Dangerous Crossing

[Darol]

First off I'm glad everyone is ok.

Jen, #5 - Darol - I don't know you and I've never met you. But to post the words karma? What a horrible thing to say. We have all been through enough. I hope I get the chance to sit down with you some time and speak face to face because you should be ashamed for that kind of comment.

Jen, I'm sorry if your offended. Seriously, I don't know you and I'm not at all interested in what you think about my post. I'm not in the judgement business, you might seriously think about getting out of it.

I've owned and been around boats most of my life, what I posted was "Karma???" that's left to one's interpertation. The ocean, or any body of water can be very unforgiving. The repairs, and condition of that vessel should be the focus, not your interpertation of others posts or what you read into them.


This is not a "could happen to anyone" situation, or a diving accident. Think about it.



Best to you Jen, and God Bless.

 

[WSOPFAN]

All I want to say is with any dive accident, there is much to learn.

Actually a dive accident happens to divers who are in the water this was a boating accident with divers aboard and yes there is much to learn.

We are all still processing what took place and they are still piecing together a ton of information.

Since you seem to have access to those involved how about getting some answers for us.

1) Did the dive shop inform any of the divers that it was a modified glass bottom boat?
2) Was the boat ever tested for seaworthiness prior to this dive both locally and crossing the channel?
3) Was this in fact the first attempt at crossing and did the passengers know this?
4) Was there a pre-dive briefing before leaving and did it cover any boating emergencies during the crossing?

I am not sure, even with veteran Cozumel divers, that we were aware of any danger to go over from Cozumel. I cross on the ferry all the time and I am always seeing smaller boats making that crossing.

I could name off MANY dive shops in Cozumel who would know better than to be so RECKLESS and place divers lives in danger trying to cross in such a small boat with so many passengers. The fact that this is the SAME shop who has once again placed divers lives in danger probably has many people scratching their heads.

I am sure there are many lessons on preparedness and safety that can be learned here. So PLEASE keep your negative, vitriolic comments to yourself. Thanks to your contribution, there's enough poo in this sandbox already so perhaps you should go play in another one. NO ONE needs to be subjected to them and you are not contributing a damn thing to this wonderful dive community here. I am absolutely fed up with this kind of mentality.

Actually I think the comments have been tame all things considered. You know for a fact a CRIMINAL investigation would be taking place right now if this happened in the states. If you don't like it when people have harsh comments about a dive op who has repeatedly endangered the lives of it's customers, then maybe you should tell them to pick a different dive shop.

Explain to me how a dive shop puts a captain, DM, and 7 guests on a small boat and sends them out over 3000' deep water and nobody asks about contingency plans? Forget about the part of the boat size and they all agreed to go, what about safety devices? Nobody said one word????????? That is just mind boggling that 9 adults got onto a boat crossing miles of very deep water and nobody asked about what if?? Yea there are lots of things we are learning from this. I for one know for sure who I will NEVER dive with and NEVER recommend PERIOD.

 

[Texas Torpedo]

I am not a boat person so am uninformed on such matters. However, isn't modern boat construction such that there is adequate flotation built into the hull that the boat will not sink even if it takes on water?

The operative words are: Modern Boat Construction.. Mexican boats don't have to go through the rigid US Coast Guard type inspections, nor meet the standards that most boats builders live up to in the US, as far as I'm aware. I've also never dove off a 6 pack boat where I saw "foam" or anything that would lead me to believe it would float once swamped. Does that mean they are dangerous? Not if they are used for the purpose(s) for which they were designed = near shore reef trips.. (6 pack size boats with no internal floatation, EPIRB, etc) I know there are plenty of larger boats that are much better equipped to make the trip from Coz to Playa but I personally would just take the ferry over and use a local op unless there was a clear benefit to make the trek from Coz... Like spending the trip there and back fishing, on a boat suited for both diving and fishing, and making the voyage safely.

Carrying diver signaling devices can never be over-stated... SMBs, Mirrors, whistles/Dive Alerts, and especially personal communication devices such as an EPIRB or Nautilus Lifeline will get help to you much sooner than locating a number of heads bobbing in the open ocean..

I'm very glad everyone ended up ok, sans sunburns and the inconvenience of lost gear. I really feel bad for Mau if the boat wasn't insured and now rests well beyond diver salvage depths..

