Missing Diver off of Kahala, Oahu, Hawaii

[k ellis]

On a side note guys since I am not in Hawaii is there any update on the divers situation?

 

[justleesa]

Sorry for the family and their loss.
A few years ago I dove this barge with a local shop. When we headed out there were rough seas (2-4foot) and when we got out to the wreck we had to hold the anchor line all the way down due to somewhat strong currents. Once I got to the bow I had to stop to catch my breath and during that time the DM came back to check on me. I gave him the OK so he moved on. When we went back down the other side there was a large hole to look in. We saw a bunch of fish but that was it.
That dive wasn't worth the effort IMO but once we move on it got better.

You were quoted on the news

Day 4: Search area expands on Oahu for missing New York diver - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL Home

The report where you see the surf in the freeze frame.

the last report was in the AM news, nothing yet. HFD is still looking and might either call it off or extend their search, depending on today. Waiting for the 10 o'clock news - if they mention it.

 

[justleesa]

Can't find that they said anything on the 10PM news.

 

[trailblazer1229]

10pm news stated the search is being called off but will resume if anyone visually identifies something in the water or on shore.

 

[oya]

I don't know the diver, I wasn't there, I don't know who was crewing that day... I do know IDH and I know the Baby Barge intimately. I've been working an an instructor/DM on Oahu for a couple of years and don't even remember how many dives I have done there. I love that dive. Turtles the size of VWs, sharks just as often as not. Octopus everywhere. It's great. But... It is not a dive you **** with. I'm not saying it's the hardest dive in the ocean, but 9 times out of 10 the current is screaming and when there's any swell or any wind whatsoever (which is just about always) the surface conditions are monstrous.

Among the thousands of divers I've led around the reefs, only a stark handful are really prepared for a dive like this one. Thanks to the way the dive industry is structured on Oahu, I've been backed into having to bring plenty of unprepared divers to the Baby Barge and there-by-the-grace-of-god, I've gotten them all back to the boat safely. Most of the time all has gone well and easy enough, but I've had to contend with a couple of outright accidents because they didn't know their ass from their elbow at 90 feet, but they insisted that's where they wanted to go.

Hawaii is not a place divers travel to. Hawaii is a place that people travel to and sometimes remember that they got certified 7 years ago and think trying a dive or two might be nice. Most need rental gear. Most think they need triple the lead they really need. Rental gear does not have an SMB. Rental gear does not have a whistle. I admit that IDH's rental gear is pretty nice and it is well-maintained, but it does not have an SMB or a whistle.

Should it? Probably not. It's just more stuff that people aren't trained to use and will probably just never get rinsed properly and break.

Should you be guiding divers without such safety equipment on a drift dive? (And, oh yes, it is guided. Due to the generally expected limitations of divers abilities I mentioned above, I can't think of a single dive op on Oahu that doesn't do strictly guided tours.) Why not? I have. Drift dives are awesome because I am lazy and hate swimming too hard. It's actually easier to keep track of divers who have no goddamn idea what they're doing when they're all just floating along at the same pace with the current.

Now here's the big BUT: Not in 10 foot seas. Not unless I have something in the range of a three or four to one diver to DM ratio. Not unless every one of those DMs is trained and proficient in DSMB deployment. Not unless I trust my fellow crew as they trust me to keep count CONSTANTLY!

This is a particularly sore point for me. When you're a DM... YOU COUNT! You do it all the time. You do it every few seconds. You don't do it back on the boat when everyone is having a friggin soda! You count over, and over, and over, and over, and over. Then you check everyone's pressure. Then you repeat. Especially in Hawaii.

I didn't work for Island Divers. I barely ever even dove with Island Divers. Because they have the sorts of crews that don't count constantly. Because they would go out to the Baby Barge to drift dive in 10' swells, (and I am certainly not making any assumptions on this particular diver) no matter who was on board. Because I have seen them take huge boatloads of DSDs out in conditions that I have called the dive on with seasoned veterans.

I wasn't there, I don't know the diver. Most of all I grieve for his family and wish so very much that they were saved from this. I wish I knew more, that we all did, both as divers and for those of us stuck counting, as dive professionals. I wish we could learn from this so that it wasn't a complete loss and that perhaps other families could be saved from their pain. Which is why this:

first of all I dont think trying to sit here and Monday morning quarter back a dive is cool at all ... our first priority is to some how let this divers family know how sorry we are for their loss.

particularly pisses me off. No. You're wrong. You're a dive professional yourself. Your first priority is to get every single one of your divers back on the boat at 98.6 degrees. Matt is lost, and that ****ing sucks. We need to learn from this.

 

[jwcfbd]

You were quoted on the news

Day 4: Search area expands on Oahu for missing New York diver - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL Home

The report where you see the surf in the freeze frame.

the last report was in the AM news, nothing yet. HFD is still looking and might either call it off or extend their search, depending on today. Waiting for the 10 o'clock news - if they mention it.

She was a little over dramatic but correct none the less and if they were facing 10 foot seas I can only imagine the currents.
I really hope they find him.

 

[cruiser]

Not always. We only know that the diver is missing. Is it not possible he had a health concern he did not disclose? Is it possible perhaps a hidden medical condition perhaps even the diver was unaware of. It would not be the fault of the crew if this diver was to have gone diving per say and had a heart attack and due to its instant effects he did not inflate his bcd to get him to the surface?

It doesn't matter if it was a medical condition or a current that swept the diver out to sea. He went missing under the watch of the dive op. When dive masters get in the water with clients, there is an implied duty of care. Not babysitting, but they're responsible for having a certain level of awareness regarding their divers.

As far as the embellishments you are correct that it could be over drawn with good remarks. However have you not ever gone to a store where everyone praises how excellent they are and instead of good service you vowed never to go back? What about bad service reports but you decided to roll the dice and found them to be outstanding?

Yes, that has happened to me. But that doesn't mean that one person's bad experience was invalid, or that another person's good experience was invalid.

I just think that throwing negatives of mistakes past into the equation before we even know what happend is not a good way to discuss the incident at hand. Now if someone was on that boat at that time then they could bring to light what the crew did or did not do. Keep in mind also that bad comments towards any person place or business that causes harm even in just reputation can result in some slander charges. Thats all I am stating to people is until more details are in the open they should refrain from throwing too much negative about a company into the open.

Past experiences of divers regarding a certain dive op (good and bad) provide context and that is valuable, IMO. As far as waiting "until more details are in the open," hmm, that may or may not happen.

 

[justleesa]

She was a little over dramatic but correct none the less and if they were facing 10 foot seas I can only imagine the currents.
I really hope they find him.

Yeah, wouldn't be a good story if they didn't over dramatize...

I do too....it's been on my mind and bothering me since I heard about it :depressed:

 

[odblnt]

Nothing on the local news this morning about continuing search efforts and in looking at IDH's website, they have a dive report from this morning so it looks like they've resumed operations.

 

[Lincoln Charlie]

A terribly unfortunate occurrence. A young man taken in his prime. It's difficult when something like this takes place because we are reminded of the dangers involved with the sport that we all love so much. I would like to say that I've gone diving with Island Divers every time I went to visit my brother at Hickam AFB. They've always been very friendly, knowledgable, and thorough. We can't know precisely what took place without having been there ourselves. There is nothing constructive in attacking their operation. We must all remain that much more vigilant on our dives regardless of whomever is in charge.