Caught in a propeller
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We've had one "diver in prop" incident here last year. The person in question was incredibly lucky in that only his drysuit and undersuit was destroyed and suffering bad bruising on the thing and skinned knuckles.
Our standard procedure for divers in and our is engine running and in neutral (given the proximity of some sites and entry points to rocks, sub surface rocks and other hazards you have to have the ability to move and fast).
This one day the procedures broke down, the diver thought he heard a clear to go signal and rolled in, the boat handler had shouted something else and was reversing. Result was 1 diver in water meets prop. A nasty grinding noise, lots of shouting and eventually hauled him back on board expecting the worst but luckily it wasnt.
Needless to say procedures for entry/exit have been improved now...
As for the question about the hood, i dont often hear my own computer beeping through it and dont hear much else so i guess it blocks a fair bit out. Ive never dived without a hood though so cant really compare with to without.
Bigger boats you tend to feel as well as hear with the low frequency rumble, smaller ones are a high pitched egg whisk type noise.
Our standard procedure for divers in and our is engine running and in neutral (given the proximity of some sites and entry points to rocks, sub surface rocks and other hazards you have to have the ability to move and fast).
This one day the procedures broke down, the diver thought he heard a clear to go signal and rolled in, the boat handler had shouted something else and was reversing. Result was 1 diver in water meets prop. A nasty grinding noise, lots of shouting and eventually hauled him back on board expecting the worst but luckily it wasnt.
Needless to say procedures for entry/exit have been improved now...
As for the question about the hood, i dont often hear my own computer beeping through it and dont hear much else so i guess it blocks a fair bit out. Ive never dived without a hood though so cant really compare with to without.
Bigger boats you tend to feel as well as hear with the low frequency rumble, smaller ones are a high pitched egg whisk type noise.
I wear a hood most of the time and can hear boats even at depths to 100' (max I usually dive in the Park). Of course it depends on how much background noise there might be- we do get a lot of boat traffic here off Avalon. It may also depend on how long you've been diving- after 43 years I shouldn't be able to hear at all!
Doc
Doc
even if you cant hear the boat for some reason, I was always taught to be looking up and around when you are asending for that very reason.
Me too. The instructor illustrated the point with a story of a diver who ascended into a Portuguese Man o' War - it's not just boats that can be above you. Always look where you're going!diverbob:
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