Wow. Sounds like that procedure needs to be changed.
MAYBE it is a wise practice to keep divers off the platform until the captain is ready to put people in the water.
Father and son run over by dive charter
- Thread starter trtldvr
- Start date
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Wow. Sounds like that procedure needs to be changed.
MAYBE it is a wise practice to keep divers off the platform until the captain is ready to put people in the water.
Garth
Contributor
Hoping for a good recovery for the boy as he probably was the one with the head injury (my suspicion). If there was a DM on the boat it seems like he could directed traffic more.
I'm just glad the boy didn't get killed.
Hope the boat staff is rethinking their protocols and determining areas of weakness.
I'm just glad the boy didn't get killed.
Hope the boat staff is rethinking their protocols and determining areas of weakness.
Had I been the Captain of that boat, I would have NOT allowed that idiot to dive and given him his money back with a stern demand never to come back. That's like yelling "fire" in a theater or "bomb" at the airport...... IDIOT! I'm glad you were not harmed.
Jlpskydive
Contributor
As we say in Skydiving NO NO NO sounds a lot like GO GO GO!! No telling what happened, but I'm praying for the family.
OP
IF it is deemed neccessary to have divers on the platform while the boat is in motion (after living and diving in the Keys for 13 years and racking up 2000+ dives in many situations and capacities, this is still a point I am not ready to concede) the captain and crew must be even more vigulent about safety.
When a boat is underway, a captain can expect a ticket and fine if passengers are on the bow with their legs dangeling over the side (bow riding) for this can result in a foreseeable accident (if it is foreseeable is it really an accident?). So going in reverse with passengers on the platform should be just as foreseeable.
So here again IF passengers are on the platform and the captain misses the very important drop zone, it would make more sense to go around for another pass. A passenger falling off a platform while the boat is moving forward may get rolled in the wake, but would not be run over. Going in reverse with passengers on the platform is the worst possible option, keeping the passengers on the main deck is still the best.
Safe dives
Trtldvr
When a boat is underway, a captain can expect a ticket and fine if passengers are on the bow with their legs dangeling over the side (bow riding) for this can result in a foreseeable accident (if it is foreseeable is it really an accident?). So going in reverse with passengers on the platform should be just as foreseeable.
So here again IF passengers are on the platform and the captain misses the very important drop zone, it would make more sense to go around for another pass. A passenger falling off a platform while the boat is moving forward may get rolled in the wake, but would not be run over. Going in reverse with passengers on the platform is the worst possible option, keeping the passengers on the main deck is still the best.
Safe dives
Trtldvr
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I don't think it is absolutely necessary for divers to be on the platform while in motion ( on most dive sites) , but on the other hand, I really don't like the idea at all that an accident like the horrible one that just occurred, would have an effect on practices which have not caused accidents for 30 years.
I don't hold to the school of thought, that it always has to be someone else's fault...that it can never be just unfortunate that a person had an accident.
I still believe absolutely, that if I jump into the water before the captain tells me to, then I am in the wrong, and can't blame the platform issue for the bad drop. So I listen very carefully to the divemaster and Captain, and take this "entrance to the water moment", as a very serious element of the dive, that has to be perfect. I always am certain of the dive command, before jumping in...this IS common sense.
Let's say there is a spectacular coral cave, with a huge jewfish living in it, on a 100 foot by 50 foot patch of coral we know of. The current is running at 2 knots. I want my ultra cool shot, a friend of mine with me, wants to be able to see this place, because it has been talked about so much ( there is such a place).
The current "may" be exactly north...or, it may be headed at a 30 degree angle east of pure north...you can't really tell as you approach the site, with the wind going an entirely different direction. I can stand on the platform with my buddy, the captain can make a big circle and intersect over the edge of the patch at the area he expects will be the upcurrent edge ( not something anyone can be sure about--you can even have different current directions on the bottom, from the surface). When he sees he has hit the edge, he reverses engines to hit a complete stop over the edge, or to back up maybe ten feet...then shuts down or idles and calls the DIVE Command out, with NO doubt whatsoever of this being the correct instant to jump in, BC emptied of air, and begin swimming down at flank speed, even before hitting the water
.....At the bottom almost exactly over the feature the captain wanted us on, we end up with a perfect drop...This is a place where the "rubber duck" style divers, that jump in to the water in straggling groups, spread out by over a minute, floating, and slowly descending, would be no where near the coral cave feature, and probably no where near any part of the reef itself( probably over sand--which in my book, they deserve; I CAN'T STAND TO SEE DIVERS FLOATING ALONG ON THE SURFACE FOR A MINUTE BEFORE DESCENDING !!!ARGH!!#%!!!! To me, this is the worst style of diving. It is possible in areas where zero current exists, but it is retarded as a standard method of ocean diving. Check your guages while you are on the boat....Stay with your buddy durring the fast descent, check everything you want at the bottom...If you are handicapped by a bad sinus, why should your medical impairment, screw up the optimal practice for all the healthy divers? I say, let the healthy divers go down the RIGHT way, and the medically impaired can try to hit from a long slow drift in--but they will not have the success rate in perfect drops, that a healthy diver will have. Period.
