Filmmaker Rob Stewart's family files wrongful death lawsuit

[Superlyte27]

Wow so HD says they were not responsible for jumping in the water to help an unresponsive diver? Scary.

Charter or no charter, if I am the captain of a boat and a diver surfaces and becomes unresponsive I am getting in the water or sending someone in the water immediately.

As a captain you’re not. Unless you don’t want to be a captain anymore.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

As a captain you’re not. Unless you don’t want to be a captain anymore.

Who on earth would want to be a "captain" if you have to stand by idly and watch someone die?

No thanks.

 

[Superlyte27]

Who on earth would want to be a "captain" if you have to stand by idly and watch someone die?

No thanks.

Pretty sure the coast guard is going to look at it as abandoning the people on the boat. There are protocols for dealing with a man overboard, abandoning ship is not open of them.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Pretty sure the coast guard is going to look at it as abandoning the people on the boat. There are protocols for dealing with a man overboard, abandoning ship is not open of them.

Listen, I have been driving and captaining a boat since I was 10 in the great lakes 60 miles out. I am always the best swimmer on the boat, and if I tell someone to jump in a grab a distressed swimmer or diver and no one goes then I am going. Seconds count in that situation and I don't really care what anyone has to say about that.

Figure the rest out later. But I digress, things just aren't the same as they used to be.

 

[sunshower]

Wow so HD says they were not responsible for jumping in the water to help an unresponsive diver? Scary.

Charter or no charter, if I am the captain of a boat and a diver surfaces and becomes unresponsive I am getting in the water or sending someone in the water immediately.

The owner's comment is eye-catching but I'm not sure how relevant it is. He wasn't out there with them. I read the last two articles linked and they indicate Stewart gave the ok sign twice and that he and the boat were drifting apart, necessitating a repositioning of the boat. Assuming that's accurate, I don't know that jumping in would've done much good; may not have been close enough to reach him. And that kind of underscores a point that has probably been a made a million times before - we weren't there and don't know exactly what happened. Likely just an unfortunate combination of bad dive practice and dealing with a medical issue on the boat; bad things happen when you dive aggressively.

 

[Wookie]

According to a lot of people who post on ScubaBoard, a dive boat is a taxi with no responsibility for diver safety whatsoever. There are those that disagree for sure, and laws often disagree as well, but that is the opinion you will see dominate every discussion on ScubaBoard.

Yes. The Coast Guards opinion is different as well....

 

[IncreaseMyT]

The owner's comment is eye-catching but I'm not sure how relevant it is. .

Totally agree I did see that he gave them the OK sign, the comment, coming from the owner, just kind of threw me for a loop.

 

[Wookie]

The owner's comment is eye-catching but I'm not sure how relevant it is. He wasn't out there with them. I read the last two articles linked and they indicate Stewart gave the ok sign twice and that he and the boat were drifting apart, necessitating a repositioning of the boat. Assuming that's accurate, I don't know that jumping in would've done much good; may not have been close enough to reach him. And that kind of underscores a point that has probably been a made a million times before - we weren't there and don't know exactly what happened. Likely just an unfortunate combination of bad dive practice and dealing with a medical issue on the boat; bad things happen when you dive aggressively.

The deckhands report was that the diver was within 5 feet of the trail line. That report is attached to another thread.

 

[Steve_C]

Listen, I have been driving and captaining a boat since I was 10 in the great lakes 60 miles out. I am always the best swimmer on the boat, and if I tell someone to jump in a grab a distressed swimmer or diver and no one goes then I am going. Seconds count in that situation and I don't really care what anyone has to say about that.

Captain has to run the boat. If there is crew then crew can be dispatched to do the rescue.

A captain and a victim floating around while the boat drifts away or is operated by an untrained (or unlicensed) boat operator is not good.

 

[Wookie]

Captain has to run the boat. If there is crew then crew can be dispatched to do the rescue.

A captain and a victim floating around while the boat drifts away or is operated by an untrained (or unlicensed) boat operator is not good.

Yes. The Captain must stay on the boat.