Talk about stupidity

[seaturtle29]

Just thought I'd add some detail to this post. The original post by Seaturtle 42 was about a company called Pacific Divers on Rarotonga, Cook Islands. She Kristen works for the competition 'The Dive Centre (Big fish)' and used to work for Pacific divers, hence the rant about them. The content is correct that Pacific divers boat was drifting with the girl not knowing what to do, obviously not the best set up. All dive boats should have someone on them who can drive the boat. I'm sure they have learnt from the experience and it won't happen again. Slightly in their defense the owner was away at the time.

As a note however, 'The Dive Centre' who Kristen works for do not man their boats at all, leaving them with no one onboard during the dives. So on that morning, they had left their boat totally unattended during the dives and do the same every time they go out! Kind of puts a different slant on it, don't you think!!!

May I suggest that you get your own house in order before bagging the competition!

 

[PacificDivers]

Kia orana,

I wish to comment as the owner / operator of Pacific Divers to postings on this thread. I take all comments barring the initial post as valid as thank in particular, Seaturtle29 for stating what would not have been known to most readers.

I do thank Gary for his actions on that day.

Pacific Divers maintains operating standards in line with and exceeding those of many dive destinations. We strive to attain standards in line with those of similar operators in New Zealand and the United States, even though we are not legislated to do so.

With regards to the manning of boats, our policy is this;

Our boats remained manned on every dive trip. We have a minimum of 2 staff on every dive trip. One is to be in the water conducting the dive, while the other is to be on the surface prepared to lend assistance to any diver that requires it and assist the dive leader in facilitating the dive preparation and post dive activity.

Because of the small size of our operation (max 7 customers per trip), we do not have the capacity for a full time boat captain. We did try this for a period of time but it was unsustainable for a couple of reasons. As a result we use our dive staff and divemaster trainees to man the boat. The person who has overall responsibility for the conduct and management of any dive trip is the divemaster / instructor who is leading the dives.

It is standard that all our DM trainees receive their First Aid and Boat Operations training as the first part of their internship. They do not man the boat until this is achieved.

In this case, I must stress a one off event, there were short comings. The boat was manned, not by a Divemaster Trainee, as stated by Kristen (Seaturtle42), but by the partner of our senior dive instructor. It was on his advise that she manned the boat during that dive excursion. I was out of the Cook Islands and had left the day to day management of the business in my partner’s hands however I endorse her decisions.

As a result of this incident we have formalized our policy for assessing capability for manning the boat which includes verification of the ability to operate the boat and all equipment on board.

Therefore, this will not happen again.

We strive to maintain an operation of the highest quality. With regards to safety, we always man our boats with a first aid qualified and capable boat operator and we provide a Divemaster or Instructor certified guide with every dive. Our boats have Oxygen on board. We provide Personal Dive Computers to all divers as part of our free gear rental, we use quality products in our rental range with Oceanic dive gear, Neo2 and Ion masks, and Mares AvantiTre fins.

We do not limit dive times to squeeze in more dive trips and we give the full surface interval required to ensure quality second dives on our two dive trips.

There are several other extras we include such as complimentary mask defog, photos of your dive, refreshments and free transfers to and from our operation.

We are the only operator in the Cook Islands that can attest to these standards.

There are 2 operators in the Cook Islands, one being Kristens former employee, that leave their boats completely unattended during dives. On two occasions I am aware of our boatman has had to assist divers form another operator who have been sent up early (I assume they were low on air). Upon reaching the surface they had forgotten to inflate their BCD and were unable to exit the water without any assistance. One required verbal instructions, the other required physical assistance to avert a panic diver situation.

We have learnt from our mistakes and continue to improve our operation. They haven’t learned from theirs.

Talk about stupidity. I don’t know who is more stupid, these guys for leaving their boats unattended, or the people that dive with them.

Ka kite e kia manuia,

Steve Lyon
Pacific Divers www.pacificidivers.co.ck
____________________________________________________________

 

[Charlie99]

Many boats I've been on have a placard near the VHF radio with instructions on how to operate it and what to say in an emergency. It's not a substitute for proper training of crew, but it's something good to have if for some weird reason a passenger needs to call for assistance.

 

[SeaTurtle42]

Wow, well, I'm sorry to hear that this has happened to another dive operator. However, this particular incident I was talking about did not occur in the Cook Islands and I am reluctant to comment where it is for privacy issues. As well, this is something that has happened over a year ago, I just finally got around to posting it up.
I hope the company in the Cooks learned its lesson which it seems it has, so all ends well. Good to hear lessons were learned. I certainly hope that the people involved with the situation were thanked because I know my divemaster and I were never thanked, not that I really care because I was more concerned about the safety of the passengers. Interesting to hear that it's happened to other people though.
Cheers!
SeaTurtle42

 

[Charlie99]

Interesting to hear that it's happened to other people though.

