Fatality Off Miami Beach - Florida

[Abdullah]

I don't know that this is something I would have brought up...but now that I think of it, if a Balanced Rig was something all OW students were trained in, and each realized they must attain, many accidents could be avoided....though this one looks like it would have been a very different training issue to blame.

If you think about all the things inexperienced or rusty OW divers have trouble with, do you think they'd be prepared to ensure their rental kit was a balanced rig? They often don't remember how much weight they used last time they dived, much less know how much weight they need for the particular kit the LDS handed them today.

I think a balanced rig is a hard thing to attain when you're diving rental kit and are time pressured on the cattle boat to descend with your group. If you haven't dived that same model BC, wetsuit, and fins before, it would take some setup time to get the weight just right. Would your instabuddy have patience while you tuned your weight?

 

[danvolker]

If you think about all the things inexperienced or rusty OW divers have trouble with, do you think they'd be prepared to ensure their rental kit was a balanced rig? They often don't remember how much weight they used last time they dived, much less know how much weight they need for the particular kit the LDS handed them today.

I think a balanced rig is a hard thing to attain when you're diving rental kit and are time pressured on the cattle boat to descend with your group. If you haven't dived that same model BC, wetsuit, and fins before, it would take some setup time to get the weight just right. Would your instabuddy have patience while you tuned your weight?

I agree that if all divers, all dive shops, and all charter boats were aware of the importance of this, then those renting the gear, or using something for the first time on a charter boat, would be expected by all present to get themselves dialed in...it may even mean the boat stopping some place just for this purpose--like a still water area in the intracoastal before they even reach the ocean....

This would be something worthy of evolving a behavior towards!!!

 

[Scott L]

I used/rented an unfamiliar BCD only once. Never again. It should be the first equipment purchase of every newly certified diver in my opinion...

 

[diverrex]

I agree that if all divers, all dive shops, and all charter boats were aware of the importance of this, then those renting the gear, or using something for the first time on a charter boat, would be expected by all present to get themselves dialed in...it may even mean the boat stopping some place just for this purpose--like a still water area in the intracoastal before they even reach the ocean....

This would be something worthy of evolving a behavior towards!!!

I don't mean to sound harsh but that is what a refresher course is for, don't waste my time working out those details on a stop to the site.. Or make sure you jump on a boat geared to beginners. I really don't mean to be elitist or harsh but problems will happen when beginners are mixed with experience divers and they just jump in the water assuming all will be well. It is necessary for new divers to understand their skills or lack of. Take a refresher, hire a dedicated DM, go on a boat to easy sites, etc.

 

[jIM STEELE]

proper weighting is key to comfort and balance under water, every lb more than you need you have a pint size bubble moving around in your dry suit or bc 5lbs is a large bubble to effect your trim and balance sounds like she was maybe more than 10 lbs to much. as instructors we should put more effort into teaching the diving public how to test and verify proper weighting.

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2013 at 10:16 AM ----------

I don't mean to sound harsh but that is what a refresher course is for, don't waste my time working out those details on a stop to the site.. Or make sure you jump on a boat geared to beginners. I really don't mean to be elitist or harsh but problems will happen when beginners are mixed with experience divers and they just jump in the water assuming all will be well. It is necessary for new divers to understand their skills or lack of. Take a refresher, hire a dedicated DM, go on a boat to easy sites, etc.

check out the salty snorkel.com on weight train.

 

[Ayisha]

Here we go back to weighting. If someone is correctly weighted, they won't sink uncontrollably. I handed up my BC first a few times in my early years in the unusual times we were asked to hand up our rig, forgetting to take my weight belt off first. Well, I got told off by the DM, but I did not sink any of the times.

