So Cal Diver Dies at Laguna Beach

[akajack]

As one of of the divers in the group with Daryl on his 100th dive this news is shocking to say the least. Before I go any further, I want all to know that I am writing this in the hopes that it will prevent a similar accident in the future. It is a tragic event and one that I hope will not be repeated in our group of over 300 local divers. I have read all the posts and would like to offer what I know of the equipment used and the conditions local divers deal with in Laguna Beach. The club they both were members of, dives every weekend,weather permitting, in Laguna Beach via beach dives. Daryl and Steve would often make additional dives during the week or on sunday. The laguna beach coast, for those of you who have not been here, has some tough entries based on the underwater reef system. Relating to the comments about not wearing fins when entering the beach, none of the group that I dive with dons fins before we go in the water. Speaking for myself only, it is far easier, and in my opinion only, safer due to the speed through the surf zone that booties without fins allow. Air in the BC, proper weighting, familiarity with gear etc. all are obviously essential with this type of entry, but it is one that the people I dive with have all adopted as an entry method. I don't know why I did it, but I remember looking at Daryl's BC on Friday after our dive on his 100th dive and recalled the day he bought it from a local scuba shop. The BC was I believe about 2 years old and is used my many members locally. The BC used was a weight integrated unit from a local scuba store that had them made, the design was very much like a ranger with an additional weight pocket over the tank. I believe the release for weights would have been a pocket with velcro on both sides of the bc with a handle for ditching. Daryl was also using a HP steel tank that was either an 80 or 100 I believe. I have dove with Daryl and Steve on numerous occasions and can attest that they were both very competent in their diving skills. For the record I have been diving off Laguna Beach since 1985 and this is the first tragedy involving any of my dive buddies.This is not making sense for a lot of us and we thank all those who are offering their support. I hope this helps answer some questions, but I am sure there are more.

 

[Charlie99]

DFC5343 once pontificated...
Enter the water with weights on without your fins! Instant death just add stupidity!

Your statement is a dumb generalization. In many locations the best shore entry method is to rapidly walk out beyond the shore break, then put on fins.

 

[Otter]

DFC5343 once bubbled...
Enter the water with weights on without your fins! Instant death just add stupidity!

I always enter the water with fins in hand, reg in mouth, and BCD 1/2 full. I have seen other divers put their fins on and then shuffle into the water backwards -- taking two to three times longer to get through the surf zone. I would guess that 1/3 to 1/2 get tumbled by a wave, change in bottom contour, or bottom composition.

Now if you are talking from a boat, then I can understand your point. In SoCal ( I see you live in HB), we are wearing enough of an exposure suit that if I dump my weights I will float like a cork. I guess if someone was small enough, using a BP and steel tank, that the amount of ditchable weight COULD be insufficient to become positive. In that situation, I would say that is the incorrect ratio of ditchable to non-ditchable. In this case, I don't believe he was wearing a BP so this issue is probably irrelevant.

 

[Arnaud]

Otter once bubbled...


I always enter the water with fins in hand, reg in mouth, and BCD 1/2 full...

I do the same. I'm just not sure that it's such a good idea to actually swim away from the shore without the fins on.

 

[FFMDiver]

After being a surfer and punching through beach breaks for 10 years I cant imagine entering the break zone in full dive gear. Makes me suspect the surf might have racked his BC. As a middle-aged diver now, I would probably shy away from this zone and wait for a flat day...although I'm sure the experience is full-on exhilirating after you get out...

 

[Otter]

Arnaud once bubbled...


I do the same. I'm just not sure that it's such a good idea to actually swim away from the shore without the fins on.

Plus its dang tough to swim without fins on, but I have seen divers do exactly what Laurel described (backpaddle with fins on hands). I don't understand the rationale for WHY that approach is used other than to get through the surf zone a little bit quicker. If the surf is lake-like, I'll put on both fins. If there are waves, then I'll put on one fin and kick past the break where I put on the second. Generally thats puts me in about 10 feet of water....still plenty easy to drown in.

I'd like to hear from someone who uses the 'fins on hands and paddle backstroke" approach. While it may/may not have contributed to the situation, we should take a look our procedures and learn. I would also offer that IF, and thats a BIG IF, IF the air was turned off to correct a problem that should not be done in the water (even in shallow water). Again, my intent is not to point fingers, but to learn so that we may avoid future tragedies.

 

[Tollie]

These discussions of the tragic deaths of divers are useful for our community… as painful as they are. In the same way that airline safety has been improved by closely examining the causes of accidents (even if imperfectly known) diving is also made safer by looking at the contributing factors to fatalities.

For me each time I read of such a death I reflect on my own diving practices. Boards like this are important sources of reflection and continuing education for all of us. Usually wisdom wins out over initial incomplete or inaccurate speculation and reporting. In this sense if we learn from these deaths they are not pointless private tragedies.

My deepest sympathies go out to all his friends and family. My thanks go out to those who filled in many of the blanks.

