8 Divers missing Taiwan

[docbonezz]

Just my two cents:
I dive with a PLB (Small EPIRB) in a Otter Box. I take this with me on trips with me and when I dive here in the states.
The Otter Box is a little positively buoyant so you have to add a little more weight but if you ever really needed it, it would be well worth the investment and the hassle of carrying it. The PLB I have is the Aquafix 406. It is fairly small and does not weigh to much. It communicates with the satellites using the newer 406 frequency. It has a built in GPS and transmits your position to the Coast Guard within 100 meters. It also sends a signal on the 121 frequency that a Coast Guard boat with a Radio Direction Finder can home in on to aid in their search and rescue They have a smaller one out now but I have not upgraded to that one as of yet.

I know a lot of divers will not invest in this equipment but if they ever find themselves in the position of the Taiwanese divers……. They would give anything for one.

My brother and I were in Palau and did the dives off of Peleliu. These were great dives for experienced divers. There were a few recently certified divers on the trip that had problems and got swept out to sea and had to be picked up by the boat. The boat then dropped them on the same dive. The current was VERY strong. They should not have been on that dive in my opinion. One of the newbies actually ran out of air on more than one dive. She ran out of air on this dive too. The Divemaster just laughed it off on every dive she did it on. If I go back to Palau I will not dive with Sam’s Tours again.

 

[divekraz]

Just my two cents:
I dive with a PLB (Small EPIRB) in a Otter Box. I take this with me on trips with me and when I dive here in the states.
The Otter Box is a little positively buoyant so you have to add a little more weight but if you ever really needed it, it would be well worth the investment and the hassle of carrying it. The PLB I have is the Aquafix 406. It is fairly small and does not weigh to much. It communicates with the satellites using the newer 406 frequency. It has a built in GPS and transmits your position to the Coast Guard within 100 meters. It also sends a signal on the 121 frequency that a Coast Guard boat with a Radio Direction Finder can home in on to aid in their search and rescue They have a smaller one out now but I have not upgraded to that one as of yet.


I'd like to ask what the cost is of your PLB and if you know the price of the smaller one? When I had checked the price's they were close to $1,000.00 and thought the vhf radio (for the price) was a reasonable alternative. Thanks

 

[AlaskaDiver]

After something similar happened at Peleliu Corner in Palua in the early '90s

I dove the Pelilieu Express in Palau and was blasted across an almost smooth plateau. No place to put that silly reef hook. We were blasted at 5 knots across a coral wasteland. No hope to hang onto anything. Everyone was battered and bloody. People on the boat actually didn't have sausages! We were all split up and bobbing in waves which we could not see over. Captain Arson our boat driver was amazingly adept at maneuvering the boat. Everyone was pretty shaken up by the experience.

I can only begin to imagine their fear.

 

[DandyDon]

I dove the Pelilieu Express in Palau and was blasted across an almost smooth plateau. No place to put that silly reef hook. We were blasted at 5 knots across a coral wasteland. No hope to hang onto anything. Everyone was battered and bloody. People on the boat actually didn't have sausages! We were all split up and bobbing in waves which we could not see over. Captain Arson our boat driver was amazingly adept at maneuvering the boat. Everyone was pretty shaken up by the experience.

I can only begin to imagine their fear.

You mean the divers did not have any SMBs? Did you? BTW, in case anyone ever gets lost at sea, do drop your weights so you'll float higher; I think DAN will pay for them under their dive accident coverage, but save the empty pouches if you can. And if you lose your sausage, wave a fin!

It amazes me that any would get on a boat without one. When I first started, I asked my LDS to "fix me up" with what I needed, but had to ask him to add a sausage.

 

[ianw2]

...(a)nd if you lose your sausage, wave a fin!

Ah, Donald! Truer words have never been spake! (Although it'll take a twenty, now adays!)

Sorry, Don. I'm weak. I couldn't resist.

Semper fi!

Ian

 

[AlaskaDiver]

You mean the divers did not have any SMBs? Did you? BTW, in case anyone ever gets lost at sea, do drop your weights so you'll float higher; I think DAN will pay for them under their dive accident coverage, but save the empty pouches if you can. And if you lose your sausage, wave a fin!

It amazes me that any would get on a boat without one. When I first started, I asked my LDS to "fix me up" with what I needed, but had to ask him to add a sausage.

I just tried to respond and my browser died before i posted... arrrgh....

Some divers did not have SMBs. They also were carrying reef hooks with no training (like you'd get at Blue Corner). I had my sausage in the water. The boat came over and said that they'd be back to get me after they picked up others. I should have yelled, "Hey don't leave me due to sommeone else's stupidity!

Docbonezz's also references Sam's Tours. I didn't like the fact that they departed the dock at the exact time every morning no matter what the tides or currents were at the sites. I have many irritations with Sam's. I posted a somewhat scathing trip report despite the fact that I really liked Palau.

 

[DandyDon]

The Spree boat going to the Texas Flower Gardens - Gulf Diving LLC - Welcome! - is Skippered by the best I've come to know well enough to have an opinion and they insist on a sausage on every diver - will loan you one if needed, with is apalling that there is ever a need.

 

[AlaskaDiver]

Don;
Captn Bill Routh had sausages and canister lights in quantities for everyone aboard in case theirs died out (lights) or they had forgotten theirs (sausages). He had special goody bags for the tiniest of sharks teeth and riverbed tools (like a Phillips screwdriver) also available for usage/purchase. This was in Cooper River, SC when we went fossil hunting last month. He was a well prepared, knowledgeable, safe and nice captain.

Honestly, when you get to some of the destinations for diving, you just don't know what to expect.