Dave Shaw Missing at Boesmangat!

[jptaylor9]

[ray]

Aussie cave diver disappears
08/01/2005 16:45 - (SA)


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Diver missing, search stopped

Boesmangat, Northern Cape - Police said on Saturday afternoon there was little chance of an Australian diver returning from the depths of the world's third deepest freshwater cave, where an operation to recover the remains of another diver has been called off.

When asked if there was a chance of Dave Shaw resurfacing from the depths of Boesmansgat, police diver Inspector Theo van Eeden shook his head and said: "Hy's weg (He's gone)."

Van Eeden had been waiting for Deon Dreyer's body to be passed up to him at 20m.

Shaw disappeared at 270m where he was supposed to secure the body and relay it past fellow divers to get it to the surface.

When he failed to return to his team-mate Don Shirley, waiting at 220m, Shirley descended to 250m to look for him.

He communicated to the surface through messages written on slates passed up a rope that Shaw's light had disappeared.

Vomiting and disorientated - symptoms of decompression illness - Shirley was forced to start a slow ascent on Saturday afternoon. At the surface he will immediately be placed in a recompression chamber.

By mid-afternoon Shirley was the only one of eight divers remaining in the water.

On October 28 last year, Shaw found Dreyer's remains at a depth of almost 270m.

Cylinders stuck in the mud


He was unable to take the body to the surface as Dreyer's cylinders were stuck in the mud.

In the past week, the diving team staged a "dress rehearsal" at the cave for Saturday's body recovery attempt.

This follows four weeks of preparing for what Don Shirley, the team's technical coordinator, described as a "small military operation".

Meanwhile Van Eeden said that in his 36 years as a diver, this was the first diving accident he had been associated with.

Shaw, an airline pilot for Cathay Pacific, has a wife and two children in Australia.

"I said from the beginning that you can't do work at that depth. This is a terrible story. It feels like I am dreaming," Van Eeden said.

When asked for a possible explanation for Shaw's disappearance, Van Eeden shook his head and said: "His rebreather should have packed up ... only he will know".

Rebreathers allow divers to stay under water for longer periods.

The divers involved are all "technical divers" and members of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers.

Technical diving is an advanced form of scuba diving and uses special methods and equipment to explore environments and perform tasks beyond the range of recreational diving.



Be carefull down there

[Decodiver]

Sadly looks like Dave shaw has died trying to attempt the recovery of a body at Boesmangat South Africa.

God go with him.

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_A...644655,00.html

Sadly

Dave Cooper

[Phoenix]

This is very very sad if it's true, from what I've read this guy had his stuff together, best wishes to him and his family


Ian

[J.D.]

Very sad news. Thoughts are with his family

[Decodiver]

I am saddened by this event, I thought recovering the body of the guy who died 10 years ago was a noble cause, for the closure of the family.

My thoughts are with Dave Shaw's family at this time and my prayers that Don Shirley recovers.

Dave Cooper

[DVR]

A sad loss, gods speed.

[Mr T.]

Rest easy Dave. For you the search is over.

God's speed.

Dave's website: http://www.deepcave.com/pages/3/index.htm

[AirAssisted]

RIP. A tragic loss.

[Mr T.]

Originally Posted by AirAssisted

RIP. A tragic loss.

Especially when he was doing for altruistic reasons. Body recovery is tricky task at the best of times - doing it at that depth (270m) can only be a 'kin nightmare of logistics and systems running in parallel.