On Sat, 21 May 2005 11:02:47 -0400, Reef Fish wrote:

...

>Feeesh's rule of thumb on quoted knots:  always divide the number
>by 2 or 3.  Like ALL the Passes the Tahiti Aggressor dived that
>were supposed to have currents up to 12 knots.

Taken from GPS readings, multiple boats, including our survey vessels.
But you can divide it by 2 or 3 if you want.

>Sure, Robert.  That's what they say about the Barracuda Reef in
>Cozumel.   The 90-foot boat that spun like a top must have been
>Peter Hughes' Komodo Dancer, eh?

It was the Ombak Putih, a large Phinisi schooner, adequately powered,
actually more like 120 ft, and I was on it.  This was last October,
passing through the fairly narrow channel between Padar and south
Komodo Is.   The inter-island ferry that sank in a Komodo whirlpool
happened in the 1970s.  I wasn't here then, but Kal Muller (who wrote
the original dive guide to Indonesia) was - he's the one who told me
about it, over dinner the other night.  The much smaller boat he was
using got caught in a whirlpool only a few weeks after that happened.

>
>Same tune, different site.  That's what they say about Cozumel and Cuba.

Never been to either place, so I wouldn't know.  I'm certainly not
saying Komodo is the only place in the world where currents are a
serious issue, just that they are here.

>Same at the Barracuda Reef, and some take divers out without any sausage,
>any whistle, any diving skill, like the former Scuba-SE diver I mentioned.

Most of the good high-end operators in Komodo do require SMBs and other
gear, and provide them to divers who don't have their own, and are very
professional.  The new rule only affects the handful of operators who
weren't already doing this.  The rules as whole, for the most part, are
just a codification of what we consider best practice in the industry
and in this park.

>They are always found.  Have not heard of a single case of a lost-but-
>not-found diver since I've been diving in Coz since 1987.

The last fatality we had in the park (that I know about) was in October
2004.  I was involved in the search.  The missing diver was the owner
of a dive operation.  There was a DM and a paying customer also on the
dive, at the wrong place and definitely the wrong time.  (I was there -
we'd gone past the site an hour before or after the DM said they went
in - completely nuts.)  Anyway, the DM got the customer out of the
water safely, thought Cameron (the owner) might have been blown off the
rock, but wasn't sure.  We went to the site with rangers the next day
with the intention of diving to see if the body was still there, but
couldn't get in the water - currents over 6 knots.  (Sorry, must have
been only 2, if I divide by 3.)   Anyway, if Cameron ever came up, we
never found him.  Left behind a family.

>For "required" safety (or even optional) equipment, all of the
>Aggressors and Dancers have them on board without charge (the
>sausages and EPIRBs) or for rent or for sale (the reef hooks,
>lights, e.g.)

As I said above, the best boats in Komodo do already provide this
equipment - the rules just make in mandatory for the boats that weren't
already doing this.

>>Bottom line is that when somebody is lost, the park ends up having to
>>organize the search and rescue operation
>
>THAT's the true reason they don't mind over-killing.
>
>In Cozumel, when someone is lost, EVERY operator in the Coz dive
>association is automatically alerted via radio to head over the
>search area if they are close to it.  The park people in Coz
>mostly collect Park Fees.  :-)   It's always some dive shops that
>eventually found the lost diver(s), sometimes several hours later.

One thing you may not realize about Komodo is that at any given time,
there aren't that many boats operating in the park, and the sites are
spread out over a large area.  Especially in the off-season when a lot
of boats relocate to Raja Empat for 3-6 months, there may only be 2-3
boats in the park.  That's not a whole lot of operator resources to
mobilize.   I don't have good data on this (wish I did), but it seems
clear that some people who were lost and found gott picked up by other
dive operators, but not many instances of that.  The rangers (floating
ranger stations and speed-boat patrols) are responsible for picking up
the most of the divers who have been recovered that I know about, but
that may just reflect the fact that those incidents get reported.  I
believe local fishing boats have picked up a lot more divers than
operators have.  Probably just a function of the fact that there are
more of them around, relatively speaking.

>in a huge and rapidly
>>expanding search area, using our boats and whoever else we can round
>>up.  We'd like to keep the found (alive) ratio on our S&R ops as high
>>as possible.  So if you come to Komodo, bring an SMB, light and hooter,
>>or else use the ones the boats will now have to supply you if you don't
>>bring your own (they will be allowed to charge a rental fee if they
>>want), or don't come at all.
>>
>>Robert
>
>Do they have hooters from Hooter's Restaurant for rent?   :-)  I
>would like to rent a young, blonde, and well-equipped one.
>
>da Feeesh.

We're definitely going to make that a mandatory requirement for all
boats!  :-)

r.


Tabula International Ltd.
Email:  <[log in to unmask]
Phone:  +62 361 282-743
Website:  www.tabula-international.com