Search for four missing Divers off coast of North Carolina

[johndiver999]

Watching the marker and the divers got away from him. I can see that happening.

He should have put out a current measuring device after they were late and then followed the device and extrapolated the track. It is pretty incredible that they were lost for that long.

I've personally watched the coast guard do a terrible job at searching for a lost diver, apparently they had no clue what the current was doing on that particular day. Hard to imagine it took the better part of the day and half the night to find them.

 

[tridacna]

there are two buttons T (test) and The Red One

I have one too. Not sure how you would test it under pressure. Enlighten me.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I don't know why the 4 hours from being sighted to being rescued is perplexing so many. They were initially sighted from a CG plane and then rescued by a CG ship. The ship clearly wasn't where the plane was. The plane passed along the coordinates and the ship got there as soon as possible. It doesn't seem that complex to me.

 

[1bubbleoff]

Wow.... some really interesting "statements" regarding how the search was conducted, and the time it took to find the divers....

Let's not forget....100's of millions of $'s in assets were tasked without delay....I for one am very thankful of the job the CG does, and have nothing but good things to say. I LIVE my life in the very waters these guys were in...and I can assure you, %^& can go south in a heartbeat...20 minutes is about all it takes to go from completely benign conditions to " Oh dear, Oh S%^$ oh my"... current can go from less than 1/2 kt to 3 kts in literally minutes. It's happened to me. NOBODY..can beat a 3Kt current.

Can we not lose sight of the fact that we are extremely fortunate that we have the multiple mechanisms in place and available to save us from ourselves when it all goes pear shaped?

I actually CALLED Sector SC via landline when news broke and was confirmed they were all aboard and accounted for...to simply say " Job well done, and thankyou for what you do"...

Maybe a few more of those on the water should do the same...your lucky to have em.

* rant over*

 

[txdamselfish]

He should have put out a current measuring device after they were late and then followed the device and extrapolated the track. It is pretty incredible that they were lost for that

How is this done? Would it be like throwing a something that floats into the water and see where it goes? Then looking or motoring that way?

Great article from the post & courier @Johnoly. Thank you.

I got me a nautilus lifeline for my trips in the vast blue seas, in this case, i could have used it to summon Wild Bills boat back to me if I had his MMSI number?

 

[Wookie]

Wild Bills boat back to me if I had his MMSI number?

Unlikely he had an MMSI number. He didn't have an AIS either.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I got me a nautilus lifeline for my trips in the vast blue seas, in this case, i could have used it to summon Wild Bills boat back to me if I had his MMSI number?

If you had pre-programmed the MMSI of the boat into your Nautilus.

Worst-case activate it and it will send an AIS distress signal with your GPS coordinates. Vessels in the area (all vessels ... not just the boat you are diving from) with modern marine radios and shore-based AIS receivers (if you're within 35-45 miles of a shore-based receiver) would pick up the man-overboard signal, know that you are in distress and exactly where you're located.

 

[Shot a man in Reno...]

Also check out:

Mightier than the waves of the sea: Diver says faith inspired hope leading up to rescue after 16 hours - WWAYTV3

Two days after being rescued 50 miles off the coast of the Carolinas, one man is sharing the story of how he and three others survived for 16 hours floating out at sea.

www.wwaytv3.com

 

[txdamselfish]

Thanks @Shot a man in Reno... for the article. Wow, these men floated 26 miles away from their dive spot tracking the distance using their Garmin dive watches. The waves splashed Williams to wake up at the perfect time to start flashing his torch in the direction of the plane.
This needs to be made into a movie. So glad these guys are ok. What are the odds?

 

[Belzelbub]

Unlikely he had an MMSI number. He didn't have an AIS either.

That may be true, but it is inexcusable. Every fixed mount VHF sold in this century or so is required to have DSC capability in the US. MMSI needed for that to be fully functional. If used in the US, it's free to register an MMSI number, and not too tough to program it into a VHF. Reprogramming a different MMSI into a VHF is more complex as it's not often done.

MMSI Application | BoatUS

MMSI is a nine-digit number assigned to a marine radio & transfers your registration information to the U.S. Coast Guard for use in emergency situations. BoatUS offers fast & easy way to obtain an MMSI number. Learn more here!

www.boatus.com

Link above is how you get a free MMSI.

Then, there's the question of whether or not your VHF is tied in to your chart plotter. In the vast majority of cases that answer would be no. Again, it's really not that hard. Really easy if there is a NMEA 2000 network. NMEA 0183 connectivity can be a bit of a PITA, but still not all that difficult.