Coast Guard, good Samaritan rescue divers near Beaufort, NC

[Bratface]

Well here is some first hand experience especially for those that think buying a bigger SMB is that answer.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/near-misses-lessons-learned/287782-lost-sea.html

John

Well, jkaternchuck, when I started wreck diving there wasn't anything like a personal locator beacon. A big surface marker beats the hell out of a dinky 3 foot one. And Captain Terry told me that himself.

 

[jkaterenchuk]

Well, jkaternchuck, when I started wreck diving there wasn't anything like a personal locator beacon. A big surface marker beats the hell out of a dinky 3 foot one. And Captain Terry told me that himself.

Well of course bigger is better no secret there. The point is a bigger PLB is not enough if your going to be a responsible ocean diver. PLB's are available now and have been for several years at reasonable prices. I do not care how good a boat captain is.....its my ass that is floating around at sea and life at risk not his/hers and I want to be in control of my rescue.

I am also sure that the boat captain would not object to getting the GPS coordinates for one of their lost divers from the PLB monitoring center such that he/she can immediately go to that location to pick the diver up without delay and stress for everyone on board worried about the lost diver.

Excuse me if I seem like I am singling you out. That is not the intent. There are weekly if not daily occurances of people being lost that are ocean diving. We always read about how unfortunate it is for them when they are lost. How about the people that are left behind to worry and ultimately grieve. What about the divers who were onboard and the fact that their day/week or dive trip was ruined. What about the boat captain and crew. We could even take it to the level of what about the tax payers that had to support the search cost of the coast guard. Most of this could be prevented with the proactive purchase of a PLB if your going to do open ocean diving.

Frankly, I think boat captains should require it just like they require waivers and dive insurance as a requirement to dive off their boat.

John

 

[BadaBing]

I do not care how good a boat captain is.....its my ass that is floating around at sea and life at risk not his/hers and I want to be in control of my rescue.
John

Well stated, thought I'd chime in with an example. On our last dive trip, we were spearfishing and "live boating" (ie. not anchored up, using a float jug to mark the ledge). I came up about 30 feet behind the boat. They saw me, but when they went to turn toward me the hydraulic steering went out due to a fitting coming loose. I probably should have realized sooner what was going on and started swimming to the boat, but I just sat there patiently waiting for them to pick me up. Pretty quickly the current had taken me a hundred yards from the boat. I had my sausage inflated and waited for them to come get me. I also knew that we had a buddy boat about a quarter mile away, and that they'd come get me if needed. Sure enough, I ended up pretty much out of sight of my boat, and the buddy boat came motoring over and picked me up. We eventually got the steering fixed and finished the day.

The point is, you can have the greatest captain in the world and still get separated from your boat. In the case of being anchored, if for any reason you don't come up the anchor line and there's a current, you'll be floating until everyone else gets back in the boat -- a very good chance to get separated. If you're live boating, the boat can come get you when you pop up, but not if it has experienced mechanical/electrical problems.

I did some digging and wasn't impressed with the Nautilus (found 2 cases where it did not work). Instead, I ordered the FastFind 210 and waterproof canister, $300 plus shipping total. I may not be able to radio the boat like with a Nautilus, but the FastFind goes off the GPS satellites and will transmit my coordinates to the USCG.

 

[jkaterenchuk]

I did some digging and wasn't impressed with the Nautilus (found 2 cases where it did not work). Instead, I ordered the FastFind 210 and waterproof canister, $300 plus shipping total. I may not be able to radio the boat like with a Nautilus, but the FastFind goes off the GPS satellites and will transmit my coordinates to the USCG.

I think you made the better choice especially if you ever dive in areas where there is alot of recreation boating or is off the beaten path. I have the same but have added a small multiband vhf transciever so that I can communicate back to the dive boat if that seems to be the quickest method to effect a rescue.

I think the Nautilus is a great thing for people to buy provided they understand beyond the marketing hype what it can and cannot do for them and evaluate it's suitability for their diving eviroments. Having something to effect a rescue is better then only passive devices.

 

[Nylorac]

.... in reality Capt Terry would have ended up running them over cause he was headed in the right direction ?

You thought he rocked before...what was the problem? Going too fast? Getting there too slow? Not paying attention?

 

[DeerCreekers]

Nylorac-meaning he had no trouble finding them and knew right where to go when others didn't. He is awesome in every way

 

[krawlings]

I do think that the use of any locating devise is the best and most recommended thing for any one out in the open ocean/sea
here is a good price for Nautilus lifeline GPS/VHF safety radio

ScubaSportShop.com - Scuba diving, scuba gear, diving tanks: Scuba Gear: Gauges (Page 2)

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

.... in reality Capt Terry would have ended up running them over cause he was headed in the right direction ?

You thought he rocked before...what was the problem? Going too fast? Getting there too slow? Not paying attention?

I think "running them over" was a figure of speech to show that Capt. Terry was headed in exactly the right direction.