Scuba Shack's Boat Get Wet Sinks in Key Largo

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I see the original post is from 2011. Does anyone know the reason the boat sank? I read about a hatch but didn’t see an official reason. Just being curious. In the aviation industry the NTSB has a monthly list with “probable cause” listed. Don’t know if there is such a list for boats/ships.

Condolences to the family.

Thanks
Glenn
 
Amazing they were able to stay on the lam for two years.
Then it went to ten years on the run.
Does anyone know what has happened since 2015
The widower's blog says "TWICE they've been arrested, twice they've been set free on bond, and twice they're gone on the run again." Missing Aimee

They were caught in Spain in April this year after being featured on “America’s Most Wanted,” and have been in jail there since. Excerpting from UK pair wanted for death in U.S. face extradition from Spain...
“I was a partner with my husband and we had two other American partners in the business. But me and my husband, we never worked in the business,” she told the Spanish court.
 
I may be wrong but I think this is the one where there was a leak in the hull. The bilge was full & when they went to put the boat up on plane, all the excess water rushed to the back & the boat went down aft end first. The engine hatch popped & that was what trapped 2 divers in forward area.
 
If I recall, the passengers were told to put on flotation vests, and those trapped them inside the forward enclosed area.
 
If I recall, the passengers were told to put on flotation vests, and those trapped them inside the forward enclosed area.
Um, the one I'm thinking about went down so fast, they didn't have time to grab vests.
 
Um, the one I'm thinking about went down so fast, they didn't have time to grab vests.
Yeah, I think I was wondering about vests and trapping, but now I don't recall much being offered as to how the two became trapped.
 
If I recall, the passengers were told to put on flotation vests, and those trapped them inside the forward enclosed area.

Yeah, I think I was wondering about vests and trapping, but now I don't recall much being offered as to how the two became trapped.
Here is the thread, all 50 pages of it: Scuba Shack's Boat Get Wet Sinks in Key Largo

For reasons I cannot comprehend, I just skimmed all of it for an explanation for the drowning. There is nothing definitive in that thread. There is a belief that life vests were stored in the forward area (apparently in violation of rules), leading to speculation that the people were trapped when they went forward to get the life vests.

I may be wrong but I think this is the one where there was a leak in the hull. The bilge was full & when they went to put the boat up on plane, all the excess water rushed to the back & the boat went down aft end first. The engine hatch popped & that was what trapped 2 divers in forward area.
You misremembered. In this case, water came through the transom and apparently entered the boat through what I will generically call "imperfections" in the deck.

I you read through the first pages of the thread, you will see a number of posts from one person that were all withdrawn. You will also see some posts thanking the person for the information in the withdrawn posts, which indicated a history of problems with the boat's seaworthiness. I remember the situation well, but only vaguely remember the details in those withdrawn posts. The posts were withdrawn as a result of legal advice.
 
I remember wondering how it came to be that someone could get trapped - why you wouldn't just jump clear as the boat began to founder, or even why you wouldn't be able to swim out once it was on the bottom upside down.

I wonder if the guy who survived ever offered any insight to the Coast Guard about what happened to the two of them?

Maybe more details will become known if the owners are now extradited back to the USA and that chapter moves ahead.
 
I remember wondering how it came to be that someone could get trapped - why you wouldn't just jump clear as the boat began to founder, or even why you wouldn't be able to swim out once it was on the bottom upside down.

I wonder if the guy who survived ever offered any insight to the Coast Guard about what happened to the two of them?

Maybe more details will become known if the owners are now extradited back to the USA and that chapter moves ahead.
The boat went vertical quickly, so anyone who was in or even near the forward compartment would have been in an overhead environment and going down fast very quickly. A whacked head would be possible. It would be hard to swim out from there as the boat is probably sinking faster than the victim can swim. If that person were wearing a life jacket, it would have been even worse, but I have found no information indicating that was true in this case. It might have been. It might not have been.
 
The boat went vertical quickly, so anyone who was in or even near the forward compartment would have been in an overhead environment and going down fast very quickly. A whacked head would be possible. It would be hard to swim out from there as the boat is probably sinking faster than the victim can swim. If that person were wearing a life jacket, it would have been even worse, but I have found no information indicating that was true in this case. It might have been. It might not have been.
Well, life jacket is where my thought went at first, or injury. Even quickly though, seems hard to imagine as so quickly you wouldn't bail. Everyone else did it seems. As I recall it was only 30 ft deep, the boat had a partial hardtop and awning(?) foward suggesting there should have been room for egress out the sides, and the captain was able to swim down and remove both of the trapped customers in fairly short order, so they can't have been too badly trapped.

Also brings to mind the question of was there literally no air in pockets under the upturned vessel.
 
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https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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