Missing Diver off of Kahala, Oahu, Hawaii

[k ellis]

As reported by a local scuba diving website in Oahu!

Baby Barge
Depth: 15 – 22 meters
Characteristics: Wreck Diving, Cave Diving
Description: sunken barge / several caves
A small sunken barge is one of the attractions of this dive site. Nearby there are several caves in which sharks and octopuses are found quite often. Barge lying vertically and does not corrupted.

 

[Pliny]

Damn this sucks. Assuming the missing diver managed to surface, he could be blown east toward Molokai or south/west with the trades.

Having lived in SF I have plenty of respect for the Pacific but I didn't realise how confused the currents are off east Oahu. Non local dover, not familiar with the Pacific, possibly lacking safety briefing, high surf = perfect storm?

If I ever dive Oahu other than inshore sites I will be carying an epirb along with a light, mirror, Dsmb, and whistle. Probably rented gear for the victim = none of these.

Side question, if you were being blown off the site, lacked signaling devices, and felt that doing a survival float was a better option than swimming for the coast, would you ditch your rig to reduce your sail area, and rely on your wetsuit for flotation?

 

[DandyDon]

I have never dived without a SMB but so many do. These days I carry a light, mirror, and 2 whistles - inline and manual. He may have never surfaced tho...?

 

[divermike1011]

Pliny: Somewhere on these boards is a fantastic thread about how the USCG uses information about the victim to inform their search patterns (obviously they also consider the ocean conditions too). The gist of the thread was that if they know you have a specific piece of safety gear they use that in figuring out how to look, but if they don't have confirmed information you have safety gear, their search patterns are for those of lost swimmer with no signaling aids.

If I were lost at sea and headed for Molokai I'd keep my BC for its additional flotation although I would ditch the tank (and my weights obviously). I've often on long surface swims taken my BC off and used it as an ersatz kick board. I'd want it's additional floatation to keep my head higher out of the water. I always carry an SMB, whistle, mirror, and light in my scuba shorts when I boat dive, I'm thinking after this little incident I may add some dye and a couple of chem lights on para cord as well. I'd think your biggest worry would be dehydration, with a 3mm weight suit I'd imagine you could stay alive for quite a while.

I've often debated buying a PLB or at least a waterproof VHF for diving, but the cost has put me off.

Michael

 

[divermike1011]

Most recent article I could fine: Scuba divers with various ocean sports companies help search... - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL Home

From the article:

"Other ocean sports providers based out of Koko Marina say this is a company's worst nightmare, and that you quickly learn in this industry that it's not a matter of if, but when. They say staff members at Island Divers are good people, and they are concerned about whether the company will survive this emotionally."

This is false. I would never want to work for anyone who thought losing a diver was purely the law of average and the cost of doing business. This actually make me quite angry that any dive pro would say that. Grr... I think I will wait to cool down to post more...

Grr!

Michael

 

[Isurus9]

Dont be misled there Mike, and you should watch the video of the news report where the reporter said this exact thing word for word. Firstly no one is actually quoted as saying those words to her and secondly she was over at the Koko Marina side of Hawaii Kai as she we reporting it. Plus she said 'Other ocean sports providers' meaning parasail, jetski, surfing, SUP, wakeboarding, towables, those bob scooter things, and scuba diving that all operate over there.

It is also funny that you react that way when in your signature you have it saying 'diving is a dangerous sport'. But that is why there are things like liability waivers diver sign, liability insurance for businesses and dive professionals, chapters in the Divemaster and Instructor courses about law, liability and diving, and a whole book to go along with it 'Law and the Diving Professional'.

 

[k ellis]

ID say Mike on the law of average it would only be a matter of time before some injury occured because dealing with people day in and day out there will eventually be someone who looses their balance or something on the deck but I agree with you that when you start factoring in the a matter of when youll be faced with a tragedy its time to find a new company.

Hang in there and just cool down.

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

Even under good conditions-and having just finished deco training on the south side, conditions are seldom good at this time of year-Baby Barge experiences a current that demand respect. I've only ever done it as a line dive, and that entailed ducking behind the barge to hide from current, swimming into it and then along the nearby ledge, and then literally flying across the top of the structure to arrive back at the line. It's about 90 feet, if I recall. I wonder why this was done as a drift dive- perhaps seas were too high to tie in or the buoy was unavailable, I don't know; but in such gnarly seas, it would have been tough for a captain to follow bubbles, I reckon. Very sad. Seas could easily take an unwary diver so they're caught in the Molokai Express, which isn't a good situation at all.


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[MauiScubaSteve]

Visitor vanished while diving off Kahala - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL Home

"He apparently went diving with a commercial tour. They were out of the Hawaii Kai area, but went to a location in this vicinity where there is a sunken wreck," said Honolulu fire Captain Terry Seelig.

"They were doing a drift dive at the time which means that you drop in behind the boat and then you go down as a group as quick as you can and then follow with the current along the bottom of the ocean and then return to the surface again and board the boat," added Coast Guard Lt. Comdr. Darwin Jensen.

Jensen said a head count was done when the group got back to the boat. That is when the dive master from Island Divers, who led the excursion, noticed the man missing.

....

The man had gone out on a group excursion led by Hawaii Kai based company Island Divers. The boat the group had been on, the Sea Fox, pulled back into its slip just after 7:30 p.m. Monday. The Sea Fox and two other boats from Island Divers, spent the afternoon assisting in the search. The company also had divers in the water hoping for a miracle.

The ocean was rough with wave faces reaching ten feet and bigger.

"(It is) Not uncommon for people to dive in this kind of weather conditions, but it is certainly a little bit rougher than most people are comfortable with," Jensen said.

The information is incomplete so it is hard even to speculate much, but...

When arguably the biggest south swell since '95 is churning, very few second dive sites have acceptable visibility. I have guided divers from the Ex Nori Z where we did Baby Barge and then a lame, middle of nowhere 70 ft deep drift, with current heading back towards the harbor. That is when I first got the true meaning of Suunto's conservative nature; I was well off the bottom for last half of the drift due to no NDL showing at depth, while another guide using Oceanic was bottom hugging for the whole dive.

Also unclear that this was a morning or afternoon charter.

 

[Jax]

Mike, we can hear your frustration . . . Now, take a deep breath, and remember that the dive op has to feel ten times worse than you . . .

As far as the "it's only a matter of time" . . . . From the ops I talk to, it is only a matter of time. From medical problems to stupidity, only the newest dive ops haven't lost someone.