Florida Sea Base News

ROGUE WAVE

A woman died on Thanksgiving when the dive boat was struck by a rogue wave off Pompano Beach, Florida.  The vessel was capsized and the lady was trapped underneath according to ABC News.  There was probably nothing mechanically wrong with the boat.  I assume the captain was experienced and competent.  Based on my personal experiences with the USCG I feel certain the vessel was up to federal standards.  This tragedy should remind us to be ever vigilant; no one ever expects to be taken out by a rogue wave.

SAFE FUN

Scuba diving is a risky endeavor.  The Florida Sea Base is very conscious of these risks as we take your 14 year old 60 feet underwater in a beautiful but alien environment.  Thanks to the foresight of the General Manager of the Florida Sea Base, the support of the Florida Sea Base Advisory Committee, the Boy Scouts of America High Adventure matching fund, and several VERY generous individual donors, we have invested about $1.5 MILLION in dive boats since I became the Program Director in 2002.  Our FIFTH Newton Dive Special is under construction in Slidell, Louisiana.  Dive boats are a part of scuba safety that is frequently overlooked by divers; taken for granted I guess.  Divers are taught about nitrogen narcosis, decompression sickness, barotrauma, embolisms, oxygen toxicity, hazardous marine life and other scuba diving risks.  But dive boat safety?  That’s the worry of the vessel owner, dive operator, captain, crew and the United States Coast Guard.  Or is it?

NO POSTS?

I will be on the road again Sunday and Monday, making my way back to the Florida Sea Base, and probably won’t get to post again until Tuesday evening or Wednesday.  I have attended a week of BSA committee meetings in Dallas, spent another week at the BSA Aquatics Workshop in Arkansas, and a third week at the DEMA show in Las Vegas.  I have spent hours working on the Divemaster Academy and preparations for our first PADI Instructor Development Course.  I have answered 100s of emails and phone calls.

But I have had the opportunity to spend a few days with family and many evenings like a real person instead of watching TV alone on Escape or sitting in the office until 9 pm working because I have nothing else to do.  Now its time to return to my chosen profession of overseeing another year of over a thousand “other peoples’ children” making over ten thousand dives incident free.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Stay safe in the malls!

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
PADI Course Director #39713

The annual local event known as Mini Lobster Season is underway.  It is a two day slaughter of the lobsters.  The season is open to non-commercial fishers only.  Thousands and thousands of divers and snorkelers descend upon the Keys for this brief event.  It is a dangerous time and generally 3 to 5 people die each year during this two day period.  The challenge for the Florida Sea base is continuing to offer a safe program during the event.  We have to deal with S.P.O.R.E.s (Stupid People on Rental Equipment) and persons consuming adult beverages while boating.  Our captains are very aware of the increased risks and will do everything possible to keep our participants safe.

I am still fighting this cold.  I went to the doctor yesterday and was prescribed antibiotics for a sinus infection.  I hope to be feeling better soon.  I had self-medicated with a green liquid and a fizzy drink.  I tend to follow the theory of “if a little is good a lot is great”.  So I may have doubled up on the doses.  Bad move.  Two weeks ago my blood pressure was normal at the cardiologist’s office.  Today it was 150/100.  The doctor told me to lay off the OTC meds.

Despite a killer headaches, mild fever and hacking cough, I finished up the PADI Emergency Oxygen Provider course for staff members Karren Supple, Jason Carter, Hank Gordon, Justin Evans, April Oster and Keith MacDonell last night.   I sat on one end of a very long table and tried to keep the staff towards the far end.  I do not want anyone catching this crud from me.

The weather and program activities are all good.  The participants are having a great time.

The General Manager of the Florida Sea Base, Captain Paul Beal, was hospitalized Wednesday.  He is doing very well and should be back in a couple of days.

Have a great day.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
PADI Course Director #39713
Aboard S/V Escape 

Today was busy administratively.  I was in the office at 0730 preparing for the monthly Team Meeting of the full-time staff of the Florida Sea Base.  The meeting ran from 0900 to 1130.  Capt. Rich and I had a nice lunch at Mangrove Mike’s after the meeting.  I spent all afternoon reviewing medical forms of scuba participants.  That is a tedious job.  However, it is very important.

Risk is inherent to scuba diving.  It is important for us to minimize those risks as much as possible.  One of the things we do at the Florida Sea Base to reduce risk is to carefully review the medical forms of all of our participants – especially in the scuba department.  Another thing we do is to stay current on policies, training standards and risk management issues.  Tonight we did that by hosting a PADI Member Forum.  About 40 PADI professionals from the upper and middle Keys attended the meeting which was presented by our PADI Regional Director, Mike Kurczewski.  We host this meeting annually.

Because of who we are (the BSA) we are very conservative in our approach to scuba diving.  We have requirements here that you wouldn’t find at a typical dive resort.  We require everyone to complete a swim review before being allowed to dive.  We also require all divers to participate in a scuba review with our dive staff to insure they know how to use the equipment, that they are comfortable underwater, and that they know how to perform all of the skills taught in the Open Water Diver course.  We have much more conservative medical constraints especially in regards to asthma and diabetes.  We review paperwork thoroughly.  We provide a divemaster or scuba instructor for each scuba crew.

We have been very fortunate to have been in the scuba business for more than 30 years and have not had a serious in-water injury or death.  We have had a few close calls, but so far so good.  So come join us for some wonderful underwater experiences in the sunny Florida Keys.