So I just returned from a great week of diving with a great group of people, a great crew (in most aspects) and on a very nice liveaboard boat. I'm going to leave the vessel unnamed because this story is not meant to discredit them. It is meant as an educational tool for new divers, experienced divers and dive trip leaders.
Preface: This trip was not sponsored by our shop. It included 12 very experienced divers and 5 very experienced crew members, including a terrific (in my opinion)Captain.
On the second day of the trip I decided to sit a dive out. The other 11 travelers all went diving. I happened to notice that the entire crew was absent from the deck and there was no one on "look Out" for a surfaced or distressed diver. They (the crew)were all in the salon. I had a strange feeling at that moment that something was amiss... so I walked around the boat peering out into the sea and saw nothing. Eventually a couple members of the crew returned to deck and all the divers made it back onboard safely... no worries I suppose.
The next day all 12 of us entered the water for a morning dive. The current was fairly strong and it was a struggle to make it forward to the anchor line to descend. I made it as did my buddy and went about my dive. After about 40 minutes it was time to ascend so I returned to the anchor line. I arrived to find one of my fellow travelers holding onto the line and looking around. I noticed his buddy was not with him and asked him where his buddy was. He shrugged the "I don't know" shrug. Being experienced and havinf replayed my dive in my head... I realized his buddy was the only person I had not seen the entire dive. Instantly I knew we had a lost diver. I signaled to my buddy that I was blowing my safety stop (an educated calculation based on my computer) to alert the crew of the situation. I signaled for my buddy to stay put, look around for his lost buddy and stay with him near the line.
I reached the surface and yelled up to the crew inquiring as to whether the missing diver was onboard. They replied "no." I told them the diver was missing and the divers buddy was below on the hangline. They immediately started scanning the surface and notified me that they had "something" in sight off in the distance and that it "may be" the missing diver. A few moments later after pulling out binoculars, I was relieved to learn it was in fact the missing diver and the skiff was enroute to pick them up.
The diver had originally surfaced within about 50 yards of the boat and should have easily been visable to an attentive crew. The diver later stated they had been signalling the boat for about 8-10 minutes as the current carried them further and further away. The diver also stated that they did not see any crew the entire time and that the current was too strong to swim against. Had I surfaced just a minute or two later the diver may have been completely out of view.
What went wrong? First the diver lost site of their buddy on initial descent. Both of them experienced divers ignored the lost buddy rule of look for your buddy for 1 minute then surface. While one buddy drifted away in a strong current, the other buddy went ahead with the dive figuring they'd find their buddy down there somewhere. An inattentive crew did not see a diver surfaced within close proximity to the boat. To make matters worse, the lost diver could not manage to properly inflate the safety sausage and it kept deflating (for an unknown reason.)
Lessons Learned: I learned that if I notice something not right I should not be shy about raising a red flag right from the get go. This crew was professional in all aspects and I was surprised by their inattentiveness to safety details. Later they admitted that our group had so much experience and had done so well on previous dives in similar conditions that they "just slipped on their level of concern." Divers no matter how experienced should not deviate from diving basics such as the lost buddy drill. Do a 360 for 1 minute then surface. Had this occurred the buddies would have been reunited at the surface and the dive could have been continued or aborted. Be familiar with all of your equipment - including how to inflate and maintain a safety sausage.
Thanks for reading... I hope this post has been informative.
Alls well that ends well...
Preface: This trip was not sponsored by our shop. It included 12 very experienced divers and 5 very experienced crew members, including a terrific (in my opinion)Captain.
On the second day of the trip I decided to sit a dive out. The other 11 travelers all went diving. I happened to notice that the entire crew was absent from the deck and there was no one on "look Out" for a surfaced or distressed diver. They (the crew)were all in the salon. I had a strange feeling at that moment that something was amiss... so I walked around the boat peering out into the sea and saw nothing. Eventually a couple members of the crew returned to deck and all the divers made it back onboard safely... no worries I suppose.
The next day all 12 of us entered the water for a morning dive. The current was fairly strong and it was a struggle to make it forward to the anchor line to descend. I made it as did my buddy and went about my dive. After about 40 minutes it was time to ascend so I returned to the anchor line. I arrived to find one of my fellow travelers holding onto the line and looking around. I noticed his buddy was not with him and asked him where his buddy was. He shrugged the "I don't know" shrug. Being experienced and havinf replayed my dive in my head... I realized his buddy was the only person I had not seen the entire dive. Instantly I knew we had a lost diver. I signaled to my buddy that I was blowing my safety stop (an educated calculation based on my computer) to alert the crew of the situation. I signaled for my buddy to stay put, look around for his lost buddy and stay with him near the line.
I reached the surface and yelled up to the crew inquiring as to whether the missing diver was onboard. They replied "no." I told them the diver was missing and the divers buddy was below on the hangline. They immediately started scanning the surface and notified me that they had "something" in sight off in the distance and that it "may be" the missing diver. A few moments later after pulling out binoculars, I was relieved to learn it was in fact the missing diver and the skiff was enroute to pick them up.
The diver had originally surfaced within about 50 yards of the boat and should have easily been visable to an attentive crew. The diver later stated they had been signalling the boat for about 8-10 minutes as the current carried them further and further away. The diver also stated that they did not see any crew the entire time and that the current was too strong to swim against. Had I surfaced just a minute or two later the diver may have been completely out of view.
What went wrong? First the diver lost site of their buddy on initial descent. Both of them experienced divers ignored the lost buddy rule of look for your buddy for 1 minute then surface. While one buddy drifted away in a strong current, the other buddy went ahead with the dive figuring they'd find their buddy down there somewhere. An inattentive crew did not see a diver surfaced within close proximity to the boat. To make matters worse, the lost diver could not manage to properly inflate the safety sausage and it kept deflating (for an unknown reason.)
Lessons Learned: I learned that if I notice something not right I should not be shy about raising a red flag right from the get go. This crew was professional in all aspects and I was surprised by their inattentiveness to safety details. Later they admitted that our group had so much experience and had done so well on previous dives in similar conditions that they "just slipped on their level of concern." Divers no matter how experienced should not deviate from diving basics such as the lost buddy drill. Do a 360 for 1 minute then surface. Had this occurred the buddies would have been reunited at the surface and the dive could have been continued or aborted. Be familiar with all of your equipment - including how to inflate and maintain a safety sausage.
Thanks for reading... I hope this post has been informative.
Alls well that ends well...
