K_girl
Contributor
I agree that the situation was ultimately the diver's responsibility as it sounds as though he did not do any homework to prepare for, nor understood the conditions he was diving in.
A 3mil suit is for much warmer water, a 7 mil is the standard in this colder water temp. It sounds as though he did not know how much weight he needed and he asked someone for help and they must have thought he was diving a 7 mil. This diver obviously thought he was diving water similar to Florida or the Carribean and I think we have to ask ourselves how this happened.
As far as California being classified as warm water as the Canadian poster asserts, I think that saying "my water is colder than your water," basically turns this into a macho pissing match. Southern Calif. water temps average between 54 - 57 degrees. Catlina can see into the low 70's. In Nothern Calif., I've seen it as cold as 46 degrees. Most of the diving requires a 7 mil, 5-mil hood, and 5-mil gloves, a lot more weight to sink it all, kelp grows in the area and that classifies is as cold water - and a completely different skill set than diving warm water - period. If 38 degree water requires even more of a skill set, so be it, I wouldn't argue the point. I dive a DUI drysuit in California with the warmest thermals known to man, so I'm not sure how much more of a skill set I would have to acquire, but I think the skills I have now would probably translate.
I think the important thing here is not to promote a pissing contest for the coldest water, but to warn warm water divers of the dangers of believing that because California can have 100-degree days, that our waters are warm and the same as the Carribean or Florida. They are NOT - you must be prepared for the skills required to dive cold water. And if you tell warm water divers that California is warm water - don't worry about it, then you are setting that person up for the same potential fate as this man, and I would say -shame on you.
Yes, no one else is responsible for the mistakes this man made, but as California divers with the knowledge of the difference between warm water and cold water, we certainly could take a little more time to ask warm water divers some key questions that could make a difference. In this case, it was the difference between a 3 mil suit and a 7 mil suit that was key and was the first mistake that escalated into more mistakes. He had to be very cold, burning through his air trying to stay warm. Probably in a hurry because of the cold, the use of air and entanglement in kelp escalated the panic. These things caused him to stop thinking about what he was doing.
You could potentially save the life of a diver before they even jump into the water with simple observation. So many of us are worried that people will think that we are being nosey or overly protective, but if you use a friendly, casual approach, you can prevent those kinds of perceptions. Dive masters and operators on the boat should know the skill levels of their divers and they should be more assertive about it. If this operator had been on the ball, again, they could have potentially prevented this tragedy from happening before the diver even jumped in the water. For instance, if the operator knows that this is the first day of diving in cold water for a diver, they could set other requirements on the diver as to whom they are diving with and have a keen understanding of the mistakes that warm water divers may make.
The value of observation of other divers out of the water is one of the Rescue Diver skills you learn, but can quickly be forgotten and is not taught to Advanced divers. Lets all learn a lesson from the loss of this life and re-acqaint ourselves with this skill. OK, so a diver may still make mistakes, but what would it hurt? And you may never know, you could save a life without doing very much. You never may know how much of a difference you may have made. At least you would never have to say to yourself something like - I noticed that guy was diving a 3-mil and put a ton of weight on, but I figured it was his business and he knew what he was doing. You know he did not know what he was doing.
A 3mil suit is for much warmer water, a 7 mil is the standard in this colder water temp. It sounds as though he did not know how much weight he needed and he asked someone for help and they must have thought he was diving a 7 mil. This diver obviously thought he was diving water similar to Florida or the Carribean and I think we have to ask ourselves how this happened.
As far as California being classified as warm water as the Canadian poster asserts, I think that saying "my water is colder than your water," basically turns this into a macho pissing match. Southern Calif. water temps average between 54 - 57 degrees. Catlina can see into the low 70's. In Nothern Calif., I've seen it as cold as 46 degrees. Most of the diving requires a 7 mil, 5-mil hood, and 5-mil gloves, a lot more weight to sink it all, kelp grows in the area and that classifies is as cold water - and a completely different skill set than diving warm water - period. If 38 degree water requires even more of a skill set, so be it, I wouldn't argue the point. I dive a DUI drysuit in California with the warmest thermals known to man, so I'm not sure how much more of a skill set I would have to acquire, but I think the skills I have now would probably translate.
I think the important thing here is not to promote a pissing contest for the coldest water, but to warn warm water divers of the dangers of believing that because California can have 100-degree days, that our waters are warm and the same as the Carribean or Florida. They are NOT - you must be prepared for the skills required to dive cold water. And if you tell warm water divers that California is warm water - don't worry about it, then you are setting that person up for the same potential fate as this man, and I would say -shame on you.
Yes, no one else is responsible for the mistakes this man made, but as California divers with the knowledge of the difference between warm water and cold water, we certainly could take a little more time to ask warm water divers some key questions that could make a difference. In this case, it was the difference between a 3 mil suit and a 7 mil suit that was key and was the first mistake that escalated into more mistakes. He had to be very cold, burning through his air trying to stay warm. Probably in a hurry because of the cold, the use of air and entanglement in kelp escalated the panic. These things caused him to stop thinking about what he was doing.
You could potentially save the life of a diver before they even jump into the water with simple observation. So many of us are worried that people will think that we are being nosey or overly protective, but if you use a friendly, casual approach, you can prevent those kinds of perceptions. Dive masters and operators on the boat should know the skill levels of their divers and they should be more assertive about it. If this operator had been on the ball, again, they could have potentially prevented this tragedy from happening before the diver even jumped in the water. For instance, if the operator knows that this is the first day of diving in cold water for a diver, they could set other requirements on the diver as to whom they are diving with and have a keen understanding of the mistakes that warm water divers may make.
The value of observation of other divers out of the water is one of the Rescue Diver skills you learn, but can quickly be forgotten and is not taught to Advanced divers. Lets all learn a lesson from the loss of this life and re-acqaint ourselves with this skill. OK, so a diver may still make mistakes, but what would it hurt? And you may never know, you could save a life without doing very much. You never may know how much of a difference you may have made. At least you would never have to say to yourself something like - I noticed that guy was diving a 3-mil and put a ton of weight on, but I figured it was his business and he knew what he was doing. You know he did not know what he was doing.
