Posted on 10/05/2011 5:15:32 PM PDT by rawhide
Two terrified divers were left stranded in shark-infested waters when their charter boat disappeared.
Paul Kline and Fernando Garcia Puerta had to cling to a buoy for two hours after surfacing from their late-afternoon dive in the Atlantic Ocean three miles from Miami and finding no trace of their boat.
'We were in shock. We could easily have died,' Kline, 44, told the Miami Herald.
'If night had fallen, the situation would have turned into panic.'
He said they kept talking to each other throughout their ordeal 'to try to keep up our high spirits'.
Mr Kline, a married father of six from Texas, told WSVN-TV that he could only think about getting back to his family while stranded in the water.
He said: 'I wasn't giving up anytime soon.'
Mr Kline and Mr Puerta, a Spanish tourist, were eventually spotted by the crew of a passing yacht and brought safely to shore.
'You could notice a strong feeling of relief,' said Elie Trichet, captain of the No Compromise which was returning to Miami from the Florida Keys when his passengers saw the men clutching their diving equipment. 'They had been clinging to that buoy for two hours hoping somebody would rescue them.'...
...The captain of the dive boat, Mike Beach, refused to discuss the incident with reporters, saying only: 'Everybody is OK, no one is hurt, everybody is happy.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The miles? You could easily see the shore from there.
My gosh! The sharks in that particular area are fearsome!
I’m amazed they survived.
Three miles? You could easily see the shore from there.
If I were Mr. Kline, I would definitely would have come back and kicked the boat owner to a pulp.
I was diving down in Mexico south of Puerto Vallarta. There was me, the dive master/guide, and the boat handler. The boat was an open 20 ft outboard - no cabin or anything like that. When we got back in the boat after the dive, there’s another dude sitting there. He’d swam over from another boat a quarter mile away, but it was pretty weird.
So bad, it's good--LOL!
How interesting that we read this in a UK paper!
Quite a few years ago, I was camping on Lake Oolagah in Oklahoma. It was in the Spring but the temperature was in the 40’s and the wind was blowing really hard.
I think I was the only person in the campground at the time. I was standing near the shore and checking out a new Bausch & Lomb binocular.
I happened to spy a sailboat then noticed something odd. It was overturned and there were two guys sitting on the hull. I could tell their sweat shirts were wet and they must have been extremely cold. In addition, they were drifting fairly rapidly toward the dam.
I drove out to the ranger station and reported it. I then went back to watch. Within a few minutes some type of law enforcement boat pulled out of a nearby marina, took them off and took the boat in tow.
I never heard another thing about it but I really do think I may have saved their life.
Been there done that . From 3 miles out you can SEE the beach (Unless its foggy).. I have had to swim farther than that with no dive gear... Sounds like Bravo Sierra to me!
Oh, so I guess it’s ok that this dive boat just took off without its passengers?
I’m glad to hear you could swim 3 miles, but many of us could not, and there is no excuse for the boat’s crew not knowing how many people had dived and counting heads before they returned.
Also, it is full of sharks down there.
Not everyone is happy with him. I would hate to see him lose his business, but with freedom comes responsibility.
Hmm. Maybe fog was the reason the divers did not try to swim to land, instead hanging on to a buoy waiting for a craft to come by. But the story does not say.
You're kidding, right?
From a survival standpoint, I think the best course of action is to stay put and assume someone on the boat will realize what happened. If they move, SAR efforts are greatly complicated.
“Open Water”. Shudder.
I own that movie. It is chilling when you think about it.
Actually the movie was based on a compilation of stories. This happens all to often with charter boats for suba divers.
If he doesn't have insurance, the plaintiffs are going to have to pay a lot for legal services because there won't be much of anything of value to take a contingency case.
If he doesn't have insurance, the plaintiffs are going to have to pay a lot for legal services because there won't be much of anything of value to take a contingency case.
You're kidding, right?
Miami, afternoon, early Autumn, Fog:
pick the one that doesn't fit.
I'm joking at your expense. To be serious and responsible:
The horizon when you're in the water is about 11 miles, they were only three miles out...to me it would look like a long, slow swim.
These were certified SCUBA divers or no tank filling allowed---they can swim 3 miles if they pace themselves.
If they were off the coast of Miami, the sun would set over the shore. The Sun is always a good navigation tool.
Sharks, Barracuda,... etc., feed mostly at night in this area.
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