(5/01/05) Diver missing in Florida

[DiveGolfSki]

No one is in lockstep with anyone. There is an ongoing investigation being conducted by the authorities having jurisdiction. Second guessing and kangaroo court by people that know none of the facts does not serve a purpose.

"But what if he's lying" repeated over and over serves no purpose.

DennisS, not to defend PF but PF hasn't "point blank" stated that anyone is lying. He's questioning authority figures (is this a Marine thing) as he's entitled to do?

Maybe it's because he, like me, is from NYC ... wait a minute that only works for people from Missouri.

 

[ScubaTwo]

DennisS, not to defend PF but PF hasn't "point blank" stated that anyone is lying. He's questioning authority figures (is this a Marine thing) as he's entitled to do?

Maybe it's because he, like me, is from NYC ... wait a minute that only works for people from Missouri.

Why is he questioning anyones authority? And what does that have to do with the accident to beging with?

 

[Island Dog]

There seem to be two issues that Pilot Fish and Tom Winters keep accusing the Captain of outrightly or disguised in quesitons.

1) Pilot Fish keeps implying that the Captain may have told the diver to swim over to the boat. The dive operator's standard protocol is to tell divers in the briefing that if they come up on the wrong ball to inflate their BC, stay put and wait until they can be picked up...and I have been told by several people on the dock that evening that the other three divers confirmed the Captain told them this in the briefing. The only two people who know for sure what happened on the surface is the Captain and the victim but why does Pilot Fish even suspect the Captain would go against his protocol and training?

2) "The Captain should have either thrown a line and ball or swam over to aid the victim. " I was not on the scene when the accident occured but I did take 4 divers to the Grove that morning. Wind, sea, and current conditions did not appreciably change from the morning to afternoon. I was in fact tied up to Ball #5 and I know how far it would have been to throw a line to or swim over to Ball #3. If Tom Winters can do either he is a better Captain than I or anyone I know. This does not even address the fact that it is against USCG regs for the Captain to leave the boat. Tom Winters says he does it regularly but in my opinion he endangers the rest of his divers everytime he does.

Maybe Pilot Fish should simply dive with Capt. Tom Winters all the time.

 

[DiveGolfSki]

Why is he questioning anyones authority? And what does that have to do with the accident to beging with?

:34: Beats me. PF appears to geniunely concerned that a diver, on an advanced dive DIED. He wants to know if there was anything that could have prevented it AND prevent it from happening again.

Again, I'm not defending his position ....

 

[ScubaTwo]

:34: Beats me. PF appears to geniunely concerned that a diver, on an advanced dive DIED. He wants to know if there was anything that could have prevented it AND prevent it from happening again.

Again, I'm not defending his position ....

I think everyone who has posted is geniuenly concerned.

 

[Island Dog]

I do have one observation to make...there seems to be a misunderstanding or disagreement on the responsibilities of the dive operator vs. the responsibilities of the diver.

Maybe we should start a thread exploring this.

 

[DiveGolfSki]

I do have one observation to make...there seems to be a misunderstanding or disagreement on the responsibilities of the dive operator vs. the responsibilities of the diver.

Maybe we should start a thread exploring this.

Check to see if there is a thread already on SB. If not, I'd like to see posts on this.

ScubaTwo, you're right ... everyone is geniunely concerned. As Divers (or anyone else for that matterJ), this seemed to be an unfortunate loss. BTW, the non-dive related blogs seem to have their own questioning posts. If anyone's interested here's one site:

http://www.abulsme.com/comments.php?id=503_0_1_0_C

Let me warn you though, the topics seem to revolve around that reporter article posted earlier ...

 

[ScubaTwo]

Whether its a dive op or a dive buddy or whoever, I think most ppl would do all they could to prevent another person from being hurt or dying. For most ppl that is human nature. To imply that a person was neglegant without having the facts is a waste of time and not very considerate.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

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[DiveGolfSki]

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How do you know that if that horse is dead? Who seez that the coroner's report is accurate? What kind of bat is used? .... sorry, just got into the spirit of the thread.