Antigua: Dive boat leaves behind two scuba divers

[The Chairman]

I got an automated response:

Thank you for contacting Sandals and Beaches Resorts!

A client profile and an issue has been opened for you with the following contact information:

Name: Pete "NetDoc" Murray
Email: NETDOC@SCUBABOARD.COM
Day Phone: (407) 745-1516
Night Phone: (407) 509-0947
Best hours to Call: Don't Call

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The following is the Issue you created.

Subject: Antigua Divers missing...
Message: This is being discussed on www.ScubaBoard.com here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/200377-antigua-dive-boat-leaves-behind-two-scuba-divers.html You are invited to give your side of the story. I am not even sure that this happened, and I want to make sure you have a chance to defend yourself.

Thank you for contacting Sandals and Beaches Resorts.
Caribbean Luxury Included Vacations at Sandals Resorts
Beaches Caribbean Family Resorts - All-Inclusive Caribbean Vacation
http://www.beaches.com/

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks again, Blades. I am a little confused on the colors, so I looked online....

Florescent Lime Yellow

Florescent Lime Green

Florescent Orange

​

Actually I am still confused as the lime-yellow and lime-green look the same, altho I got the 74 on the color test above.

Anyway, interesting to know that they are more noticeable at sea than the orange. Well, I've read that before, but acceptance has been difficult for me. :blush:

 

[DandyDon]

Is there any corroborating evidence that this actually HAPPENED? I just checked CNN.com and MSN.com and they have NO RECORD of it. I just can't imagine this type of news NOT making it out on the "Real News". The OP cited the National Enquirer of the Scuba Industry: a site so vile and full of distortions that we CENSOR their URL. I have sent a link of this discussion to the folks at Sandals and perhaps they can deny or verify what happened.

It would not surprise me if it turned out to be a malicious rumor, but it's possible that it happened. I just don't trust the original source!

Pete, I objected to the two sources given early in this thread, but the OP did subsequently furnish better sources...

Instead of speculating I went ahead and made a phone call...

Sandals Grande Antigua:
Dickenson Bay, P.O. Box 147
St. John's, Antigua
Phone: (268) 462-0267
Fax: (268) 462-4135

The person I spoke to at the resort confirmed the news story stating that the dive boat came in early leaving two people offshore and the divers were later found safe.

Blades Robinson

THIS WAS PRINTED IN TODAY'S "ANTIGUA SUN."


FROM: http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=464631108409052007&an=302522108909052007&ac=Local

Sandals issues statement on diving incident
Thursday September 06 2007


Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa has broken its silence on the incident in which two of its guests were inadvertently left at sea during a scuba diving trip last month.

The two men, British nationals vacationing in Antigua with their wives, had been part of an excursion led by a Sandals dive team. The alarm was reportedly raised by the men’s waiting wives when the group returned to the dock without them.

The tale has spread across the Internet, after a dramatic account of the incident was carried by the Cyber Diver News Network. Members of the British press have since picked up on the story, adding to Sandal’s potential exposure to bad publicity.

In its statement on the incident, Sandals International said that it deeply regrets the events of 16 Aug., in which the two guests of Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa who were part of scheduled diving trip “did not return with the rest of the group.”

According to the hotel chain’s account of the incident, the trip was led by four dive team members and the hotel management team reacted quickly when notified that the two guests have been left behind, dispatching Sandals boats as well as air and sea rescue teams immediately to the dive site.

Sandals fired the four members of the dive team immediately following the incident, but it defends the qualifications of its dive staff, stating that “Sandals Dive instructors are trained to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) international industry standards, which is the most respected and preferred diving accreditation in the world.

“The four (4) members of the dive team who led the dive on August 16th and who breached the company’s and PADI’s standard diving procedure, which requires that all divers be accounted for prior to departing a dive site, are no longer employed at the resort,” the statement continues.

Sandals said that its Antigua management team was deeply compassionate towards the guests’ misfortune and “extended every possible courtesy to them in an effort to ensure that the rest of their vacation was as comforting and pleasurable as possible. In fact, both guests along with their spouses went snorkelling, just days after the occurrence, at the Resort.

“The two couples received a full refund on their vacations. They have also accepted invitations and made bookings to return to the resort, courtesy of Sandals, at their convenience.”

Still, I'll look forward to what you learn...?!

 

[scubabeachboy]

Can you see a number inside the diagram below?



The number "74" should be clearly visible to forum readers with normal color vision. Forum members with dichromat or anomalous trichromat may read it as "21", and viewers with achromat may see nothing.


I see an 84, or perhaps an 81.

what is dichromat? and anomalous trichromat???
hmmmmmm??????

perhaps I am just hallucinating all together?????
hahahhahhahahhahhahahhah!!!!!!

 

[DandyDon]

Try this: Test for Colorblindness On-line

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks Don,

that surely helps out!

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks Don,

that surely helps out!

YVW - so, are ya color blind?

 

[Ayisha]

Anyway, interesting to know that they are more noticeable at sea than the orange. Well, I've read that before, but acceptance has been difficult for me. :blush:

Actually, the information that Blades Robinson provided has little to do with visibity at or above the sea. It is comparing visibility of various colours against a "pine tree background" and the best colour for billboards or equipment that needs to be seen in dark or poor weather conditions. Nothing about against a sea background - day or night.

Red/green colour blindness is irrelevant because people usually suggest yellow or orange for SMB's - not red or green. Flourescent orange appearing black to colourblind people in sodium lighting "on some roadways" is irrelevant - wouldn't it be nice if our seas and lakes were lit with sodium or any other lighting for us?

It is agreed that fluorescent yellow is highly visible against a sea background whether from a boat/shore or from the air. The information provided, however, does not disprove the other typical colour of SMB's - orange.

 

[DandyDon]

Ayisha, I was posting to the above post....

The RNLI and the Coastguard did a test with all sorts of surface marking accessories (smoke, dye for the water, flags, DSMBs, flourescent hoods, etc, etc) in all sorts of colours, and the most visible for both surface-searchers and air-search was bright yellow. Which is why my collapsible flag, which snugly mounts up the side of my cylinder, is bright yellow!

Mark

 

[Ayisha]

Thanks again, Blades. I am a little confused on the colors, so I looked online....

Actually I am still confused as the lime-yellow and lime-green look the same, altho I got the 74 on the color test above.

Anyway, interesting to know that they are more noticeable at sea than the orange. Well, I've read that before, but acceptance has been difficult for me. :blush:

Sorry Don, I didn't realize that because your post above (that post) only addresses Blades and refers to the colour test he posted - as you see on the full quote minus the vest/jacket pictures. Mark's post wasn't in your post or anywhere around it.

It didn't matter though. I just wanted to point out that the info was not necessarily sea-related.