Abandoned at Sea - Sun June 26, 2005 - The Ibis, Dania Beach, Hollywood Fl.

[Fish_Whisperer]

It's unnerving to be left behind. It happened to me. I'm a new diver with less than 20 dives. I was in Cozumel on a drift dive and apparently, the DM had to take a crap, so he surfaced and the boat took him to land where he could drop a chalupa, and then came back and dropped him off with his original dive team. Being a n00b, I burned through my tank in about a half hour, so I was the first one to surface after doing a safety stop. I didn't have an assigned dive buddy, and I didn't want to ruin anyone else's dive just because I'm an air hog. When I surfaced, there was no boat and no other boats in sight. After a string of expletives, I fully inflated my BC, lay back in the water, and because I didn't have a whistle or a safety sausage, I held up my bright yellow octopus to (hopefully) avoid being run over. I bobbed around for about ten minutes and realized that the boat was gone. Looking beneath the surface, my dive team was gone, having been carried on by the current. I was drifting towards a buoy that I could have grabbed onto, and I was less than a mile from shore. If the current carried me further, I was going to end up at the docks where there were two cruise ships moored, so I wasn't too scared, but I was pretty pissed that I had to be contemplating these options, and I didn't know if I had done something wrong or if it was the boat captain's fault, if the boat was coming back, and if another boat would come along, and if another boat DID come along, whether or not it would run me over. I also didn't feel so great about splashing around on the surface, looking like an injured seal to Mister Shark.

Another boat came along and the pilot asked what boat I was diving with. I told him and he radioed, found out the situation, and then circled me in wide, slow circles until my boat arrived and picked me up.

I can laugh about it now, and most of my life, I've dealt with confronting, disciplining, and controlling my own fear, but it certainly was unexpected and initially, surfacing to find an empty sea and no boat caused me to have that funny dread-feeling in my azz. Not good.

 

[djanni]

What ever came of the Coast Guard investigation?

I don't know. I've thought about calling to see but I never have.

Don

 

[Lake Mead Tony]

Not that I think this would help much after being left alone in that big blue water but this is one of the reasons I always dive with a big red 50lb lift bag. It may be a little bulky but how many uses can you think to use it for besides lifting small outboard motors. It's called CYA as much as you can.

 

[djanni]

Not that I think this would help much after being left alone in that big blue water but this is one of the reasons I always dive with a big red 50lb lift bag. It may be a little bulky but how many uses can you think to use it for besides lifting small outboard motors. It's called CYA as much as you can.

.....

 

[pipedope]

Repeat after me, "The Captain is responsible for everything that happens on his vessel."

If the boat goes away and leaves you you should ALWAYS file a FORMAL complaint with the USCG (assuming USA vessel and operation).

This will just keep happening untill someone dies and someone else goes to prison.
Maybe that can be prevented by someone losing a captains license.

 

[Jacqueline]

Repeat after me, "The Captain is responsible for everything that happens on his vessel."

If the boat goes away and leaves you you should ALWAYS file a FORMAL complaint with the USCG (assuming USA vessel and operation).

This will just keep happening untill someone dies and someone else goes to prison.
Maybe that can be prevented by someone losing a captains license.

The point is TWO "someones" already DID die becuase of being left at sea and a movie was made about it called "Open Water". While the characters in the movie were not depicted true-to-life to the couple who really met this fate on whom the movie was based, the story was true. They were forgotten at sea and NO ONE noticed they were missing until a few days later when some of their personal gear was found aboard the boat and their motel room was checked to see if they returned and checked out. Their families never really got any closure out of it because they didn't even have their loved ones' remains to bury in a grave.

Someone previously posted on this thread that it all boils down to a lack of integrity and character on the part of the boat owners, the captains all the way down to the DM. And a "newbie" who is just learning how to dive shouldn't have to be made to feel badly about being an "air hog" - if you're new and just learning. How else are you supposed to learn if you can't do so as safely as possible? Taking care to safeguard the newbie diving student is of paramount importance.

Safeguarding the eperienced divers is also important, too and some of those who have been left behind who survived to tell about it on this board are proof that there really is a lack of integrity and character. It seems to me there is a prevalent attitude that once they have your money, it's your own tough luck if you either die or get maimed by a shark or whatever due to being left at sea. This is clearly the wrong attitude and a disgusting, unacceptable shift of responsibility, but we live in a society that just so loves to blame the victim, don't we?

