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Hank, It is awful that the situation has come to this. I never would have conceived of such a thing as the Captain's Dozen except for the fact that the training agencies either have not, will not or cannot do it right. For years, my personal feeling was that the boat operator had no business meddling in how I did my diving, much less my equipment configuration. Things have changed considerably, though. In the world of socalled "tech" diving the boat and indirectly the captain is part and parcel of the support team. Your life depends on the Captains experience and decision making skills. Let's face it, seamanship, especially when you're talking offshore Atlantic Ocean, is an extremely important issue. It is my opinion and I believe George Irvine shares this opinion, that diving on deep offshore Atlantic wrecks is far more dangerous and fraught with risk than cave diving. There are simply far more indeterminate variables. Given this scenario there is all the more reason to enforce the lighest level of team work, attention to detail and coordination between the divers and the boat operator. It is a terrible thing for a Captain to lose the life of any passenger and since the Captain is often the best trained and most experienced member of the group it is left to him to have the last word on the issue of safety and procedures. On something as obvious as proper bottle markings you would think that the training agencies would have concluded the right way to do this after the third or fourth death. On the last high profile death we a had a situation where the dive instructor himself watched the student breath the wrong gas for 30 - 40 minutes, but never made the mental connection that the victim had the deadly regulator in her mouth. In the WKPP all of your team members are constantly watching out for you both before and after you get into the water to prevent such foolish mistakes. Unfortunately, the biggest agency of them all resolutely refuses to embrace this obvious step for reasons beyond our ability to fathom other than complete pigheaded stubborness. The air diving thing is another issue which has been beaten to death and pretty much everyone agrees that diving deep on air, especially in cold dark water, is an open invitation to disaster. Mixing gas is a big problem and pain in the ass for a lot of people and so they cut corners or roll the dice with air. On long offshore trips people naturally remix over their original gas and under most circumstances this is a safe and effective procedure until the EAD gets into the danger zone. I appreciate that you feel your diveable air depth may be 150ft; however I can tell you that the toughest pros on the WKPP have all concluded long ago that the 110 - 150 ft range is where all the air clusters occurred. Beyond that depth everything was a cf. I could go on here ad infinitum, but I won't bore you. Every single one of the Captain's dozen is traceable to a fatal mistake. If you adhere to these guidelines chances are the things that are to going kill you in tech diving are lightning and earthquakes. I love all kinds of diving and it pains me to see the carnage going on, much of it a senseless and preventable waste. If I were you I wouldn't give a rat's ass about what standards or certifications any tech agency claims. I would recognize none of them and I would dictate my own criteria and put in place procedures which would make a it a lot more difficult for people doing these tech dives to get themselves or anybody else killed. The legal problem for the boat captain is that, as I stated above, he or she is a lot more than just the "boat driver" and an attorney for the plaintiff will examine the role of the captain when a tragedy occurs. In the sad case of the captain of the "Minnow" in the WPB tragedy, the captain, against his own better judgement, ascented to the demands of Andre Smith and allowed the divers to go in without a drift float. In the case of the Pompano tech tragedy the Captain, allowed poorly prepared students to embark on a 300 ft wreck/drift dive. Another local captain allowed an immature young man to attempt record setting air dives until the fellow finally failed to surface. Hank, you are right about close calls. Everyone who dives complex stuff will have them. Being a member of a team (two people constitutes a team) and having the skill, experience and training is what permits you to overcome such situations smoothly and uneventfully. When the cluster starts out on the deck of the boat your chances for surviving subsequent ones "downtown" are greatly reduced. Within the WKPP, the "shit happens" excuse is occasionally allowable, but most of the time when you examine a cf afterwards you can honestly say that if "I paid closer attention to this detail" or "I didn't cut this corner" or "I didn't use this new and untested piece of gear" or "I shouldn't have dived with this person to start with" you can see how the cluster could have been avoided and you will be in a position not to use this excuse the next time around. When a serious cf happens (like one with life threatening impications), generally the Director will have a nice conversation with you and suggest that golf may be a better pastime. Best regards, Bill GarlooEnt@ao*.co* wrote: > > bill, > you may be part of a training agency but i am not - please go to the EDBA web > page & read our standards. we, as Capt Zero & Capt Steve has pointed out on > numerous occasions , are the buss drivers. we try our damndest to qualify who > we are taking out on these dives & when we see a person with an obviouly poor > set up we attempt to have it corrected. however the risks are taken by the > diver who is made completly aware of the dangers of the deep dives. i guess > the sherpas aas well as everyone down to the cooks on an Everest climb are > responseble for the asshole that tries to climb beyound his capabilities > (eh?). > > your list is interesting & while i might agree with some or most of it is not > important. the fact is that you can do all of the right things over & over & > still get screwed on a dive. you don't need to do anything wrong you just have > to have a mind fart & the next thing you know the shit hits the fan & if > you(that's you the diver ) has not got the expierience to handle