45 replies to this topic

[Mitch0129]

I would like to pose a question to everyone here and see what you think. Here it is.

You are on a dive boat headed to a site off-shore, you are about 3-4 miles from land when the motor cuts out. The crew is unable to get it restarted so now the boat is drifting away from land.

Over the next few moments, you discover that the boat does not have a functioning radio or signal flares. The crew attempts to stop the drifting by tossing the anchor overboard but then it is discovered that the anchor chain was so rusted that the anchor broke off. The boat continues to drift.

Now you find yourself in a dilemma. You do not know if other boats are out there, the seas are a little rough after a storm had passed to the north hours before, but you can still see land. The captain also informs you that there is no other land mass that the boat is drifting towards. For all you know, you are headed out to sea.

Do you stay with the boat or do you get out in your dive gear and try to make a swim for the island?

This actually happened a couple of months ago in Belize. Four divers decided to get off the boat and make a swim for the island. The currents separated them and then took them out of sea where they drifted for three days and two nights. Three of them were eventually rescued, one of them did not make although her body was recovered.

It is easy to play Monday morning quarterback but I always believed you always stay with the boat unless it is going down, especially if you are more than a mile from land. At the same time, if a boat is going to take people out, it should always be in good working order and have a functioning radio and signal flares. Reading the reports, evidently in some of these third-world countries, the onus is on the customer to make sure these safety measures are in place.

I will also make sure I have every signaling device I can carry on me. That includes a see-me sausage, a signaling mirror, and a dive-alert whistle which is attached to the BC inflator. I have all three.

Last thing, the boat went out on a day no other operators went out due to small craft warnings. Hurricane Wilma had passed several hundred miles north earlier that day and waters were still pretty rough.

[ScubaHawk]

Ignoring the obvious "I wouldn't get on the boat in the first place" You stay with the boat, no question about it.

[drbill]

I would stay with the boat as long as I could throw the captain and crew overboard.

When I get on a boat, I generally check it to see its condition and the presence of safety and communications equipment. A boat in the sorry state described here would undoubtedly show many signs of disrepair and poor maintenance that should give one clues to investigate further before going out with it.

[Latitude Adjustment]

Every survival guide tells you to stay with the boat or plane, it's a lot easier to find a boat drifting in the ocean than a diver.
Remember, a lot of places we dive there is no Coast Guard type organization available, the only people looking for you will probably be another dive boat.

[ledgedive]

stay with the boat definately - i normally carry my back up vhs radio and gps in my day bag when i fish or dive off someone elses boat - JUST incase

[WreckWench]

stay with the boat definately - i normally carry my back up vhs radio and gps in my day bag when i fish or dive off someone elses boat - JUST incase

Really! What a good thought. Approx how much would these items run if someone were thinking of adding them to the *ultimate* save a dive kit??? And how big are they? Many boats do have restrictions on weight limits and of course this would be most suited for US based destinations...getting that kind of equipment thru customs on a dive trip might prove difficult.

[Capn Jack]

Boat - always, even if it's awash it's MUCH easier to spot. Plus the thermal equation says the water always wins. A guy in WWII survived 30 days in a raft in the pacific.

Here's a question related to the actual event - would you take your gear if you decided to swim for it?

I think the answer is yes if you first lose the tank and regs - you want the flotation at the price of the drag - but I'm not 100% sure of that trade. It might be possible to swim to shore if you weren't held back by your gear - but if you misjudge - you really want the flotation.

[normblitch]

Never had a problem getting my Garmin GPS thru Homeland Insecurity...just be SURE you have good batteries if they ask you to power it up...the difficulty is carrying the GPS on a Dive Boat...MANY Capts will frown on this as they suspect you are using it to crib their Numbers...

As a Ham licensee, I ALWAYS carry a HT which has been mod-ed to operate on Marine VHF freqs...

73 de Norm KE4GAH

stay with the boat definately - i normally carry my back up vhs radio and gps in my day bag when i fish or dive off someone elses boat - JUST incase

Really! What a good thought. Approx how much would these items run if someone were thinking of adding them to the *ultimate* save a dive kit??? And how big are they? Many boats do have restrictions on weight limits and of course this would be most suited for US based destinations...getting that kind of equipment thru customs on a dive trip might prove difficult.

[gcbryan]

stay with the boat definately - i normally carry my back up vhs radio and gps in my day bag when i fish or dive off someone elses boat - JUST incase

Really! What a good thought. Approx how much would these items run if someone were thinking of adding them to the *ultimate* save a dive kit??? And how big are they? Many boats do have restrictions on weight limits and of course this would be most suited for US based destinations...getting that kind of equipment thru customs on a dive trip might prove difficult.

I have a GPS that is about the size of a cell phone and it was about $150. I don't know about a VHS radio but I carry my cell phone as well.

[AliKat]

Never had a problem getting my Garmin GPS thru Homeland Insecurity...[/quote]

Homeland Security isn't the issue with GPS; its the OTHER country. Six or 7 years ago there was a guy from QualComm on a business trip to Russia. He took his GPS. He was arrested and spent several weeks tyring to convice the Russians that his GPS was NOT a spy instrument. QualComm finally got him home, but I bet he never travels out of the country with a GPS again!

[Dennis]

Stay with the boat. And from a guy that has actually thrown the captain from the wheel house (mutinied if you will and it's a long story actually best told over a few beers). Keel haul the crew.

Edited by Dennis, 22 December 2005 - 07:53 PM.

[ScubaDadMiami]

Ask about these issues before even reserving on the boat. However, assuming that you are on a boat that had these functioning and then they died somehow on your way out, you should still stay with the boat.

Edited by ScubaDadMiami, 22 December 2005 - 09:24 PM.

[drbill]

And from a guy that has actually thrown the captain from the wheel house (mutinied if you will and it's a long story actually best told over a few beers).

Enquiring minds want to know so go ahead and tell us, Dennis!

[TekDiveGirl]

Absolutely stay with the boat -- you will have a better chance to be seen by a rescue team -- and stay warmer longer.

Ugh - what a nightmare to think something like that could happen.

[Mitch0129]

From what I have read about this incident, it was a series of mishaps that compounded each other. Of course, none of us were there so we do not really know what happened but I know enough to know that when a hurricane, especially the size that Wilma was, passes through, it affects the waters within a several-hundred-mile radius. As I pointed out, none of the other dive operators went out that day, the groups of divers/snorkelers went from one shop-to-another finding someone who would go out. Whether they knew there was a category-4 hurricane passing just to the north, it did not say. If I know there is that kind of storm in the area, I am not going out.

The motor did cut out twice on the way out, but someone was able to get the motor going again. He was dropped off at the small island with a group of snorkelers. The motor cut out the third time and that is when all hell broke loose. No one could get it restarted, then it went from there.

I will note that the same operator had another incident about a year ago when a boat they were running capsized dumping 10 divers into the water. No one was injured in that incident. They were also operating without a license as it has been suspended after that incident. Also, the divers were found by the Belize counterpart to the US Coast Guard. The operator has since been shut down by the Belize Board of Tourism.

I do think the divers showed bad judgement by getting off the boat and trying to swim for the island. However, if the boat had been in good working order with a functioning radio, safety flares, and a good anchor to begin with, it would have never came to that.

Edited by Mitch0129, 23 December 2005 - 12:35 AM.