Dive Boat Sank???

[cvchief]

If you really can't swim, then I agree with you that your snorkel vest is probably better than nothing. But swimming lessons would be even better. Or at least learn how to tread water. And also learn not to board unsafe boats.

Whatever happened to the time honored tradition of going down with the ship. No one seems to go for that anymore. Kids today......

 

[Mike]

The amount of resistance to wearing some sort of flotation device on moving boats is amazing. I once boarded CCV boat chartered to take some of us across the channel from Roatan to Utila that had none on board. I grabbed a couple from my FIBR boat and was asked if I could swim?

The fact remains that it's a good idea, a PFD an even better idea, even tho 99,9% won't bother. I still have not heard anyone claim that life vests were ever furnished to these divers? As well pointed out...

Part of its uneducated people, part of it's monkey see, monkey do, part of it's that the PFDs that are available on boats are the bulky kind required by the coast guard so there isn't a comfortable alternative, as anything is better than nothing but there is nothing to put on other than something extremely bulky, restricting and uncomfortable.

False sense of security is a good description for most of us. Nobody on that piece of crap dive boat that sank felt they were in any danger, and it went down so fast none of the crew was able to get to the life jackets or they were so unexperienced and so ill trained they totally forgot about them.

I tend to be like Jason Bourne, if you recall the scene where he is describing how he doesn't know why, but he knows the 3 exit points to the room he is in, he knows which car outside is likely to be unlocked, which car is likely to hold a firearm, which person in the room is a cop... I visually scan and silently sniff out things without showing it when I enter new situations, I also position and jockey silently and unobtrusively for safer seating near exits on dive boats, buses, etc... I tend to constantly watch people who enter a public place I'm at, scanning their body language, watching their eyes to see what they are looking at.. I'm constantly looking for what can go wrong, what can be dangerous in situations, I don't blindly trust my safety to those in a position of trust... If I'm on a tour and we are repelling, I'm checking gear for signs of wear, watching the guides to see if they really know what they are doing, I'm visually scanning the anchor points, I'm purposely but quietly making sure I'm not the first person to go off on the thing we are doing, never wanting to be the guinea pig... I consciously and subconsciously do a million little things like this, its just natural for me, but I think it's a highly unusual trait that while I find it natural, most people find it strange to find out I'm doing these things which they never realized I was doing.

 

[Skittl1321]

Nobody on that piece of crap dive boat that sank felt they were in any danger

I think what a person who was on the boat said may have contradicted that "I was on the tres hermanos when he sinks ! I can assure you that it was the fear of my life."

 

[Mike]

I thought it was pretty obvious I was referring to fearing for their lives prior to the incident, not during it.

 

[Skittl1321]

I thought it was pretty obvious I was referring to fearing for their lives prior to the incident, not during it.

Oh, sorry. I didn't read it that way at all.

 

[cvchief]

I tend to be like Jason Bourne,.

Mike checking out Caleta before meeting his boat:




While I get you and all, Jason Bourne? Really? I think I do that to some degree but it looks more like this:

 

[Mossman]

Or

 

[Mossman]

Before boarding a dive boat, I always administer a FST and breathalyzer to the captain, examine his credentials, call the harbormaster to see if he's on any "do not sail" lists, fingerprint him and run his ID through Mexican secret service, and ensure that he's in decent physical shape by demanding he run a mile barefoot in under 5 minutes while carrying an Al80 on each shoulder. Then I inspect the boat by donning my gear and jumping in for a quick check of the hull integrity, and I perform a complete overhaul of the engines to make sure they'll run fine. I test the fuel for proper octane levels, analyze the emergency O2 to make sure it's at 100%, and, I bring my own spare radio batteries from the U.S. because one can never trust those Mexican batteries in an emergency. Then I don one of the boat's PFDs (after testing it to make sure it's sufficiently buoyant and all the straps are intact), hunker down in the crash position, and brave the 5 minute ride to the dive site where I'm still in easy swimming distance from land.

 

[Mike]

Mike checking out Caleta before meeting his boat:

View attachment 177912


While I get you and all, Jason Bourne? Really? I think I do that to some degree but it looks more like this:

View attachment 177913

I know.. .I know..

I'll just say that as much as we want to rib DD for his snorkel vest, if I get on a dive boat and see a guy like DD, if the poop hits the fan, he's the guy I want on my team. Everyone laughed at Noah, until it started raining...

 

[DandyDon]

A PFD is a very good idea.

I just think you are deluding yourself if you think a snorkel vest would save you. Any water you are in that your snorkel vest will provide sufficient assistance, I can tread or float in. I can tread for at least an hour without getting tired (I've had to do that recently for water tests) and thus could tread for even longer than that. Maybe if I'm diving up north, that's an issue- but the sites I was near, there were so many boats it would be shocking to be in the water for even close to that long. But, if it was a several hour wait, I can float well enough that I can take a nap in a swimming pool while floating, in the ocean, I can't sleep because of waves, but can float indefinitely. (And don't go with the "but what if you are injured coming off the boat: if you were injured, you couldn't get the vest blown up either.)

If the water is very rough, a snorkel vest isn't going to do much. If the water is calm, it isn't necessary.

Have you ever worn a snorkel vest in the ocean, or are you just talking...?

Yeah, I can swim. No, I can't float that well and treading water for me is work, enough that I'd revert to Marine Corp Drown Proofing position - except that gains 10# of buoyancy by lowering the head under surface between breaths, not a good position when you want to be seen and not hit. So we're different, huh? I take a 3 mil suit in case I have to have it on a trip, but avoid using it.

So, maybe you should try using a snorkel vest and see how much difference it makes - except it may not be obvious if you're a human cork anyway. Mine is extra large and does provide a lot of buoyancy; I've tested it for that - ok?

I'd rather see boat crews offering PFDs as people board and helping them get them on if they want one, but we know they don't like to get them out. I really wonder how many boats actually have them in Coz, and if the DMs know where they are? I suspect this boat kept some in the forward area below, the last place I'd want to enter on a sinking boat.

Back to what we should be discussing, it seems all too common that boats tourist board on Coz as well as all over the Caribe...

(1) May be piloted by captains who don't know to watch out for water coming over the stern (ass end), and their mates & DMs may not either;

(2) Many of these boats are thin hulled and will actually sink if water gets inside, as compared to structurally buoyant boats that will just ride lower in the water if full;

(3) In some cases the captain may get off a radio call for help and other boats may be around, but in some - not either.

(4) And you never really know which way the currents and winds will push you if you do float?
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And you're backup plan would be to float? Okee dokee. If a boat I'm on starts to founder, I may jump and suggest others may not want for the crew to think of that.