Posted on 12/27/2013 7:59:02 AM PST by driftdiver
Edited on 12/27/2013 8:26:03 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
A Christmas Day cave diving excursion ended in tragedy in Weeki Wachee, Hernando County authorities said.
Two divers drowned in the popular Eagles Nest Sink location. Deputies say Darrin Spivey and his 15-year-old son, Dillon Sanchez, were testing diving equipment they received as Christmas presents.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxtampabay.com ...
idiot “father”
Diving lesson #1 - never ‘test’ new diving equipment in an underwater cave.
Testing new equipment in cave diving - what stupidity!
Probably wasn’t the equipment that killed them. It was probably getting lost in the cave.
Its incredibly easy to do.
Sometimes you jusr have to say ‘no’.
Mercy, what a sweet lot you all aren’t.
I’ve seen the entrance to caves at about 80 feet. One had a sign with a skull and crossbones on it. The text said ‘stop or you will die’.
People without training still went past the sign, and yes some of them die.
I feel for the kid. I have nothing but contempt for the father. His ego killed them both.
I’ve seen the insides of caves in this area. Nothing in them is worth dying for.
I wouldn’t have agreed with you , until I read this.
“Deputies say Spivey was an experienced diver, but not a cave diver. Sanchez, however, was not a certified diver. “
They probably weren’t trained for the specialty of cave diving and like you said, got lost.
I’ve been in there, back when I was young and very stupid.
Cave diving requires special training. In beginning dive training they harp on you to never go into caves without training. It requires training and special equipment. Cave diving instructor would even even accept a kid that young for training. They simply dont have the experience to survive an incident.
One wrong kick of your fins and you stir up the much, turning the water from crystal clear to completely blind. They don’t have a reel on their suits in that picture. You have to strong a line from the entrance all the way. So you can follow the string back if you get lost.
Highly experienced cave divers die all the time.
There are lots of stories. People will stab others with their dive knife to get their air tank.
One lady, a very experienced cave diver, had a malfunction and then ran out of air. When they found her she had clawed at the rock with her fingers hard enough to rip the fingernails and flesh off the ends of her fingers.
Also LUCKY!
Absolutely, but if you aren’t familiar with your equipment it adds another complication to an already extremely risky activity.
Heck I’ve always tested out new equipment in some of the spring fed lakes before doing an ocean dive, let alone taking them into a cave.
I taught SCUBA diving for years, but never had the opportunity to go cave diving. I would think it would be wise to carry a pony tank in case of emergency. I don’t know about navigation. I can navigate in the ocean with or without a compass using surge direction, sand ripples and pilotages, but what do you use in a cave? Cord?
I see you addressed navigation in #14.
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