When I did my AOW, I was overweighted by 13 lbs, as I've written about on this board before. I had done my weighting check with 24 lbs with full cold fresh water exposure gear and sunk 10 feet. I was told to keep the extra weight on since it would "even out". To "improve" my trim, they added 9 lbs in various places to a total of 33 lbs. My BC had a lift of 25 lbs. I begged to take off all the extra weight and they demanded that I keep it on. I showed the Instructor that I was lying on the bottom with a fully inflated BC, with the BC burping, and could not get off the bottom. When I kicked up, I started ascending more and more rapidly and could not dump fast enough. It was extremely difficult to maintain any position in the water column. That night on the night dive, I could not arrest my speedy descent with a fully inflated BC and hit the bottom at 56 feet. The second day, I dove with the LDS owner, who was appalled at all the weight hanging off me and immediately told me to take off that extra weight and go to 20 lbs. I told her they wouldn't let me the day before. Problem solved. My buoyancy, trim and control were great with 20 lbs, and she gave me some tips to descend efficiently with just enough weight and to stay on top of buoyancy changes.

That is why I *know* that even if one is very overweighted beyond the lift capacity of their BC, you CAN stay on the surface with a fully inflated BC. The greatest problem is at depth, where beyond a certain depth, the BC cannot lift you without work from the wearer. For me, it was probably only about 20 feet and the BC was useless when overweighted.

On another note, was there any possibility of entanglement where the victim was? Is it possible that she took off the BC to unentangle herself and lost her grip on it? I know it doesn't explain the other gear being off...

 

[danvolker]

I don't mean to sound harsh but that is what a refresher course is for, don't waste my time working out those details on a stop to the site.. Or make sure you jump on a boat geared to beginners. I really don't mean to be elitist or harsh but problems will happen when beginners are mixed with experience divers and they just jump in the water assuming all will be well. It is necessary for new divers to understand their skills or lack of. Take a refresher, hire a dedicated DM, go on a boat to easy sites, etc.

And here in Palm Beach, we have some very GOOD stratification in the dive boat passengers..there are some boats that cater to very advanced divers, and some that are more likely to have students or inexperienced divers with them--diving the easy spots in 40 to 60 feet of water. I don't think an advanced boat would ever consider this, because any advanced diver, by definition, should have figured out their bouyancy....Of course we do see advanced divers diving improperly with too much weight--but they have reached a point of comfort with their C&C (Comfort with their convolutions

The novice boats perhaps should consider this--and I have seen some Palm Beach boats actually do this when many known new divers come aboard....it makes things go much smooter on on the ocean.

I don't think Novice boats should be run like Advanced boats.
Also, where you have an advanced boat where you could have 15 divers with more experience and skill than a average Dive Master------so the DM will have few duties beyond being a go-fer.... On a novice boat, major supervisory and baby-sitting service needs to be a foregone conclusion on these boats.

---------- Post added March 3rd, 2013 at 03:21 PM ----------

Also, here is something Ari texted to me cell phone yesterday ( I just noticed it)....
"if the Chinese girl had stripped her gear in an attempt to get on the boat, and fell in with her weight belt, she would have been under the rear of the boats where so many divers would have been right on top of her, that it would be inconceivable that someone would not have seen her on the bottom....

I think this is a major distinction that should be processed by everyone....

 

[David_57]

I always do a shore dive to check my weight even if only in 10 ft of water and that's with my own gear when ever I am on a diving trip down south even a swimming pool would help just make sure to use a tank with around 500 PSI in it.

 

[danvolker]

I always do a shore dive to check my weight even if only in 10 ft of water and that's with my own gear when ever I am on a diving trip down south even a swimming pool would help just make sure to use a tank with around 500 PSI in it.

Smart plan.
In Palm Beach, we have the Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park for any divers to use any time they want to check weighting....and it is within a thousand yards of Pura Vida Dive Shop or Force E--if any problem changes are required, otherwise it is within a mile of the dive boats....

 

[boulderjohn]

It is common to take the BCD off before getting on the boat in many places around the world. It is very commonly done in small boats in Cozumel, for example. When you have a small boat with a small ladder hooked over the side, or if you have an inflatable boat with no ladder, it is what is mostly done.

When that happens, you usually hand up the weight belt or weight pockets first. You usually do not hand the BCD up with the weight pockets in because it makes it very difficult for the crew to lift it.

In any case, you do it when you are next to the boat preparing to board. You are handing the BCD up to a member of the crew. If someone were to mistakenly try to hand up the BCD to the crew without taking off the weight belt and then sink to the bottom, my guess is that the crew member might notice. If not, the BCD floating by the boat would be a big clue there was a problem. Remember the BCD was found after a search was begun after she failed to show up at the end of the dive.