Belize: Death of Corey Monk

[vladimir]

I challenged one of them back on the boat - she replied rather arrogantly that she was a PADI instructor and of course was qualified to dive by herself, and who was I to question her?

Indeed, who are you to question her? Were you in a supervisory role, or do you take it upon yourself to regulate all the divers around you?

I didn't reply - no point. I wonder if she's still alive?

It probably depends more on her cholesterol levels, her smoking habits, and her seatbelt use than on the way she dives.

 

[ianr33]

Solo, night dive, to a dive site that has depth as part of the configuration? You say that is not reckless, eh? Let me ask you, Darnold, was the diver recovered? Darnold, you do night dives alone too?

What is the difference between doing a solo night dive and a solo cave dive ,or a solo dive in our local lake below 80 feet ? They are all dark!

So no,I dont consider a solo night dive to be reckless in the least, for an appropriately trained and equipped diver.

 

[Gtoph]

The argument is getting kind of old. I mean dive how you want people.

I personally think it's more of a risk and just stupid to dive alone at anytime, but even more so at night.... I mean plain and simple, no one is there to help if you get in trouble, and who knows what kind of trouble that might be.

I would also go so far as to say that a lot of people with hundreds or thousands of dives have gotten lax in their safety because nothing has happened to them yet.... "I've been solo certified so I know what to do, I'm not worried" or "I've gone on hundreds of night dives and I know what to expect"..... guess what, that's when something is going to happen... when you've become too comfortable. Whatever, knock yourself out.

Just dive how you want, other than having to deal with your death or loss it really doesn't effect anyone else but yourself.

 

[ianr33]

I personally think it's more of a risk and just stupid to dive alone at anytime

Thank you for your opinion. We will agree to disagree.

 

[Darnold9999]

NO!!

You dive according to your certification, training and experience, AND THE EQUIPMENT YOU ARE CARRYING WITH YOU. I am certified to dive solo (whatever that means) but if I don't have the necessary redundant equipment with me (the most important of course being an alternate air supply) then I MUST NOT dive alone.

This is not just semantics, playing with words, nor is it a detail that "of course is understood". It is fundamental. I have seen too many people diving completely alone (not just technically without a buddy, but out of sight of anyone else) with eg. a single tank at great depth. I challenged one of them back on the boat - she replied rather arrogantly that she was a PADI instructor and of course was qualified to dive by herself, and who was I to question her? I didn't reply - no point. I wonder if she's still alive?

Not sure I agree with you here. I get to evaluate the risks of the dive and decide what equipment I carry with me for the dive I am doing - not you. This applies to every dive - not just a solo dive. If "in my opinion" I can do a specific dive on a single tank, have properly evaluated the risk and decided to accept it then I get to do the dive. If you are responsible for me in some fashion then you get to override that decision - otherwise it is my decision.

Personally I do every dive with a redundant air supply buddy or not, but I don't feel particularly safer with it - it will only allow me to deal with a very very limited number of things that might go wrong. The added safety margin is actually pretty insignificant when you think about it. Would rather rely on that device between my ears than a store full of hardware.

 

[peterbj7]

Of course Darnold, there are no scuba police down there so you can do whatever you want. But if something goes wrong I take it you'd like other people to help? If you've behaved knowingly irresponsibly (this is hypothetical) then don't be surprised if people are less motivated to risk their own lives to try to save yours. Also don't be surprised if your dive insurer declines to pay.

And vladimir - no, I wasn't in any supervisory capacity, and actually my wording wasn't very good. I didn't interrogate her, I just asked her whether she had thought through all the risks. I should add that I saw her at 75mtr well away from any other divers. I was wearing a twinset plus a deco bottle, and I had a buddy who was similarly equipped. We approached her to check she was OK, as she was on the bottom not moving at a depth where an O2 hit was a significant risk, and were waved away. We spoke to her on the boat afterwards, primarily to acknowledge that we had met at depth, and were rebuffed quite angrily.

Perhaps you'd rather we had just ignored her? Is that what you would have done? Look at the initial topic of this thread before you reply. I have known too many people die unnecessarily not to try to intervene.

 

[Ayisha]

You dive according to your certification, training and experience, AND THE EQUIPMENT YOU ARE CARRYING WITH YOU.

I am certified to dive solo (whatever that means) but if I don't have the necessary redundant equipment with me (the most important of course being an alternate air supply) then I MUST NOT dive alone.

Thank you Peter. I think you have nailed on the head what the crux of the argument is. Most of the people posting seem to have issues with a person diving alone without carrying the appropriate equipment, first and foremost, not just whether they are certified as a Solo Diver or have the requisite experience.

Most of the solo divers, OTOH, have been defensive from the beginning of the previous thread as well as this one, even before criticisms were levelled. They also appear to have disregarded the main issue of suitable equipment for the dive and changed the argument to become their right to dive alone.

Wouldn't it be nice if our actions didn't affect others. However, when any of us has a dive accident, we put others at risk trying to save/recover us; affect dives in that area that day or even week; cost taxpayers a lot of money for EMS; take up space in a chamber/hospital that others could use; divert the resources of medical personnel to take care of us instead of others; leave behind family and friends; and haunt all those who witnessed our accident/death. Most of us think about how we can reduce the risk of diving and make our dives safer to avoid not only dying or hurting ourselves, but also negatively affecting others.

 

[pir8]

Even though compared with me you're a positive youngster (!) you may well have started diving before I did! They certainly existed when I started, though they weren't taught then any more than they are now, and it was only when I joined a dive club that did adventurous dives that I really became exposed to them.

When I have more thoughtful divers, ones who want to learn to become good divers, not just get a card to go out once a year, I introduce use of a DSMB. Technically I'm breaching PADI requirements by teaching something that's not in the syllabus.....

Peter, you are allowed to add to the course, just not allowed to fail them if they don't get your additional material.

 

[pilot fish]

What is the difference between doing a solo night dive and a solo cave dive

:no

 

[pilot fish]

Of course Darnold, there are no scuba police down there so you can do whatever you want. But if something goes wrong I take it you'd like other people to help? If you've behaved knowingly irresponsibly (this is hypothetical) then don't be surprised if people are less motivated to risk their own lives to try to save yours. Also don't be surprised if your dive insurer declines to pay.

****Yup*****