It was the writer of the story that gave the misimpression Fish-N-Fins was involved. They run a safe, tight operation with a lot of experienced local guides and boat drivers.
When I left there in '01 almost no one dove with the DM carrying a 'ball' as a surface marker. The only operation that did was the PalauSport, a Japanese liveaboard. With the drift dives in Palau it is really close cooperation between the guide and the driver that brings people back safely. If the guide or the driver miss the mark you may be out for a swim.
As far as coming up 1/2 mile from the boat, picture a 3 knot drift, tied with an hour long dive and picture how far you are going to travel. With a lot of chop and no ball it is tough to peg exactly where the divers will be when they come up. The guide should have known to come up from the dive after they passed over the end of Peleliu. You don't want to drift too long in the passage between Peleliu and Anguar.
To the best of my knowlege there is still no helicopter in Palau, and only 1 small plane that could enter into the search. Many of the 27' skiffs that are used in Palau are not suitable for long searches in the open waters around Anguar, especially in 6' swells. That pretty much leaves the liveaboards and a few of the Sea-Cats.
Just my 2c's.
When I left there in '01 almost no one dove with the DM carrying a 'ball' as a surface marker. The only operation that did was the PalauSport, a Japanese liveaboard. With the drift dives in Palau it is really close cooperation between the guide and the driver that brings people back safely. If the guide or the driver miss the mark you may be out for a swim.
As far as coming up 1/2 mile from the boat, picture a 3 knot drift, tied with an hour long dive and picture how far you are going to travel. With a lot of chop and no ball it is tough to peg exactly where the divers will be when they come up. The guide should have known to come up from the dive after they passed over the end of Peleliu. You don't want to drift too long in the passage between Peleliu and Anguar.
To the best of my knowlege there is still no helicopter in Palau, and only 1 small plane that could enter into the search. Many of the 27' skiffs that are used in Palau are not suitable for long searches in the open waters around Anguar, especially in 6' swells. That pretty much leaves the liveaboards and a few of the Sea-Cats.
Just my 2c's.