 

[Robert Phillips]

Pretty much all the beach breaks in Laguna are shore breaks. That means the surf zone is very narrow. All the beach dives that I have done (and 97% of my dives have been beach dives from La Jolla to Laguna) I walked into the water, past the surf zone and put my fins on while I could still put my feet on the bottom. Treasure Island is no different. In the early morning on Sunday I put my fins on in 4' of water, that's how narrow the surf zone was at 7:15 a.m. It did pick up later that day, but, as I said before, its a shore break, to swim to deeper water to put on your fins is unnecessary.
Entering off the rocks is another story entirely, though. The easiest rock entry is on the west side of the reef, but it only drops you into 8'-12' of water, depending on the tide. In larger surf, as was the case later in the day, you have to get well away from the reef quickly or you are forced into the rock wall that divides the main beach from the next beach west. The faster you get your fins on your feet the better off you are! If I experienced any problems after dropping into the water, my priority would be to get my fins out of my hands and on my feet, then deal with whatever issues I had, but thats just me.
I am not assuming anything about the accident, nor do I now where he entered the water. These are just my observations from that day. I left the area between 10:45 and 11:00, and my group and two other groups were the only divers I saw before I left and the other two groups came up the same time we did.
Dive safe, its better to here about your dive from you, rather than some one else.

 

[IndigoBlue]

scubalaurel once bubbled...
;-0

It is with many tears I write this. Darryll was a good friend and fellow board member of the SOCDC.

The newspaper article was not very accurate in it's report, as few of them are. Darryll and Steve entered the water. As was said in an earlier post, the vis had decreased due to a swell, and waves had picked up. It is customary for many of our club members to get past the breakers, BC slightly inflated, fins on hands and paddle backstroke well beyond the surf zone. My understanding was they stopped in about 20 ft or so of water. Darryl started to add air to his BC, but the inflator hose popped off. He swam over to Steve to get help putting the inflator back on. Steve tried his best, but was unable to.

I am very unclear as to exactly what happened from there. Nor do I wish to ask Steve for details on such a painful incident. They were best friends and frequent dive buddies.

I do know Steve tried to help Darryll get his fins on. Darryll was probably panicking at this point, as I am sure many of us would. Without fins on, he was unable to stay at the surface. Darryll slipped under the water and Steve tried to get a hold of him. He went down to look for Darryll, but with poor vis, was unable to locate him. Steve ascended and called for help from he beach. 911 was called and others from the beach jumped in to search for Darryll. Unfortunately, it was too late.

I do not know why his BC was not orally inflated nor why weights weren't dropped. No one will evr know. That is why it is an accident. And a tragedy.

I have barely gone minutes without thinking of what a great guy Darryll was. I enjoyed diving with him. He did buddy checks and was fastidious in taking care of his equipment. He had an awesome outlook on life. He was a great friend that I will miss for a long time to come. I cannot begin to express my sadness over a passing of a friend.

There is a memorial dive scheduled for him this Saturday. Meet at Laguna Hills Mall at 7 am. We will leave for the beach at 7:45. Afterwards, there will be a get together at King's Fish House (at Lag. HIlls Mall) starting around 11 am.

Please keep his wife and family in your prayers. They are welcomed and needed.

Laurel;-0

Laurel I hope you feel better. Soon.

I was thinking of this thread last night as I taught a pool session to a class of 4 divers. When our class was over, I had each of them drop their weight belts with a right hand release then swim back to the ladder without their weight belts, while I retrieved the belts myself.

One of the students was having trouble releasing, and so he reached down with two hands. I reminded him: one hand, right hand release.

I plan to have them practice this exercise at the end of every day that we are diving. Dropping your weight belt does not seem to get reinforced enough by instructors. Or else divers seem to forget it, as they get seasoned and become complacent about basic skills.

 

[Otter]

Tollie once bubbled...
These discussions of the tragic deaths of divers are useful for our community… as painful as they are. In the same way that airline safety has been improved by closely examining the causes of accidents (even if imperfectly known) diving is also made safer by looking at the contributing factors to fatalities.

For me each time I read of such a death I reflect on my own diving practices. Boards like this are important sources of reflection and continuing education for all of us. Usually wisdom wins out over initial incomplete or inaccurate speculation and reporting. In this sense if we learn from these deaths they are not pointless private tragedies.

My deepest sympathies go out to all his friends and family. My thanks go out to those who filled in many of the blanks.

I agree wholeheartedly, as I often tell my teenagers. "Learn from MY mistakes, you'll have plenty time to make your own". I didn't know Daryll personnally, but from what I gather, he would want us to learn as much as possible.

IndigoBlue once bubbled...
...I plan to have them practice this exercise at the end of every day that we are diving. Dropping your weight belt does not seem to get reinforced enough by instructors. Or else divers seem to forget it, as they get seasoned and become complacent about basic skills.

While I agree there is far too much complacency among many (most?) divers on the basics skills, I think with the weights its less of a "how" to do the skill and more making it become a conditioned reflex. I have read speculation that divers in trouble might be embarassed to admit they dumped their weights -- but I believe if they were evaluating their situation that rationally in the first place, they would come to the rational conclusion that its better to be embarassed and live, then proud and dead.

We have lots of conditioned reflexes that kick-in when we are having problem in the water (like climbing up a nearby diver, removing mask) but removing our weights just doesn't jump into our mind. The reflexes we have have corallaries in every day "land" life (like removing whatever is on our face if we can't breathe), whereas there is no equivalent situation on land.

I don't know what the solution exactly is, but I think it must include more physical repetition of the skill IN A PANIC sitiuation. The question is how do you SAFELY simulate and CONTROL such a situation? Airline pilots get flight simulators and submariners have entire submarine mock-ups. We get a pool and some lead.