Fiona Sharp death in Bonaire

[Steelyeyes]

If it’s true Buddy dive has banned solo diving, IMO that’s an ineffective strategy. Properly prepared and equipped solo divers are no more or less likely to die than buddied divers. Arguements ad nauseum on the solo thread. People die in buddy pairs also.

It would seem that the casualty wasn’t properly equipped for the intended dive?

I've been living here on Bonaire since Feb. 2020. We don't dive a lot, once or twice a week, but we do spend quite a bit of time near the ocean. My wife does fitness swims while I "guard" the beach chairs.

I've seen more people solo diving here than anywhere I've been. One older lady goes lion fish hunting fairly frequently near the Yellow Submarine, a younger lady looks like an avid photographer and I see her at Something Special a lot. Out of maybe 7 solo divers I've seen total only one had a redundant air source. I've never seen a backup mask or a place to put one on any of the divers. I didn't look for redundancy in computers or a backup analog gauge and watch.

 

[scubadada]

In 200 dives off Bonaire, I have my share of solo dives. Heresy, I have never dived with a redundant gas source. Many of my dives are reasonably shallow, but I have been down to recreational limits, and a bit below. No excuse, I have been solo diving for quite a long time and have been SDI Solo Diver certified since 2013. On my last visit to Bonaire, I was doing a solo dive at about 70-80 feet on Bari Reef. A woman who I had met on the pier, who lived on Bonaire, was below me, at the bottom of the reef, for the 1st half of my dive. She must have been at around 130 feet. Solo diving on Bonaire is quite common, not that it has anything to do with Fiona Sharp

 

[Dan]

Wow, how quickly things get escalated and misinterpreted.
This nano-thread started when I commented that I had no more facts about Fiona's death, except that Buddy Dive resort (where she was staying and from whose dock she was diving) had stopped supporting/teaching solo diving. then an "IF" statement turned into a fact. Jeez.
Imagine how quickly the world would have exploded if I'd actually said something important!

LOL

 

[shoredivr]

I've been living here on Bonaire since Feb. 2020. We don't dive a lot, once or twice a week, but we do spend quite a bit of time near the ocean. My wife does fitness swims while I "guard" the beach chairs.

I've seen more people solo diving here than anywhere I've been. One older lady goes lion fish hunting fairly frequently near the Yellow Submarine, a younger lady looks like an avid photographer and I see her at Something Special a lot. Out of maybe 7 solo divers I've seen total only one had a redundant air source. I've never seen a backup mask or a place to put one on any of the divers. I didn't look for redundancy in computers or a backup analog gauge and watch.

I’ve done lots of sidemount solo diving on Bonaire.

 

[shoredivr]

Wow, how quickly things get escalated and misinterpreted.
This nano-thread started when I commented that I had no more facts about Fiona's death, except that Buddy Dive resort (where she was staying and from whose dock she was diving) had stopped supporting/teaching solo diving. then an "IF" statement turned into a fact. Jeez.
Imagine how quickly the world would have exploded if I'd actually said something important!

You said:

“Do I have any additional facts? No, except that Buddy Dive has effectively banned solo diving: it is not taught, it is not supported, it is not allowed on their vessels or under their control.”

The words you used read like the “not teaching, not supporting and not allowed” were a direct result of Fiona Sharp’s accident. The word “has” in “Buddy Dive has effectively banned solo diving” led me to think the events are recent and related to her death.

That’s it. Carry on.

 

[Steelyeyes]

In 200 dives off Bonaire, I have my share of solo dives. Heresy, I have never dived with a redundant gas source. Many of my dives are reasonably shallow, but I have been down to recreational limits, and a bit below. No excuse, I have been solo diving for quite a long time and have been SDI Solo Diver certified since 2013. On my last visit to Bonaire, I was doing a solo dive at about 70-80 feet on Bari Reef. A woman who I had met on the pier, who lived on Bonaire, was below me, at the bottom of the reef, for the 1st half of my dive. She must have been at around 130 feet. Solo diving on Bonaire is quite common, not that it has anything to do with Fiona Sharp

I've got zero problems with it. You pay your money and take your chances as they say. We're all adults and make our own choices. I'm not saying I'd never do it.

 

[scubadada]

You said:

“Do I have any additional facts? No, except that Buddy Dive has effectively banned solo diving: it is not taught, it is not supported, it is not allowed on their vessels or under their control.”

The words you used read like the “not teaching, not supporting and not allowed” were a direct result of Fiona Sharp’s accident. The word “ has” in “Buddy Dive has effectively banned solo diving” led me to think the events are recent and related to her death.

That’s it. Carry on.

It's kind of funny that Buddy Dive would not teach Solo Diver or Self Reliant Diver. It's taught at Dive Friends next door.

 

[shoredivr]

It's kind of funny that Buddy Dive would not teach Solo Diver or Self Reliant Diver. It's taught at Dive Friends next door.

I guess it’s a mindset or something. */speculation on/ I believe the tech instructor at Buddy Dive is GUE, an agency that historically has not endorsed solo diving. */speculation off/

 

[agilis]

I'd been diving for a few years before I even heard the term 'buddy diving'. I taught myself to dive with scuba back when certification was not required to get an air fill. When I got certified through NASDS we were encouraged to buddy dive. It sounded like a bad idea to me then, and still does, for ordinary dives in relatively benign conditions at moderate depths. It seems like you have to take responsibility for someone else in a world of fools. All sorts of redundant equipment seems silly for dives in a shallow inlet or on a calm shallow reef. The only exception is redundant cutting instruments. Lots of fishing lines on NJ jetties and inlets.

 

[tursiops]

You said:

“Do I have any additional facts? No, except that Buddy Dive has effectively banned solo diving: it is not taught, it is not supported, it is not allowed on their vessels or under their control.”

The words you used read like the “not teaching, not supporting and not allowed” were a direct result of Fiona Sharp’s accident. The word “has” in “Buddy Dive has effectively banned solo diving” led me to think the events are recent and related to her death.

That’s it. Carry on.

They painted out "Self-Reliant" as a course they offered on a board on their dock almost immediately after her death.
Coincidence? Perhaps. I think it was a causal relationship. That is my opinion, not a fact.