Successful rescue.

[Steelyeyes]

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Vermoeide duiker uit zee gevist voor kust Bonaire |Bonaire.Nu

Vermoeide duiker uit zee gevist voor kust Bonaire

bonaire.nu

I've been on both sites a few times. Current and waves are generally an issue to they are infrequently dived. One time the plan was to dive Lighthouse but we ended up drifting toward Red Slave on a decent current, exited and hiked back to get the truck. Sometimes that doesn't work out. I'm glad they found him and that he had an SMB to help them see him.

 

[DandyDon]

Had a SMB to help him get noticed: Good. Buddies separated and only one got out on his own: Not so good. One might argue that it's better than neither making it, but I am a fan of staying together.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Who would have raised the Larm had they stayed together? They'd have both floated off with no one to call for help. When would they have been missed?

 

[Steelyeyes]

Who would have raised the Larm had they stayed together? They'd have both floated off with no one to call for help. When would they have been missed?

That makes sense. A rapid response is important. I'm pretty sure if they put the local Coast Guard helicopter up, which they apparently didn't in this case, it can only search in daylight hours. There is one in Curacao that has FLIR and can do night searches but search areas expand by the hour and thereby reduce the odds of a positive outcome. Luckily someone from shore spotted the diver and kept eyes on until the Coast Guard boat showed up.

 

[DandyDon]

A rapid response is important. I'm pretty sure if they put the local Coast Guard helicopter up, which they apparently didn't in this case, it can only search in daylight hours.

Yeah, separating buddies so the stronger one could do ashore to raise the alarm paid off this time, but the article says a patrol boat and a helicopter were used.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I have never attempted Lighthouse. The one time my buddy and I tried Red Slave we soon realized it was going to be a struggle. These sites require considerable local experience to know if conditions are good enough to dive. Even then, the conditions may not necessarily be good enough for all of us. I wonder what criteria these divers used to decide conditions were okay?

 

[Steelyeyes]

I have never attempted Lighthouse. The one time my buddy and I tried Red Slave we soon realized it was going to be a struggle. These sites require considerable local experience to know if conditions are good enough to dive. Even then, the conditions may not necessarily be good enough for all of us. I wonder what criteria these divers used to decide conditions were okay?

My wife has a replaced knee and a dodgy hip (opposite legs). To do Lighthouse we spent some time looking at the iron shore, rolling around on it a couple of times, and then found what amounts to a slot where the footing is the most predictable. We only go on low wind days when the swell is low. Red Slave is a bit easier to get in and out and the current generally sweeps around from Lighthouse and goes north. If it's too strong our options are abort or drift. So far we've done the drift once. We've driven up, looked at conditions, and looked for other places more than we've gone diving at either place.

I think some tourists feel time pressure that we don't have and maybe push boundaries because of it. I've taken a couple of courses in Human Error Prevention and a false sense of urgency is never a good thing.