San Diego Dive Fatality 9-29-09

[sublime250]

My wife, brother, father and I dove with Dive Connections charter boat D&D II in Southern California 9/26/09- three days before this diver died on the same boat.

We booked the trip for 4 divers and paid in advance for the Yukon and Ruby E.

Aundrea and I ordered Nitrox Ean32 and Ean36 for our dives.

So we arrive, boat is supposed to leave a 7:30 , owner did not show until
830


The didn't have us down as paid, so i had to pull up my credit card statement on my iphone and show him-

They did not fill our EAN36 Nitrox mix- they had a pile of 32% mixes and said go load the bottles on the boat-

3 of the 4 tanks were half empty at 1500 PSI

Most the tanks on the boat were half empty!

The most they said they could fill nitrox tanks was up to 2600 psi!?

So we, the customers, spent half an hour taking tanks off the boat and getting full tanks from the docks. Dive master had not shown up yet-

We got no brief, the captain and dive master were cussing at each other the entire way out-

The divemaster had no gear on the boat, and had no ability to make a rescue if he needed to.

The divemaster and captain cursed at divers who were not comfortable making a second dive due to sea sickness and non jokingly attempted to coerce them into diving.

I had made the comment to another diver at Shaw's cove in Laguna Beach that it was only a matter of time before someone died on this boat.

Worst operation i have ever been with.

 

[DiveMom1]

Boy, I'm sure glad I never dived from this boat. I thought my trip last months was poor... absolutely nothing on that level!

 

[I Dive]

The divemaster and captain cursed at divers who were not comfortable making a second dive due to sea sickness and non jokingly attempted to coerce them into diving.

Wow, that place sounds horrible! But, as far as the seasick thing goes, it usually is better for a person to get off the boat and under the chop than to stay on the boat and the motion of the ocean. That doesn't mean you rudely suggest it and if someone decides they are feeling so crappy they do not want to dive, you certainly don't try coercing them either. But it is pretty standard to try convincing someone to jump overboard. I've seen it several times and the divers always ended up happy with the decision to dive rather than stay on top. However, never once have I heard anyone rudely suggest this to a diver or curse at them over it!

 

[DiveMom1]

The "ONLY" time I was ever seasick was on a 6 pack in HI. They did coerce me over the side [in fact helped me overboard] lol, but not in a nasty way or suggest I do the dive just that i go over the side to feel better and get a handle on the nausea.

The motion sickness stopped "AS SOON AS" I hit the water. After a few minutes I felt more than good enough to dive.

I really don't do the high pressure thing well and would get quite nasty in return if they pushed me beyond my comfort limits.

 

[DiveMom1]

Has there ever been a final report of the incident?

 

[jmelrod]

I was on a Dive Connections for a Coronado day a few weeks before the fatality. My experience was not acceptable and I hope there is an ongoing effort to close them down legally. It was the first and last time I will ever use them.

I've been an active San Diego diver since the early 70's. I've been on all the local dive boats going back to the Bottom Scratcher/Sand Dollar days.

I've never been so disapointed by a local operation. Even on bad condition days or with boat equipment failures or other incedents that occasionally happen all the other operations I have utilized have had the right attitude and the proper efforts and made things right. All other local boats past and present have been safe and clean and properly staffed.

Dive Connections was over an hour late getting out. I got there early as a courtesy but they kept the boat open waiting for late arrivals and walk ons. The boat was overcrowded and there was hardly enough sitting room unless you could sit with the small space in front of the tanks with them as a back board. Down below was dark and dingy. The bathrooms were dirty and I had to tell them to add toilet paper to the ammenities because they didn't have any in place. The didn't have adequate food for all the guests. The hungry first in line for chow between dives wiped it out before the last ones in line. Not even a full sandwich made it to the last several guests. They anchored in a mediorce spot and stayed their for the 2 dives. They took forever to finish the dives because one guest didn't have his own DIN converter. I loaned him mine but that meant his last dive didn't start till I finished mine. We got back over 5 hours later than on their schedule. Not a plus with my wife since we had to cancel plans. I got friendly with the dive master and skipper who made the best of it and candidly bad mouthed the owner for being cheap and not giving them the incentive or salary to even clean the boat. I asked for permission and was welcomed to the wheelhouse and was confortable unlike every other guest below in the stern or below decks. I noticed they weren't using an auto pilot and it was a constant struggle to keep on course because they explained the rudder was too small and not up to the task. This was a calm day with little current.

I called and asked for the owner the following Monday. It was the owner Rich who answered. I expressed my disapointment and safety concerns. He rationalized everything and wasn't open to any complaints or concerns. When I pointed out the boat was overcrowded he said emphatically it was not. His count was different than what I observed. I told him I wanted my money back and he said no way. He said " do your thing with your credit card if you want". I asked for his last name and he hung up on me.

I did contact my credit card company and they eventually after a verbal statement and written statement temporarily and then permanently provided a full refund.

I can't directly relate my experience to the fatalitity a few weeks later but seeing the news reports and following this thread even if Dive Connections was totally innocent they are still a terrible operation and should not be allowed to operate.

I can't comment on the actual incident because the facts have not been disclosed but if a dive master dropped the bc/tanks leaving a weight belt behind that is awful.

If the diver did it on his own in a panic that is sad. If he was out of air and matted under kelp dropping weights and everything else is ok.

However it happened it shouldn't have and it is regrettable.

Hopefully some additional official information about the incident will emerge.

If anyone knows more details please share them.

Best regards,

Jim

 

[jridg]

The website for these guys - Gottadive.com - NO LONGER links to their three boats and the services they provided. It now links to an entirely re-made site that refers boat trips to the Humboldt - waterhorsecharters.com's boat. It appears that DCI has gone away in it's original form and been re-incarnated in this new 'improved' form. It would appear from the new site that they are connected with OEX, Ocean Enterprises, and Waterhorse charters.

I find this extremely interesting as this transition, such as it is, has been exceedingly quiet. No one I am aware of in the local dive community was aware of this change.

 

[DiveMonkeys]

The website for these guys - Gottadive.com - NO LONGER links to their three boats and the services they provided. It now links to an entirely re-made site that refers boat trips to the Humboldt - waterhorsecharters.com's boat. It appears that DCI has gone away in it's original form and been re-incarnated in this new 'improved' form. It would appear from the new site that they are connected with OEX, Ocean Enterprises, and Waterhorse charters.

I find this extremely interesting as this transition, such as it is, has been exceedingly quiet. No one I am aware of in the local dive community was aware of this change.

Their new website is:
Scuba Diving San Diego - Dive Boats - Scuba Tours - Daily Boat Dives - Dive Connections Inc. San Diego CA Home Page

Not sure why they made the change.

 

[jridg]

I could be wrong, the future will tell.

 

[jridg]

Wondering if anyone has insight into something I just heard - this is THIRD HAND information and I DO NOT KNOW if it is correct.

I did just hear that the "divemaster" involved in this incident may have committed suicide recently. Does anyone have that information?

Again - I want to stress that I DO NOT KNOW that this is true. I am simply wondering if people in the know have this information.