Australian woman, two sons and DM "lost" in Fiji

[txdamselfish]

@waterone @DandyDon @kelemvor @boulderjohn

Thanks for the feedback.
I have 2 drift dives worth of experience from a LOB and both had our DM using a SMB as we drifted. We did not have any obstacles. Its good to understand that sometimes the dive op will not use them.

Cozumel drifts and Pacific bommies sound pretty nice! #goals

I do carry my safety sausage, the PLB would be great not only for OW dives, but out of cell services area as well. Good Point Don.

 

[DandyDon]

Its good to understand that sometimes the dive op will not use them.

You couldn't drag one thru a California kelp bed either, but then the DMs don't lead there, often times don't get wet, also true of other destinations.

 

[Scraps]

It is so if you found someone adrift, and they didnt match the description, you should keep looking.

That contingency is too remote to be taken seriously for the kinds of cases I'm talking about, such as an offshore supply vessel 75 miles off the coast reporting a crewman overboard and missing. There's zero chance we're going to stumble across the wrong guy bobbing along the safety fairway. I'm not talking about cases where a boat sank and we didn't have a reliable manifest.

We already knew to keep looking until the SAR mission coordinator said to stop looking, and that wouldn't happen without a positive ID or nowhere else to look.

No, those descriptions were there because the format for the SitRep called for a certain paragraph to describe the search object, and so by golly the eager beaver in the command center was going to describe the search object thoroughly, never mind how stupid he sounded calling the next of kin to ask about eye color.

 

[Storker]

She is nice looking.

That comment is grossly sexist. Really unnecessarily grossly sexist. What the heck has looks to do with the subject discussed?

I have to wonder about a diver with decades of experience who would take her kids to sea without a PLB

Depends totally on your type of diving. You're making the error of assuming that everyone's diving experience equals yours.

 

[BlueTrin]

So they went diving in stormy conditions and the boat had trouble following the bubbles? Is that what I am reading?

I had the same reaction: surely in a stormy sea … you DO NOT want the boat to only follow your bubbles. Or maybe they don’t have the same definition of a stormy sea

 

[DandyDon]

That comment is grossly sexist. Really unnecessarily grossly sexist. What the heck has looks to do with the subject discussed?

Yeah, yeah, heard that before here. Asked and answered.

Oh, nothing really, other than it's why the story ran on so many news sites, with the photo. The British tourist was barely mentioned. I'm glad they all made it safely.

But if you really want to beat a dead horse, type away, amigo.

Depends totally on your type of diving. You're making the error of assuming that everyone's diving experience equals yours.

No error. She's described as having 30 years of diving experience, but she took her kids to sea without a PLB. I would never do that. I take my kids, grandkids and great grand on many trips into the wilds, but never without it.

I had the same reaction: surely in a stormy sea … you DO NOT want the boat to only follow your bubbles. Or maybe they don’t have the same definition of a stormy sea

I agree with the aforementioned mom. The dive Op blew it.

And I have to wonder about a dive op that would continue into a storm instead of sacrificing refunds.

 

[Joneill]

Thoughts on whether it would would make sense to delay SMB deployment for an hour? This event is irrefutable evidence for PLBs.

I think the SMB’s should have been deployed as soon as they surfaced and saw no boat on site.

And, to me, it’s not really that great of an example to support the value of a PLB.

The group was only drifting for a relatively short time before they were picked up by a passing boat after deploying their SMB’s (approximately 1 hour after surfacing according to the linked story).

 

[DandyDon]

…But you appear to be an incredibly paranoid and compeletely risk-averse person.

Hardly.

Since I started diving in 2015, I have NEVER seen a diver with a PLB. I just got back from diving in 2 different parts of Fiji and not one diver on any of the boats that I was on had a PLB.

Yeah, I have a few years and few hundred on you, but I haven't seen another one out either. So far I have the high score for smarts there.

Carrying a PLB is not at all a common practice so I don’t know why you continue to think it is?

Of course it's not. It needs to be, but you're welcome to your opinion.

The group was only drifting for a relatively short time before they were picked up by a passing boat

Not exactly. Read again her words...

The divemaster advised the group to start swimming for an island they could see in the distance.

"I can't impress how concerned I was for everyone's health, sharks and the sense of determination I had to reach the island in a calm manner," Ms Clark said.

Swimming for an island in the distance with storms and currents is a desperate goal.

And, to me, it’s not really that great of an example to support the value of a PLB.

Well, I don't guess that you are a parent.

 

[rmorgan]

I think the SMB’s should have been deployed as soon as they surfaced and saw no boat on site.

And, to me, it’s not really that great of an example to support the value of a PLB.

The group was only drifting for a relatively short time before they were picked up by a passing boat after deploying their SMB’s (approximately 1 hour after surfacing according to the linked story).

I take your point, but people don’t have to disappear for it to be instructive. Offshore with no skiff and 6’ swells is an unhappy situation, and it’s not clear that the dive boat had sounded the alarm. A beacon could probably have reunited the divers with the skiff more quickly.

 

[Dan]

I think the SMB’s should have been deployed as soon as they surfaced and saw no boat on site.

And, to me, it’s not really that great of an example to support the value of a PLB.

The group was only drifting for a relatively short time before they were picked up by a passing boat after deploying their SMB’s (approximately 1 hour after surfacing according to the linked story).

I think divers should carry DSMB (not SMB) & launch it from depth the minute we get swept away by fast current or a possible difficulty for the boat to follow due to rough weather (swell, raining, etc.), so the boat above us could track us before we got drifted too far from the boat range of view.

Launch DSMB from depth has saved me from being lost at sea in Maldives.