Oct 7 - Key Largo

[SeaKat]

The part about which wreck is to know the correct facts - that is the first part.

Regarding Paul's diving buddy Joe - I believe he is doing better and may be on his way back home to New England.

We are probably never going to know what happened to Paul because Paul is not here to tell it. Joe may be able to add some comments if he chooses to do so. As for DAN - I dont see this as one of their "incident" reports in Alert Diver

Thanks, Eric. Fact finding is rarely a linear process. (smile) May not be in Alert Diver, but it will be I suspect part of the critical incident analysis report, assuming it's reported. I can't imagine that it wouldn't be. Glad to hear that Joe is doing better and returning to New England. Sad for him to endure this aftermath, I'm sure. Losing someone you care about is never, ever easy.

 

[Misplaced Priority]

I appreciate the people who post their near misses or pass on information about accidents that other divers have. This is a tremendous learning tool and I for one have learned much here without having to actually go through a scary moment. I have been diving about 20 years and fortunatly never had any real problems and I attribute that in large part to listening to folks who are nice enough to share experiences.

Remember God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason.

 

[TheDevil]

Amen!

 

[Sea Slug]

Wow I don't Know how to start this. But to say THANK YOU for all this thread has taught me. I have only been diving for two years I do hold my advanced open water & have 24 dives. I live & dive mainly in Michigan (cold & low vis) I have only done two other dives in the ocean in the mayan riveria. So on Oct 10th of this year I went to do the Grove. My Dive buddy had not been in the water for awhile. So after a little refresher down we went. I thought it would be fine. I am very comfortable in the water and felt all would be ok.( I could handle what ever came up) & all went great Thank God. First off never diving in Florida before I did not realize it was just a boat ride I assumed there would be a guide on the wreck (like in Mexico). The water was rough right in between hurricains. Buddy not that experienced. No other divers on wreck only us. I did not have the experience of Paul or Joe. I Should have called off dive. I have been trained to do so, right? After reading everyone has helped me to do the right thing when circumstances are not right for me. And I would be honored to dive with Joe.

 

[DandyDon]

Wow I don't Know how to start this. But to say THANK YOU for all this thread has taught me. I have only been diving for two years I do hold my advanced open water & have 24 dives. I live & dive mainly in Michigan (cold & low vis) I have only done two other dives in the ocean in the mayan riveria. So on Oct 10th of this year I went to do the Grove. My Dive buddy had not been in the water for awhile. So after a little refresher down we went. I thought it would be fine. I am very comfortable in the water and felt all would be ok.( I could handle what ever came up) & all went great Thank God. First off never diving in Florida before I did not realize it was just a boat ride I assumed there would be a guide on the wreck (like in Mexico). The water was rough right in between hurricains. Buddy not that experienced. No other divers on wreck only us. I did not have the experience of Paul or Joe. I Should have called off dive. I have been trained to do so, right? After reading everyone has helped me to do the right thing when circumstances are not right for me. And I would be honored to dive with Joe.

I'd be interested in hearing this whole story, if you'd like to tell it - perhaps with its own thread, maybe under the Near Misses and Lessons Learned sub forum here...?

 

[SeaKat]

Agree with Dandy Don..post more?
My former instructor/shop owner in the NE gave me some excellent advice upon moving to FLorida: "Kathryn, diving Florida presents different challenges. It's 'real ocean' out there too, and don't assume because you are experienced in difficult conditions here that you will have learned everything you need to know to dive 'down there.' " He was right. The bottom line is this: each dive is different, presents its own set of challenges and opportunities to learn. I'm a by-the-book diver in that I always do the "buddy check" thing when diving with someone I don't know, and ask the relevant questions of my buddy/the DM/Boat Capt (currents, conditions, descent line or not, DM in the water or not, listen very closely to the briefing, take a compass heading on the line at descent, and always do a weight check no matter what. And when diving current, I take a couple of pounds of extra weight with me. If I don't need it, my buddy might (bouyancy is more challenging in two dimensions, so to speak, when one has to be vigilant in maintaining both vertical and horizontal positions in the water). This is a bit off topic, but your post reminded me that as Training Magazine says, "Good Divers Are Always Learning." Don't figure it makes much difference where the opportunity for it occurs, as long as it does.