Error INCIDENT IN PALAU THAT COULD HAVE BEEN REALLY BAD

[johndiver999]

I’m not the OP but am an instructor and formerly a lifeguard and lifeguard instructor/examiner. I’m also a very good swimmer.

You don’t want to turn 2 victims into 3. Not being there I can’t know if I would have judged the conditions too risky to attempt to swim to them, but it certainly sounds like they might have been. A breaking wave big enough to be a danger to that skiff would be a danger to a swimmer too.

Also while a float and long line would certainly be good to carry in those conditions it might be quite difficult to get to the struggling divers.

So you endanger the whole boat instead of a swimmer? If the boat was really in danger of rolling and sustained damage by stuffing the bow, I’m not so sure it was a good idea to endanger everyone aboard, but I wasn’t there to see 5-7 ft surf.

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Wow, Ken, glad you and the others made it out of that situation safely.

 

[Jaan]

That scenario of the packed skiff flipping in the surf zone with tanks, divers, and equipment flying off is terrifying. Just a little more punch in that rogue wave, or a few degrees more of turn and .. it could definitely have been a lot worse. Wow. And all for another photo! Glad everyone was ok and hope they did learn a lesson.

 

[jale]

Hi
Thanks for the report.
People try to do their best even if it not the best. With hindsight everything is easy.
Just one more pov: 16 divers so 16 spools. Even if you double the line, it is quite a long "rope".

 

[The Chairman]

the guy was a bit arrogant and wasn’t a very good/cautious diver, although he claimed to be an instructor.

He probably was. I've met many a newly minted instructor who felt they could lead an expedition to the Andrea Doria fresh out of whatever instructor mill they came out of. Many, many years ago, there were a spate of arrogant instructors who felt no need for cave training and so died in our North Florida caves. There's a certain fearlessness that comes from cluelessness. Unfortunately, it often puts others at risk, first with the people who make a trust-me dive relying on their host's supposed skills and then with others of their dive party. Afterwards, they'll make every effort to blame everyone but themselves. Why would he deign to apologize when it was all Ken's fault anyway? Right?

It's all about limits. Know your own. Know your buddy's. Know your dive op's. Don't pad your limits, rather be more conservative. Honor them by diving well, well within them. This really applies to monitoring your gas supply. Many of my dives would be deadly if I didn't. However, I make every dive as if my air means my life or death. Since I started diving with an SPG, I have never, ever run out of air. I've rarely even come close after thousands of dives over decades of diving. It's a vast ocean, don't try to see it all in just one dive.

Ken, thanks for sharing your wild ride. Thanks to the staff for effecting a successful recovery of divers who certainly effed up. Unfortunately, I doubt the arrogant instructor learned anything useful from this incident.

 

[NothingClever]

This sounds pretty ridiculous. Obviously the operator knew the divers had the potential to end up in the surf zone, but they had no way of dealing with that eventuality?

Why on earth did they not have a long rope and a float? That would seem to be the most basic components of safety gear.

Yelling at people who are in scuba gear, while they are getting hammered in the surf (who have no visibility to see that they might be able to swim a hundred feet laterally out of the break) is very unlikely to have a successful outcome.

When it was obvious that the couple needed rescue - where were the rescue divers/ instructors? Why did they not snorkel into the surf zone and help them? Why endanger the whole boatload of people instead of involving the professionals on the boat to help?

Is the OP a dive instructor? Why didn't he go to attempt some in water assistance and provide, at a minimum, some surface floatation when it was obvious the diver was panicked and in trouble?

If I were in that situation, and on a boat which had no lines to swim to the divers, I would have snorkeled to them with one or two life jackets, made an attempt to tow one at a time laterally out of the surf break and if that wouldn't work, then srtrip their useless tanks and (f'n) camera gear and start hauling them to a point where they could be safely picked up, one at a time if there were no other swimmers. Well at least that is what comes to mind immediately in the situation described.

The lessons learned from nearly losing the boat and endangering everyone on board is certainly not to apologize - LOL

Perhaps lessons learned might be:
The boat should have a plan for an entirely foreseeable screw up
have a safety rope and some kind of towable surface float.

Anybody can be a hero on Monday morning in his cubicle or corner office.

 

[Celt]

They had surfaced on the west side of the island opposite where the mooring was.

What am I missing here, if the island was so small and low that they could be seen from the mooring on the opposite side, why not go ashore, walk across and bring them ashore and back to the lee side out of the surf,

 

[The Chairman]

Anybody can be a hero on Monday morning in his cubicle or corner office.

It's easy to see unique incidents as common when you're not there. Why weren't they prepared for something that has never happened to them? Surely, idiots can be incredibly resourceful in putting themselves and others at risk. Why shouldn't people like Ken put themselves in peril to bail these idiots out? That's what instructors are for, right?

I, for one, applaud Ken's decision to see that even as an instructor, the risk was too high to attempt a swim in rescue. Ken knows his limits and he's proven to be an incredibly cautious diver. It's how he got this old and can still dive.

Ken has sussed out the real problem on the dive: the arrogant instructor. The second problem was the wife who trusted her husband/instructor rather than setting and diving her own limits.

 

[peeweediver]

Ken: Haven't said this before but I always enjoy reading your trip reports and appreciate this "Lesson for Life" installment. It's Monday morning in Chicago so Monday Morning quarterbacking is in full swing, just like on Scubaboard. Why didn't the Bears run one more play to get a bit closer for the winning field goal over the hated Packers, to only run down the clock and have it blocked. In your case, I agree that you don't want 2 victims becoming three or four. I also agree that suggesting to the boat, as you did, to start carrying a long tow line was a good move. What I also take away from this post is that you can see trouble a mile away when a diver thinks they are better than the environment and can do anything as a diver. You all noticed the arrogance of this "expert". Not much you can do except stay as far away as possible. I've been involved in two dangerous out of air situations at 70-80 feet by divers just plain clueless. It's no fun. Thanks again for this post. From now on, I'll be looking for tow ropes on any pangas or even bigger boats that I'm on.

Rob

 

[Landau]

So you endanger the whole boat instead of a swimmer?

Definitely a hard decision here. It would make a big difference if I was guiding the in trouble divers or if I was just another diver on the boat, there to see the pretty fish. Just another diver myself: I’m doing whatever is safer for me.

I might also be against you trying to swim to get them if I thought that would just result in the boat trying to pluck 3 divers from the surf instead of 2.

Google “Rescuer Drowns” and you’ll get all too many results. Mostly not diving related, but water is water.

Fortunately most of the dives I guide/teach are from shore and the rare boat dives I guide are in relatively benign conditions and never have large surf.