Fitness, Flag, and Snorkel, check!

[Jolly Roger]

Dive Site: Stennis Ledges, approximately 1/2 mile west of the army bridging camp at Wyke Regis, Weymouth. Just off the western shore of Chesil Beach.
Conditions: Cloudy, the wind was a stiff easterly but in the lee of the island and the beach we had no more than waves of 1.5m max.

We had three regular divers and a skipper on the boat, a 7.5m dive rhib. Two divers on twinsets and the third on a single 15L. We dove as a threesome.

The plan was for a maximum dive time of 45 minutes, and we surfaced after 42min. On surfacing we gave each other the OK signals and proceeded to chat briefly about the dive, we saw Pipefish, Cuttlefish etc. and await the surface cover to approach for the de-kit and exit. So we waited.....

Surface +Five minutes:
We all looked at the boat which was approx 500 yards away and didn't seem to be going anywhere in a hurry, then back at each other and decided the skipper couldn't see us. Que the further inflation of the SMB to fully bulging and its vigorous waving at the boat. - nothing.

Surface + 15 minutes:
The boat has started moving, parallel to our position and upcurrent/wind que the inflation of a second DSMB and some discussion on the combination of visual accuity, age and lineage of the skipper (Bl*nd o*d B*stard!).

Surface+25 minutes:
The boat continues to motor slowly up and down getting further away, we discuss that the shore is now closer than the boat and isn't moving, democracy decides that a swim to shore is the best bet.

Surface +40 minutes:
The first (and oldest!) member of the team reaches the shore and manages to drag his ass and his kit up the beach.

Surface +45 minutes:
The second team member reaches the beach and requires some assistance to get a twinset and himself out of the surf and up the beach.

Surface +50 minutes:
The boat finally spots the two members on the beach waving their SMB and begins an approach, the two beached members point in the direction of me still in the water approx 50yrds off the shore and I stop and await a pickup.

Surface +55 minutes:
The boat finally arrives and it takes a while longer than usual to unkit and exit due to a combination of leg cramps and being quite exhausted by the swim across the current. Once back in the boat the two remaining members float their kit infront of them and swim out from the beach and are recovered by myself and skipper.

Surface + 65minutes:
All members of the team are back aboard, and we hear that ‘the SMB went down, and never came up again’, and the skipper was reaching for the radio when he spotted the divers on the beach.

So what have I learnt?
1. I need to improve my fitness. After swimming, at a relatively slow pace, towards the shore across the current for approximately 20 minutes I was bushed when it came to haul my ass and my kit into the boat.
2. My flag used to live strapped to my cylinder by bungee but when the bungee broke I thought I wouldn't replace it in any hurry. It needs to be reinstated in my kitlist. While it might not be that much taller than an inflated DSMB, it’s easier to hold aloft and wave for a period of time in the wind.
3. While I had loads of gas left in my twins, I burnt through 50bar in almost an hour on the surface by keeping my reg in my mouth. A snorkel (even one of those fold away ones) might have been better, our 15l buddy had one and said it was fine in the waves. The original plan was to have two dives, but with little gas and suffering the aftermath of leg cramp I binned the second one. (but I dont think I would have done it even if I had the gas).
4. I felt that the call to the coastguard should have already been made by the time we were spotted. Most people seem to agree but the exact timing varies, I would have called just to make them aware of the initial situation, not an emergency, after the expected surface time plus 15 at least. But others suggest leaving it for longer 20-30 mins or even 45 mins. In this case we were OK, just drifting on the surface but, had we some issues then we could have required assistance much quicker.
5. No-one dropped their weights, although knowing we had swum to approx 10m depths two of us considered dropping them attached to a marker buoy so they could be retrieved, even though we felt we had more than enough buoyancy with wings and drysuits to remain afloat with them.
6. What looks like a short way in the water can be one hell of a swim when you’re in full kit, wind, and current.
7. The boat was already looking in the wrong place for us (too far offshore). Would staying together but out in the deeper water have been better, I don't think so in this instance, heading for the shore while taking us further from the boats search area meant that once someone had got ashore they were much more visible to the boat due to being higher than the waves and attracted its attention much easier.

What do the YD massive think?

[Kev]

I think your skipper should have gone to Specsavers.

Quite seriously, does he need an eye test?

