Two die trapped in wreck

[Davidstealey3]

this is a sad story. for that fact is is allways upsetting to read stories like this.

my only question is were they trained to do wreck diving. i know it is tempting, but is your life worth it. i am sure it is a stressful situation to be in for first time divers even with an instructor when doing this kind of diving. you should be very experienced and know your comfort level before deciding to even do this type of tech diving. my heart goes out to the family and i hope some would be adventures read this before deciding to atempet anything beyond their training.

stay safe and practice good diving

 

[Mako Mark]

I truly believe this forum is the best tool out there for preventing diving deaths, and I'd be willing to bet that it has saved more lives than can ever be counted. (Maybe mine among them!)
.

I agree 100%

 

[river_sand_bar]

This is a very curious subject to me... we are starting a Ship to Reef program soon, and I just wonder how the ship was prepared to prevent them from entering area that would allow them to get lost. One of the things that we have trouble with here locally on the Yukon is that particals in the water settle, then once a diver enters an area that hasn't been stirred in a while the viz goes down to nothing.. and thats when they get lost. I just wonder if these divers were in a place they shouldn't have been... any one know??

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

I wouldnt blame this on the ship being ill prepared....Divers dove out of their training, didnt have the right equipment, and sadly paid the ultimate price...this is nothing new...it has happened before and will happen again.....there were wreck instructors a few months back that did on the Spiegal because they didnt follow their training(even though they trained others)

We cant always lay blame on something else(the dive site) Divers are responsible for themselves.....

 

[IceBergSlim]

I wouldnt blame this on the ship being ill prepared....Divers dove out of their training, didnt have the right equipment, and sadly paid the ultimate price...this is nothing new...it has happened before and will happen again.....there were wreck instructors a few months back that did on the Spiegal because they didnt follow their training(even though they trained others)

We cant always lay blame on something else(the dive site) Divers are responsible for themselves.....

That seems correct to me.

 

[texdiveguy]

To bad....fully preventable and very foolish.

 

[JayJudge]

The one point I'd like to make is-everyone asks if they were trained in wreck penetration. A much better question is 'how much experience in wreck penetration did they have.' I point this out because a lot of wreck courses are taught in quarries. The idea being you up your experience with small wrecks (tugs sunk as artificial reefs, etc), then progress on up. All this while diving with people who have more expertise, guiding you along. Unfortunately, too many people think a card allows them to dive anything (Andrea Dorea, Empress of Ireland) because they went through a school bus or a boat in a quarry. Overhead environments are dangerous, and require special equipment and training and experience. That includes deco, as you cannot surface directly. Enough of my rants. It is a tragedy, and I hope the families find peace.
-J

 

[do it easy]

How do people get themselves into situations where they decide to penetrate wrecks or enter caves without appropriate equipment and training? I don't get it.

From the outside, looking in, the overhead can look pretty simple. The vis will be ok and it won't look that scary- once you go inside and stir up the silt, the wreck can turn into quite a different beast.

Even without stirring up the silt it can be disorienting- the way back might not look like the way in. If you enter a room through one door, it might have two choices on the way out. If you turned while following a passageway or hallway, it might continue straight on the way back. All the while, the vis still looks good.

I've been silted out twice this year and both times I was amazed at how quickly it happened and how completely disorienting it was. Both times, I was literally less than a bodies length from the exit and I could not see it.

Just recently, I was leading a dive in OW, and one diver lagged behind. I turned the other diver around and we went to look for him. The vis was poor and he was just out of sight and slightly above us. We were reunited and I continued on with the dive- but in the completely opposite direction! In the 1 minute it took to find him and watch him descend to our level, I was completely spun around. Luckily, I trust my compass enough and realized the mistake- but this was in 20' of OW on what would be called an easy dive- imagine if this happened in a deeper wreck or a cave.

My point is to illustrate that wrecks and overhead environments can look safe and easy, but once inside, the environment can change quickly and without warning, which is the reason that special rules apply in the overhead environment.

 

[stevewirl]

good man eazy .
i have taken bodies out of wrecks were the divers experience has been called into question . the courses are run as a starter block and sould be taken from there .

overhead enviroments wither it be ships , cave , or deco all need training and after the training and support .

heart goes out to the families and friend .

Lessons to be learnt by all from this 1 i think .

 

[DivingsInMyBlood]

horrible thing to hear, i feel for the families