Posted by Captain Tim on February 06, 2001 at 00:23:48:
I have been reading all of the post's on this page. I am really concerned as to why certain people are apparently trying to blame others, for divers dieing. Ladies and Gentlemen Shit happens. Some things cannot and will not ever be explained. Many, many, many divers have dove alone for years and nothing has ever happened to them. Many, many, many divers have dove with a partner, and nothing has happened.
Some divers have died.
To try and blame others is ludicrous. As I said I read all of the post's on this page, some with interest, some with disgust. I have some statistics for all though…….
The Great Escape has been honored to have in the last 4 years about 15,000 divers onboard. Of this we have had 4 accidents, and 1 death(accidents meaning the diver going to the chamber). Here is the breakdown of those events.
1. Husband and wife team diving at SBI, she was on 5 different drugs for various reasons. Her dive profile was very good. She was air lifted off the boat. She was taking different legal drugs for her problems. But not to go with diving.
2. A good buddy team. One of the them blacked out at about 100'. Went quite deep, then came up. Asked several people if they were "GOD". He thought he was dead. Air lift off the boat. He is ok, but has not been back.
3. Group of 3 off of Long Point. She went in with her friends. They had problems, and one of her buddies, inflated her BC, and the other dropped her weight belt. Well, what do you think? She did not have a chance, she went to the chamber. She is OK.
4. Farnsworth Banks. (A great place to dive, with a very bad rep. Many divers have died here. I personally still don't know why) 2 Divers went in, only one came out alive. To this day, there has been no reason for this death. Nothing went wrong, but something did.
5. Olympic Wreck. One of my personal favorite dives. A class went in, the class was told to meet back at X spot at 1500psi. The diver did not find his class and panicked. He bolted to the surface with 1500psi in his tank. Bay Watch took him off the boat, and to the chamber.
Case in point……..
Not one accident for the "Solo Diver".
3 for "Buddy's"
2 for groups of 3 or more.
Please, please, please, do not use your own way to dive, by using deaths to prove your point.
There are many, many ways to dive.
Do the math; the "Great Escape" has been blessed by having very few accidents. Something that is the same for all dive boats in California.
Captain Tim