By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
TWO men swam for nearly 24 hours, from Exuma to New Providence, after being swept away by strong currents Saturday afternoon.
According to reports, the men got swept away from the Exumas while on a diving expedition. They were reported missing 45 minutes after they failed to return to their boat. The 21-foot pleasure craft, which started drifting, had to be towed back to port.
Chris Lloyd, BASRA’s director of Operations, said when they received the information BASRA, along with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the US Coast Guard and Power Boat Adventures immediately began searching for the men. However, their efforts were hampered when they were given the wrong coordinates for where the men were last seen.
“They went missing from around Ship Channel in Northern Exuma. When we got the phone call we went out right away, but we went to the wrong place they told us Elbow Cay, but it was actually about 70 miles in the opposite direction so that cost us some time,” he said.
“The current was also still strong and it got dark pretty soon so we had to stop efforts for the night and resume Sunday morning when we got the updated position. We searched for a while in that area before we got the phone call around 11am that one of the men swam ashore at Yamacraw Beach in New Providence. So we stopped searching where we were and took our efforts closer to New Providence. When the diver came to shore he was able to notify us that he just separated from the other diver about an hour and a half earlier.
“So the Coast Guard, BASRA and the RBDF went in that area to search before getting another call around 2:30pm that the other diver had swam ashore near Treasure Cove in New Providence.”
Mr Lloyd said the men were able to survive because their wet suits acted like life jackets.
“Thank goodness they had on wet suits. It definitely helped with keeping them above the waves in those choppy seas and strong winds. We had situations like that that happened before where the persons were not recovered. So they are lucky, lucky men.”
The men were taken to the hopsital where they are said to be in stable condition.
Comments
JohnDoes 10 years, 2 months ago
Mr. Lloyd sounds very dumb and ignorant when he said the wet suits acted like life vests. Wet suits are not enough to keep you afloat, especially when swimming from Exuma to NP. Maybe it was the BCD's that acted like life vests to help keep them afloat and above waves which are entirely different from wet suits. Although they might have had on wet suits that is recommended when diving, the BCD vests that is used to support SCUBA gear is manually inflatable and can be used as temporary life vests even though it is mainly designed for keeping a divers head above water despite heavy gear and maintaining neutral buoyancy whilst under water.
B_I_D___ 10 years, 2 months ago
While I understand what you are saying, and can totally see where Chris may have been a bit off base in his description, a wet suit alone, does provide you an ever so slight increase in your natural bouyancy, even without a BCD vest. It's not much, and it in no way will keep you afloat, but thinking of having to swim for 24 hours, any additional 'water weight loss' may even just be a few pounds, that's that much less wait I had to kick to keep afloat for 24 hours. I'll take it.
JohnDoes 10 years, 2 months ago
I dont care what wet suit you have on, a dry suit will keep you more afloat above water than any wet suit. A wet suit itself alters negative buoyancy when descending, that is why a weight belt is needed. As far as being above the water and trying to swim, the wet suit itself, provides no life saving form of flotation, that is why a BCD is worn, to help control positive buoyancy above water and neutral buoyancy whilst under water.
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 2 months ago
Glad they made it wet suits and all:)
pablojay 10 years, 2 months ago
I have some problems understanding JonnDoes' logic and i would like some assistance in this matter.It seems to me that if a wet suit does what he says,then to alter negative buoyancy, then it has to have a positive effect on it , thereby assisting buoyancy to some degree.
B_I_D___ 10 years, 2 months ago
it is very minor, and in the deeper water, you only add another pound or two of lead weights to counter act the bouyancy of the neoprene...but still, any little bit, no matter how small in that situation helps...or at least I would think!!
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 2 months ago
Could it have had other effects like shielding them from hypothermia or reducing the likelihood of cramping or anything like that? Don't know, just asking. how much safety help would it be in general though, most of the fishermen we lose to the sea aren't wearing this kind of gear
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 2 months ago
But then again, if they haven't bothered to wear a life jacket...what are the chances that they'll wear even more troublesome safety wear....
JohnDoes 10 years, 2 months ago
Wet suits help to shield the skin from various stinging organisms underwater, and it also assists in slowing the amount of heat lost by the body underwater by providing an insulation to help aid in avoiding hypothermia they do not stop hypothermia but of course there are various symptoms such as 'shivering' underwater that should warn you to get out of the water and seek warmth. Wet suits are buoyant, but you only really notice its buoyancy when descending that is why you use lead weight belts to help counteract this buoyancy. Although there is a very fine margin of numbers relating to its bouyancy above water, it is not enough to keep a diver's head above waves, and/or allow them to comfortably swim from Exuma to Nassau for 24 hours. In an emergency divers are told to drop their weight belts, and manually inflate the BCD as a temporary flotation device to keep the head above water despite the weight of the tank and other gear. So like I said above 'a BCD is worn, to help control positive buoyancy above water and neutral buoyancy whilst under water.' This is not my personal 'logic' this is an industry standard 'logic', all certified divers should know.
ThisIsOurs 10 years, 2 months ago
Ok thanks. Would be nice if we had more happy endings like this
JohnDoes 10 years, 2 months ago
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