Lost in a cave, with very little gas, and only one fin: ‘This was not good’ August 18, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : CaveDiving , 3commentsI’ve often read Dr Mike’s diving adventures with a mixture of respect and bewilderment. Just how many close scrapes do you need to experience before recognising that a change in dive planning and procedure is necessary? He seems to put cats to shame in terms of the number of lives he has. Mike has recently been exploring a cave in Malaysia and was sitting through his deco, having conducted a deep dive. Mike got bored and decided to get some food and drink from a habitat he had placed in the cave, but as the vis was so bad he got lost, and ended up lost for a while in the cave, having lost a fin, run out of inflation gas, and very low on O2. Incredibly this was all at 3 mtrs depth with his ’support’ team sat on the bank completely unaware of his situation. It makes you wonder. This from Dr Mikes website;
This is not good I said to myself as I suppressed the rising fear and panicked thoughts. I knew from experiences in the past that I had to and that I could stay calm if I wanted to live.
I assessed the situation.
-No wing inflation.
-Almost no dilutant
-No O2 (it was maybe 10 bar left in a 2L)!
-No bailout (I had staged it as I was decoing on O2)
-Only one fin
-Lost inside a cave with no line and no idea which direction to take
-8 hours on scrubber so no idea if its going to run out any moment
-zero visibilityThis was not good.
Rebreather diver fatality in Los Angeles August 18, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, Rebreathers , 3commentsSad news yesterday that a 40 year old diver using an AP Inspiration rebreather was found dead near the wreck he had been lost on the previous day. There is some speculation over at Rebreatherworld that the diver had been trapped or pinned under the wreck, but that is unconfirmed. Here is the press release;
A 40-year old male diver that had been missing near the south end of the Los Angeles Channel since yesterday, was found this morning near the wreck three miles off shore where he had been diving.
In a joint effort, local agencies started searching for the missing diver yesterday afternoon.
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Divemaster Dies During Rescue After Weekend Dive August 16, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, News , add a comment
Roy Cowan died on Sunday August 14th, after rescuing a diver who had become seperated from the boat and was in distress. He was a well respected divemaster who spent many years helping divers out of Morehead City, NC. This from DiveNewsWire;
The seas of the ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ were running a stiff current and one of the divers was separated from the boat and in distress. Roy who was the head DM for the Diver Down out of Morehead City, NC and had been for over 10 years was in top form noting the diver’s problem immediately. In typical Roy form, he was off the deck swimming to assist the diver who was now floating past the drift ball.
It is suspected that Ron died from a heart attack, as he had not dived at all that day.
Navy Diver sets Record with 2,000 foot Dive August 8, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : News, OceanDiving , 3comments
2,000 feet (600 mtrs approx) is a looong way down, and Chief Navy Diver, Daniel P Jackson, recently dived to that depth in a new Atmospheric Diving Suit (ADS). It took 11 years to plan, design, and test the suit, which is known as the Hardsuit 2000. As far as the dive goes, Daniel said it was the best ride of his life! This from military.com;
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Scuba divers aim to break record at quarry in area August 8, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : News, Trivia , add a commentEarlier in the year I mentioned the world record for the most number of scuba divers diving at the same time held in the Maldives. Jeff Rice, owner of Portage Quarry, south of Bowling Green, reckons he has a chance of beating the record this weekend at the quarry. This from toledoblade.com;
The world-record attempt is among several activities planned this weekend at Portage Quarry, just south of Bowling Green. The Legends of Diving Weekend will bring in pioneers of scuba diving, historians, and, if all goes to plan, hundreds of divers.
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Scuba Diver dies after dive off Plymouth Coast August 7, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, WreckDiving , add a commentThere is some bad news this weekend for divers in the UK as we hear about a fatality off the coast of Plymouth. Richard Lewis, 57, died after a 30 minute dive on the Poulmic which lies in 18 mtrs. It looks like it might be the result of a medical problem given the conservative dive plan and the information published so far. From the Melton Mowbray Today;