The experienced divers on this board who managed to come out of their abandonment experiences shaken up but otherwise OK did so because they were lucky. Yes, they had inflatable sausages and whatnot, but if any other condition outside of their control had been different, say a sudden unexpected change in weather at sea, lack of other nearby vessels, lack of proximity to a bay with other boats, lack of proximity to a buoy and a longer time of being adrift at sea, the outcomes could have been quite different - and not for the better.

 

[Web Monkey]

The point is TWO "someones" already DID die becuase of being left at sea and a movie was made about it called "Open Water".

The only part in that movie that can be proved is that nobody knows what happend to the missing people.

The rest is speculation. They could have even faked their own deaths.

Safeguarding the eperienced divers is also important, too and some of those who have been left behind who survived to tell about it on this board are proof that there really is a lack of integrity and character. It seems to me there is a prevalent attitude that once they have your money, it's your own tough luck if you either die or get maimed by a shark or whatever due to being left at sea. This is clearly the wrong attitude and a disgusting, unacceptable shift of responsibility, but we live in a society that just so loves to blame the victim, don't we?

Barring things outside the diver's control, like being abandoned by the boat, everything about diving is ultimately the responsibility of the diver.

Any open water diver should carry appropriate signaling devices for the area they're diving in. For the movie in question, an air-horn, large Surface Marker Buoy and a strobe light would have turned a double-fatality into a longer-than expected drift, with a great story at the end.

For a more remote area, a GPIRB would also be appropriate.

The experienced divers on this board who managed to come out of their abandonment experiences shaken up but otherwise OK did so because they were lucky. Yes, they had inflatable sausages and whatnot, but if any other condition outside of their control had been different, say a sudden unexpected change in weather at sea, lack of other nearby vessels, lack of proximity to a bay with other boats, lack of proximity to a buoy and a longer time of being adrift at sea, the outcomes could have been quite different - and not for the better.

My wife always knows who I'm diving with and where I'm going. If I'm more than a few hours late, just send out the Coast Guard and look for two 9' orange and yellow SMBs with the strobe light on top..

It's always nice to be able to blame someone, but fault is typically irrelevant. What matters is being able to avoid problems in the first place, and prepare for and handle them if you can't avoid them.

Terry

 

[Misplaced Priority]

I am pretty much in agreement that the diver is resposible. But. If I went on a chartered boat dive and the the boat was gone when I surfaced, I would be pissed and if I ever made it back to land, God help that captain.

 

[djanni]

It's been 11 months and 53 dives since this incident. We learned a lession back then and we've never been left behind since. What do we do differently:

1. When I make reservations with an operator we've never dived with, I ask these questions:

A. What's the average number of people onboard? If the answer is more than 12, I politely decline and call someone else. We prefer 6 packs and always look for that size boat.

B. How do you ensure all the divers are onboard before you leave a site? This is a fun question and you'll get all sorts of answers. Some answers will make you feel good and some will not. If I'm not happy with the response I don't mind saying "based on that response I'm not sure it's safe diving with you and I think I'll call someone else." I don't take chances if I don't like the answer and I think the dive operator needs to hear that.

After choosing the operator and once aboard we'll find some people and say, "If you'll make sure we're onboard before this boat leaves we'll promise to do the same for you." They always agree. DM's and/or Captians have overheard this and seem hurt because we imply they might leave us behind and assure everyone that they've never left anyone but this doesn't phase us one bit and we'll say "no disrespect meant, we were left behind once upon a time and we'd like for us all to be watching out for each other.

Liveaboards - - We did a Nekton trip last September. The Nekton uses a sign in/out board which seems to be diligently monitored but that didn't stop us from making a pact with the people on both sides (the dive deck area) of us that the boat would not move unless we were all on board. Use the word "promise" and stick your hand out and shake on it and you'll be amazed what people will do. It's a real good feeling.

2. We always carried SMB's and a whistle but now we have Dive Alerts, Storm Whistles, Mirrors and both SMB's are upgraded to 9 footers. Fortunately, since June 05 we've never needed to use any of those things but they're there if we need them.

3. We are much more aware of where we are and where the boat should be while under water. Especially if there is a current. We both take compass headings and while not always successful, we're getting better and better at being able to reverse our course. While this self awareness is very very important it is probably no more important than items 1 and 2.

Regardless of the size of the boart, if operators and/or Captians diligently used sign in/out boards or something like the DAN tag system no one would get left behind. Key word, "diligently."

But... they don't, so we can't have blind faith that the boat Cpatian will take care of us. We still interview the operator and we're diligent about looking for one who recognizes this safety risk and has a reliable proceedure in place. The rest is up to us.

Don

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Some great points there, and thanks for sharing them.