Thanks for the update on this.
The WORST news ... then RESCUE!
- Thread starter BladesRobinson
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OP
Mike,
I agree with you and the others who are promoting better diver safety. A 406 MHz personal locating beacon (PLB) would be ideal but for many the price may be too expensive. The SPOT unit has some drawbacks and though it is cheaper, I would not count on it to safe my life. Though I own a SPOT for the non-emergency functions, I am glad to also carry a "real deal" EPIRB.
I am aware that the 121.5 monitoring was being phased out but did not know they were "prohibited." After reading the previous post and doing some additional research, I believe "prohibited" may refer to their use as an EPIRB (Emergency Positioning Radio Indicating Beacon) required aboard commercial vessels. In fact, my 406 EPIRB also transmits on the 121.5 frequency which is the designated SAR homing frequency. My GUESS is that the transmission on a 121.5 will no longer warrant an emergency response but SAR units will still home in on that frequency. For that matter, the 121.5 frequency will continue to be the emergency frequency on aircraft radios so that is just one more reason why I have some questions about the word "prohibited" ... i.e., "prohibited from what?" ... I don't know.
Knowing that the 121.5 is the designated SAR homing frequency for the 406 EPIRBs, I believe a device manufactured by Sea Marshall may have merit for those participating in hard core / high risk diving. These unit also transmit on the 121.5 frequency and they are specifically designed for divers. ($345 each)
http://www.seamarshall-us.com/scuba-diver-locator-beacon.html
The SPOT unit costs $150 plus an additional $100 per year. Spot Messenger > Home I own one of these units and I do not recommend them for the application we are referring to (diver distress). I use one on my vessel when I am offshore for extended periods of time (out of cell phone and VHF range) to indicate I am "okay." Roughly 50%-75% of the signals are transmitted under the circumstances I use it.
The 406 PLB-EPIRB is the ideal unit to transmit a distress signal. I carry one in my boat but I don't plan to dive with it. I prefer NOT doing hard core / high risk diving. I no longer harvest "commercially" and only catch fish/lobster for MY consumption. Instead of taking risks these days, if I am really hungry for seafood, I go to the grocery store or restaurant.
I suspect I live by the saying, "There are "old divers" and there are "bold divers" but there are no "old, bold divers." When I am recreational diving, there is no need to assume additional risks.
Links for the "real deal" EPIRB and PLB follow:
ACR 406 MHz EPIRBs
www.acraquafix.com
OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER...
There is nothing wrong with "common sense" and being aware of safety. We have mentioned the safety sausage, lights, strobes, die packs, whistles and mirrors. Forum readers might also consider the draw back to black wet suits, black BCs, black fins, etc. Does every hard core diver have to dress like a Navy SEAL going on a combat mission? Why would a diver not want to be visible in the water. I used to have a wet suit with a high vis lime green stripe on the arms and legs but that style went out in the early 1990s. I can't find one of those any more. My old horse collar BC used to be yellow. It seems like "fashion" has replaced common sense in the manufacturing industry.
Just my two cents... and about all it's worth!
Blades
...and back to Mike's original question, I do not believe the rescue diver had a "safety sausage."
Last edited:
OP
Stranded diver recounts 22-hour offshore ordeal
Palm City man spends night in ocean after becoming separated from his boat
By Megan V. Winslow
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
PALM CITY Miles off shore and surrounded by a darkness that swallowed him whole in the breaking surf, Patrick Scartozzi fought exhaustion, bitter cold and the urge to peek at his watch.
Back home, his wife lay awake in bed listening to the birds and frogs outside as she waited for dawn and feared facing their children once more.
"I knew I was alive and floating, and I knew they didn't know," Scartozzi said Tuesday, four days after he disappeared off the St. Lucie Inlet during a commercial fishing dive. "I would have rather been in my position than to have been in their position, not knowing if I was stuck under a rock, dead."
The 43-year-old Palm City resident and Fort Lauderdale firefighter spent 22 hours in the ocean, steadily kicking toward land with a bleeding, shattered hand before a Coast Guard helicopter found him almost a mile off shore Saturday. A licensed commercial diver, Scartozzi became separated from his boat during a trip to spear snapper and grouper.
Scartozzi said he emerged early from a 95-foot deep reef dive to find himself about 75 yards away from his boat. A swarm of fishing boats had suddenly emerged on the reef and Scartozzi's friend and business partner, Clay Brandt, was trying to shoo them away so Scartozzi wouldn't get hurt.
