which is both labour intensive and takes a deceptively long time with a shallow sloping profile. This may end with an over exerted OOA diver needing to make a rapid decision to dump weights or even unconsciousness due to hyperventilation.

Again, this may have nothing to do with Quero's case and only addresses the situation in a general sense. For her case I suspect understanding will come with an autopsy and examination of the gear.

 

[spectrum]

How very odd. :huh:

Does anyone know what type weight belt this is?

Not at all odd in the world of cold water divers.

It could be something like a a DUI Weight & Trim harness. It's like a pair of suspenders & belt with a ditchable pocket on each side. Total capacity 40 pounds. Each 20 pound pocket is independently released so it's not all or nothing. It's a very secure way to carry lead if you lack hips or they have been padded away with lofty garments. They also allow you to carry the lead lower than your natural hips thus providing a powerful trim management tool. Seasoft has a (#30?) version. Lastly they eliminate the crotch strap / dump weight conflict. The crotch strap does not interfere with weight release. I have taken to using mine even when diving wet.

I have also seen suspenders with various buckle arrangements that adapt to a common weight belt. These are commonly made from 2 inch webbing. Ditcing one of these is much more conviluted.

Pete

 

[Ayisha]

Does anyone know which of the 4 divers suggested doing a surface swim back to shore? ie) Was it Marcia or someone else?

 

[almitywife]

It was not Marcia. Diver #3 suggested surface swim, it's what we usually do when I dive with him.

 

[DevonDiver]

Diver #3 suggested surface swim, it's what we usually do when I dive with him.

What caused the 'usual' routine to be changed?

 

[almitywife]

Others wanted to descend and go in than surface swim. It's a either choice, many divers do both. Diver #3 prefers to surface swim because he's already on the surface, you can see the exit point and if he has a camera, which he didn't on this dive, he uses this time to stow stobes, turn off batteries ect because he has a big camera rig.

 

[Denis Sydney]

What caused the 'usual' routine to be changed?

That was 1 divers thought. Not necesarilly wrong or right. At that site, I would probably also have chosen to drop down and swim in. Different folks, different preferences.

Nothing said so far has indicated it may have been inappropriate with the knowledge they had at the time.

 

[Progen]

Good point, sir, and entirely relevant because most divers do not practice ditching weight after initial training. The lack of practicing this skill has left diver after diver on the bottom. So please, practice all the skills, including mask removal and replace along with the weight belt ditching.

This is a woman who practiced this skill probably weekly. Not ditching the weight belt is extremely puzzling, and why I am not buying into complacency. Yet.

Thanks for not bashing the newbie but I dare say demonstrating weight ditching and actually ditching AND swimming away from it are two very different matters altogether.

It's easy to learn, say and demonstrate that you will ditch your weight in times of difficulty but to many of us who've paid good hard cash for our equipment, part of our minds just will not do that instinctively. I know I won't. When my hoses were entangled and choking my neck, I tried swimming to the surface first. Perhaps Marcia did the same, couldn't and in the last few moments, didn't have the presence of mind to remove the weights in a calm manner as her air ran out.

 

[Peter69_56]

I've seen those too, in the PAC NW, I think called weight harnesses. Great for guys with large stomachs and no hips.
Doubler-if you move to a DIR setup there are quite a few options for weight that don't entail weight harnesses. There are several dumpable pocket systems that fit on your harness waist band. Plus, you should have some of the weight as part of your backplate and probably steel tank. This leaves more like 8-10 pounds on the waist instead of 20-30.

My experience thus far in trying to weight up for a new dry suit is;

Weight belt, potentially not enough room for >24lb. Ok if I have manifolded twin steels, bot not if I have aluminium cylinders.

Tried putting some weights onto twin steels, fell over backwards in the waves and due to the change in the centre of gravity (weight on the outside of the tanks) I was like a turtle on its shell legs in the air. I needed help to get back up as I had no way of getting up on my own. Felt like, and probably looked like and idiot.

Harness system, tried it and found it bulked me up as well around the chest, and gave me more things for my hands to find around the upper body and work out what they are given I cannot see them. Increased task loading.

After all this experimentation, I am back to using the harness and making sure I am happy with the setup. Practice may overcome the feel/task loading issue

Tank weights are OK if more central to the tank centre and locally but not if I go interstate/overseas where they may not have a tank weighting system and only use normal weights.

A SS back plate would help but then needs rerigging if travelling overseas, or the cost of another harness.