Diver found after drifting 6 hours in the water, NSW Australia

[Sir-Dive-A-Lot]

"A DIVER drifted for more than six hours in waters off South West Rocks on Sunday before being rescued by the Trial Bay Marine Rescue NSW boat.
The man was eventually found after an air and sea search involving Water Police, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and Marine Rescue.
The 50-year-old man, believed to be from Wollongong, was tired and dehydrated but otherwise unharmed after his ordeal.
He was part of a dive group that entered the water about 8.30am on Sunday morning with the intention of exploring Fish Rock.
Police say the man soon became separated from his diving companions after he swam to an area known as the pinnacle, about 16m below the surface."

Link to the actual article

Initial questions that come to mind:
1. What was the buddy doing when he got lost? Did they both surface?
2. Even though he had a SMB, it was obviously not sufficient in this case

 

[kelemvor]

Says he surfaced 500m from the boat. That's a long way to notice an SMB if you're not missing a diver yet. I bet this guy buys a radio soon.

Glad to hear it ended well!

 

[clownfishsydney]

Very interesting.

First, the top of The Pinnacle is more like 6 metres, not 16 metres. This area (located on the north side of Fish Rock) is normally only dived if there is no current. Fish Rock is very, very prone to currents from the north. I would estimate that there has been current over 2 knots on close to 80% of the times I have dived there (I have done 151 dives in the area, most at Fish Rock). If there is a current (and from the claim that he surfaced 500 metres from the boat there should have been a very strong one), I cannot see how he could even think he could dive The Pinnacle. I presume that perhaps he attempted to swim there from Fish Rock Cave (on the south side of the island). If there was a current, the only possible way would be to go up the eastern side where there is some protection. However, it is not something I would ever consider doing. In fact, of the 151 dives, I have only ever attempted once to swim from the south side to The Pinnacle and on that day there was no current at all.

However, to end up only at Black Rock, which is only 2.3 km from Fish Rock after 6 hours means the current was not that strong that he could have surfaced 500 metres from the boat. Strange. He probably would have ended up on the beach as it was said he was only 300 metres from Black Rock and that is a lot closer to the beach than where he started.

To dive Fish Rock in currents, you have to stay on the south side of the island and never stick your head out into the current. If you stick to this rule, it is very safe.

A very lucky person I think.

 

[clownfishsydney]

More information I learnt on the weekend, a regular diver here, on a rebreather.