Posted by Generator X on September 19, 2001 at 10:21:52:
In Reply to: Comments about MHK's observations of Wayne. posted by Chris on September 19, 2001 at 03:31:06:
Who asked for your conclusions Chris? The relatives of the deceased? The Search and Rescue Detectives? Unless you were on the boat that day or you recovered Wayne 15 days later, you should have no such opinion in respect for Wayne's surviving family. I am going to try and respond to your post with a even hand, something you apparently do not know how to do.
Speculation Chris. His regulator could have been malfunctioning. It could have been freeflowing so much to the point he ran out of air. We do not know for sure the type of failure that was reported and only testing will determine if the regulator was working fine or not at the time Wayne was recovered. You point is moot.
Not worth commenting on Chris. His regulator could have been in Wayne's mouth at the
time of expiration. It could have come out of his mouth sometime after that terrible day due to any one of many reasons. The only thing that is known for sure after the fact is how Wayne was found.
Does it matter Chris?. If he was diving in a wet suit and steel tank that could of possibly precluded his buddy or rescuer from assisting him up from the depth. Someone said he was overweighted and that would have contributed to an already bad set of circumstances. Since we do not know what exactly happened in those final moments, for anyone to say that the report he was diving any type of tank versus suit is completely and utterly meaningless is short sighted speculation on your part. As we all know from your past actions, this type of response is expected from someone with a festering boil trying to swipe away anger in their own way. Face it Chris, outside of this situation sometimes others are right.
Plastic weight belt buckles can be jammed closed by sand and other junk between the buckle lever teeth and the cinch plane Chris. Just ask any regular practicing beach diver. This makes it very difficult to release if it was a typical weight belt clasp common to rental fleets. Unless you have know for sure the condition of the buckle by conducting your own examination, you are again speculating and trying to draw conclusions only to jilt others on the BBS. Your point is again moot.
Your observation as to the descreptancy between the buddy's computer and Wayne's could be a fairly accrrate one Chris, but only testing the two will determine if they were really within tolerance of each other. But at this point, the speculation is just that until the test are completed and reported.
The rental gear could have only contributed to the tragedy if it was not working properly Chris. This could happen with private owned gear too. If the gear had problems such as reg service lapse, compromised weight release buckles, malfunctioning low presure inflator mechanisms or the like, they too could have not only contributed to his death, but also to his rescue when the problem was first discovered whatever that problem could have been. Millions of dives have been done successfully with other gear not like what Wayne was wearing. Again, speculation on your part and another moot point until testing is performed and reported.
I believe from what I have read so far that Wayne should not have been diving Farnsworth. It is one of California's more agressive, and yet beautiful dive sites. This type of diving requires complete familiarity and comfort in blue water with it's ever changing conditions. Rental gear and unfamiliarity with it can make a bad situation worse. Only 72 cubit feet of air is not enough for someone new and lapse to do that dive that can find someone at 100 foot deep fast.
My personal condolences to the family and let's not dwell on this subject any longer.