TSandM: Missing Diver in Clallam County, WA
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I fail to see anything in your statements to be unkind about. Anyone who thinks that you can dive in even moderately challenging conditions and never lose sight to of their buddy for a fraction of a minute is drinking too much OW training Cool-Aid.
I know it is very hard, but don’t beat yourself up. One loss is too many, don’t make it two (figuratively speaking).
Agreed. My computer is set to visually whine at 1.6 and 1.8. I would set it to 1.8 and 2.0 if it wouldn’t freak everyone around me out. The limit has been 2.0 most of my diving career and I have never seen a confirmed case of OxTox.
So sad, it is not clear if any divers were used in the Coast Guard's search efforts.
I am not sure of the proper protocol for those conditions. Did any search & rescue divers participate in the search?
Again, I commend all members of the search teams for their rapid response & extensive efforts.
Slamfire
Contributor
I used to play soccer in high school and college. This summer while I was staying at my favorite water-front-shore-diving cabin for the week, a big Romanian extended family challenged us to Romania vs rest of the world/Canada daily soccer matches. It was very fun, loose and mellow games with male and female players spanning ages from 6 to 50+. No aggressiveness. No over exertion. I played 3 games over 3 days. I came out of those games with pain on my right knee that still lingers to this day two months later.
I'm reasonably fit and I don't see a reason why I came down with that ailment nor any possible way to predict that I was going to get hurt. I guess years are just starting to take a toll. I thought I was more than capable to play soccer games with little kids without getting hurt. And anybody that knows me would probably agree.
Similarly, before and during the dive, I can see how it would be next to impossible to predict that Lynne would have issues--medical or otherwise. Yes, we have established that it is a challenging dive site. And we have also established that both Peter and Lynne had ample skills and experience to complete the dive, particularly when the conditions seemed so benign at the top. In short, Peter, I fail to identify anything that you could have done to prevent this.
I'm reasonably fit and I don't see a reason why I came down with that ailment nor any possible way to predict that I was going to get hurt. I guess years are just starting to take a toll. I thought I was more than capable to play soccer games with little kids without getting hurt. And anybody that knows me would probably agree.
Similarly, before and during the dive, I can see how it would be next to impossible to predict that Lynne would have issues--medical or otherwise. Yes, we have established that it is a challenging dive site. And we have also established that both Peter and Lynne had ample skills and experience to complete the dive, particularly when the conditions seemed so benign at the top. In short, Peter, I fail to identify anything that you could have done to prevent this.
Like all of you, it is so difficult to wrap my head around this. Without wild speculation, just based on what we know, maybe we can think this through.
Peter's post about facts said that when they leveled out and regained control, Lynne was 10'-15' below him. They ascended and she was 10'-15' above him.
She was actively venting her drysuit when she was above him, which indicates normal motor skill and cognitive ability.
The incident occurred in the moment that Peter looked away while she was above him.
Lynne ascended 20'-30' faster than Peter did in the same time frame.
Perhaps she overcompensated by inflating her drysuit to counteract the down current and then again as she vented her drysuit, during which time she also inexplicably lost consciousness or motor function. She sank as Peter ascended. Their protocol was to rejoin on the surface and Peter followed protocol as he confidently expected Lynne to do.
The only reason that she wouldn't follow protocol is due to an incapacity or inability to follow it.
The only explanation that I can see is medical. There certainly was stress involved. Down current, fast ascent to 70', difficulty regaining control, mid-water vertigo, and physical work.
Peter's post about facts said that when they leveled out and regained control, Lynne was 10'-15' below him. They ascended and she was 10'-15' above him.
She was actively venting her drysuit when she was above him, which indicates normal motor skill and cognitive ability.
The incident occurred in the moment that Peter looked away while she was above him.
Lynne ascended 20'-30' faster than Peter did in the same time frame.
Perhaps she overcompensated by inflating her drysuit to counteract the down current and then again as she vented her drysuit, during which time she also inexplicably lost consciousness or motor function. She sank as Peter ascended. Their protocol was to rejoin on the surface and Peter followed protocol as he confidently expected Lynne to do.
The only reason that she wouldn't follow protocol is due to an incapacity or inability to follow it.
The only explanation that I can see is medical. There certainly was stress involved. Down current, fast ascent to 70', difficulty regaining control, mid-water vertigo, and physical work.
Several people asked questions -- not going to go back to see exactly what but:
a. No entanglement hazards;
b. Plan was to get to the ridges and drift up, over, down -- rinse and repeat;
c. We'd gone over the site watching depth sounder and most of the canyon bottoms were above 90 feet -- one or two hit 120-30 (apparently!);
d. Vis was good for our area -- 20+ horizontal;
e. No dive team has been in the water. Search was purely surface with very good visibility;
f. Mid-water disorientation is possible (hell, damn near anything is possible) but we were against a wall for the ascent from the down draft so there was a hard, visible, reference.
All I know is she is gone.
Note -- the second funeral I helped organize (the first was my daughter's) was a friend who was a TV reporter who had a Friday segment on Northwest Weekend Hikes. He and his cameraman were on a local trail, just walking when the cameraman heard a noise and watched him falling down the side of the mountain. He evidently had slipped (or gotten hit at a falling rock?), fell and broke his neck.
Life is precious and can be gone in a flash.
a. No entanglement hazards;
b. Plan was to get to the ridges and drift up, over, down -- rinse and repeat;
c. We'd gone over the site watching depth sounder and most of the canyon bottoms were above 90 feet -- one or two hit 120-30 (apparently!);
d. Vis was good for our area -- 20+ horizontal;
e. No dive team has been in the water. Search was purely surface with very good visibility;
f. Mid-water disorientation is possible (hell, damn near anything is possible) but we were against a wall for the ascent from the down draft so there was a hard, visible, reference.
All I know is she is gone.
Note -- the second funeral I helped organize (the first was my daughter's) was a friend who was a TV reporter who had a Friday segment on Northwest Weekend Hikes. He and his cameraman were on a local trail, just walking when the cameraman heard a noise and watched him falling down the side of the mountain. He evidently had slipped (or gotten hit at a falling rock?), fell and broke his neck.
Life is precious and can be gone in a flash.
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Appreciate those around you who you care about each and every day.
I'm choosing not to follow down the rabbit hole that is an endless spiral of speculation.
I prefer to imagine that Lynne finally achieved the magical zen moment of doing everything so absolutely perfectly in the water column that she was instantly transported out of this dimension. She wasn't found because there is nothing to be found, except perhaps a tiny little speck in the body of the ocean where no water exists - just the shape of a perfectly positioned diver.
Like Peter said, "...damn near anything is possible". I prefer my version, as it is calm and peaceful, serene and fitting.
She is gone, but more importantly, she was here.
I prefer to imagine that Lynne finally achieved the magical zen moment of doing everything so absolutely perfectly in the water column that she was instantly transported out of this dimension. She wasn't found because there is nothing to be found, except perhaps a tiny little speck in the body of the ocean where no water exists - just the shape of a perfectly positioned diver.
Like Peter said, "...damn near anything is possible". I prefer my version, as it is calm and peaceful, serene and fitting.
She is gone, but more importantly, she was here.
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BDSC
Contributor
I agree. It's the only thing that makes any sense to me. Both very experienced divers and highly safety conscience. Obviously planned the dive before ever hitting the water. And if it was an extreme medical event, maybe it wouldn't even matter that she was diving. The outcome may have been the same if she had been riding a bike or just walking at that time. Very sad for all who knew her and those of us who never met her.
So sorry Peter.
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