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Peter N.R. Heseltine <heseltin@hs*.us*.ed*> wrote: >Thanks for the info. I had not realized that Win Remly was the organizer >of DeepTech. The accident he suffered - struck in the head by a boat >propeller - sound preventable and so, very sad. It really heightens a >rarely "surfaced" issue for divers - you are MUCH more likely to be >injured by a boat who ignores dive flags etc. than by getting bent. Is >there something that the diving community can do to draw attention to the >fact that - just as with many other issues in pleasure boat safety - many >boat operators do not pay attention to the law/reasonable rules? All of >us have seen near mishaps, why can't we report violators and get them >prosecuted? The information posted here so far hasn't really made it clear whether it was the boat from which Win was diving or another boat; an earlier posting led me to believe it was the former, while this posting suggests the latter. I understand that due to lawsuits the details of this one particular accident may not be forthcoming, but we can still remind ourselves of boat safety in general. It seems to me that a large percentage of boat-induced injuries may be caused by one's own dive boat, either while leaving the boat, getting back aboard, or while in the water in the near vicinity of the boat. Safety from one's own boat needs to be addressed just as much as safety from other boats. In this connection, allow me to relate a "war story" from an older instructor of my acquaintance. He was in the boat, and saw a diver who was in the water right next to the corner of the boat get sucked underneath as the stern came out of the water due to a large wave. He went down with his chest on the side of the boat and pushed her head back out away from the boat just as the stern came back down hard, averting a serious head/neck injury. Anyway, the point is that even with the engine shut down and the boat moored in place and the best of intentions all around, a boat is still a moving beast and you have to respect it. Starting the engine just ups the ante. Over on the safety-from-other-boats angle, there are a few wreck dives here in Ontario (most notably the ones under the main shipping channel in the Sarnia/Port Huron area) that can be treated almost as cave dives. Enter from shore, follow the bottom to the wreck, and return to shore before surfacing. Direct ascent is not a viable option due to the possibility of an "Evinrude Haircut" or even a meeting with a 700' lake freighter. Sailboats are also bad, because you can't hear them coming. -- Anthony DeBoer http://www.onramp.ca/~adb/ adb@he*.re*.or* (here) adb@ge*.co* (work) #include "std.disclaimer"
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