Aussie divers stranded after boat drifts away

[DandyDon]

I just have to wonder what would have happened if they did not get picked up.

We lose divers that way every year and it amazes me that anyone would board a dive boat without a safety sausage or other SMB. I carry a sausage, dive lights even on day dives, Storm Whistle, Dive Alert whistle, and a heavy, white, kitchen trashbag that can be allowed to drift beside me by day or inflated with dive light shining in the bottom at night. I really, really prefer to always be able to swim back to the boat, but just in case - I want to be easy to find.

He said they would have only had to swim 1.5 km. Doesn't sound so bad.

Have you ever swam a mile in the ocean? I'd hate to. I also carry a pocket snorkel in case I have to, but gawd I'd hate it. I have to wonder if they diver dragged his BC and tank on the 6-7 mile swim he made, or left it with the first diver - taking a risk of swimming without the safety of the BC and it's flotation. What if you run into waves, current, cramps, etc...?

I'd stay with the BC and swim a mile I think; I don't think I could do the 6-7 miles?

 

[DeltaWardog]

Hey I said it didn't sound so bad, I didn't say it would be a picnic. There are those among us who could swim the English Channel naked and run a marathon afterwards, but I'm not one of them. I still think I could swim a mile with an inflated BC and fins without too much trouble. Obviously it's not ideal because the weather can always change on you and there's always the fact that you might look like a nice yummy seal to the, uh, larger wildlife below you.

 

[BKP]

Wow... 16 min. bottom time, at 165fsw / 20 min. deco. I'm impressed. Wish *I* could sip air, like that...

 

[Charlie99]

Have you ever swam a mile in the ocean? I'd hate to. I also carry a pocket snorkel in case I have to, but gawd I'd hate it. I have to wonder if they diver dragged his BC and tank on the 6-7 mile swim he made, or left it with the first diver - taking a risk of swimming without the safety of the BC and it's flotation. What if you run into waves, current, cramps, etc...?

I'd stay with the BC and swim a mile I think; I don't think I could do the 6-7 miles?

If you are wearing a wetsuit, it will be plenty of flotation.

If I ever had to swim a long distance, I'd ditch the BCD and tank after working out a way to bring along any gear I wanted to keep such as sausage, whistle, dive light, and mirror.

And yes, I have swum more than a mile in the ocean in just snorkle gear. Taking 45 minutes to snorkle out to a potential divesite area 1/3-1/2 mile offshore; then a half hour scouting out different areas; and then swimming back in had me swimming well over a mile and taking about 2 hours total time. A 3mm shorty was more than enough floation, even as the wind was kicking up whitecaps on the way back in.

 

[Theunis]

Those Aussies are tough!! Maybe I should join their club, they can teach me a thing or two.

But if you think about it, the Aussie Rugby players (Wallabies) are just as tough when playing the Springboks!! Tri Nations is comming up soon!! :rofl3

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

...Have you ever swam a mile in the ocean? I'd hate to. I also carry a pocket snorkel in case I have to, but gawd I'd hate it. I have to wonder if they diver dragged his BC and tank on the 6-7 mile swim he made, or left it with the first diver - taking a risk of swimming without the safety of the BC and it's flotation. What if you run into waves, current, cramps, etc...?

I'd stay with the BC and swim a mile I think; I don't think I could do the 6-7 miles?

I think about this a lot since I primarily shore dive in areas where there may only be one safe entry/exit point. Over the years I have had 2-3 "unplanned" surface swims in moderately rough water, the longest maybe about 1/2 mile (always my own fault!!!), and here is what I've decided:

1.) If making reasonable headway towards my objective, keep the BC, weight belt, etc. and just plod along until I get there. Keep bare minimum amount of air in BC for bouyancy. I define reasonable headway as seeing land getting closer, not exhausting myself, and not being overly hindered by the BC and tank.

2.) If I am not clearly making headway, I'd drop my weight belt first and see if this helps. If that is not enough, I'd be forced to make a very quick decision on whether or not I believe I could actually swim to my objective if I was more streamlined. Ditching the BC & tank makes a huge difference in reducing drag and would probably be my next step. With my 3mm full suit I have great floatation and exposure protection, and with mask, snorkel and fins I can swim a LONG way in nasty conditions.

