Diver lost his ride and then was joined by unwanted company (video)

[CuzzA]

Scuba diver surfaces to find himself all alone

Scuba diver surfaces to find himself all alone
SEBASTIAN INLET, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Lost at sea, in the middle of the ocean, 18 miles from shore -- a GoPro camera captured the moments of uncertainty shot by a stranded scuba diver.

"I got to the surface and looked around, and kind of did a pirouette on the surface looking for the boat and there was no boat, there wasn't a boat in sight," said scuba diver Randy Fales of Satellite Beach.

Fales said he was spear fishing Sunday morning near Sebastian inlet -- his daughters were in the boat while he was scuba diving down below.

But about 30 minutes later, he came up to find the boat was gone after the marker disconnected from the weight below causing the boat to drift nearly three miles unbeknownst to his daughters. "The biggest thing is not to panic, and just figure okay, if I'm going to be here for a long time, then what am I going to have to do," Fales said.

So he blew a whistle, trying to get the attention of other boaters, he also used his dive bag to create makeshift flag to signal for help. "I used my dive bag as a kind of a flag to hook it on to my spear gun handle," Fales said.

The calls for help would continue for about an hour and a half, and pretty soon Fales had company – two sharks. “The longer I was on the surface, the bolder the shark became, and the closer it came so I was kind of watching the shark and also watching for boats around to see if I could signal one of the boats," Fales said.

Finally, a boater arrived rescuing Fales and bringing him back to shore. "Definitely I was pretty happy to see that boat," Fales said.

Randy said in 35 years of scuba diving he's never experienced something like this, but says it won't stop him from doing what he loves. "I just really truly enjoy it, and have no problem about doing it again," Fales said.

My thoughts are his dive spot should have been marked on a GPS so his daughters could navigate back to the site. Media used the term "marker weight" disconnected from the boat, but I'm assuming they meant anchor. Maybe the boat was live and a marker buoy lost its weight and the girls stayed with the buoy. Not having a big SMB is a bad decision and again this is a good opportunity to advocate having a PLB on you when you dive in the ocean. 18 miles offshore... He's lucky he was found.

 

[DandyDon]

Personal Locator Beacon: $250
Dive canister: $100
Being able to call for rescue when you can't save yourself: PRICELESS!

I carry my ACR 2881 in my car anytime I leave the house, then on hikes, on farms, on boats, on dives. No extra costs for 5 years. If you ever use it, the battery will need to be replaced, but get this: Return it to the company with a rescue story and they'll give you a new one for free.

 

[AfterDark]

Well at least he wasn't bored! Seems he had enough going on to keep busy. I like happy endings.

 

[Kharon]

My (rudimentary) Garmin sonar has a "drift" alarm and GPS - both of which would have been very useful in this situation.

 

[DandyDon]

Don't all kids have smart phones with Gps nowadays? Well, my granddaughter hits her allowed limits early each month.

 

[CuzzA]

Don't all kids have smart phones with Gps nowadays? Well, my granddaughter hits her allowed limits early each month.

GPS in smart devices are always there and don't require data or other paid subscriptions. So, something as simple as a smart phone would work anywhere in the world. However, marking your spot may or may not be a map feature.

 

[DandyDon]

GPS in smart devices are always there and don't require data or other paid subscriptions.

My granddaughter & I needed Gps one time when she was out of data, so we had to go exploring instead. I guess she doesn't know how to use it then, which makes sense since she is too young to go anyplace alone. I have avoided smartphones for years, but picking one up this afternoon.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

smart phones only work if you get cell service.

18 miles from shore is a long ways out..and up in Sebastin, the gulfstream is pretty close, surprised he was being swept north in the gulfstream.. heck, he might of been on the other side of it that far out.

 

[Altamira]

smart phones only work if you get cell service.

18 miles from shore is a long ways out..and up in Sebastin, the gulfstream is pretty close, surprised he was being swept north in the gulfstream.. heck, he might of been on the other side of it that far out.

This is my understanding of smart phone GPS operation. Smart phones need cell service for calls and data, but not for GPS only location which is independent of the cell service. However, the GPS location can be set to high accuracy in "location settings" in which case it also uses available cell tower data and WIFI to fine tune the location. In the high accuracy mode, the phone uses cell phone tower data which will increase your data usage. GPS only mode works great most of the time, but when operating in areas with a lot of vertical development, the high accuracy setting will usually give you better results if cell towers are available.

 

[CuzzA]

smart phones only work if you get cell service.

18 miles from shore is a long ways out..and up in Sebastin, the gulfstream is pretty close, surprised he was being swept north in the gulfstream.. heck, he might of been on the other side of it that far out.

This is not true.

This is my understanding of smart phone GPS operation. Smart phones need cell service for calls and data, but not for GPS only location which is independent of the cell service. However, the GPS location can be set to high accuracy in "location settings" in which case it also uses available cell tower data and WIFI to fine tune the location. In the high accuracy mode, the phone uses cell phone tower data which will increase your data usage. GPS only mode works great most of the time, but when operating in areas with a lot of vertical development, the high accuracy setting will usually give you better results if cell towers are available.

This is the correct information.

You do not need cellular service for the internal GPS antenna (Satellite, not cellular) within your cell phone or tablet to work. A perfect example of this is why you're seeing more and more tablets on boats with Navionics or other chartplotting apps (My boat included). I 100% guarantee that if your smart device has GPS you do not need cellular or data service to map a location.

I have an old iPad 2 in a Nuud case on a Ram Mount at my helm. Ipad 1 will not work as it was not manufactured with an internal GPS antenna. There is no data or cellular service on this iPad. I have Navionics on my iphone as well and have been well out of cell tower range and again the satellite GPS works just fine.