[Divingminxsy]

I know the boat and skipper. IMHO being able to drive a Rhib doesn't make you a competant skipper just like being able to drive a car doesn't necessarily mean you are a competant driver. Some knowledge of tidal flow, hazards, diver low in water visability, gas times / dive duration and when to call the coastguard are essential basics.

Three of you were missing and overdue for over 50 minutes and no call went out ? One of you was on a single 15 and the skipper didn't have enough dive knowledge to realise you couldn't possibly have been underwater for your dive time 43 mins and 50 mins swim = an hour and a half on a 15 at 25 metres ?

You were lucky to have been on Stennis in the lee of Portland. We were on the Shambles and full in the face of the wind. The waves were like bungalows and no way could you have surface swum through them.

Your skipper had only one SMB to follow so why was he 500 yards away from you when you surfaced ? In rough sea he should have followed you at about a 50 yards distance. Our skipper had 6 SMBs to follow in higher seas and knew where we all were because he followed the tidal pattern / flow on the site.

Glad you are all OK Roger my boy but next time I'd think twice about who skippers the boats you are on, after all, not all dives are near the shore and had that happened anywhere else it could have been a very different story.

[Morag]

if the boat is only looking out for one group of divers, then it should have been relativley simple to use the knowledge of the wind and current to work out an estimated surfacing position.

Even if s/he was a bit off, with an agreed top to top time of 45 minutes, there should have been some concern raised a lot sooner than seems to have been the case. Divers apparently not surfaced an hour after the scheduled time should have been reported.

I would be asking questions of the cox to find out what s/he was doing during the dive time. Allowing the boat to drift aimlessley, having a snooze, or making an effort to see where the divers are. 45 mins in a current can be difficult to follow, but a decent pair of binoculars might have made tracking you a lot easier.

As for dropping weights - In that situation, i couldn't - i don't have any ditchable weights in my twin rig.

Glad you are ok though - could have been worse.

[Luckyliz]

I seem to recall there was recently a very hotly 'discussed' thread about whether snorkels were a useful piece of dive kit...

[dynarob]

What do the YD massive think?

I think you should use a smaller font

Did you have your SMB up from the begining (it is a drift dive) ?

Our skipper had 6 SMBs to follow in higher seas and knew where we all were because he followed the tidal pattern / flow on the site.

We had divers going in over the course of half an hour so 6 SMBs following slightly different routes (The Shambles is an extremely complex tidal area) and he still managed to track us all. There are only a handful of skippers I would trust on that dive and even fewer in those conditions. If I don't hear a boat engine on a regular basis during a drift then I start to wonder what is going on. I'll bet you're glad you didn't follow us out there in the end as it would have been next stop Normandy!

[bythesea]

A permanent blob next time he is driving the boat so he can track you throughout the dive?

[Jolly Roger]

A permanent blob next time he is driving the boat so he can track you throughout the dive?

We had a permanent surface marker bouy from entering the water. when the skipper says 'it went down, and didn't come up again' I think he meant it lay down in the water, and stayed there.

I think he was off playing on the rhib. and lost track of it.

[Captain Calamity]

I think that there is another learning point here.

What the hell were your buddies doing 50 yards away on the beach when you were struggling alone in the water?

Having made the decision to make for the shore the number one priority should have been keeping the group together.

The more I read and think about this the more I think you had a very near miss.

CC

[Captain Calamity]

If the boat is only looking out for one group of divers, then it should have been relativley simple to use the knowledge of the wind and current to work out an estimated surfacing position.

Absolutely.

On the BSAC website there is a proforma to use when planning a dive, and this actually includes spaces to record the tidal direction before, during and after a dive. There is a space to jot down the weather forecast, along with a lot of other helpful information, including a checklist to make sure you have all the basic safety equipment required.

Having this information to hand would mean you could instantly check which direction to begin the search, rather than wasting valuable time faffing around with tide tables and almanacs.

AFAIK the proforma can be downloaded even if you are not a BSAC member

Completing the proforma also ensures you have complied with SOLAS V. Had the coastguard been called, or god forbid, there had been a fatality having a documented passage plan would protect the skipper from prosecution by the MCA (potentially for manslaughter, and this has actually happened to one or two skippers).

I don't want to teach any skipper who take divers to sea to suck eggs, but if you haven't heard of SOLAS V then you *really* need to find out.

I also think that this incident highlights the need for specific diver coxswain training and such as the Diver Coxswain Assessment.

Information on both of the above is available on the BSAC website, even to non-members.

CC