OP
djanni
Contributor
Update:
On Tuesday of this week the Coast Guard informed me that there are only 70 cases ahead of the Ibis incident (1). Wow! Well, I guess that's good news in the sense that it will, in fact, get investigated.
ROLL-CALLS: As this story describes, we were left out there because the crew of the Ibis half heartedly performed head counts instead of following more exacting safety proceedures such as roll-calls. After the incident, the Captian of the Ibis said they were going to do roll calls in the future to ensure nothing like this ever happened again. However, he didn't keep his promise for very long. Within a week of the incident, as noted in this thread, they stopped doing roll calls.
On Monday of this week a writer, who's independently investigating the incident in consideration of publishing an article, told me an individual who uses the Ibis from time-to-time, said they are, in fact, doing roll calls. It would be nice if anyone else could verify that.
I sure hope that's true. The real reason I'm telling you this is perhaps the members of this board have more power to effect change than I originally thought. I hope the crew of the Ibis has heard of this post enough times that it's gotten their attention. If that's true it is very satisfying to me and my wife.
I propose we continue the effort. Since June 26th, we've been on 1 other dive trip and our next is in September. The point is we've had the opportunity to interview some dive operators.
If you want to have a little fun and at the same time let dive operators know how you feel and what your concerns are ask this question first: How do you insure all divers are onboard following a dive? If you'll ask that question I think you'll be amazed, mortified or amused by the answers you will get.
We called 5 dive operators in Pensacola and not a single one said they do roll-calls.
To the first 4 of them, I would say; "That's the wrong answer." "If you don't do roll-calls we don't dive with you." Would you believe they just said okay, thanks for calling and bye bye. The 5th one we called said "we'll do a roll call if that's what you want." We had to ask for it. But we got it. We interviewed 8 in Cozumel before making a decision based primarially on the reply to that answer. Okay, a few more calls than usual but think of the fun you'll have.
So, have a little fun by asking that question and increase awareness of the issue at the same time.
Here's another plus - if you're comfortable and confident that the boat will be there when you surface it will help you concerve air and increase your bottom time.
(1) The Coast Guard calls it an incident even though ScubaBoard thinks of it as being no more than a Near Miss or Lesson Learned. Can you tell it bothers me that Scubaboard moved the thread to this forum? Especially when you consider the content of other posts in the Accidents and Incidents Forum.
On Tuesday of this week the Coast Guard informed me that there are only 70 cases ahead of the Ibis incident (1). Wow! Well, I guess that's good news in the sense that it will, in fact, get investigated.
ROLL-CALLS: As this story describes, we were left out there because the crew of the Ibis half heartedly performed head counts instead of following more exacting safety proceedures such as roll-calls. After the incident, the Captian of the Ibis said they were going to do roll calls in the future to ensure nothing like this ever happened again. However, he didn't keep his promise for very long. Within a week of the incident, as noted in this thread, they stopped doing roll calls.
On Monday of this week a writer, who's independently investigating the incident in consideration of publishing an article, told me an individual who uses the Ibis from time-to-time, said they are, in fact, doing roll calls. It would be nice if anyone else could verify that.
I sure hope that's true. The real reason I'm telling you this is perhaps the members of this board have more power to effect change than I originally thought. I hope the crew of the Ibis has heard of this post enough times that it's gotten their attention. If that's true it is very satisfying to me and my wife.
I propose we continue the effort. Since June 26th, we've been on 1 other dive trip and our next is in September. The point is we've had the opportunity to interview some dive operators.
If you want to have a little fun and at the same time let dive operators know how you feel and what your concerns are ask this question first: How do you insure all divers are onboard following a dive? If you'll ask that question I think you'll be amazed, mortified or amused by the answers you will get.
We called 5 dive operators in Pensacola and not a single one said they do roll-calls.
To the first 4 of them, I would say; "That's the wrong answer." "If you don't do roll-calls we don't dive with you." Would you believe they just said okay, thanks for calling and bye bye. The 5th one we called said "we'll do a roll call if that's what you want." We had to ask for it. But we got it. We interviewed 8 in Cozumel before making a decision based primarially on the reply to that answer. Okay, a few more calls than usual but think of the fun you'll have.
So, have a little fun by asking that question and increase awareness of the issue at the same time.
Here's another plus - if you're comfortable and confident that the boat will be there when you surface it will help you concerve air and increase your bottom time.
(1) The Coast Guard calls it an incident even though ScubaBoard thinks of it as being no more than a Near Miss or Lesson Learned. Can you tell it bothers me that Scubaboard moved the thread to this forum? Especially when you consider the content of other posts in the Accidents and Incidents Forum.
