Penny Glovers family facing up to Scuba Diving Tragedy December 23, 2005
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, Rebreathers , 1 comment so farRELATIVES of a missing Suffolk diver who disappeared off the coast of France are trying to face up to the reality that she may now never be found, says the East Anglian Times.
Penny Glover, a very experienced diving instructor, and one of BSAC’s chief rebreather instructors, has not been seen since she and her diving partner, Jacques Fillipi, scuba dived off the south coast of France on November 21st.
Last week the official search was called off and the family is now trying to come to terms with the loss of Penny Glover.
�We will try to finalise matters as best we can by working with the French authorities. It is a complicated matter to sort out Penny’s estate as her body has not been recovered and French law is different to the law in this country,� said Mr Denny.
The two divers were lost in deep water near the island of Porquerolles, and the search operation included the use of a mini submarine but with no success.
A sad time for divers. My condolences to Penny’s family and many friends. Please feel free to leave a message and I shall pass it on to BSAC, who will be able to forward it accordingly.
Setting the Record Straight: Facts released from Zak Jones final scuba dive December 15, 2005
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, Rebreathers , 1 comment so far
The Fort Lauderdale based Scuba diving centre, Pro Dive International CEO, Frank Gernert, has issued a statement confirming certain facts regarding the death of Zak Jones, who tragically died whilst scuba diving with his buddies on a leisure dive.
Rather than using open circuit scuba diving equipment, as was previously intimated by initial media reports, Frank has confirmed to Divernet that Zak was using a closed circuit rebreather on the scuba dive, and was the only diver doing so.
Gernert has confirmed that “Zak went into unconsciousness at depth and never recovered”. But, regarding what the buddy saw, he told Divernet: “Zak was never noticed struggling or in any distressful manner. However, after he presumably lost consciousness, he descended approximately 47ft (14m) and became entangled in material unrelated to his life support or actual scuba gear.”
Pro Dive scuba diving death of PADI course director Zak Jones December 7, 2005
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, News, Rebreathers , add a comment
More sad news regarding the death of Zak Jones, 30, who was scuba diving with six colleagues from Fort Lauderdale when he died.
CDNN covers the story that Zak was on a staff technical scuba dive and at 45mtrs(150ft) was found unconscious without a regulator in his mouth.
Full story follows;
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (7 Dec 2005) — Police are investigating the scuba diving death of a professional scuba diving instructor on Thanksgiving Day off Hallandale Beach.
Zak Jones, 30, who was scuba diving with six colleagues from Fort Lauderdale’s Pro Dive International on the Pro Diver II, was pronounced dead on arrival at Aventura Hospital.
Jones had been on what company CEO Frank Gernert described as a “staff technical scuba dive.”
Memorial Service planned for Penny Glover, who died scuba diving, still not found. December 3, 2005
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, Rebreathers , 1 comment so farPress release from EDP24
A memorial service is being planned for near the spot where a scuba diver went missing.
Penny Glover, 42, has still not been found after failing to resurface from a scuba dive off the south coast of France. Her French scuba dive buddy, Jacques Filippi, is also certainly dead, although his body has not been found.
And this week the scuba diving community has been further shaken by the death of Zak Jones, in Florida. The professional diver was using rebreather equipment when he died shortly after surfacing - a fact that has led some to question the its safety.
Miss Glover, whose family is from the Beccles and Halesworth areas, bought a house in France two years ago, near some of the best scuba diving wrecks in the Mediterranean. Her last dive was between the Cote d’Azur and the island of Porquerolles.
Her brother-in-law, Jon Denny, said:
“There will be a memorial service in France, a celebration of Penny’s life. They both had a passion for diving, they both had a passion for this area, and that would recognise that.“If we recover the body there will be a private funeral and her ashes will be returned to the sea.”
He said the family was trying to raise money as the hi-tech search equipment needed costs about �30,000 a day, and the French government is unlikely to continue the search.
He said: “The search is continuing with a remote-control vehicle with underwater cameras. As far as we know that will be it from the French government. Whether we will go back and have a look privately is something we are looking at.”
A message from M Filippi’s partner, Christine, on an internet forum for scuba divers, said the search was continuing, though dependent on the weather, adding: “I want them back. I will not give up.”
Meanwhile tributes have continued to pour in.
Fellow scuba diver Glen Scott wrote: “She was, without a doubt, one of the top tech divers in the world.
“She loved God’s oceans more than most people. She was the most intellectually brilliant woman I have ever met in this lifetime.”
Scuba Diver receives a bit of Inspiration December 2, 2005
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Rebreathers , add a commentIntroduction
Well, it all started when Mark Chase decided to have a go at DIR. From that moment my fate was sealed. It was impossible that he should be trying DIR after all the previous online �debates� we�ve had and I not try scuba diving with a rebreather, to see what its like from the other side of the fence as it where.
I pm’d Mark and asked him if he would let me have a scubadive on his inspiration. Mark agreed and we just needed to sort a date. In the meanwhile I went scubadiving in france with Bob Cooper and mentioned it to him. Bob expressed an interest in trying it to and we all firmed up a date. Mark then tried to sneakily borrow Andyp’s breather but andy was too inquisitive and when he knew what we were planning he demanded to be there too, and all of a sudden we had a mini scuba dive trip going on.
Getting Ready
Now as you know we DIR scuba divers are not particularly keen on breathers in our chosen style of diving and it was with some trepidation that I rolled up at 8am at stoney cove in Leicestershire to have my first breather scubadive. I had visions of having massive buoyancy problems and making myself look like a right idiot, as one of my pet �things� is buoyancy and being not just good, but perfect. Its just my thing, everyone has one 
. Mark turned up shortly after, followed by Andy, and then Bob, late as usual, complete with coffee
After meets and greets Mark took us through setting up the unit. Neither bob or I had actually seen this before and all I can say is that it is a lot more involved than setting up Open Circuit scubadiving kit, but Mark went through each process step by step explaining the pros, cons, failure points, and the differences between setting up in a carpark at Stoney, against setting up on a rocking and rolling liveaboard. Very interesting and both myself and Bob learnt a lot from that.
Penny Glover, British Rebreather Expert, feared dead on Scuba Diving Trip November 23, 2005
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Accidents, Rebreathers , 1 comment so farFrom Dive Magazine
BSAC rebreather chief instructor Penny Glover is feared dead after going missing on a dive in the South of France on Monday 21 November. Penny, 42, and her buddy were diving with friends in Hyeres in the Mediterranean, when they both disappeared.
The French coast guard said a search was continuing for the two divers, however, was unable to release any further details.
Penny first learned to dive in 1986 and became a highly experienced and respected technical diver and BSAC volunteer. An instructor trainer for semi-closed and closed-circuit rebreathers, she was instrumental in developing the first-ever rebreather courses for BSAC launched this year.
“It is extremely sad,” BSAC chairman Marcus Allen told DIVE. “Penny gave so much to the club for so many years and was highly regarded in the diving community. It is a great loss to diving. Our thoughts go out to friends and family of both divers.”
Clare Peddie, BSAC’s national diving officer, added: ‘This is an extremely sad loss for all of us who have been privileged to know Penny. Her warmth and kindness will be so deeply missed. Penny was a leading light in the BSAC.’
