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

[KevinNM]

I've had to do that once that I recall - I was coming back from Catalina Island on plane and a blue whale popped up close enough that 12 years later I have visions of it filling the front windows. In a 25-ft Parker I would have decisively lost that collision.

Had a whale surface in front of the big dive boat in Kona, pretty close to the harbor. Captain got everyones attention when she did an emergency stop in front of it. I asked her what would have happened if she had hot it and she said first we would have capsized, then if I was still alive the coast guard would have taken my license.

 

[KevinNM]

Ignorance is no excuse

It is if you are a cop. You get the ‘good-faith exception’ to the law.

 

[KathyV]

Today Carter's mother posted both bad news. They had to delay surgery because he developed some fluid in his lungs but they were able to remove the ventilator and he is breathing on his own. She also shared this about his work at the Loggerhead MarineLife Center:

"...Carter works as a marine biologist at the LMC in the maintenance department along with Andy and his boss, Tim. He cleans and preps the complex for events, fixes things, builds things, participates in cleanup dives, maintains the Juno Beach pier and is LMC’s deferred expert on fish and their tanks. And, Carter is one of the guys that regularly hoists 200 pound+ sea turtles into rehabilitation tanks for therapy and then back into the ocean when they recover..."

 

[Soloist]

Today Carter's mother posted both bad news. They had to delay surgery because he developed some fluid in his lungs but they were able to remove the ventilator and he is breathing on his own. She also shared this about his work at the Loggerhead MarineLife Center:

"...Carter works as a marine biologist at the LMC in the maintenance department along with Andy and his boss, Tim. He cleans and preps the complex for events, fixes things, builds things, participates in cleanup dives, maintains the Juno Beach pier and is LMC’s deferred expert on fish and their tanks. And, Carter is one of the guys that regularly hoists 200 pound+ sea turtles into rehabilitation tanks for therapy and then back into the ocean when they recover..."

Thanks for the update Kathy. Hopefully better news will follow soon. His youth and prior physical condition are definitely an asset.

 

[Kublai]

Unfortunately, that's diver-talk, not boater-talk.

Did not the post say they 'waved' down a commercial dive boat? In that context I also supposed that the boat changed course thinking that the divers were in distress to render assistance, but when the divers descended the operator took offense that they were exercised for nothing. Most commercial boats I have worked with cover this in the brief, that if you wave to me I am going to come-a-running, and if it is a case of mistaken signalling on your part, we're gonna have a talk. But a logical question is, if you are a bobbing head and see a vessel on a close-aboard approach inbound to your position, what are you supposed to do to signal/ attempt to get the craft's attention? I think most bobbing heads short on time would instinctively wave like crazy. Low probability of flashing the OK signal- a nonsensical signal in that situation. So they accept the dive boat's one-finger salute, but logically, that's probably why it was rendered. Because they said "I am in distress" and the folks on the boat weren't savvy enough to figure out-- "they waved because I was sort of heading towards them, and they were concerned, maybe even distressed."

 

[tursiops]

Did not the post say they 'waved' down a commercial dive boat? In that context I also supposed that the boat changed course thinking that the divers were in distress to render assistance, but when the divers descended the operator took offense that they were exercised for nothing. Most commercial boats I have worked with cover this in the brief, that if you wave to me I am going to come-a-running, and if it is a case of mistaken signalling on your part, we're gonna have a talk. But a logical question is, if you are a bobbing head and see a vessel on a close-aboard approach inbound to your position, what are you supposed to do to signal/ attempt to get the craft's attention? I think most bobbing heads short on time would instinctively wave like crazy. Low probability of flashing the OK signal- a nonsensical signal in that situation. So they accept the dive boat's one-finger salute, but logically, that's probably why it was rendered. Because they said "I am in distress" and the folks on the boat weren't savvy enough to figure out-- "they waved because I was sort of heading towards them, and they were concerned, maybe even distressed."

LOL. You sound like a boater.

 

[Kublai]

LOL. You sound like a boater.

Yep. A boater, a Navy vet, and a diver.

 

[Bob DBF]

Did not the post say they 'waved' down a commercial dive boat?

Actually it's better to go back and read the actual post.

We made sure they saw us by waving.

Now how they actually waved was not described. I assume there was mis-communication from the result, as much from the skipper as the diver, because both assumed they knew what the the signal meant. The result was changing the course of the boat, and p*ssing off the skipper, that was not the intent.

I'm thankful that my interaction with boaters, while diving, has been more cordial, probably because on some days I am one.


Bob

 

[Rooster59]

Well I'm not a boater but if I thought someone might be in distress I would check it out by motoring to a spot a safe bit away from them to the deep water side where I could stop and take a look. I don't think I would aim right at them with my screws turning.

 

[Bob DBF]

Well I'm not a boater but if I thought someone might be in distress I would check it out by motoring to a spot a safe bit away from them to the deep water side where I could stop and take a look. I don't think I would aim right at them with my screws turning.

Have you been at he helm during a man over board evolution, or in the water for that matter? In order to retrieve an object in the water you have to get close to it, from the objects point of view the boat is on a collision course, that is not what is actually happening.

As a skipper, if someone is in distress in the water, I will maneuver beside them as fast as my boat, and skill, will allow. I don't know when the last time their head will go down. I practice, and have anyone who pilots my boat practice, this maneuver anytime I go out. It could save a life, even mine.

"...motoring to a spot a safe bit away from them to the deep water side where I could stop and take a look." might give you time to mark the spot that you last saw the victem on your chart for rhe USCG search. I'd rather have them beside my boat discussing mixed signals, or bring them aboard if their boat just sank.


Bob