Near Accident in Belize recently

[Leejnd]

I was surfacing by a fixed mooring (with my boat attached) with a student recently when another boat that was manouevering to tie up at that mooring ran over the buoy, tangling its props in the ropes and hitting my boat, and getting its spinning props within inches of where our heads had just been (we got out of the way pretty quickly).

Wow. I assumed that the standard practice there was that only one dive boat would use a mooring at a time. On the dives we did in which there was a mooring, we never saw another dive boat attempt to tie up to one that was currently in use. That would seem to be common sense -- that if a dive boat is tied up to a mooring, there are DIVERS IN THE WATER. Duh.

A couple times we saw dive boats waiting well off in the distance, and once we were done and off the mooring, the other dive boat would approach and tie up. I can't even imagine the boneheadedness it would take to power on over to a mooring that had another dive boat attached to it. And I'm equally stunned that the dive op did nothing about it.

So even if you believe yourself to be safe, behave as if every boat is out of control or driven by a homicidal maniac. DON'T think it can't happen to you.

Given some of the stories I'm reading in here, that would seem to be an excellent policy!

I'm heading to Bali in September, and will be doing nine days of diving. I do hope I don't see the dangerous practices reported here...but I can assure you I will be on the watch for them!