Ladysmith fatality - Vancouver Island, British Columbia

[sunnyboy]

There aren't a lot of 'official' boat dives near Ladysmith as far as I know. Being visitors I suppose they could have gone diving almost anywhere, but...

The two that come to mind are the Chemainus 737 airplane (artificial reef) and Dodd narrows. Both would fit the stated travel time to the Ladysmith dock.

Both dives are normally considered advanced dives - the airplane is in roughly 90 fsw and Dodd narrows is a current dive often employing live drop and pick-up.

 

[Stoo]

... by certs alone, this person would be an experienced, totally qualified, skilled, diver. My heart goes out to his family, and friends who knew this person. May this diver, RIP.

That may be a leap. Other than Fundies, no real skill is involved in the others, and none of them say anything about his experience. I just looked up prerequisites for Fundies and it only requires that one be certified and does a bunch of paperwork. I didn't see any requirement for number of dives.

Don't misunderstand... I'm not commenting at all on this person's level of skill or experience, only that having four cards isn't necessarily indicative of anything significant.

As always with these things, it's best to "wait and see", although we may not ever learn anything much.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Other than Fundies,

... well exactly. All of my dive friends who have done Fundies, are pretty damn good divers; solid finning and buoyancy. Even at just the "Rec" level, this course usually puts out skilled divers.

 

[Stoo]

... well exactly. All of my dive friends who have done Fundies, are pretty damn good divers; solid finning and buoyancy. Even at just the "Rec" level, this course usually puts out skilled divers.

Yes I agree. It does teach some solid skills, but being able to kick backwards doesn't necessarily equate to being a skilled diver overall, and it certainly doesn't address experience.

You may very well be right in your statement, but I've come to be skeptical of certifications when it comes to competence. I've met plenty of PADI Instructors over the years that honestly, I wouldn't want to do anything more than a simple dive with them.

And to be clear, I am NOT in any way saying this poor soul wasn't a capable diver. I was ONLY commenting that a few pretty basic courses don't necessarily tell us much.

 

[Bradleyjb]

I found this community last week, looking for answers and information as to what happened to my friend Paul. I appreciate the condolences and how you have gone out of your way not to jump to conclusions about his skills.

Paul's birthday would have been this past week, so I assume this was related to that. I don't facebook but my wife says he had just gotten some sort of new double tank and posted about it. He had a heart attack on this dive but not specific to the dive. I don't have any other details. Also wanted to share what an amazing human being he was so that he's not just an anonymous "fatality". He was a rock climber, drummer, skydiver, mountain climber (in Nepal), diver (for at least 25 years), PhD rocket scientist (yep, sent things to space for SpaceX, drove things on Mars for Nasa), helicopter pilot and dreamed of being an astronaut. He was probably the most alive person I've ever met, and will be sorely missed. Sorry of this message is out of line for this forum as I know this isn't safety related.

 

[VE7DAC]

I found this community last week, looking for answers and information as to what happened to my friend Paul. I appreciate the condolences and how you have gone out of your way not to jump to conclusions about his skills.

Paul's birthday would have been this past week, so I assume this was related to that. I don't facebook but my wife says he had just gotten some sort of new double tank and posted about it. He had a heart attack on this dive but not specific to the dive. I don't have any other details. Also wanted to share what an amazing human being he was so that he's not just an anonymous "fatality". He was a rock climber, drummer, skydiver, mountain climber (in Nepal), diver (for at least 25 years), PhD rocket scientist (yep, sent things to space for SpaceX, drove things on Mars for Nasa), helicopter pilot and dreamed of being an astronaut. He was probably the most alive person I've ever met, and will be sorely missed. Sorry of this message is out of line for this forum as I know this isn't safety related.

We're all very sorry for your loss, it sounds like he was a remarkable person. Thank you for sharing, it's good to be reminded of the humanity behind the statistics.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

I found this community last week, looking for answers and information as to what happened to my friend Paul. I appreciate the condolences and how you have gone out of your way not to jump to conclusions about his skills.

Paul's birthday would have been this past week, so I assume this was related to that. I don't facebook but my wife says he had just gotten some sort of new double tank and posted about it. He had a heart attack on this dive but not specific to the dive. I don't have any other details. Also wanted to share what an amazing human being he was so that he's not just an anonymous "fatality". He was a rock climber, drummer, skydiver, mountain climber (in Nepal), diver (for at least 25 years), PhD rocket scientist (yep, sent things to space for SpaceX, drove things on Mars for Nasa), helicopter pilot and dreamed of being an astronaut. He was probably the most alive person I've ever met, and will be sorely missed. Sorry of this message is out of line for this forum as I know this isn't safety related.

Very much pass condolences to his family from divers in the Vancouver Island dive community. A heart attack is an unseen killer that can get anyone.

 

[DandyDon]

This seems to be his obituary...

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bohemian/name/paul-tomkins-obituary?pid=201587498

 

[Chris Stock]

Is it known if they were on a Rec or Tech dive, yet?

over and over you seem hung up on if they where "tech" divers. Doesn't exactly make them "better" divers.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

over and over you seem hung up on if they where "tech" divers. Doesn't exactly make them "better" divers.

So I asked a simple and valid question, if it was known if the diver was on a Rec or Tech dive. Your response to me, is that, "over and over" I am "hung up" on if they were Tech divers. Can you please explain to me, the over and over part ??? I asked one question. Never did I say a Tech diver was better than a Rec diver, or the other way around. There was no repetitive grilling on my part, nothing "over and over". I asked because it is a valid question. Can you please explain your attitude that I am hung up on something?