In other words, should some bogus law be enacted to prevent captains from being able to run with divers on the platform, it would mean destroying good drop potentials in challenging areas , and missing out on spectacular dives. Forget it....People need to take responsibility for their own actions. And some times a tragic accident, is just a tragic accident, and NOT something that needs to change existing laws and practices.
I don't hold to the school of thought, that it always has to be someone else's fault...that it can never be just unfortunate that a person had an accident.
I still believe absolutely, that if I jump into the water before the captain tells me to, then I am in the wrong, and can't blame the platform issue for the bad drop. So I listen very carefully to the divemaster and Captain, and take this "entrance to the water moment", as a very serious element of the dive, that has to be perfect. I always am certain of the dive command, before jumping in...this IS common sense.
Let's say there is a spectacular coral cave, with a huge jewfish living in it, on a 100 foot by 50 foot patch of coral we know of. The current is running at 2 knots. I want my ultra cool shot, a friend of mine with me, wants to be able to see this place, because it has been talked about so much ( there is such a place).
The current "may" be exactly north...or, it may be headed at a 30 degree angle east of pure north...you can't really tell as you approach the site, with the wind going an entirely different direction. I can stand on the platform with my buddy, the captain can make a big circle and intersect over the edge of the patch at the area he expects will be the upcurrent edge ( not something anyone can be sure about--you can even have different current directions on the bottom, from the surface). When he sees he has hit the edge, he reverses engines to hit a complete stop over the edge, or to back up maybe ten feet...then shuts down or idles and calls the DIVE Command out, with NO doubt whatsoever of this being the correct instant to jump in, BC emptied of air, and begin swimming down at flank speed, even before hitting the water
.....At the bottom almost exactly over the feature the captain wanted us on, we end up with a perfect drop...This is a place where the "rubber duck" style divers, that jump in to the water in straggling groups, spread out by over a minute, floating, and slowly descending, would be no where near the coral cave feature, and probably no where near any part of the reef itself( probably over sand--which in my book, they deserve; I CAN'T STAND TO SEE DIVERS FLOATING ALONG ON THE SURFACE FOR A MINUTE BEFORE DESCENDING !!!ARGH!!#%!!!! To me, this is the worst style of diving. It is possible in areas where zero current exists, but it is retarded as a standard method of ocean diving. Check your guages while you are on the boat....Stay with your buddy durring the fast descent, check everything you want at the bottom...If you are handicapped by a bad sinus, why should your medical impairment, screw up the optimal practice for all the healthy divers? I say, let the healthy divers go down the RIGHT way, and the medically impaired can try to hit from a long slow drift in--but they will not have the success rate in perfect drops, that a healthy diver will have. Period. In other words, should some bogus law be enacted to prevent captains from being able to run with divers on the platform, it would mean destroying good drop potentials in challenging areas , and missing out on spectacular dives. Forget it....People need to take responsibility for their own actions. And some times a tragic accident, is just a tragic accident, and NOT something that needs to change existing laws and practices.
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One of the things a good captain does, is to acertain the average skills of the divers on each trip, and then figure out what dive sites are most optimal for the group. If he believes a large number on a trip are of poor skill level, he will want to go to a dive site where they can jump in and float on the surface like ducks, and to the slow ascents that new divers will be doing. He will NOT take new divers, or a group that tells him they can not descend fast, to a site where a fast descent is critical...the captain will stick to sites that anyone can hit, that have large expanses of cool reef, where any drop is A GOOD DROP. There are plenty of these in the Keys, as there are plenty of these in Palm Beach.
But there are HOT dives that people dream about, that can not be dived this way....So as with snow skiing, you have begginer slopes, intermediate slopes, and double diamonds
But there are HOT dives that people dream about, that can not be dived this way....So as with snow skiing, you have begginer slopes, intermediate slopes, and double diamonds
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In other words, sometimes a terrible accident, is just a terrible "accident".
mike_s
Contributor
Looks like the news media is stalking this thread..... 
see below reference in RED
CORRECTION: Harrington Father & Son Injured in Florida Boating Accident - WGMD.COM
CORRECTION: Harrington Father & Son Injured in Florida Boating Accident
CORRECTION 8.12.11: A correction to a story we first told you about Thursday.
Florida newspaper the Key West Citizen had reported that a Harrington man and his 11-year-old son were injured this week when they were run over by their charter boats propellers while diving in the Florida Keys. That part of the story was correct. However the newspaper had the father and sons names switched.
We now have learned from a thread on scubaboard.com that 39-year old Jared Adkins and his son Calvin got into the water near Conch Reef, just south of Key Largo on Tuesday, and were readying for their dive, when the 46-foot charter boat Big Dipper ran over them.
Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what happened.
WBOC TV meantime is reporting that Jared Adkins has been released from the hospital; his son remains in critical condition at Miamis Childrens Hospital.
==============================================================================
ORIGINAL STORY 8.11.11: A Florida newspaper is reporting that a Harrington man and his 11-year-old son were injured this week when they were run over by their charter boats propellers while diving in the Florida Keys.
