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Ted,
> Charlie didn't die because he was diving the Doria.
Wrong Ted, he was unprepared. Wrong configuration, wrong training, wrong
dive planning---he did not belong on this dive.
>Charlie didn't die because he was wearing a pony bottle.
Ted, the pony bottle is a flag ( something that provides a clue to you ) It
proves Charlie had no real understanding of gear configuration or how to use
mixed gasses on a tek dive. It points to poor or absent tek training and
poor choices of buddies/peers to dive with ( we might assume no one told him
he was wrong to dive like this--this could be an indication Charlie did not
seek out opinions or that he ignored them ).
> Charlie didn't die from the wrong mix in any of his tanks.
Ted, if he had air in his pony, an incorrect mix was used. It might or might
not be relevant by itself, but as one more mistake, added to a list, its
points again to poor or absent training, no understanding of tek diving, and
the acceptance of unsound tek diving procedures by his peer group ( whoever
they might be).
> Charlie didn't die from not having a buddy going up the anchor line.
Ted, this is among your worst failures in understanding this tragedy. A
"Real" buddy would of course, not let Charlie do this dive. But if he had,
the contribution a real buddy would make would be continual contact
throughout the dive---When Charlie began over exerting, a good buddy would
have seen the danger signs of overexertion, and gotten in Charlies face to
slow him down and forget getting to the line. Fighting this hard to get to a
line at depth may have been an excuse to die from CO2 induced Oxtox 20 years
ago, maybe 10 years ago, but anyone today who has this occur to them in a
scenario like this, can't possibly have any appreciation for the physics or
the proper behavior on a deep dive. In south Florida, where large currents
on deep shipwrecks are common, we have standard procedures for being blown
off a line, and for avoidance of work into a current. This is part of the
issue as to whether he should even have been on the dive. He should have
been "trained" to dive a wreck like the Doria, and been intimately familiar
with big currents. If he had practiced this on shallower shipwrecks, or been
aware of the mistake of exertion, perhaps he would still be with us. So
again, poor or no training.
> Charlie probably died from a CO2 hit. This death could have
happened just as easily in a cave in Florida swimming against an
out flow current, or doing a dive off Ft. Lauderdale trying to swim
against the Gulf Stream current.
No. Tek divers here ( DIR tek divers <g> ) are "trained" NOT to fight
currents. Our gear configuration and streamlining often allows us to
"experience" no real current, while divers with poor gear configurations are
helplessly blown backwards. Also, where currents are always an issue, we are
more apt to use Gavin Scooters, eliminating the effect of current and
exertion. Either use the right gear ( scooter), or plan the dive so that you
don't need one.
>Obviously a buddy might have
been able to save him but there are certainly no guarantees.
George, why don't you direct your energy toward explaining the
increased risk of a CO2 hit from over exertion while wearing
doubles, stages, dry suit while trying to swim against a current?
George has gone over this many times before. His typical response was that
if you can't afford a scooter in this scenario, you have no business diving
it. its kinda like a North Florida farm animal that can't afford scuba
tanks, so he attaches his garden hose to the compressor from his workshop
the one in the trailer<g>) , and trys diving like this. You need then right
gear. You need to be able to "see" the ramifications of NOT using the right
gear. If you can't, you should NOT have the certification.
>Who knows, maybe you could prevent a future death by explaining
the cause, symptoms, and treatment for excessive CO2 build up!
Try instantly ceasing all exertion the moment you realize you are over
exerting. You can glue to the bottom, or drift with the current. At depth,
you need to stay on your trimix at this time, as CO2 build up will not be as
problematic on trimix as with air or nitrox--even if we are talking at 100
feet or at 80 feet, trimix would be safer. Maybe Charlie was freaked from
exertion, felt funny, and switched to his pony to feel better---that would
be a fatal mistake if exertion continued.
Dan Volker
--
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