Diver entangled 3 hours, escapes, bent

[ianr33]

So why didn't he do the required deco? Obviously had gas for it.

 

[DandyDon]

I am never going to be a Geoduck harvester but if I was I think I'd want someone on the boat while I was down below harvesting. At least they would have been able to alert emergency services a bit sooner.

Many harvesters work alone to cut costs.

So why didn't he do the required deco? Obviously had gas for it.

How long can an engine run? It'll run out of gas eventually.

 

[ianr33]

How long can an engine run? It'll run out of gas eventually.

That's true enough. A hang tank of O2, or even air could have prevented this.

 

[Fish-R-Man]

I am not sure what you all are confused about for this story. At least in Alaska most geoduck clam harvesters are diving hookah and can have some unreal bottom times. The find the looses computer possible and dive the most on edge profiles that you can ever do.if most of his dive was at 40 feet and he planned a 2 hour dive he would be about a X. His computer would give him credit for shallower periods and charge him for his 60 foot period. Most geoduck harvesting happens in the 40 to 60 foot range.

I worked out of Ketchikan for about 3 months diving abalone and geoducks some years back. We used SSA and back then we used Scubapro Automatic Decompression meters. In that area, you have a lot of daylight during the summer, so long dives and several a day were the norm. His air would last as long as he had fuel for his compressor. We had ours set up to run off the main fuel tanks, so it could run a long time before it would stop suppling air. I am not sure what gear he may have been using, but we just used a wet suit, weight belt and second stage connected to the hose and snapped into a D-ring on the back of the belt. We always weighted heavy because you didn't want to be bouyant to work on the bottom. I am not sure what he was caught up in, but he should have been able to unclip his reg, drop his belt and surface.

We used a "duck pump" that ran surface supplied seawater down a hose to about a 6' piece of 1-14" PVC pipe. You would grab the geoduck by the neck and then follow your hand down with the water hose to flush them out of the mud/sand. Depending on how deep they were buried in, you would have most of your arm in the hole. The only time I was ever hung up is when the pump quit when my arm was way down in a hole and the sand collpased back in almost as soon as the water stoppped flowing. I had a heck of a time getting my arm back out of the sand. This may have been a factor with him.....

 

[CT-Rich]

We always weighted heavy because you didn't want to be bouyant to work on the bottom. I am not sure what he was caught up in, but he should have been able to unclip his reg, drop his belt and surface.

I can see a lot of reasons he might not have done this. first, we know he was U/W for three hours. he may was as I understand it on the way to the surface. In that case he may have known that he had an deco obligation and dumping his gear would have guarranteed getting bent. The longer he was tangled the greater his obligation was. The article said he did you a 15 minute stop, so his compressor may have died and forced him up. Second, dumping weights while entangle does not mean going up, it just means that they might be dangling below you permnently out of reach. I have not dived with a hookah, but if you dump your weight I would think you are dumping your air too. Again that is a bad idea unless you are completely clear of the entanglement and you certain to surface bent. My guess is that he did not panic and did the best he could to get free and either did not have the air for the required deco or possibly did not have a measure of what was required (possibly after losing his computer). That he lasted as long as he did and was able to get to help shows a great deal of resourcefulness. What mistakes he made that got him into that situation will hopefully come later.

 

[Fish-R-Man]

I can see a lot of reasons he might not have done this. first, we know he was U/W for three hours. he may was as I understand it on the way to the surface. In that case he may have known that he had an deco obligation and dumping his gear would have guarranteed getting bent. The longer he was tangled the greater his obligation was. The article said he did you a 15 minute stop, so his compressor may have died and forced him up. Second, dumping weights while entangle does not mean going up, it just means that they might be dangling below you permnently out of reach. I have not dived with a hookah, but if you dump your weight I would think you are dumping your air too. Again that is a bad idea unless you are completely clear of the entanglement and you certain to surface bent. My guess is that he did not panic and did the best he could to get free and either did not have the air for the required deco or possibly did not have a measure of what was required (possibly after losing his computer). That he lasted as long as he did and was able to get to help shows a great deal of resourcefulness. What mistakes he made that got him into that situation will hopefully come later.

The Hooka gear we used had 300-500' of 5/8" hose with a quick disconnect on the end of the hose that your reg connected to. At the end of the hose, we used a bolt snap that connected to a D-ring on the back of your weight belt. You could disconnect from your reg and hose from your belt belt at any time. We did it a lot to clear from kelp. If the hose got hung up, you could pop off the hose and leave it behind and free assend. The hose/reg connection was similar to hyd quick disconnects. They would seal when they came apart. It's actually the best way to dive if your in kelp. There just isn't much gear to get hung up. The guys I know that dive with SSA in cold water and dry suits, use a harness that supports the weight belt with shoulder straps and they use a y-connections for their drysuit hose. They are really a simple basic unit.

I am curious to see, if the details come out, what he was actually entangled in.

 

[Herb-alaska]

So why didn't he do the required deco? Obviously had gas for it.

Hooka systems run out of gas for the compressor. I could see it just stopping then he has problems.

 

[ianr33]

Makes sense.

Obviously "gas" management means something different with Hooka systems!

 

[Chris Brown Tech]

Thanks for posting, Id never heard of a geoduck clam. After a bit of Googling, I now know what they look like

Im assuming the water is 'F' for frigging cold up there, 3 hours would be bad enough, let alone hanging around for even more deco. Brrr

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks for posting, Id never heard of a geoduck clam. After a bit of Googling, I now know what they look like

Im assuming the water is 'F' for frigging cold up there, 3 hours would be bad enough, let alone hanging around for even more deco. Brrr

There have been three serious incidents involving the clams recently. One death, one more maybe.