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Last winter I used NZ as a point of departure for a sub-antarctic dive
expedition.  We had to sail through French Pass.  It was bad enough in a
boat, but no one in their right mind would want to dive or swim in that
small section of water.  The currents are so strong, and they threw our
60' Ketch around like it was nothing.  No surprise at all that there was
a fatality there.

steve

On Thu, 23 Mar 2000, Rod Budd wrote:

>  This happened 10th March.  I once traveled through this pass in a 
> 35 ft
> launch. We were spun around and sucked down (a little!) by 
> whirlpools etc.
> The skipper said the currents can run 10 - 12 knots.
>  btw this was a training dive!
> ....R
> 
> 
> Tide sucks divers into lethal hole
> 
> 11.03.2000 - By MARTIN JOHNSTON, NZPA 
> Two divers died and one is missing after vicious tides sucked a dive 
> party
> into a 
> 95m hole in the Marlborough Sounds yesterday. 
> Police last night named one of the dead, Ricky McDonald, aged 
> 40, thought
> to 
> be from Nelson. 
> The other dead diver was a woman and the missing diver was male, 
> said 
> Sergeant Mike Fitzsimons, of Nelson. 
> The woman died while rescuers tried to revive her on a beach. 
> Seven people were diving near French Pass in perfect weather 
> when tragedy
> struck, said Acting Sergeant Dean Rosson, of Picton. 
> Four rescue helicopters were sent to the area, at the northern tip of 
> the
> Sounds, after the Nelson-based dive boat sent out a mayday call 
> about 2.30
> pm. 
> Helicopter pilot Steve Gibb said the divers had been in a 400m-wide 
> strip
> of 
> treacherous water between D'Urville Island and the mainland when 
> changing
> tides carried them north. 
> "There is a very bad suckdown effect into a hole, and they were 
> dragged
> down, 
> some of them, to 95m," he said. 
> Four other divers were flown to Nelson Hospital. One is suspected 
> to have
> the 
> bends. 
> Sergeant Tere Lawson, of Blenheim, said gear failure might have 
> been a
> factor. 
> It was thought the divers had gone deeper than planned after a 
> depth
> marker 
> line broke. 
> 
> 
> Missing diver's body may never be recovered
> 
> 
> 
> 13.03.2000 - 
> BLENHEIM -- Police will today reassess the search for the body of 
> a diver
> missing after an accident on Friday which killed two others. 
> David Welsh, 21, of Nelson, was with a group of seven divers who 
> got into
> trouble at French Pass in the outer Marlborough Sounds. Ricky 
> McDonald,
> 40, 
> and Narelle Tanika Te Purei, 33, both of Nelson, died and Mr 
> Welsh is
> believed 
> to have also perished. 
> The group was apparently sucked nearly 100m into a notorious 
> hole at the
> pass. Another four divers who resurfaced following the incident 
> were flown
> to 
> Nelson on Friday. One was admitted to hospital. However, on 
> Saturday all
> four 
> were flown by helicopter to a recompression chamber in 
> Christchurch. 
> Nelson Hospital said one of the divers who had originally been 
> treated and
> discharged had returned to hospital on Saturday with possible 
> symptoms of
> the 
> bends. The others were recalled and flown to Christchurch as a 
> precaution.
> Sergeant Mike Irving said the Blenheim police had received an offer of
> specialist 
> camera equipment to help in the search for Mr Welsh, but even if the
> diver's 
> body were located, it might be too dangerous to recover it. 
> Sergeant Irving said police would like to return Mr Welsh's body to his
> family. 
> "If it can't be done safely there will be no body recovery and we will
> have to let 
> nature take its course." 
> Blenheim CIB was reviewing statements from survivors and witnesses and had
> seized dive gear and other equipment which would be sent to Wellington
> today 
> to be examined. Police were also looking at how the divers, who 
> were roped
> together, apparently became detached from a floating buoy which 
> was rigged
> to 
> allow them to dive to a set depth of 30m. 
> Sergeant Irving stressed that the investigation was not a witch-hunt 
> but
> part of 
> an effort to ensure such a tragedy did not happen again. 
> -- NZPA 
> 
> 
> 
> Rod Budd
> National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd.
> (NIWA)
> Gate 10 Silverdale Rd (PO Box 11-115)
> Hillcrest
> Hamilton
> New Zealand.
> +64 7 856 7026 business
> +64 25 734 066 mobile
> +64 7 856 0151 fax
> r.budd@ni*.cr*.nz*
> http://www.niwa.cri.nz/
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