Stranded diver rescued - Catalina Island, California

[DandyDon]

No buddy, no pilot left on boat, no PLB...

Diver with hypothermia rescued after 40 hours stranded on Catalina Island

A 50-year-old man spent nearly two days stranded on the largely uninhabited western shore of Catalina island before a Coast Guard helicopter rescued him Friday.

Early Wednesday morning the man headed out on his 38-foot boat and anchored it off the island’s coastline to go diving, according to a release from the Coast Guard. When he resurfaced from his dive, however, the vessel had drifted out to sea.

He tried to swim for the boat, but soon realized it was too far off and decided to make his way back to shore instead. He made it there at about 2 p.m. Wednesday and spent the next 40 hours alone on the backside of the island.

Just before 11 p.m. Thursday, the Los Angeles-Long Beach Coast Guard Command Center received a call reporting that the man had not returned home. The Coast Guard then sent out a helicopter and rescue boat to search for him at 6 a.m. Friday.

The helicopter crew found him, still wearing his wetsuit and waving an orange life jacket, at about 7 a.m. The diver was hoisted into the chopper transported to Hogue Hospital in Irvine, where he was treated for hypothermia and dehydration.

 

[ibj40]

So, where's the boat?

 

[Scubagolf]

San Diego.....

 

[Ken Kurtis]

I picked a good time to be out of town . . .

From the article: "The helicopter crew found him, still wearing his wetsuit and waving an orange life jacket, at about 7 a.m. The diver was hoisted into the chopper transported to Hogue Hospital in Irvine, where he was treated for hypothermia and dehydration."

The part they didn't write: "The man was also given a head x-ray and it found nothing." (FTR, that's a joke.)

I have no problem with solo diving. I DO an an issue with solo solos when you're the only one on your own boat for exactly the reasons of what happened to this guy. And if you're really don't have any friends who will dive with you, AT LEAST establish radio contact with someone when you jump in, give them your bottom time, and then report back to them via radio when you're back on the boat. If you don't report back in within a timeframe, they alert USCG to come find your sorry butt. (Then they alert Cedars-Sinai for a brain transplant for you.)

Pretty dumb dive plan IMHO. I'd be curious to know where on the island he was found. I wonder if this will also be one of those stories where it turns out there was a campground and safety over a ridge but he never bothered to go look.

And you wonder why we ask for waivers . . .


- Ken

 

[Kevrumbo]

Sometimes just telling a friend a float/dive plan is not good enough . . .obvious lesson learned -if you're gonna do solo diving from your own boat, then always have a PLB in a Dive Canister attached to you at all times.

A different & tragic ending in the cold waters of Northern California from over nine years ago:

LEGACY OF THE DEEP / Kawika Chetron lived for his time spent at sea, and his time there spawned a treasure of ocean images

 

[DandyDon]

And if you're really don't have any friends who will dive with you, AT LEAST establish radio contact with someone when you jump in, give them your bottom time, and then report back to them via radio when you're back on the boat. If you don't report back in within a timeframe, they alert USCG to come find your sorry butt.

PLBs are cheap. For one more week, you can get a $50 cash rebate so your cost is less than $200, less than 80¢/week over the 5 year life of an ACR, or less than 57¢/week over the 7 year life of an Ocean Signal. I don't leave the house without mine, much less get out of the car to hike, farm, boat, whatever.

And now you can get a good dive canister for $100! Any diver too cheap to spend $300 to dive with one need to reevaluate, IMO.

I wonder if this will also be one of those stories where it turns out there was a campground and safety over a ridge but he never bothered to go look.

From what I've seen of the island, I think he'd have to be near Two Harbors to be close to anything on the west side. Some mean looking ridges as I recall.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

From what I've seen of the island, I think he'd have to be near Two Harbors to be close to anything on the west side. Some mean looking ridges as I recall.

Not to beat you up on this Don but don't forget Catalina is my backyard. There's some 27 miles or so of coastline along the backside, so Two Harbors isn't the only option by a longshot. I just got off the phone with one of the boat captains and he's also not sure where the guy was picked. Some places might have had trails where he beached, and others may have barely been accessible with no way to go higher to safety. The backside is a rather rugged place and the bottom line is that this idiot is lucky to be alive. If he was at the actual West End (aka Lands End), I think there's a hiking trail near there. But my captain buddy said that due to the prevailing wind and sell, he's thinking somewhere along the backside towards the southern part of Catalina, which can still be considered "west". But that's a total guess as we have zero actual info.

- Ken

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I would have picked my poison and swam near shore heading for Cat Harbor or Avalon, whichever was closer. It would be next to impossible to climb the cliffs of the backside in wetsuit boots. Most divers I know who go to the backside of Catalina either dive Eagle Rock or the walls outside Cat Harbor or Farnsworth Bank. It's a long swim either way but it beats sitting in a cold wetsuit waiting for a miracle.

 

[Kharon]

I've dove with a buddy with no one in the boat. Stupid, I now know - I was just following a much more experienced diver. But we did go to the hook and bury it in big rocks to prevent it from pulling loose. And it was on a very populated lake. I can't imagine chancing it in the ocean, especially somewhere remote.

 

[drbill]

I leave the island for a week and this happens. Depending on where along the windward coast he was diving, there are dirt roads that lead down to the coast in several places but also some pretty steep (and crumbly) cliffs. Not something I would have even considered doing although 90% of my dives are solo.