There have been quite a few incidents reported in newspapers where a some guys go out on their private boat and go for a dive while leaving someone topside that doesn't know how to run the boat. The anchor line comes loose or the divers surface downcurrent and the person in the boat doesn't know what to do.

Sadly a far too common sort of problem.
Common sense apparently isn't all that common.

Leaving an totally untrained person in the boat is no better than diving from an unattended boat.

 

[Sanveann]

Just seeing this thread ... but I had to respond to Pacific Divers' assertion that the other operators on Raro don't man their boats. My husband dove with Dive Rarotonga and said their boats absolutely were manned.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

Just doesn’t make much sense to advertise that you have boats manned when the person manning the boat is sleeping and isn’t aware of the surroundings…not to mention, does not even know the basics like turning a key on, throwing an anchor, driving a boat, and needles to say, how to use a radio.Before anyone works on a boat, some training should be done...It came minutes within crashing on the rocks. Talk about stupidity

Up here in Ontario, the police and/or coast guard do spot checks. They stop dive operators on the river and inspect the boat, radio, safety gear, crew certifications, and so forth.

Had they encountered the situation you describe, they probably would have rescued the divers and impounded the boat. I don't know about the jurisdiction you describe, but my understanding is that here in Ontario, it is against the law to have an untrained operator crewing a boat used for commercial purposes, especially passenger-carrying commercial purposes.

 

[SkipperJohn]

Up here in Ontario, the police and/or coast guard do spot checks. They stop dive operators on the river and inspect the boat, radio, safety gear, crew certifications, and so forth.

Had they encountered the situation you describe, they probably would have rescued the divers and impounded the boat. I don't know about the jurisdiction you describe, but my understanding is that here in Ontario, it is against the law to have an untrained operator crewing a boat used for commercial purposes, especially passenger-carrying commercial purposes.

90% of what you learn when getting a masters license you never use. Like the part where I learned how to respool a hawser on a tug (I'm ready to bet I will never captain a tug, ever).
But from what I recall there were actually no laws broken here. Firstly the regs are international and apply world-wide (International colregs). They require a properly outfitted vessel and captain, but the captain does not need to be at the help. Further, a moored or anchored boat requires no one on the boat. Now the minute the vessel broke free it became a vessel under way not making way (drifting not under power). Interesting point is that there were no paying customers on board so no requirements here. But, technically if she couldn't figure out how to start the vessel (turning a key can be quite tricky) she is required at that point to throw an anchor or dredge as the vessel has not become a NUC (not under command). And, should there have been any damage caused by the uncontrolled drifting the vessel owner would have been 100% responsible unless he was displaying the proper signals for being a NUC-which we all know is not the case.
Unfortunately, logic does not always make sense regarding the regs, but there is one reg that takes precedence over all regs and that's the only logical one. The one that says (& I'm ad-libbing here) "all vessels are required to take whatever action is necessary to avoid collision or damage to person or property.

 

[Hoomi]

You know, what also occurs to me in this is that someone asleep in the boat would be useless to a diver in trouble as well, since they're not likely to see the diver signalling for help.

IMNSHO, anyone manning a dive boat as the "top side watch" needs to remain alert and watching the surface for distressed divers. They need to know how to respond, including moving the boat closer to assist, where any rescue gear such as emergency floats are, how to help a distressed diver out of the water, how to administer first aid, and how to radio for emergency services if needed.

If the person on the boat cannot do those things, then all they really are is a low-level security guard making sure no one comes by and steals the dive boat.

 

[SeaTurtle42]

Since posting this orginally, I am now an offshore skipper and realize that some of the International Colregs were in fact, completely disregarded. Hoomi, you're absolutely correct in that Rule 5 states every vessel at all times maintain a proper look out by SIGHT as well as HEARING. This girl certainly wasn't following the sight part, but at least this girl heard us call her on the radio (whew). Secondly, I see that Rule 7 might be also in violation in that every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions to determine if risk of collision exists. If it doubt, assume risk of collision exists. I wonder, if we hadn't gone out there, what would she have done? Best thing she could have done (since she was unable to operate a vessel) would be to throw over the anchor thus making it not underway anymore because like SkipperJohn says, the vessel was a NUC.
Reg Braithwaite, I like the way the Canadian police think but unfortunately, where this occured was in a third world country where the police did not involve itself in such mattters. They constantly let illegal fishing vessels fish in their waters, I highly doubt they would care about this.
Like I've stated before, I don't know if this company learned its lesson, but in this thread, we've learned of other companies that have been similiarily affected, so I guess it's a lot more common than I suspected. I'm just glad that I have the proper training that I will not be placed in this situation and if I ever encounter another vessel in this situation, I am properly equipped to deal with such matters.
Cheers for the input, everyone. It's been very enlightening.