Diver reported missing in 40 Fathom Grotto

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

It's possible he might be caught under one of the platforms as he ascended. Mighty lonely place to be at night, solo. Easily disorientating.

My recollection of the place is one of easy diving. But that was following Marty to 130ft and doing a full tour.

Why didn't his buddy stay with him for those last 6 minutes?

sounded like buddies said it was time to go up and he said no he wasn't going.

Once on a dive, I hit the mark where I needed to go up. I thumbed up to my buddy and buddy said ok. But didn't move up. I showed buddy gauge--I am low an air. I waited a second or two. Then said up again. Buddy said ok. I showed the gauge again--now with less air. After three times of saying up, I felt I did not have enough air to keep asking buddy to go with me and I went up on my own--alone. I got back on the boat with just couple hundred psi.

We were on a hang line with some tech divers and had 240' of water below us and 60' above us. We did not have a deco obligation as we were just keeping the tech guys some company and making sure everything was ok. When I started to run out of gas, it was time to go buddy or not. I wanted my buddy to come, but could not get my buddy to come.

We talked later and my buddy said that they thought I would be ok and that there were lots of other people in the water. I explained that none of those people could help me as they all had about and hour on O2 before they could get out and that they couldn't help my buddy either without getting themselves hurt.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I cannot fathom refusing to surface when my buddy said to go. Especially over a couple of minutes. That, in its own was probably the dumbest decision made by this young man. It is terrible news but unfortunately things can happen anytime, and it rarely hits the fan when it is convenient for us. This is why it is imperative that when diving as a buddy team, you act and dive as a buddy team. This means ascending at the agreed point or when your buddy indicates it is time.

Condolences to the family and friends.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I cannot fathom refusing to surface when my buddy said to go. Especially over a couple of minutes. That, in its own was probably the dumbest decision made by this young man. It is terrible news but unfortunately things can happen anytime, and it rarely hits the fan when it is convenient for us. This is why it is imperative that when diving as a buddy team, you act and dive as a buddy team. This means ascending at the agreed point or when your buddy indicates it is time.

Condolences to the family and friends.

Yeah ascending alone is much more dangerous than hitting the bar before a night dive in bad vis.

Hopefully the situation is not as screwed up as it sounds.

 

[Joanna.Cordry]

I wanted my buddy to come, but could not get my buddy to come.

We talked later and my buddy said that they thought I would be ok and that there were lots of other people in the water.

I've heard more than a few people lately say that they've had "misunderstandings" like this. At some point in the dive, one person makes assumptions about the other that aren't necessarily true, or it becomes apparent that both (or all three) people aren't following the same protocol. Because they didn't talk and figure that out before the dive, there are problems. I'm certainly guilty of failing to do this... and more than one time it's ended up with me being frustrated and wanting to kick myself, because I was taught better.

Divers are not all the same. Recreational divers are not all alike, and "technical divers" are certainly not all alike. Some people are comfortable diving solo; some are firmly committed to starting/ending a dive with the same buddy. Some people are flexible about and/or want to change plans mid-stream, some prefer to stick to the plan either for safety reasons or just to practice discipline. I most often dive with doubles - and some people automatically assume I'm headed deep when they see me... no, actually, I wear doubles because they are needed for some - and only some - of the diving I like to do, and I don't want to get "out of practice" with them (yeah, and plus, I've just gotten used to them and like the equipment configuration better). However, the vast majority of my dives do NOT involve deco and are not outside of recreational profiles.

Anyway, I think it's important to talk and agree on the "ground rules" before you get in the water.... My 2 cents only...

 

[ScubaSteve]

Yeah ascending alone is much more dangerous than hitting the bar before a night dive in bad vis.

Hopefully the situation is not as screwed up as it sounds.

While I do agree with you that hitting the bar before a dive is extremely stupid, he might have come back to the surface safe had he stuck with the others. There is nothing that says so for sure but considering the rest did surface OK, his chances would have been great to have survived had he dove with his buddy.

 

[Fox-Cousteau]

Just got off of the phone with Red (Blue Water Diving) He and Tracy (Spruce Creek Scuba) found the diver in deep water. He said that the search was like reading braille.

That is all he could say until he was debriefed by the Sheriff's Dept.

 

[Fox-Cousteau]

sounded like buddies said it was time to go up and he said no he wasn't going.

Once on a dive, I hit the mark where I needed to go up. I thumbed up to my buddy and buddy said ok. But didn't move up. I showed buddy gauge--I am low an air. I waited a second or two. Then said up again. Buddy said ok. I showed the gauge again--now with less air. After three times of saying up, I felt I did not have enough air to keep asking buddy to go with me and I went up on my own--alone.

That would be the last time "buddy" would dive with me.
We've lost at least 3 divers (that I know of) in the past 12 months because buddies sent them up alone.

My deepest condolences to the family of this diver.

 

[Rick Murchison]

...hitting the bar...

Let's nip this one in the bud.
Today's "re-quote" of the detective specifically did not mention the "coctails" mentioned in the original. This is most likely because the detective said no such thing, and raised hell with the newspaper for misquoting her in the first article.
Rick

 

[bowlofpetunias]

That would be the last time "buddy" would dive with me.
We've lost at least 3 divers (that I know of) in the past 12 months because buddies sent them up alone.

My deepest condolences to the family of this diver.

I'm with you on that one! I dived with a couple buddies once... poor viz... got separated. I followed buddy procedures surfaced. They Noticed and surfaced nearly 10 minutes after I did. The "We knew you are a competent diver and could handle yourself so we weren't worried" didn't sit well with me.... Haven't buddied that pair again! Gear failure, medical emergencies happen to competent divers too!

 

[bleeb]

Over in the other thread on this accident (Any mods reading: Did you want to merge these two threads?) someone posted a link to a thread on Cave Divers, where it was mentioned that the unfortunate victim was a commercial dive student. It might help understand the victim's possible thought processes if any commercial divers could comment, since I was under the impression that most commercial diving and dive training was for solo diving. How accurate is this?