Yukon tangent thread

[divemaster dave]

Give it a rest and stop executing the boat and crew without having anymore facts than have already been presented.

So a crew that was paying attention couldn't figure out that someone can't do 2 hours at 100' on an AL 80. Probably time to call USCG, and not dive another site.

 

[Hetland]

Wow Hetland. I was just thinking I hope you aren't a cop, lawyer or judge cause everyone is innocent. Blame no one for anything eh? I think we just solved our prison overcrowding problem. Evey person is completely to blame for their own actions, huh? A store gets robbed cause they had money in it. A diver dies cause its his own fault.

Actually, in a past life, I was a cop, and I sent more than my fair share to prison. To the best of my knowledge, I've still got a few folks on the inside.

I can't recommend the job. I loved the work, but the pay and politics are just dismal, unless you go federal, then the pay is better

Anyway. It doesn't take a "divemaster" or a cop, or a lawyer or a judge to figure out that someone out of air at 100ft, who also can't make it to the surface, is dead unless something drastic takes place in five minutes.

Anyone with a watch can tell you that it's impossible to notice a lack of bubbles, change a tank, descend 100ft, find a body, and bring it to the surface safely in five minutes.

Again, it shouldn't take a "divemaster" with 5,000 dives to figure this out.

 

[divemaster dave]

I can remember another "rescue" where me and my buddy were solo but at the same dive site. I surfaced. A few minutes went by and I got worried when he didn't surface. I splashed again, chased his bubbles to depth at about 100' and brought him an AL80.Turns out his computer took a crap and gave him 35 minutes of DECO. He didn't want to violate his computer since it was a repetitive dive and he didn't work out his NDL before this dive (his mistake) he didn't know what his NDL was. Should this be a scenario where he should be let alone to die? Me bringing him the AL80 saved him from cutting his computer short or perhaps making an OOA.

This practice could have been done in this instance. But then I forget we are taking for granted that the crew is dumb and won't lend a hand or try to figure any of this out. It's just game over.

Anyone with a watch can tell you that it's impossible to notice a lack of bubbles, change a tank, descend 100ft, find a body, and bring it to the surface safely in five minutes.

Again, it shouldn't take a "divemaster" with 5,000 dives to figure this out.

That's why they figure it when he is overdue and send someone in, before it gets bad. Before he runs out of air. Again that's hard to do when you are 2 miles away.

 

[donhealy]

Well, we are 29 pages into this thread and TheEngineer is thankfully out of the picture.

I was on the Spectre 6 years ago on the back side of Anacapa when a diver and his dive buddy surfaced. They were on rebreathers. This diver was very lucky to have an attentive buddy who really knew what buddy diving was all about. He began yelling and calling for a rescue diver as his buddy was not breathing. When the rescue diver and I got him back on board he had no pulse. We used all our skills and brought him back. Luckily an ER doc from Ventura County Medical Center was on board as well. He took over when he surfaced and saw what was happening.

This diver is alive today because he had a real buddy diver, the boat was there and there were people trained. ( I think a lot of prayers may have helped as well).

Folks, this is something you never forget and it has caused me to change my approach to diving as well as my expectations of those that dive with me.

P.S. I dive sometimes with a pair of search and rescue divers with a sheriffs dept. on the upper peninsula of Michigan. All you have to do is listen to some of their stories of unintended consequences to gain a real respect for this sport.

May the three divers lost this weekend in California rest in peace.

Don

 

[SC_Hoaty]

I can remember another "rescue" where me and my buddy were solo but at the same dive site. I surfaced. A few minutes went by and I got worried when he didn't surface. I splashed again, chased his bubbles to depth at about 100' and brought him an AL80.Turns out his computer took a crap and gave him 35 minutes of DECO. He didn't want to violate his computer since it was a repetitive dive and he didn't work out his NDL before this dive (his mistake) he didn't know what his NDL was. Should this be a scenario where he should be let alone to die? Me bringing him the AL80 saved him from cutting his computer short or perhaps making an OOA.

This practice could have been done in this instance. But then I forget we are taking for granted that the crew is dumb and won't lend a hand or try to figure any of this out. It's just game over.

Surface without your buddy? Re-descend to find out what the deal is? Great example! Where do you teach?

 

[divemaster dave]

Surface without your buddy? Re-descend to find out what the deal is? Great example! Where do you teach?

Go back and read, we are both solo divers. Yes I surfaced without him. And I never said I teach. Now you are just making stuff up. Whatever makes you look good. Go for it.

 

[SC_Hoaty]

Go back and read, we are both solo divers. Yes I surfaced without him. And I never said I teach. Now you are just making stuff up. Whatever makes you look good. Go for it.

I guess I was hung up on "me and my buddy". Didn't TheEngineer explain "rule #1?" How does one solo dive with a buddy? And what's with the divemaster if you are not involved with students?

And how does this help this thread? Sorry if I'm contributing to the hijack.

 

[Scott]

I read the quote below early in the thread and hope dirtdiver1 can answer a couple question I have.

I was on the Humboldt yesterday during the mishap. It was great dive conditions. 30 ft of viz, almost no surge. The bottom was at 110ft. The diver that died was using an aluminum 80 on air and was diving by himself. When his body was recovered he had no air left in his tank. The diver seemed intent on photography and was last seen some feet away from the Yukon looking at something in the sand.

dirtdiver1, did you see him looking at something or was it another diver that told you this?
Do you know how long into the dive it was that he was last seen?
How far would you estimate 'some feet' to be?

Does anyone know how far from the Yukon the body was found?

 

[Blow.Fish]

Does anyone know how far from the Yukon the body was found?

"Lifeguard dive team members found him about 25 - 30 yards on the west side of the vessel midship" said San Diego Lifeguard Lt. Nick Lerma.

Source: Diver Dies Off Mission Beach | NBC San Diego


~75-90ft away from the wreck compared to 1st hand reports of visibility ranging from 25-40ft on that day.

 

[Oside Jimc]

I don't know how thick the shades are that are covering your eyes but open them up. The diver support platform (aka dive boat) was 2 miles away from the diver. Not exactly in a position to do anything but perhaps the crew getting a suntan while their customer lay on the sea floor, alone, dying.

Very dramatic, but the diver was DEAD when they were only 105' away (BTW, since you obviously have ittle actual experience in San Diego the Ruby E is MUCH less than 2 miles from the Yukon, more like 1/2 mile), yes, we get your point that you want to villify the Humboldt, mission accomplished. Easy to hide behind a keyboard and point fingers, but it's apparent to this reasonable person that this accident is a result of an inattentive solo diver that was so engrossed by photographing something in the sand at 105' that he sucked his AL80 dry and was only brought back to reality when he started licking the aluminum from the bottom of the tank, basic situational awareness 101.

Lesson learned: Plan your dive, dive your plan, and look at the effing SPG.

Very sad but oh so preventable.

Your bubble watching comments border on the absurd, after all at 105 on an AL80 he could have well been dead while other divers were in the water, oh yea, making bubbles. Oh yea, what does the boat do when there are multilpe boats on the Yukon at the same time (Very common situation here in San Diego), do the boats need to somehow color code the bubbles so they can track which divers the bubbles they are tracking are coming from?