A diver air lifted off the coast of Galveston, Texas by US Coast Guard on July 16, 2017

[Dan]

I was diving in Flower Garden Banks in Gulf of Mexico (~110 miles off the coast of Galveston) with Fling Charters on Saturday, July 15, 2017. I did 4 dives & the diver did 5 dives. The 5th dives was a night dive around 9pm. The 5th dive profile is the same as the 4th dive (my 4th & last dive for the day was ~ 73' deep with 58 minute total dive time). I dove with Nitrox. I'm not sure about him. Fling Charter does not allowed deco diving there & none of us did.

On the next day (today) the boat moved to Stetson Banks (~70 miles of the coast of Galveston). My dive profile was 104' deep with 44 minute total dive time. Upon my return back to the boat, I saw him being brought up to the boat after losing feeling of his arms. His dive buddy, DM & crews brought him up on deck, administered O2 to him, called US Coast Guard. The rest of the story is reported in the link below.

Coast Guard rescues 54-year-old diver southeast of Galveston

 

[RTC'83]

Proud of our Coast Guard!
Speedy recovery for the diver

 

[Freewillow]

5 dives a day for consecutive days: russian roulette?

 

[chillyinCanada]

5 dives a day for consecutive days: russian roulette?

Not so sure about that inasmuch as many liveaboards offer 5 dives a day. I'm not saying I recommend that but to me, it's more about the profiles.

 

[Freewillow]

I agree, but 5 hours under water and breathing dry air MUST involve A LOT of calories and water loss. It is far from a unsignificant endeaviour.

The fact that it is done regularly does not mean that it is appropriate

 

[catone]

Assuming square profiles and nitrox 32%, all those dives are deco dives. I doubt any operator would do 5 deco dives daily. The profiles likely not square and the depth given must be deepest not average. The only liveaboard I've been on, they would offer a 5th night dive, but somewhere shallow on the reef, in the 20-30ft range.

 

[Dan]

Assuming square profiles and nitrox 32%, all those dives are deco dives. I doubt any operator would do 5 deco dives daily. The profiles likely not square and the depth given must be deepest not average. The only liveaboard I've been on, they would offer a 5th night dive, but somewhere shallow on the reef, in the 20-30ft range.

My bad typo. Corrected accordingly. Those were not bottom time. Those were total dive time. Yes, those were my deepest depths of each dives. My dive profiles with Nitrox 32 (Deepest Depth & Total Dive Time) were:
1. 100', 54 minutes
2. 93', 46 minutes with SI of 2 hours & 17 minutes
3. 80', 56 minutes with SI of 2 hours & 33 minutes
4. 73', 58 minutes with SI of 2 hours & 32 minutes

They were not deco dives according to my SUUNTO D4 set at PO2 of 1.4 (MOD 106'). I did used up my bottom time pretty good with gas in my AL80 tank remaining about 500-900 psi left by the time I was back on the boat. Again those were my dive profiles, not his.

I do agree about doing night dive in the shallow, preferably near the coast, not in the deep & 110 miles away from the coast with limit visibility. It's just too many risks to take. My favorite night dives are in Arborek jetty (Raja Ampat) & Pink Beach (Komodo). However, I have done a night dive in Flower Garden Bank before & made sure that my buddy & I were not wandering too far from the anchor line.

 

[Dan]

We were planning to do a second dive in Stetson Banks after about 2 hours of surface interval of the 1st dive, before heading home. Of course that 2nd dive was cancelled & the boat proceeded back home while waiting for Coast Guard helicopter to arrive on the boat, 1 hour 40 minutes later, gaining 20 miles closer to the coast by the time the helicopter arrived.

 

[catone]

The maximum depth is meaningful for non square profiles. What was your average depth? For your first dive, assuming total dive time 55 minutes, breathing your al80 down to 500psi and an sac of 0.5cfm, the average depth likely in the 45-50 range. That gives about a minute of deco on buhlman 40/80.

 

[catone]

* meaningless