Well, after waiting 6 months, I finally got my first callout yesterday.
Got the call just after 2:30. It's the other FNG telling me to standby for possible callout on a capsized boat in the harbor and possible body. We're to meet at the exact opposite end of the county.
Got turned around and headed into the office (I get to drive the equipment truck, an ex-ambulance), when the call comes back to grab the truck and go. Pulled up to the marina just shy of 3:30 (we don't respond in code, we're not rescue - strictly recovery). Did I mention it was all the way across the county? This means driving around the harbor, so I got to drive almost 280 degrees around the county.
When I got onsite, the dive team XO tells us that the coast guard waved this one off due to high winds (gusts to 21 knots - they did send out a helicopter to watch, though). He also tells us that the person reporting the boat also found a pair of jeans made into an impromptu flotation device by tying the ankles nearby. Our marine patrol guy gets there a few minutes later and tells us it's not too bad where the boat is, so we load up the boat and get going.
The boat had drifted to just about a mile south of the El Jobean bridge and was in a kinda protected area. Waves were about 2', so we decided to check it out. We motored upwind of the boat to find we were in around 6' of water.
I was a little surprised when the team leader designated me to hit the water. I figured he would take it. So I'm the buddy while a senior member of the team is primary, with the leader and XO suited up for safety, the captain and a FWC officer were also onboard.
We tossed our bcs over and went in, geared up, and swam over to the boat, water was 74 with around 8" vis (until we got up next to the boat, then it was shot). The boat ended up being a 17' sailfish center console.
The boat is now in 4' of water and has a sizable air pocket underneath. It's actively riding the waves, so we avoid getting under it immediately. The bottom here is very muddy, and between the waves and the boat, it was pretty kicked up and vis was shot, maybe an inch or two. We sweep the outside of the boat. The hull is clean and new looking, except for a couple of gouges, motor is intact. We move to the windward side to try to get under the boat and promptly get entangled in lots of mono. We get untangled, and end up pulling 3 fishing rods out of the boat. We do an arm sweep under the boat, but feel nothing other than more fishing rods, cushions, etc.
The license numbers have been scraped off, and the boat is not named. We do, however, find a vehicle registration tag (expired) and call it out to the boat for IDing. Paul then makes the call to move to the bow of the boat (where the air pocket is) and do a partial penetration, hopefully to get a visual on the inside of the boat. He goes in to his waist, and I'm tethered to his BC just under the lip of the boat. He makes a sweep, but was unable to reach the air pocket. Nothing but debris.
We come up, and the boat recalls us. Boat came back signal 10, stolen out of Sarasota, also our dispatch has received a call that another boater picked up three males out of the harbor whose boat had capsized. A unit was dispatched, but the males had fled before the other boater had gotten off the phone. Total time in the water :20 minutes. Back at the dock around 4:30.
I'm pretty happy with this callout. No body, and I got to do more than practice. I was really happy that I got to get in the water, too. I thought I was going to have to wait out the first couple of callouts.
Got the call just after 2:30. It's the other FNG telling me to standby for possible callout on a capsized boat in the harbor and possible body. We're to meet at the exact opposite end of the county.
Got turned around and headed into the office (I get to drive the equipment truck, an ex-ambulance), when the call comes back to grab the truck and go. Pulled up to the marina just shy of 3:30 (we don't respond in code, we're not rescue - strictly recovery). Did I mention it was all the way across the county? This means driving around the harbor, so I got to drive almost 280 degrees around the county.
When I got onsite, the dive team XO tells us that the coast guard waved this one off due to high winds (gusts to 21 knots - they did send out a helicopter to watch, though). He also tells us that the person reporting the boat also found a pair of jeans made into an impromptu flotation device by tying the ankles nearby. Our marine patrol guy gets there a few minutes later and tells us it's not too bad where the boat is, so we load up the boat and get going.
The boat had drifted to just about a mile south of the El Jobean bridge and was in a kinda protected area. Waves were about 2', so we decided to check it out. We motored upwind of the boat to find we were in around 6' of water.
I was a little surprised when the team leader designated me to hit the water. I figured he would take it. So I'm the buddy while a senior member of the team is primary, with the leader and XO suited up for safety, the captain and a FWC officer were also onboard.
We tossed our bcs over and went in, geared up, and swam over to the boat, water was 74 with around 8" vis (until we got up next to the boat, then it was shot). The boat ended up being a 17' sailfish center console.
The boat is now in 4' of water and has a sizable air pocket underneath. It's actively riding the waves, so we avoid getting under it immediately. The bottom here is very muddy, and between the waves and the boat, it was pretty kicked up and vis was shot, maybe an inch or two. We sweep the outside of the boat. The hull is clean and new looking, except for a couple of gouges, motor is intact. We move to the windward side to try to get under the boat and promptly get entangled in lots of mono. We get untangled, and end up pulling 3 fishing rods out of the boat. We do an arm sweep under the boat, but feel nothing other than more fishing rods, cushions, etc.
The license numbers have been scraped off, and the boat is not named. We do, however, find a vehicle registration tag (expired) and call it out to the boat for IDing. Paul then makes the call to move to the bow of the boat (where the air pocket is) and do a partial penetration, hopefully to get a visual on the inside of the boat. He goes in to his waist, and I'm tethered to his BC just under the lip of the boat. He makes a sweep, but was unable to reach the air pocket. Nothing but debris.
We come up, and the boat recalls us. Boat came back signal 10, stolen out of Sarasota, also our dispatch has received a call that another boater picked up three males out of the harbor whose boat had capsized. A unit was dispatched, but the males had fled before the other boater had gotten off the phone. Total time in the water :20 minutes. Back at the dock around 4:30.
I'm pretty happy with this callout. No body, and I got to do more than practice. I was really happy that I got to get in the water, too. I thought I was going to have to wait out the first couple of callouts.