 

[Prop Joe]

Glad everyone is Okay! Kudos to Kevin and scubadoc's quick thinking to get some bc's inflated before the boat sank. Glad nobody was hauled to the bottom of the channel when the boat sunk. Scary stuff...

 

[MMM]

In spite of my light-hearted comment about an excuse to buy new gear (like I NEED an excuse) I have thought quite a bit about "what if this were me"?

It takes me a while to get my wetsuit on and I usually have it as far as my waist fairly early in a dive. Not knowing where they sank I may or may not have had it on. One thing is for sure though: I woulda have FROZEN without one if in the water 4+ hours. Would I have had fins on? I doubt it. My BCD? Maybe. On the boat I dive with, the tanks (with BCDs and regs mounted) are stored right beside us (which is how LU1 used to be configured but how it is now i dont know) and I think that would have been what I would have tried to put on immediately. Years and years ago, advice I got was your BCD is your best option. I have loads of signaling devices but I think when I get home I'm buying one of those nautilus devices. That had to be one scary vacation dive!

 

[Dave Dillehay]

Dear MMM,

This is what you have made many trips on looked like in 2005.

 

[Texas Torpedo]

In spite of my light-hearted comment about an excuse to buy new gear (like I NEED an excuse) I have thought quite a bit about "what if this were me"?

It takes me a while to get my wetsuit on and I usually have it as far as my waist fairly early in a dive. Not knowing where they sank I may or may not have had it on. One thing is for sure though: I woulda have FROZEN without one if in the water 4+ hours. Would I have had fins on? I doubt it. My BCD? Maybe. On the boat I dive with, the tanks (with BCDs and regs mounted) are stored right beside us (which is how LU1 used to be configured but how it is now i dont know) and I think that would have been what I would have tried to put on immediately. Years and years ago, advice I got was your BCD is your best option. I have loads of signaling devices but I think when I get home I'm buying one of those nautilus devices. That had to be one scary vacation dive!

M3,
You will be surprised how small the Nautilus lifeline is if you haven't seen one yet.. I haven't gotten to dive mine in salt since it arrived but it will easily fit 2" webbing or even tank straps, which is where I plan to keep mine..
The longest I (we) floated in Cozumel after separating from the main group on a North side dive was just under 30 minutes.... The waves were really rocking and it was hard to see the hotels unless kicking at the crest of the waves.. (Seas came up considerably during the dive) I had a 7' Halcyon DAM (smb) which helped but it would have been great to be able to contact the captain for a status update (he was dealing with getting the main group of divers back on the boat) and the ability to give our coordinates if needed... (Though, I'm not sure the radio on the boat had this capability) Either way, it is a small price to pay for piece of mind. I used to have a SPOT in a waterproof case, and I was considering the McMurdo Fastfind personal epirb and a Narc'd @ 90 case, but for diving in the areas I dive, I feel the Nautilus makes the most sense..

 

[MMM]

Dave I heard it sank in the harbour when Wilma hit. I don't think I have been on it since then. But I have seen it around caleta.

 

[Ron Lee]

Looks like an Aldora boat Dave.

Jen, you can't "shame" us into not discussing this event. Perhaps you are a Scuba Mau patron. Or not. Discussion is appropriate and justified. Those who do not wish to read about it should ignore the discussion instead of trying to suppress it.

Based upon the best info available now, it would be natural for some to conclude that a serious mistake was made by the dive op. That no one was killed is an excellent outcome. Customers who were able to grab anything before the reported quick boat sinking did well.

Given Opal's last dive and now this.....a person would be well served to consider the mindset of the dive shop people involved.

PS Jen. I do not want to appear to be critical of you. I read this after the fact when all were safe. I can look at it without emotion.

 

[ggunn]

Looks like an Aldora boat Dave.

Jen, you can't "shame" us into not discussing this event. Perhaps you are a Scuba Mau patron. Or not. Discussion is appropriate and justified. Those who do not wish to read about it should ignore the discussion instead of trying to suppress it.

Based upon the best info available now, it would be natural for some to conclude that a serious mistake was made by the dive op. That no one was killed is an excellent outcome. Customers who were able to grab anything before the reported quick boat sinking did well.

Given Opal's last dive and now this.....a person would be well served to consider the mindset of the dive shop people involved.

FWIW, it's two different dive ops. Mau Split from Scuba Mau before Opal and Gabi's tragic incident.