Scartozzi's head disappeared from sight in the rough waves, and he drifted away with the current. Before long, he began shedding his expensive dive gear, including a weight belt and a speargun. He kept his small dive scooter and steered it toward shore until the batteries died and then used it as a float.
Hours passed and he watched the Coast Guard helicopter and planes buzz overhead.
"I guess the desperation started when it started to get dark, about 8 o'clock at night," Scartozzi said. "I realized I would be spending a considerable amount of time out there."
And then he shot himself.
As a last-ditch effort to attract the Coast Guard helicopter, Scartozzi fired the .357 Magnum attachment from his speargun into the scooter and hoped someone would see the muzzle flash. Instead, the steel powerhead recoiled and pierced his right hand between two fingers.
The noise was deafening but still not loud enough to hear above the helicopter's whirling propeller.
Scartozzi yanked the powerhead from his knuckles, marveled at the hole it left behind and the blood that ran down his arm. And then he swam on.
As the condominiums on Hutchinson Island grew larger, Scartozzi met curious dolphins and clouds of glowing plankton but never any sharks. He watched the sun rise on a cloudless, clear day. About 10 a.m., he saw the Coast Guard helicopter fly north up the beach, and this time, it stopped.
A trip to the hospital and one hand surgery later, Scartozzi is recovering at home with his wife, Chris, and their three children, Patrick Jr., 16, Marisa, 12, and Julia, 7, by his side. He returns to firefighting on June 21, and despite his recent ordeal, diving is sure to follow.
"He's never going to stop diving I know that," Chris Scartozzi said. "He's not done."
Palm City man spends night in ocean after becoming separated from his boat
By Megan V. Winslow
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
PALM CITY Miles off shore and surrounded by a darkness that swallowed him whole in the breaking surf, Patrick Scartozzi fought exhaustion, bitter cold and the urge to peek at his watch.
Back home, his wife lay awake in bed listening to the birds and frogs outside as she waited for dawn and feared facing their children once more.
"I knew I was alive and floating, and I knew they didn't know," Scartozzi said Tuesday, four days after he disappeared off the St. Lucie Inlet during a commercial fishing dive. "I would have rather been in my position than to have been in their position, not knowing if I was stuck under a rock, dead."
The 43-year-old Palm City resident and Fort Lauderdale firefighter spent 22 hours in the ocean, steadily kicking toward land with a bleeding, shattered hand before a Coast Guard helicopter found him almost a mile off shore Saturday. A licensed commercial diver, Scartozzi became separated from his boat during a trip to spear snapper and grouper.
Scartozzi said he emerged early from a 95-foot deep reef dive to find himself about 75 yards away from his boat. A swarm of fishing boats had suddenly emerged on the reef and Scartozzi's friend and business partner, Clay Brandt, was trying to shoo them away so Scartozzi wouldn't get hurt.
Scartozzi's head disappeared from sight in the rough waves, and he drifted away with the current. Before long, he began shedding his expensive dive gear, including a weight belt and a speargun. He kept his small dive scooter and steered it toward shore until the batteries died and then used it as a float.
Hours passed and he watched the Coast Guard helicopter and planes buzz overhead.
"I guess the desperation started when it started to get dark, about 8 o'clock at night," Scartozzi said. "I realized I would be spending a considerable amount of time out there."
And then he shot himself.
As a last-ditch effort to attract the Coast Guard helicopter, Scartozzi fired the .357 Magnum attachment from his speargun into the scooter and hoped someone would see the muzzle flash. Instead, the steel powerhead recoiled and pierced his right hand between two fingers.
The noise was deafening but still not loud enough to hear above the helicopter's whirling propeller.
Scartozzi yanked the powerhead from his knuckles, marveled at the hole it left behind and the blood that ran down his arm. And then he swam on.
As the condominiums on Hutchinson Island grew larger, Scartozzi met curious dolphins and clouds of glowing plankton but never any sharks. He watched the sun rise on a cloudless, clear day. About 10 a.m., he saw the Coast Guard helicopter fly north up the beach, and this time, it stopped.
A trip to the hospital and one hand surgery later, Scartozzi is recovering at home with his wife, Chris, and their three children, Patrick Jr., 16, Marisa, 12, and Julia, 7, by his side. He returns to firefighting on June 21, and despite his recent ordeal, diving is sure to follow.
"He's never going to stop diving I know that," Chris Scartozzi said. "He's not done."
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