Falling into Dive Boat

[Thalassamania]

The OP inquired as to liability. There is only one honest answer, "I have no idea, it will take a court to decide that." Each and every diver should take responsibility for his or her actions. When an action is the result of a chain of events, as it is here, then each party must take responsibility and possibly accept liability for the parts of the chain that they were "in charge" of, that's only right. None of us have any idea of what the actual conditions were. They may have been so benign as to make this entire discussion idiotic or they may have been so horrendous as to make one entertain a charge of attempted manslaughter ... we have no way of knowing. Odds are that the conditions fell somewhere between those two extremes and thus proper determination of liability would and should rest first with the ethics of those involved, and then ultimately with a court of law. What I often see happen in these situations is the operator (afraid of potentially dire consequences) refuses to admit to any contribution to the incident, this pisses the injured party off to a fair-thee-well ... an we're off the races.

 

[vladimir]

What I often see happen in these situations is the operator (afraid of potentially dire consequences) refuses to admit to any contribution to the incident, this pisses the injured party off to a fair-thee-well ... an we're off the races.

Certainly the course of action a lawyer would advise.

 

[ScubaSteve]

That is an unfortunate reality of the world we live in today. People feel that they are entitiled to other people's money at the slightest inconvenience which automatically puts everybody's defences up. Very sad really.

Some ******* up here has started a multi Billion dollar law suit against the Lottery Gaming Commission because HE lost everything he had at the slots. Simply put, he claims that they are responsible because they never should have allowed this to happen.

 

[Crush (Virginia USA)]

I think the OP should sue her/his parents for not providing the proper DNA structure which would allow her/him to intrinsically recognize when a swell is coming and when the boat would rise or fall, her/his Dive Master for not providing proper instruction on how to enter and exit a boat in rough seas, the hotel/motel that she/he stayed at for not building a sheltered harbor for the boat to receive passengers, and finally this board for not properly warning her/him of such possible tragedies.

 

[redrover]

If feelings were hurt I suggest developing a thicker skin, mine is pretty thin and what you received was a relative consensus we divers agree (I missed all the juicy ones it appears) LOL you don't have a leg to stand on. You asked the question, we answered the question.
Sounds like you did take care to avoid such an event, however miserably it failed. In the loading conditions you describe (the waves were breaking glass) I would have awaited or insisted on assistance of two people to insure I didn't use the opportunity to wreck my trip. At the very least (I was not there to see the conditions at that time) I would ask the crew for advice and not trust I, being the least experienced, would know. You did not take enough care for your own safety making poor judgment calls including expect spending any time on both dock and boat IMO ever a good thing to do i.e. they are doing two opposing things at all times.
Grow up.
DAN travel insurance may cover the lost diving part it you got it, and I would have for an expensive trip, check with them.

 

[captndale]

If you spend enough time on and around boats you will injure yourself occasionally. I have mashed fingers, cut myself, suffered multiple rope burns, banged up my knees, twisted my ankles and broked ribs. I learned early on (the hard way) to duck when someone yelled, "Hard alee!" It comes with the territory. This is not a Disneyland park ride; this is real life. It's just like any other sport, you play hard and sometimes you take a hit. No one can make it safe for you. It is up to you to deal with the conditions. Live with it or stay home where it's safe. It is your choice.

 

[HowDidIGetIntoThis?]

YOU are responsible!!!!!!!

Or perhaps irresponsible, to have asked such a question.

 

[Thalassamania]

If you spend enough time on and around boats you will injure yourself occasionally. I have mashed fingers, cut myself, suffered multiple rope burns, banged up my knees, twisted my ankles and broked ribs. I learned early on (the hard way) to duck when someone yelled, "Hard alee!" It comes with the territory. This is not a Disneyland park ride; this is real life. It's just like any other sport, you play hard and sometimes you take a hit. No one can make it safe for you. It is up to you to deal with the conditions. Live with it or stay home where it's safe. It is your choice.

But you do have Jone's Act coverage.

 

[Shasta_man]

this whining is still going on?!

 

[Theunis]

I only saw this thread now and I was truly amazed and disgusted at most of the responses the OP got!! The OP gave a description of the circumstances leading to his injury and asked a few basic questions.

What happened to a direct brotherly/sisterly answer without the need to flame him/her? Is it necessarily to move in like a pack of blood-lust wild-dogs biting and ripping? It seems that when one member starts flaming the next members don't want to be left behind and try to be more aggressive and insulting. It's like the childish game "follow the leader". Shame on you!!