So yeah, in my case 1/2 mile or less in calm seas I'd leave the BC on... for a longer swim approaching a mile or more with my life depending on it I'd get streamlined in a heartbeat.

Safe Diving!

 

[TSandM]

I've done some diving off an unattended boat, but it always makes me nervous, and I won't do it unless I think I could pretty easily make it to shore if the boat isn't there when we come up.

Where we dive, things are complicated by the fact that many sites are only divable at slack, and if you do "two up, two down", one team may not be able to dive the site. This is definitely one of those "Everybody has to evaluate the risks they're willing to take" kind of situations. These guys lost the toss.

 

[DandyDon]

If you are wearing a wetsuit, it will be plenty of flotation.

If I ever had to swim a long distance, I'd ditch the BCD and tank after working out a way to bring along any gear I wanted to keep such as sausage, whistle, dive light, and mirror.

That would seem logical, but if it didn't work - I'd feel pretty stupid overnighting in my wetsuit only when I could have slept on the BC raft.

I think about this a lot since I primarily shore dive in areas where there may only be one safe entry/exit point. Over the years I have had 2-3 "unplanned" surface swims in moderately rough water, the longest maybe about 1/2 mile (always my own fault!!!), and here is what I've decided:

1.) If making reasonable headway towards my objective, keep the BC, weight belt, etc. and just plod along until I get there. Keep bare minimum amount of air in BC for bouyancy. I define reasonable headway as seeing land getting closer, not exhausting myself, and not being overly hindered by the BC and tank.

2.) If I am not clearly making headway, I'd drop my weight belt first and see if this helps. If that is not enough, I'd be forced to make a very quick decision on whether or not I believe I could actually swim to my objective if I was more streamlined. Ditching the BC & tank makes a huge difference in reducing drag and would probably be my next step. With my 3mm full suit I have great floatation and exposure protection, and with mask, snorkel and fins I can swim a LONG way in nasty conditions.

So yeah, in my case 1/2 mile or less in calm seas I'd leave the BC on... for a longer swim approaching a mile or more with my life depending on it I'd get streamlined in a heartbeat.

Safe Diving!

I'm surprised you keep the weight belt that long. My BC weight pockets are kinda pricey, so I empty the weights from them but keep the pockets pretty early - having my bud remove my back weights or do it myself then put the BC back on.

These guys separated. I'd hate that part, too - but it'd depend on how confident one feels in the situation.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

That would seem logical, but if it didn't work - I'd feel pretty stupid overnighting in my wetsuit only when I could have slept on the BC raft.

I'm surprised you keep the weight belt that long. My BC weight pockets are kinda pricey, so I empty the weights from them but keep the pockets pretty early - having my bud remove my back weights or do it myself then put the BC back on.

These guys separated. I'd hate that part, too - but it'd depend on how confident one feels in the situation.

Good points. In my case where I did long swims I was 100% confident I'd reach my exit point (although slowly) and was in no danger (except of extreme embarassment ) so I kept the weightbelt and just plodded along.

But yep, I agree 100%, if in doubt the weightbelt goes bye-bye first thing!

I'd keep the BC on if I thought I could not make the swim to shore... but for me (shore dives in relatively remote areas sometimes) making it to the one exit point on shore is the only real option for survival, so in the long-swim scenario we are discussing the BC comes off and away I swim...

Quick story: When I was 18 or 19 years old, I did a drift dive with 3 friends just outside the Hilo Bay breakwall in a running 4-5 foot swell.... the boat driver lost track of us (our fault, we were young & reckless, and did not pull a surface float for the boat to follow). We surfaced at the end of a fun dive... with no boat in sight!! We were about 1.5 miles from shore, but luckily only 100 yards from the breakwall. We decided to swim to the wall, and timed the waves to half swim, half climb up to the top of the wall in full gear. From the top of the wall (about 12 feet tall I think) we spotted the boat off in the distance, and he saw us too and came and got us.

Ahh, to be young and stupid again!! Today at age 50 there's no way I could make that climb in full gear... heck, I wouldn't even dive in water that rough these days!

Safe Diving!

 

[Gombessa]

Those Aussies were quite lucky. I wonder what happened - looks like they didn't tie down the anchor line to the boat enough!