Incident - Spiegel Grove

[divengolf]

You are right stay away from the cattle boats....[/QUOTE]


Consider using Quiesence Diving in KL. They run 3 six packs, nothing larger. Extremely safety oriented.

 

[gpatton]

Wow! I've seen alot of stories about divers being blown off the speigel grove but this one brings it home as I plan on diving it st. patties day weekend [sat. a.m.]
I do understand the risk factor and plan on maintaining the decent line all the way to the hull.as well as keeping a good hand hold on the structure during the entire dive. I would like to at least make it into the pilot house before my accent .
Is there any other advice you guy's can give.

IMHO, getting back to the boat with plenty of air via the descent line attached to the dive boat is the most important lesson. It seems that getting back to the boat easily & safely is taken for granted too often.....

I listed some safety tips for the Spiegel at
http://www.glennpatton.com/Spiegel/Diving_tips.htm

I have dove the Spiegel about 30 times, it is a difficult dive especially when the current is running. The current is unpredictable and can change rapidly which can give a diver a false sense of security.

 

[superstar]

What doe's the cattle boat have to do with it, do you really thing it was the boat that caused the incident.

 

[DandyDon]

What doe's the cattle boat have to do with it, do you really thing it was the boat that caused the incident.

Doesn't sound like it. The Op I use for the Grove has a max of 10 divers, but is also very picky about AOW minimum requirements. The story indicates the skipper didn't think much of the divers' abilities, but - it doesn't say anything about their training, of course.

Anyway - it sounds like the accident happened because a certified diver couldn't pull himself along a line without getting water in his snorkel. I can't help but wonder - and we'll never know - if he had his 500# still in the tank but failed to think to use it...?

It sounds like the skipper and crew did an excellent job of retrieving divers and saving the drowning victim.

 

[scubamickey]

Trying to recover 20+ divers from the water in a current is a lot harder than recovering 6 or 8. I'd rather be on the boat with the 6 passengers than the cattle boat.

Cattle boats have a tendency of piling divers on and not really getting to know the individual and their experience levels.

The person who was there that I spoke with said that it was confusing mess. Everybody was pulling divers out without regard to what boat they were on because the bigger boats just couldn't pull all their divers out fast enough as they drifted away. He indicated that it wasn't a dangerous situation per se, just a lot of divers struggling to stay close to their boats.

 

[DameDykker]

http://www.keysnews.com/350265008735015.bsp.htm

Quick response saves Spiegel Grove diver

BY STEVE GIBBS sgibbs@keysnews.com
Free Press Staff

KEY LARGO — A diver from Texas found floating near a commercial dive boat recently was not breathing when pulled from the ocean by the Horizon Divers crew.

Quick work by the crew and help from other divers likely saved the man's life….

The rest of the story is on the Keysnews.com website……….
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Seems like there are some lessons to be learn from this incident...

Thank you for pointing out this interesting storry - I think. However you need to log in to read it! Could you please copy the whole text here. This also ensures that this tread is readable for a long time to come.

Look forward to hearing more about it!

 

[gpatton]

Thank you for pointing out this interesting storry - I think. However you need to log in to read it! Could you please copy the whole text here. This also ensures that this tread is readable for a long time to come.

Look forward to hearing more about it!

I was trying to conform with the "Special Rules" of this Forum

Rule#1
(1) Events will be "scrubbed" of names. You may refer to articles or news releases already in the public domain, but the only name you may use in this forum is your own.

Scrubbing this article would have taken so much away for the article, I decided just to post a link... Maybe the moderator can copy and paste the article!?? I agree, posting it here would be a good thing, especially since it is very public...

 

[Ben_ca]

Big Boats VS 6 packs

Don't the bigger (cattle) boats have DM's on the boat ready to assist? As I understand it 6 packs do not require anyone besides the Capt. So to generalize and say that 6 Packs are better might not be accurate... Yes crowded boats may be a liability especialy if it is a "Ship of Fools" (Listening to Erasure right now) but if they have a DM ready to assist it might be in a better position than a boat trying to manouver with just 1 person on it.

 

[gpatton]

Thank you for pointing out this interesting storry - I think. However you need to log in to read it! Could you please copy the whole text here. This also ensures that this tread is readable for a long time to come.

Look forward to hearing more about it!

As requested I am posting to entire article so that it will be "readable for a long time to come". However, I have "scrubbed" the names per the rules of this forum....

Glenn

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The original article is at http://www.keysnews.com/350265008735015.bsp.htm

Quick response saves Spiegel Grove diver
BY STEVE GIBBS
Free Press Staff

KEY LARGO — A diver from Texas found floating near a commercial dive boat recently was not breathing when pulled from the ocean by the Horizon Divers crew.

Quick work by the crew and help from other divers likely saved the man's life.

The [Texan Diver], 52, of Cresson, Texas, had just completed a dive on the Spiegel Grove artificial reef Feb. 23, as part of a Horizon Divers excursion, when he signaled that he needed help.

[Capt. BB}, who was at the helm of Horizon Divers' Cheeca View dive boat that morning, said currents were almost non-existent when 26 divers went under on the wreck site. But soon thereafter, currents intensified dramatically.

"On top of the current, these were not the most meticulous divers," [Capt. BB] said. "... There was bad navigating, bad air management and a generally low level of respect for what they had committed to."

[Capt. BB] said divers began ascending to the wrong mooring lines, and what started as a simple dive began to fall apart.

"The Rainbow Reef's dive boat, Tropical Voyager, was just behind us on another mooring ball, and they helped us gather divers," he said.

[Capt. BB] sent [Mate JJ] into the water with a line to corral off divers and bring them in safely.

"[Mate JJ] made her way out about 400 feet and the current really picked up," he said. "We had planned on a full crew and our instructors and [SD] of the Tropical Voyager began helping our divers."

According to [Horizon Divers Owner DD], [Capt. BB] was pulling himself along the drift line against the current toward the boat. He indicated he was OK when asked by one of the crew.

"The next thing we knew, [Capt. BB] saw him face down in the water and sent [dive instructor ST] to the rescue," [Horizon Divers Owner DD] said. "Later, they discovered that [Texan Diver] had swallowed water through his snorkel."

[Capt. BB] said he saw a diver signal by waving his arms.

"That's a 911 signal to divers," he said. "I drove our boat directly to the diver and we dropped the ladder. He was blue. I thought he was dead.

"[Instructor AB] began CPR in the water and we were fortunate to have had a physician aboard. We broke out the oxygen bottle and they worked on the victim."

After about five minutes, [Texan Diver] was breathing on his own.

As the crew administered emergency oxygen, the Cheeca View raced [Texan Diver] to the Key Largo Harbor Marina where the Key Largo Ambulance Corps met the boat and transported the diver to Mariners Hospital. [Texan Diver]'s wife was aboard.

"By the time we got to the dock, he was lucid and talking. He knew what day it was and who the president is," [Capt. BB] said.

The Cheeca View made arrangements with Rainbow Reef to return their other divers to shore.

By Wednesday, March 1, [Texan Diver], had been released from the hospital. Reached at his Texas home, he praised the treatment he received.

"I am very appreciative and thankful for all the excellent care I received at Mariners, and from the locals who supported me down there in Key Largo," he said. "I couldn't have been taken care of better."

sgibbs@keysnews.com

 

[superstar]

The dive boat I use to crew on had a max of 20 divers. We always had 2 dive guides and the captain, better than the 6 pack boat that only has a captain.
To blame the boat for the accident is like blaming the SUV for crashing into you instead of the drunk driving the SUV.