The Key West Citizen says 39-year old Calvin Adkins and his son got into the water near Conch Reef, just south of Key Largo on Tuesday, and were readying for their dive, when the 46-foot charter boat Big Dipper ran over them.
The newspaper says both were taken to a hospital in Miami in serious condition.
=============================================================================
KEY WEST A Delaware man and his 11-year-old son had to be hospitalized after being run over by their charter boats propellers while diving in the Florida Keys.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Bobby Dube tells the Key West Citizen that 39-year-old Calvin Adkins of Harrington, Del., and his son were airlifted to Miami hospitals in serious condition after Tuesdays accident.
Dube says Adkins and his son were run over by their 46-foot charter boat just after getting into the water near Conch Reef, 9 miles south of Key Largo. It was unclear whether they jumped in before the boats captain and crew told them to.
The Coast Guard, state wildlife officials and the Monroe County Sheriffs Office are investigating
see below reference in REDCORRECTION: Harrington Father & Son Injured in Florida Boating Accident - WGMD.COM
CORRECTION: Harrington Father & Son Injured in Florida Boating Accident
CORRECTION 8.12.11: A correction to a story we first told you about Thursday.
Florida newspaper the Key West Citizen had reported that a Harrington man and his 11-year-old son were injured this week when they were run over by their charter boats propellers while diving in the Florida Keys. That part of the story was correct. However the newspaper had the father and sons names switched.
We now have learned from a thread on scubaboard.com that 39-year old Jared Adkins and his son Calvin got into the water near Conch Reef, just south of Key Largo on Tuesday, and were readying for their dive, when the 46-foot charter boat Big Dipper ran over them.
Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what happened.
WBOC TV meantime is reporting that Jared Adkins has been released from the hospital; his son remains in critical condition at Miamis Childrens Hospital.
==============================================================================
ORIGINAL STORY 8.11.11: A Florida newspaper is reporting that a Harrington man and his 11-year-old son were injured this week when they were run over by their charter boats propellers while diving in the Florida Keys.
The Key West Citizen says 39-year old Calvin Adkins and his son got into the water near Conch Reef, just south of Key Largo on Tuesday, and were readying for their dive, when the 46-foot charter boat Big Dipper ran over them.
The newspaper says both were taken to a hospital in Miami in serious condition.
=============================================================================
KEY WEST A Delaware man and his 11-year-old son had to be hospitalized after being run over by their charter boats propellers while diving in the Florida Keys.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Bobby Dube tells the Key West Citizen that 39-year-old Calvin Adkins of Harrington, Del., and his son were airlifted to Miami hospitals in serious condition after Tuesdays accident.
Dube says Adkins and his son were run over by their 46-foot charter boat just after getting into the water near Conch Reef, 9 miles south of Key Largo. It was unclear whether they jumped in before the boats captain and crew told them to.
The Coast Guard, state wildlife officials and the Monroe County Sheriffs Office are investigating
- Messages
- 5,884
- Reaction score
- 2,999
- Location
- Lake Worth, Florida, United States
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
Looks like the news media is stalking this thread.....
CORRECTION: Harrington Father & Son Injured in Florida Boating Accident - WGMD.COM
CORRECTION: Harrington Father & Son Injured in Florida Boating Accident
CORRECTION 8.12.11: A correction to a story we first told you about Thursday.
Florida newspaper the “Key West Citizen” had reported that a Harrington man and his 11-year-old son were injured this week when they were run over by their charter boat’s propellers while diving in the Florida Keys. That part of the story was correct. However the newspaper had the father and son’s names switched.
We now have learned from a thread on scubaboard.com that 39-year old Jared Adkins and his son Calvin got into the water near Conch Reef, just south of Key Largo on Tuesday, and were readying for their dive, when the 46-foot charter boat “Big Dipper” ran over them.
Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what happened.
WBOC TV meantime is reporting that Jared Adkins has been released from the hospital; his son remains in critical condition at Miami’s Children’s Hospital.
==============================================================================
ORIGINAL STORY 8.11.11: A Florida newspaper is reporting that a Harrington man and his 11-year-old son were injured this week when they were run over by their charter boat’s propellers while diving in the Florida Keys.
The “Key West Citizen” says 39-year old Calvin Adkins and his son got into the water near Conch Reef, just south of Key Largo on Tuesday, and were readying for their dive, when the 46-foot charter boat “Big Dipper” ran over them.
The newspaper says both were taken to a hospital in Miami in serious condition.
=============================================================================
KEY WEST — A Delaware man and his 11-year-old son had to be hospitalized after being run over by their charter boat’s propellers while diving in the Florida Keys.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Bobby Dube tells the Key West Citizen that 39-year-old Calvin Adkins of Harrington, Del., and his son were airlifted to Miami hospitals in serious condition after Tuesday’s accident.
Dube says Adkins and his son were run over by their 46-foot charter boat just after getting into the water near Conch Reef, 9 miles south of Key Largo. It was unclear whether they jumped in before the boat’s captain and crew told them to.
The Coast Guard, state wildlife officials and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office are investigating
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