Palm Beach diver loses arm as group hit by boat - Florida

[Soloist]

I posted this strobe in Best signaling devices from the searcher’s point of view - update

The idea is to strap it on top of DSMB, like shown, below.

This horrific accident is heartbreaking and very concerning. I have done hundreds of dives in WPB. Many of those were solo dives during lobster season resulting in me shooting a SMB from depth and hitting the surface alone. Occasionally I have surfaced in a whiteout, so an effective beacon that could be attached to the top of a SMB would be ideal. We will be diving in the area of this accident in December...

 

[Johnoly]

... will get the attention of even the most complacent and distracted boat driver.

Thanksgiving day is usually quiet for boating. Fourth of July is tougher with distractions to newer boaters. They just aren't looking and scanning the water.
Trust your dive boat Captains,,they know how to use their boat inbetween another vessel to protect their divers.

 

[wgw04024]

He should not have been traveling at high speed 200 feet from shore, especially in a popular snorkeling area. If Law Enforcement had seen him before the incident he would have been stopped and charged with reckless endangerment!

How fast was he going?

 

[johndiver999]

I have read most of this but didn't see any mention, for those without much boat experience....depending on the time of day (which can vary with seasons), wave action, and direction of boat, in certain lighting conditions, there are alot of things that you just simply cannot pickup until you are on top of them unless they are big visible objects. With the vast distances people down there probably go to, when the conditions are like that, it is idealistic to think boaters are simply going to move at headway speed if visuals are not ideal. Snorkeling in that situation seems far more risky than diving due to the constant coming to surface routine.

A boat operator needs to operate a vessel so that he can reasonably avoid hazards. I don't know how fast the boat was going, but a boat that large probably had triple engines with horsepower approaching 900 HP. That vessel has the capability to travel very fast, particularly when it is not rough.

It would be extremely irresponsible to operate a vessel like that at high speed, in the narrow strip located between the beach and inshore of all the mooring buoys that are located about 250 to 400 yds (my estimate) off the beach.

If the desire was to transit the area quickly, it would take less than 60 seconds to select a much safer course (move eastward) to a course that was off the reef and outside of all the buoys (and dive flags). I have no knowledge of how fast the boat was operating before running over the diver with the flag. The operator's address was listed as Palm Beach - local people are very well aware that this area is extremely popular with snorkelers and has been for a long time - even before all the buoys were installed by the County to mark the reefs.

A group of surfers were out in the very same area today and were very nearly run over by another boat traveling at high speed parallel to shore which was running right down the inner reef that is maybe 250 yds off shore and is 8-12 ft deep (again inside the buoys).

 

[wgw04024]

If there are buoys, then yes, inside the buoys should be a no no.

 

[Bob DBF]

He should not have been traveling at high speed 200 feet from shore, especially in a popular snorkeling area. If Law Enforcement had seen him before the incident he would have been stopped and charged with reckless endangerment!

I don’t know how fast the boat was going, or what the speed limit is in that area. The reports cited have the divers 100 yds off shore, and I assume he was parallel to the shore since there are no inlets there. I also had no idea the skipper of the boat knew it was a popular snorkeling area.


Bob

 

[Lostdiver71]

A boat operator needs to operate a vessel so that he can reasonably avoid hazards. I don't know how fast the boat was going, but a boat that large probably had triple engines with horsepower approaching 900 HP. That vessel has the capability to travel very fast, particularly when it is not rough.

It would be extremely irresponsible to operate a vessel like that at high speed, in the narrow strip located between the beach and inshore of all the mooring buoys that are located about 250 to 400 yds (my estimate) off the beach.

If the desire was to transit the area quickly, it would take less than 60 seconds to select a much safer course (move eastward) to a course that was off the reef and outside of all the buoys (and dive flags). I have no knowledge of how fast the boat was operating before running over the diver with the flag. The operator's address was listed as Palm Beach - local people are very well aware that this area is extremely popular with snorkelers and has been for a long time - even before all the buoys were installed by the County to mark the reefs.

A group of surfers were out in the very same area today and were very nearly run over by another boat traveling at high speed parallel to shore which was running right down the inner reef that is maybe 250 yds off shore and is 8-12 ft deep (again inside the buoys).

His desire was to show off his fast $500,000 boat by running it at high speed close to the beach!

 

[Mike1967]

His desire was to show off his fast $500,000 boat by running it at high speed close to the beach!

Is that your assumption or fact?

 

[The Chairman]

You are not talking about regulation, which is making the law, but about enforcement, which it sounds like no one is actually taking seriously.

FWC does both here in Florida in regards to boating. They create all regulations related to dive flags that are not prescribed by the state legislature. They do the major part of enforcing state regulations in regards to boating. It's probably a lot different than California and I don't pretend to know how it's done over there.

California has1,051,606 boats registered with over 40 million residents. Florida has 922,597 2ith 21.3 million residents. Michigan has even more boats per capita, but since they are half again as large as Florida, they have fewer per square mile. FWIW, California is @ 2.5 times the size of Florida. With over 2,000 agents, they are an impressive orginization: FWC Overview Probably the highest concentration of LEOs exist in the Keys. Coasties, FWC, INS, Sheriffs and federal marshals all converge to keep residents and visitors safe and obeying the rules. There's a lot of cooperation between the various agencies as their missions are different.

 

[michael-fisch]

Isn't is reasonable to requre that the offending boat be siezed and destroyed, if a person has been struck by it? This should in no way reduce the liability of the person driving the boat.
This might make boat drivers better behaved if they realized that the bank that loaned them the money for the boat would sieze the collateral (house) if the boat is confiscated.

Michael