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This really is too stupid for words
This story can be found online at:
http://www.portland.com/frnews/story2.shtml
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Friday, October 8, 1999
Biddeford scuba diver dies pursuing deep-sea dream
By ANDREW D. RUSSELL, Staff Writer
Copyright 1999 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
BIDDEFORD -- Larry Bowdish dreamed of scuba diving to 400 feet. He knew it
would be dangerous, but had been preparing himself, mentally and physically,
with a series of practice dives off Monhegan Island.
Last week, Bowdish reached a depth of 300 feet. He was ready. On Sunday, he
telephoned his best friend, Brian Houle, to tell him he'd be taking his plunge
to 400 feet Wednesday.
"He was all psyched for it," Houle said Thursday. "He was trying to set a
record. He told me I'd be reading about him in the paper."
Bowdish didn't make it. At 386 feet, just 14 feet short of his goal, he shot to
the surface like a missile. He died a short while later after his lungs expanded
too much from the air pressure.
In the world of scuba diving, descending to depths below 200 feet, or even 100
feet, is considered extremely dangerous. The 30-year-old Bowdish knew the risks,
yet hecourted the danger because he was determined to one day set a record of
500 feet.
"He knew the risks," said his wife, Jennifer. "But this is what he loved best."
Bowdish moved to Biddeford from Connecticut in 1994 to attend the University of
New England. He graduated in 1997 with a degree in marine biology.
He met his wife while they were students in Connecticut. The couple married in
1990, and that year they began classes in scuba diving.
"It was just something he always wanted to do," Jennifer Bowdish said.
Once in Maine, they continued diving. Jennifer, who preferred shallower waters
off southern Maine, advanced to the level of a dive master.
Larry, meanwhile, took advanced classes to become an instructor. In the summers
he taught scuba diving to beginners and advanced divers, and ran charter dives
out of York Beach Scuba in York.
He also sought free-lance diving work. At one point he did a diving internship
for a National Geographic study of currents.
Bowdish spent months preparing for Wednesday's dive. He made several deep-water
dives, reaching 300 feet last week, and believed his body and lungs were
acclimated to the rigors of underwater pressure.
On Wednesday, Bowdish and five others chartered the Lady Anne, a boat
registered in St. George and captained by David Sinclair of Wayne, and headed to
the waters off Monhegan Island.
The plan was for a five-hour dive, according to Lt. John Bennett of the Maine
Marine Patrol, which investigated the accident.
Bowdish was the only one making the deep dive. The others positioned themselves
at various depths to act as "stations" for Bowdish on his ascent from 400 feet.
This was to keep Bowdish from contracting decompression sickness by surfacing
too quickly.
The diver closest to Bowdish was at 200 feet. He later told investigators that
Bowdish, who was using a weighted sled to help him go deeper, started descending
faster than he should have.
A short while later, Bennett said, the diver watched helplessly as Bowdish
"shot right by him" on his way to the surface.
What caused Bowdish to lose control is not known. Investigators believe he may
have blacked out, let go of the sled and began floating toward the surface, with
the air in his dry suit and lungs expanding more and more the higher he went.
"It may be one of those deals where we never really know what happened,"
Bennett said. "When he came to the surface, the air was blowing out around the
edges of the suit. They said he came up like a Poseidon missile."
Once on surface, Bowdish became conscious enough to ask, "What happened?"
according to his sister-in-law, Karyn Judd. Then he passed out. A short time
later, his heart stopped.
Once ashore at Port Clyde, Bowdish was airlifted to Bangor. He was pronounced
dead at St. Joseph Hospital at 1:15 p.m.
The official cause of death was listed as systemic gas embolism due to rapid
decompression by a scuba diver, according to the state Medical Examiner's
Office.
On Thursday, local divers lamented Bowdish's death -- not only because they
lost a friend, but because they believe it could have been prevented.
The usual depth limit for sport scuba divers is 100 feet, they said.
"When you start to push the limit like that, like with anything such as skiing
or driving, you could crash," said Mike Bridges, owner of the Diver's Locker in
Lyman.
But Bowdish knew that. And on his computer at home, he left a will and a last
statement for his wife, should he never return from his dive.
"He knew what he was getting into," Jennifer Bowdish said. "And he was going
deeper."
--
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