Divers Found Drifting Way Offshore

[tursiops]

Certainly many channels a boat could be listening to at any given time.

Most modern radios monitor two at once; typically 16 plus whatever their home office/shop uses.

 

[DandyDon]

I don’t know if fishing boats and dive boats use the same channel. Assuming they would have heard it is speculation. I do know in the Great Lakes where I fished most weekends growing up we had a dedicated channel for fishing info and I never heard dive boats

I don't know what decade you're referencing or how things are done up there, but marine radios can monitor two channels at once. I have a couple of handhelds I bought long ago that can do that. I need to sell those.

And I don't know who you were attempting to quote in this that got misattributed to tursiops...

This is Mexico. I have never seen a vhf radio used on dive boats or actually heard them. All were usually via phone. They might be just turned lower or I haven’t paid enough attention.

I have been picked up by other boats in the Cozumel channel over the years when I surfaced away from my boat, and they called my boat by radio.

Certainly many channels a boat could be listening to at any given time.

Most modern radios monitor two at once; typically 16 plus whatever their home office/shop uses.

Yeah, they can monitor at least two at once. I think 3: 16, 9, and your selection. Care to buy a couple of portables that do?

 

[BRT]

Wouldn't the original poster's own boat have heard any radio request for help?

I have been on a Coz dive boat when a diver was missing from another boat (never found). I speak passable Spanish but it took me awhile to realize what was being said on the radio and realize that one of the divemasters was hanging off the front of the boat looking for the lost diver.

 

[DandyDon]

Cost's PENNIES......4 inches square,,,,,fits in your weight pouch.

View attachment 725708

Where can I get those?

 

[ggunn]

We do know he searched in the wrong place, and we know there was no one looking for them where they were. You would hope that if he indeed called for assistance he said they are not here, please look elsewhere.

We don't know anything, really. Something probably happened and some divers most likely got rescued, but otherwise this thread is mostly just a lot of talk and rushing to judgement. No offense to the OP intended, but as far as I know for sure sitting here at my computer 950 miles away he could have made the whole thing up. He might not have even caught any fish.

 

[The Chairman]

a gringo screaming in ingles on the VHF for help in Mexico.

Always, always, always use the universal Spanish call for help...

"Donde estan los banos, por favor?"

 

[Tracerbullet]

Where can I get those?

Ditto?

 

[deepsea21]

All I can say is WOW! What a thread.

Any "Quality" dive op commonly mentioned here and recommended by all (who most of us dive with) would not lose divers (assuming they were alive and didn't succumb to some unforeseen issue UW). Whatever dive op lost these divers for hours is a total Chit Show and certainly does not reside among the best dive ops on Cozumel.

The problem these days is new divers and new dive travelers rely too much on TA and google reviews with a few clicks and what do they find? Here's this great AI that has an on-site dive op and everything is great as posted by about 2000 other AI "divers" who care more about their hair and pre-dive selfie pics followed by molesting sea life with their UW Go-pros on selfie sticks. They just post and post and post. What a buncha BS. All about the "LOOK AT ME" mindset on social media.

I've no time for it and it is no wonder that I assume such a place and dive op that caters to such a diver lost a few in the herd and never noticed they were missing and when they did an incompetent captain started doing circles in the drop area. WTF?

If one is going to pursue this pastime they would be well advised to listen to this forum and the dive ops we all dive with.

 

[brsnow]

All I can say is WOW! What a thread.

Any "Quality" dive op commonly mentioned here and recommended by all (who most of us dive with) would not lose divers (assuming they were alive and didn't succumb to some unforeseen issue UW). Whatever dive op lost these divers for hours is a total Chit Show and certainly does not reside among the best dive ops on Cozumel.

The problem these days is new divers and new dive travelers rely too much on TA and google reviews with a few clicks and what do they find? Here's this great AI that has an on-site dive op and everything is great as posted by about 2000 other AI "divers" who care more about their hair and pre-dive selfie pics followed by molesting sea life with their UW Go-pros on selfie sticks. They just post and post and post. What a buncha BS. All about the "LOOK AT ME" mindset on social media.

I've no time for it and it is no wonder that I assume such a place and dive op that caters to such a diver lost a few in the herd and never noticed they were missing and when they did an incompetent captain started doing circles in the drop area. WTF?

If one is going to pursue this pastime they would be well advised to listen to this forum and the dive ops we all dive with.

It was also mentioned it was a boat rental, not a dive op running it, but really we have no idea what is actually accurate or as one surmised even occurred;-)

 

[ScubaD1veDiv@]

I've never heard any Coz dive op even recommend that divers carry a DSMB much less require one. I've probably dived with at least 10 different ops.

I have ALWAYS understood that divers should carry an SMB when drift diving and our dive op in Coz highly recommends having one in case you are separated from the DM and need to surface.

Have been diving Cozumel for a long time and all too familiar with boat traffic in the marine park. You are playing Russian roulette to surface without an SMB.