Oh no! Another accident at Molokini this morning!

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Shaka Doug

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Kihei, Maui, Hawaii 96753, middle of the 808!
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So as I was perusing FB a moment ago I got word of a snorkeling accident that happened at 8:30 this morning. It's sounding like a situation that got ugly quick. 4 people were stranded in high surf on the crater itself and one of them ended up drowning. A female crew member attempted to make a rescue and due to being tied to the vessel, she got injured when a heavy wave rocked the boat and jerked her hard. She got a spinal injury. The Coast Guard rescued the remaining three.

I'm sure there is a lot more to the story. The word gets out quickly. We did have rough weather forecast for today so that doesn't mix well. Personally, I cancelled my dives for today and slept in while this was going down. It was expected to be raining hard and I don't care much for diving in the rain.
 
Maui Now reports it was from the boat "Double Scoop." They didn't report the condition of the one person except to say they were "unresponsive." I hope everyone is okay.
 
Maui Now is reporting that a 50 year old passenger died at the scene and the female deck hand was transported to Maui Medical in critical condition. Just bad all the way around. :(
 
sad news for sure............condolences and best wishes to friend and families.
 
While this indeed is bad news, will the Captain be held responsible for allowing people in the water in such adverse conditions or is this going to be another case of the release waiver override?
 
While this indeed is bad news, will the Captain be held responsible for allowing people in the water in such adverse conditions or is this going to be another case of the release waiver override?

Are you responsible for your own actions? Yes or No?

Analogy - Captain says don't worry about the chum in the water the Great Whites already ate lunch - do you jump in? I say no - in my experience with Great White sharks (which is zero) I can not make that decision on my own even if someone says go for it - but chumming and jumping in with the sharks would be a bad idea in my opinion due to my experience level - I am sitting this one out.

So are people responsible for their own personal welfare or is it a Trust Me Dive or did they spend $200+ on a dive and want their monies worth since the Captain did not cancel the trip, or did the weather just blow up and no one is at fault just a tragic set of events? Don't know but people need to have some sense of is this in the realm of what I can handle... If not - does not matter who you blame - you still get hurt or worse.
 
The captain is responsible to assess weather conditions that will affect the safety of the swimmers and his crew. It's his decision to let them in the water, and ultimately how he tried to rescue the snorkelers. These tourist/snorkelers are not watermen and may not have be aware of the potential danger they were in.

I am sure the state of Hawaii has guidelines for the commercial operator, and they will have some type of protocol for water rescue. None of which should place a rescuer between the boat and the rocks. And it makes a huge deal when it comes to the long term care of a disabled person. Terrible accident.
 
I agree with Vincent 54 the Captain is responsible and trails in CA have agreed. Most vacationers assume that the Captain will only allow them in the water if it is safe. Most vacationers are dumber than a box of rocks and figure I paid for it I'm going in. If I am sitting on the boat watching waves crash on rocks twenty feet away my butt is staying on the boat. The Captain should have taken the choice away from the vacationers, called the event, given their money back and went home. That is what a Captain does.
 
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