Belize: Death of Corey Monk

[Darnold9999]

That is that a red SMB signifies a normal ascent with no problems, and a yellow one that there's something wrong and the diver needs assistance.

Didn't know that - but then you would always need to carry two SMB's. Don't know anyone here who does.

 

[Gtoph]

Thank you for that UBB. I was not suggesting that the crew had any direct link to his accident but was wondering if things were so lax on that boat that it encouraged this kind of reckless diving?

[[ and possibly had little to no working equipment.]] Please explain? Thanks

Well I wouldn't say encouraged, but we didn't see any discouragement either, especially with one specific guest. I would still agree with UWBB though.... I wouldn't say the "lax" attitude had anything to do with it. Now the lack of working equipment, that's a different story. It boggles the mind how anyone (newbie to instructor for 50 years) would dive without working equipment..

 

[Gtoph]

OMG, you're kidding, right?? They never bothered to tell you that those were "safety sausages"?? Holy smokes, you really didn't get much of a safety briefing, did you?

We had no friggin' idea what they were. And no, we didn't get any real safety breifing other than 'run your butts up top if anything happens, this side of the boat go up this way and the other side this way." After the trip we had mentioned that they might be some kind of sausage, but who knew. Fortunately we always care our own real ones anyway.

 

[Gtoph]

UBumbleB, did they hold a fire drill or show you how ANY of the safety gear worked?

And no, not at all to answer your question. They mentioned having the drill where everyone puts on their life jackets and runs up top, but it never happened. Heck UWBB didn't even know where the life jackets where. (they're under the sink in your room for future reference)

 

[vshearer]

How can there be any diver who doesn't know what an SMB (safety sausage) is?

I guess she missed the safety briefing mentioned, of course she was too distracted watching the crew's personal interactions as she mentioned repeatedly in about 4 posts.

 

[Gtoph]

How can there be any diver who doesn't know what an SMB (safety sausage) is? That goes right back to basic training, and general awareness and observation as a diver. IMO every diver should have one and use it, but at the very least they should all know what they are!

Of course we know what it is and we have our own clipped to our BC's. We never bothered to unroll the things until the last day.... somehow a cheap plastic open bag does not trigger safety sausage immediately.

 

[Gale68]

Of course we know what it is and we have our own clipped to our BC's. We never bothered to unroll the things until the last day.... somehow a cheap plastic open bag does not trigger safety sausage immediately.

I've seen "safety sausages" offered for sale in dive shops that are identical to the ones given out to all Nekton divers, except the Nekton ones are plain yellow instead of orange with stuff printed on the side. They may look cheap, but guess what, they work. I was on a research dive once with three other divers. When we surfaced the skiff that dropped us off was WAY far away (the current had taken us east and the skiff had gone west). One of the other divers had a "real" safety sausage, you know the kind made of fabric, with a plastic clip to secure it to your BC, and I had my "cheap plastic bag."

Inflated, the "real" sausage wasn't tall enough to be seen over the swell. My "cheap plastic bag," being several feet longer, was. We all lived happily ever after, except we were pissed at the guy driving the boat for not doing what we'd told him to do.

On my most recent trip with Nekton, they put the sausages in the rooms, but they did not mention them in the briefing. On my past Nekton trips they have always explained what they were and asked that all guests carry either their own or the one provided when they dive. Based on the posts in this thread, they need to make sure that gets covered in their briefings, because less-experienced divers may not know what they are.

FWIW

Gale

 

[Gtoph]

I guess she missed the safety briefing mentioned, of course she was too distracted watching the crew's personal interactions as she mentioned repeatedly in about 4 posts.

Geez, no need to be rude as you have no idea what happened or didn't happen. And just so it's clear the safety briefing was minimal and there was no mention of it.

 

[Wookie]

Didn't know that - but then you would always need to carry two SMB's. Don't know anyone here who does.

I do, on every dive, exactly for the reasons stated.

 

[Darnold9999]

I do, on every dive, exactly for the reasons stated.

Cool - learned something new, but not common in these waters.