I think that applies to about everybody… 2.67 degrees of separation, afterall![/quote]
Ironic that the dive leader’s very first dive on 7 stars was with us last year…
Now that they are ashore, have had some time to rest up and rehydrate, enough communication has been passed along for us to make an approximate summation of what happened.
Firstly, they chose the wrong day to dive. As pointed out in earlier posts, the tides were wrong for the site, the transition from NE trades to SW monsoon winds too recent, and heavy swells that built up over the morning.
The media did make a mistake describing the second dive itself. His plan was to dive the site to the northeast and have the boat pick them up on the northeast backside of the site. Unfortunately, a counter current running along the bottom was shoving the divers to the south east. The boat and the divers at this point were already going in totally opposite directions. With a strong counter current blowing them away from the boat, they would have been blown off the site in a matter of just a few minutes. The boat meanwhile, following the prevailing wind-driven surface current, would have continued to the NE to await the divers on the backside of the rocks. The underwater topography and proximity to hazards prevents the dive boats from directly following the divers from above.
Once blown off the dive site, the divers would collect themselves, and end the dive early. It didn’t matter. that first few minutes traveling in opposite directions would have given them huge separation. They would have been separated by time, swells and each being affected by opposing currents. The dive boat, still unaware of the bottom countercurrent, would have been keeping his search to the northeast for at least the length of the shortest divers air (maybe 40minutes?).
My own experience from last years dive showed me that once the current goes around the NE section of the site, it tends to stay NE. The captain would have been waiting right where I was picked up last year for his charges to appear. Meanwhile, they would have been driven increasingly further SE. All had safety balloons. Since I was on the same boat, I can tell you that they saw my balloon from a distance of less than 200meters, and that was with moderate swells. In other words, there was no way in hades that they would be spotted from the dive boat.
At some point in time later that afternoon, they caught the break that saved their lives. The combination of SW winds and getting into the Kurushio current began to carry them northward. Biggest worries through the night would not have been sharks, but getting run down by a commercial vessel.
They most likely were east of Oluanpi by morning, and scooting up the coast. Not having any water would have sucked. Throughout the day, they would have been within easy sight of land, but totally unable to reach it.
This is where the story gets interesting for me, and I can’t wait to hear this part in person. The east coast’s coastline takes a decided eastward turn towards Taimali in Taidong, and the westermost edge of the Kurushio current nearly comes into the surf-line. In other words, did he start his “Sport drink swim” too early? How far offshore was he when he started? Did he know enough about the lay of the land to realize he could have had a much, much shorter time of it just by drifting farther northward?
Then at some point the groups split up, one north and one south. This to me is where exposure and dehydration are beginning to seriously affect judgment. First off, nobody can swim against a 4knot major oceanic current, so going south was out of the question. And because the coastline takes an eastward turn in this area, there is only one direction a person attempting to go south against this can go…East, which is where they were picked up. In other words, away from rescue. These last two got very lucky, lucky they had their strobes, and lucky the skies were overcast…On a sunny day their strobe flashes would have been lost in the water reflection when looking down from a helicopter or plane, just as they were on the first afternoon when they tried.
So now what? We are supposed to try and dive 7star toward the end of the month. It, along with Orchid and the Green Island hammerhead dives are yearly quests for those of us who love to dive. Will we be allowed to? Will they close the site for another 2 years like they did after the 98 incident?
This affects my desire not one whit…In fact, I long for the gin clear water the remoteness of the site, and the full, rich sealife such remoteness affords, a real rarity in the Kenting area. In fact, the dives I’ve been on out there have been remarkably smooth, a direct, 100% result of COMPETENT PRE DIVE PLANNING on the part of fins.
There is one thing that would improve the safety of the dive a great deal IMHO. The boats that take us out there are large, V-hull vessels that have to drop and run. This leaves a sort of dead zone, where the boat is out of sight of the dive group for a time as he’s forced to deeper water to maneuver until he spots his charges on the back side of the seamount. Much like the NASA birds re-entry with their 3minute radio dead zone, it is a time where all kinds of bad things can happen without the boat captains knowledge. Case in point, this group encountered the bottom countercurrent during this time. I was dropped in the wrong location last year, the boat moved out to deeper water and…Voila, opposite ends of the seamount. The 98 incident was also similar.
A zodiac type dinghy that could follow the divers throughout the dive and nearer the rocks would make all the difference. With an extremely shallow draft a zodiac operator would have noticed the countercurrent by watching the divers bubbles as they ascended the water column. Once blown off the site, a simple matter of signaling the boat and staying on top of them would have made the dive more of a bummer than a near tragedy. As it was, the maneuvering dead spot allowed the divers to be blown far off the site unnoticed. This could happen on any freaky current day, and the worse the weather, the longer the boat will be out of visual contact with the divers. The dinghy would also have the ability to pluck the divers out of harms way and back to the dive boat without risk to the deep hull vessel trying to maneuver close in to the rocks. Two boats in a search grid are many times better than one, and a dinghy could rapidly deploy to any area where an errant single diver may have been separated and return while the dive boat remains on station to pick up the remainder of the dive group.
MJB
I have an ointment for that actually, it’s called “moveawayfromthededicateddiveresortown” I know the name is long, but it’s 100% effective in curing what ails you.