that problem > (or the next two that hit-"Murphy's Law) > then you are dead. it will not matter what gas-gear-instructor-suit-boat- > captain(or for that matter who your mother was), you will be dead. > > wkkp has had an amazing string of great dives- it is a credit to > george,,jj,you & all the others as to your accomplishments.you dive in a > different environment then i do, your goals are different than mine. you have > supreme control over exactly who & how many will dive with you. but with all > of that you still have "close calls" (re Kirvine 18 grand dive). bill do you > gus realize how close you came on that one? the thing that got you through was > the amazing amount of experience & self control in the emergencies that > occured. if george had much more difficulty finding thate line or the turn off > on the way back was not passable (for any reason). how would the back up teams > have found them in time. > bill i am not critiquing this dive i am mearly pointing out the falability of > us all. an error in judgement, a gear failure, a natural disaster(cave in- > major flooding of a cave),etc etc, could take the best of the best at any > time. > for us on our ocean dives that same problems (only different) can do the same. > it is always easier to blame someone else for the problems & sometimes that > may be well founded but not always.sometimes shit happens beyound the divers > capability to cope with it (at that time) & at that time that is all she wrote > for that guy. it sounds pretty much like that was the scene on the last death > on the Doria. > > maybe as you guys have promised over & over you will be coming up to do a few > dives with us. i think you should - you might see that there arte some reasons > for doing things a little different than you do in the caves. > hank > > In a message dated 8/6/98 3:45:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time, wwm@sa*.ne* > writes: > > << Subj: Captains Dozen Plus > Date: 8/6/98 3:45:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time > From: wwm@sa*.ne* (Bill Mee) > Reply-to: wwm@sa*.ne* > To: GarlooEnt@ao*.co* > CC: GarlooEnt@ao*.co*, Wahoo2001@ao*.co*, Wahoojan@ao*.co*, Sealass@ao*.co*, > JS1SUBAQUA@ao*.co*, Hookboy@ao*.co*, WreckValle@ao*.co*, PGRN98@ao*.co*, > dkovah@ib*.ne*, Ussfriel@ao*.co*, butler@li*.co*, > wahoo2001wrckdvr@wo*.at*.ne*, kmfs@bt*.ne*, Rubrifolia@ao*.co*, > NICKSKYDIV@ao*.co*, algolden3@ju*.co*, captbill@je*.co*, > Captdeep6@ao*.co*, chris_tyls@me*.co*, mail@wa*.or*, CAPTZEROOO@ao*.co*, > wkikta@ci*.co*, CFriel@GC*.co*, dkovach@ib*.ne*, Shnesmith@ao*.co*, > THEBEARD21@ao*.co*, ggentile@de*.co*, HESSIANS@ao*.co*, > Wrckdvr@wo*.at*.ne*, JoelSilverstein@wo*.at*.ne*, > Scaleworks@ao*.co*, LouiseHow@ao*.co*, B2@cs*.co*, gzambeck@us*.ne*, > heseltine@ea*.ne*, underh2o@ma*.ex*.co*, scatsta@mc*.co*, > mjp@ap*.av*.co*.uk*, techvid@ne*.co*, dcrco@jp*.ne*, > TOM.MOUNT@wo*.at*.ne*, cavers@ca*.co*, techdiver@aquanaut.com, > halcyon@ha*.ne* > > Hank, > > The boat captain is the last line of defense against self destructive > stupidity and dangerous risk fraught practices. You need to be prepared > to turn people away if they don't meet basic criteria. You can be sure > that the attorney for the plaintiff (i.e. the dead diver's relatives) > will consider you in the same light as the getaway car driver unless you > have enforced basic standards. If you don't believe me, go ahead and > ask one of them. You all know who they are and they are on these lists. > Releases mean nothing in the face of obvious negligence. Do not under > any circumstances accept only training agency standards as being > sufficient. You must be your own filter. (See WKPP.org website for gear > rigging information) > > FYI, if the following checklist had been adhered to the last four > technical diving fatalities in Florida would probably not have occurred. > > CAPTAINS DOZEN PLUS: > > > 1. All stage and deco bottles must be marked with 3" MODs on both sides > of the bottles so that the MOD is easily visible to other divers while > submerged. > > 2. No Air diving below 120 fsw, preferably 100 fsw. > > 3. Mixed gas i.e. helium, nitrogen oxygen mixes must be mixed to an EAD > of 100fsw or less. Divers must sign off that they have the correct mix > for a dive. > > 4. Remixing must be done so that the resultant mix has an EAD of 100 fsw > or less. Verification of the residual tank pressure and signed > confirmation of the helium content and EAD of the remix should be > enforced. > > 5. Back tanks must be of the correct capacity and have an isolator dual > manifold. > > 6. No diving with steel back tanks unless the diver is wearing a > drysuit. > > 7. No diving with "bungee" wings or elastic collapsible wings or similar > convoluted buoyancy compensation systems. > > 8. The back tank gas must always be the deepest gas. Never allow diving > with a stage bottle of mix and some other gas in the back tanks. > > 9. For a dual reg double tank system the backup regulator should be > worn around the neck on a necklace and the primary long hose reg should > be breathed. > > 10. All in water decompression diving must have a support diver > available during the final phases of deco. Ask divers about their dive > times and decompression plans in advance so that you don't have some > "hangman" interfering with an emergency. > > 11. Along the lines of #10. Do not permit extremely long exposures which > will almost always result in potential deco problems and possible > injury. The ability of the dive boat to manage emergencies offshore is > not the same as being at the dock and dialing 911. > > 12. No solo diving on decompression dives. The dive team is part of the > life support system. > > 13. Never permit drift diving without a towed floatation system. > > 14. Do not permit strange looking breathing apparatus (i.e. closed > circuit electronic rebreathers or other gadgetry) unless the individual > can definitively demonstrate proficiency in their use and they have > legally absolved you of potential guilt. > > 15. Beware of personality types who appear to be "trying to prove > something". These guys will get themselves or somebody else killed. > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. > > >> -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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