Missing Diver Off Vandenberg?

[Kay Dee]

Hey! I was just quoting a "professional"!

And hence thats why I wrote "With all due respect that quoted comment above is extreme over-simplification and simply not real-world true." and not 'your quoted comment'.

 

[Kay Dee]

I don't know the actual current speed, but I remember pulling down a line hand-over-hand with great effort, legs flying "in the breeze" to a wreck off Pompano. On the way back up the ball was several feet underwater and we decided to drift and wait for a pick-up when the boat returned. The current on the wreck wasn't so bad, but nearer the surface it was rippin'.

Yes we are sliding off topic but....................

Several feet underwater? Try finding two balls at 60m / 200ft and see what that does to your phsyc knowing you still had hours of deco to do! Once did a dive on USS Atlanta off Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) and went in with next to no current and by the time we were back at our 66m / 220ft stop the two balls were just above us at 60m with a safety diver hanging on there for dear life, as were my partner and I. Several liftbags and aid from above 'solved' that...............but I wished they had told me they were going to shoot those bags, as next I knew I was struggling, repeat struggling, hand over hand back down the line to get back down to my 60m stop!

Why didnt we just shoot bags ourselves and complete our deco under them? Numerous resons but explaining would really drift - pun intended - way off topic.

 

[Centrals]

Yes we are sliding off topic but....................

Several feet underwater? Try finding two balls at 60m / 200ft and see what that does to your phsyc knowing you still had hours of deco to do! Once did a dive on USS Atlanta off Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) and went in with next to no current and by the time we were back at our 66m / 220ft stop the two balls were just above us at 60m with a safety diver hanging on there for dear life, as were my partner and I. Several liftbags and aid from above 'solved' that...............but I wished they had told me they were going to shoot those bags, as next I knew I was struggling, repeat struggling, hand over hand back down the line to get back down to my 60m stop!

Same expedition with GUE?

 

[Celt]

I’ve worked in tidal sounds and done towed searches and it might help divers if they got a friend to tow them at 1 or 2 knots with the boat, to get an understanding of diving in current.

 

[SwennyKL]

I tend to agree with that. The DM and instructors who pretend they have more than 2 pairs of eyes and never lose sight of 4 divers under their responsibility leave me skeptical.

How many classes have you taught? How many groups have you led? I'll wait.

 

[SwennyKL]

Grab

Where?

nd

Grand Cayman, Grand Bahama, Jamaica, Oahu, Turks and Caicos Islands, Maui, Costa Rica, The Domican Republic, Costa Rica, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Kona and Key West. Not one accident ever. Been using my instructor card and my passport to travel the world and acquire knowledge. Learned from and worked with some of the best in the business.

 

[SwennyKL]

I am not even sure how you think this is possible? If you are guiding a dive, that means you are in front and the others are following. You have to look ahead to see where YOU are going, which means at that point you are NOT looking behind you at the people you are guiding.

Now if YOU are following the divers so you can keep sight of them, you are NOT guiding. You are babysitting, herding cats, whatever, but not guiding.

Actually it's quite simple. Every few minutes roll over on your back, look behind you and check your group. Real Instructors and DM's do it all over the world.
How many classes have you taught? How many groups have you led? I've had ZERO accidents in 27 years as an instructor. Over 20,000 dives lifetime in 39 years as a diver. That's NOT 'Luck", it's "skill". How about you?

 

[-JD-]

I am not a pro, but have taken point and tail on dives with other certified diver groups.
There is a big difference between "Tidy Bowl" and "arms length means pretty much out of sight" conditions.

 

[Kay Dee]

Actually it's quite simple. Every few minutes roll over on your back, look behind you and check your group. Real Instructors and DM's do it all over the world.
How many classes have you taught? How many groups have you led? I've had ZERO accidents in 27 years as an instructor. Over 20,000 dives lifetime in 39 years as a diver. That's NOT 'Luck", it's "skill". How about you?

Re my now underlined above, during those few minutes prior to rolling over on your back you have 'lost sight' of your divers. In those few minutes, as you well know, anything can happen and anyone can disappear. No slight on you, as it is simply impossible save for one on one to - in almost all circumstances - have your eyes on every diver all of the time.
But good for you / congrats that you have done so much instructing / leading without an incident, that's quite a record; but it can't be said that you have never lost sight of your charges, as someone else claimed earlier in the thread - as in those few minutes you mention above you obviously have.

 

[Kinglake]

Actually it's quite simple. Every few minutes roll over on your back, look behind you and check your group. Real Instructors and DM's do it all over the world.
How many classes have you taught? How many groups have you led? I've had ZERO accidents in 27 years as an instructor. Over 20,000 dives lifetime in 39 years as a diver. That's NOT 'Luck", it's "skill". How about you?

I agree, every few minutes you roll over an check behind you. So you agree your divers were out of sight the rest of the time. Out of sight does not equal losing a diver, but your delusional if you think a diver can't go missing during those "few minutes" between your roll over checks. Your "skill" has nothing to do with preventing that.

I've taught many a class and led even more dives, and while I never lost a diver (dead), I certainly lost sight of them. I did lose a diver and have to stop the dive and search. It was in a lake with limited visibility and he shot to the surface.