Accident & Incident Discussion - Northernone - aka Cameron Donaldson

[Vicko]

I do the exact same type of dive regularly. A surface swim followed by a slow descent to 45-50m and a swimming deco (usually with a portion in high current) back to the anchored boat/exit point. And it's hard for me to figure out why I would not surface (bent or worse, but at the surface) if we exclude medical reasons.

I find it highly unlikely he did not have enough gas and did not surface when he noticed he was low or ooa, a diver with any degree of experience would at least atempt a CESA, and with AL80 he would have been bouyant.



Some sort of scooter failure, most people would try to salvage it and those few moments on a 100 meter dropoff may be enough, especially if he had just one source of buoyancy (like I do, I should probably carry a lift bag...)
Catastrophic loss of gas, but he had 2 independent tanks...
Entrapment, is there fishing gear in the area, or some caves in the wall?

Any ideas?

 

[scubadada]

After all this, my conclusion is that I have no reason to believe that Cameron did not have plenty of gas to do this dive under diveable conditions.

 

[johndiver999]

Well from what we understand, the dive was one he had done many times, so clearly he had enough air to do it under typical conditions. The exercise of running scenarios and adding in a failure could help me get a grasp of how tight things were under normal conditions and also to see if the plan works with a single failure.

I know some divers fill those tanks to 4 k as well, so there may have been another significant buffer in place that has not been included.

 

[helodriver87]

I know some divers fill those tanks to 4 k as well, so there may have been another significant buffer in place that has not been included.

LP steels, sure. AL80s, hopefully not.

 

[ggunn]

True, but you'd be in the deep current very briefly, and if deemed dangerous an experienced diver would proceed to surface (I assume) once you surface you'd be back in the same surface current 'mom' experienced which posed no obvious issues for her. I few minutes in a deep current isn't likely to make you irreversibly Cuba-bound.

I have been diving there, and I can tell you the conditions can be very different depending on wheich side of the ridge you are on. The ocean side can be a real ride in the current.

 

[scubadada]

I have been diving there, and I can tell you the conditions can be very different depending on wheich side of the ridge you are on. The ocean side can be a real ride in the current.

Not all that far south of Barracuda

 

[chris kippax]

Does anyone know what/who’s scooter Cameron was using?
I seem to remember he recently lost his scooter when it floated away whilst gearing up?

 

[Jay]

I thought I read in another thread that the currents on the day of the accident were very strong and unusual - possibly over 5 knots..

I've seen 'strong currents' mentioned a few times. Do we know/have reliable info of likely range given tides, time etc?

After all this, my conclusion is that I have no reason to believe that Cameron did not have plenty of gas to do this dive under diveable conditions.

<--- this seems like a good post to add to the OP list? @Pedro Burrito

 

[Pedro Burrito]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Interesting tangents from this thread that we don't want to lose.

Solo diving posts were moved here: Spin Off of the Accident & Incident Discussion - Northernone - aka Cameron Donaldson

RMV posts were moved here: RMV Spinoff from Accident & Incident Discussion - Northernone - aka Cameron Donaldson

Please keep this thread relevant to the current A&I.

Thank you!

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What do we know about the incident?

• He entered the water at 2:30 pm on Saturday, 16 March.
• He was diving on the northwest side of Cozumel
• He was solo diving
• He was diving side mount
• He was diving Air with two aluminum 80 cubic foot tanks
• He had a scooter with him
• He was wearing a full 5mm wetsuit
• The currents were reported to be strong in the area

Add more details, please.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

We are opening the threads back up now. I apologize if I have made too heavy of a prune. The two new topics are important enough to warrant their own discussions. Thank you for your patience and attention.

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