Wife describes losing husband - Maui, Hawaii

[Marie13]

The Dramamine news is a little worrisome for myself. I’m still struggling on boat dives when the seas are less than ideal so I’ve been using Dramamine. Deepest dive so far was my last at 79ft. Felt fine the entire time but still a little scary to hear. Anything else worth trying?

I’m tending towards discounting the Dramamine thing. The rest of the article is such a mess that it’s hard to believe anything about diving in it. I use Bonine myself. Supposed to be less drowsy than Dramamine. I take it before every charter. I get narced beginning about 115ft. At 130, I have quite the mush brain thing going on. But I dive in the cold, lower viz of the Great Lakes, which is probably quite different from what you’re diving in.

 

[W W Meixner]

Warren- The article does not say or even suggest that 185/200 feet was the plan - but unfortunately it is where two divers wound up.
You can't tell from the article what the planned maximum depth was, or be certain at what depth things went wrong, but it does say that the divers were gathering at 70 ft, and perhaps intended to "buddy up" at that depth but were first distracted by the sharks before getting all settled in. They may have been no deeper at that point. Also no idea what the hard bottom was where they gathered, but it may very well have been a reasonable depth. It sounds like the narc'd diver was actively swimming away from the group, and may have gone out and down into the much deeper water while chasing a shark.

Thanks Jack...

The problem is...trying to understand just what exactly the article does say...because from all the posts...most have gone down the speculation rabbit hole...

There's far too many pieces missing in the article to put anything concrete together...even to speculate on narcosis...

The MOD for 21%...if that's what was in the cylinders...at 1.4 ATA...is 186.9 ft...I can certainly see ''deep air'' narcosis being a factor at that depth...but the article and speculation...as I read the article...seems to indicate the onset of narcosis at 60/70 ft...possible I suppose...but unlikely...

Warren...

 

[Vitesse2l]

There's no mention of computers in the piece - the depths seem to be estimates. I'm sure there were computers worn on the dive and such information is pretty precise and should have made it past the author's mangling, I think.

 

[Diver below 83]

I’m tending towards discounting the Dramamine thing. The rest of the article is such a mess that it’s hard to believe anything about diving in it. I use Bonine myself. Supposed to be less drowsy than Dramamine. I take it before every charter. I get narced beginning about 115ft. At 130, I have quite the mush brain thing going on. But I dive in the cold, lower viz of the Great Lakes, which is probably quite different from what you’re diving in.

well I had a major brain fart. I went to look at my package of Dramamine to read up and low and behold I’ve been using Bonine lol. I think Dramamine was in my head as I recently asked for advice on items to take and Dramamine was recommended a lot. I found bonine at Walmart and ended up purchasing that. Now I’m not so worried about it. Also yes I’m doing warm water diving atm.

 

[oly5050user]

‘It was a nightmare.’ Modesto couple, on a diving trip to Hawaii, experiences tragedy | Denton Daily

“Emergency cord pulled” issue I have is this action most likely did not cause a uncontrollable rapid ascent. At only 2 atmospheres back in the late 1960’s these cartridges on bcd or horse collar vest’s barely inflated enough to cause type of rapid ascent described. At around the 6 almost 7 atmospheres the incident occurred the resulting positive buoyancy would probably not even be noticed.

 

[Vitesse2l]

Unless emergency cord = weight belt?

 

[lexvil]

https://www.modbee.com/news/article223013195.html
This is the original story which was copied verbatim from the Modesto bee, they also have the obit, accident happened in April 2018.

I have no idea who “Denton daily” is but looks to be a click bait thing who is plagiarizing sources.

 

[Chavodel8en]

"When they were all together, Sharp was about eight feet from Monday and the group was about five feet off the crater’s wall.

They looked at each other and Monday motioned with her hands to ask Sharp if he was OK. He signaled back that he was.

In recreational diving, the buddy system is used to avoid or survive underwater emergencies. But before Monday and Sharp could “buddy up,” the instructor started banging two metal sticks together to get everyone’s attention, pointing to a group of sharks about 20 feet away."

***
Don't mean to continue piling on, but this (poorly written) account does seem to feature some blame-casting. Apparently, the claim is that before the divers could properly buddy up, the DM distracted them with a shark viewing.....

I already discussed the buddies choice to not actually fully buddy up by descending separately...

But, even after the descent, the divers looked at each other, about 8 feet away, and signaled each other OK... Doesn't this describe that they were then effectively buddied up? I mean, what more is needed before we can declare them buddied up?

In any case pointing out wildlife is not really a bad practice for a dive op, IMO, as it is done by basically all of them.

Again, the article is so poorly written that who knows about anything. Including from whom the blame-casting is coming from.

****

Moreover, narcosis is mentioned as a cause, but it does seem pretty shallow for that. Really, with so little information, you cant really be sure about the cause. Could a medical event be the cause?

 

[Esprise Me]

Is there a medical event that quacks like narcosis? What could make someone swim off like that?

 

[bmorescuba]

The shop I use to dive the Molokini backwall does not require AOW, but it does explicitly require:

Be an Open Water Certified Diver or above
Have been diving within the last year
Have a minimum of 25 lifetime dives
Be comfortable with a maximum depth of 130 feet and rough ocean conditions

If those conditions aren't met, you are required to do less challenging dives with them so they can assess.

My dives were fairly independent, but there was a guide present. The guide descended rapidly to 110' or so and then worked his way back up slowly. The current was strong but not ripping. Divers could basically choose any depth they felt comfortable with (up to 130' and nitrox MoD). I wouldn't call it a difficult dive, but I personally wouldn't feel comfortable recommending it to someone who had never been below 60'.