I'm sorry. I thought you said it's a...

As you probably know from earlier posts like: That water is deep...almost as deep as those misconceptions; that I find a lot of entertainment in what I do. A certain January evening was no exception.

I was out with some SRD divers who were training with me down here in Miami, at a canal that we frequently find cars in. It was late afternoon and the searching was coming to an end for the day. I checked in with the last team at the end of the canal and asked what they had discovered in their search area.
The team had been doing a parallel search, so there had only been one diver in the water. The diver then proceeded to tell me about all the random garbage and nick-knacks he found on the bottom. He got to the end of his list of findings when he hesitated for a moment and then said, trying to sound confident, "I also found a Jet-ski............with wheels."

Now I have learned that when someone tries to explain something that is out of the norm to others who have never seen it; those that have never seen said item, become instant experts on it. It's basically a sport. People start forming teams by recruiting others to their view. Wild ideas are now simple logic, and suddenly the only person who has actually come in contact with the object of interest, is the only person who is wrong.
So pretty much with the divers comment, this was shaping up to be a big enough event that ESPN2 should probably send out a van and crew to cover it.

"I'm sorry. I thought you said it's a Jet-ski with wheels." I said this thinking he was just making up something for all of us to have a good laugh at. After all, that's my kind of humor. "Um, yeah...it's a Jet-ski...with wheels."


I have a rule with my company. There is to be no shouting at the surface between divers and surface support while on an operation. Even if you're at the other side of the lake, you handle all your discussions close enough to whisper if need be. It's just plain professional. There is no need to be yelling all over the place, especially if you're dealing with a sensitive situation like a body recovery.
So this being the rule, I called the diver to the waters edge and asked again what he had found.

The audience at the time was myself, the Lieutenant from the auto theft division, and an special agent from an insurance firm. So, in the interest of not having the diver embarrass himself, I called him over close and asked what it was he saw. He repeated his answer doing his best to sound like he wasn't second guessing himself. "I'm not crazy Jordan. It's a jet-ski with wheels." I told him to go down again and confirm his claim.
Now while he was down, another unit pulled up and two officers joined the discussion of the mystery vehicle. Some said it was on it's trailer. Others said it was probably a go-cart. The Lt. said it was a Quad (Four wheeler) because they would come out in that area and ride around. I was the team captain for the "On a trailer" team.

After about 5 minutes, the diver surfaced and came over to an eager group of experts just waiting for their moment to tell all the non-believers, I TOLD YOU SO!
Unfortunately the story was the same, and the diver was more confidant now. He explained how he had investigated the USO (unidentified sunken object) and described again in more detail about how it was a Jet-ski with wheels.  

Ok, I'm sure there is a simple explanation for this. Like that it's on it's trailer and it has two wheels and a tongue and straps tying it down (Go team Trailer!).
So with my new found assurance that I was right, and with the encouragement of my newly drafted teammates, I told the diver to go down once more and look for the trailer. I then gave him a quick lesson on how to tell if it's a trailer underwater and off he went.

Now the above water scene is down right hilarious. We have the original characters, plus those 2 officers, plus another 3 officers. Also the tow truck is on it's way. Unnecessary you say? Well we can't just leave all those people in suspense!
So once more the diver surfaces, spit's out his regulator, and just starts smiling! "I knew it! I was right! It's on it's trailer." I said to the Lt. as I nudged him with my elbow.

Ok, this guy is on his own now!!! No more trying to bail him out of embarrassment! He will just have to learn his lesson the hard way! Some diver he'll turn out to be. Can't even identify a trailer underwater!!!

The tow truck showed up. Bet's were placed and battle lines were drawn. The moment of truth had arrived.

And here it comes...

It's on it's trailer I tell you...

A little further...

It's a...it's a........What the....

   

Well then. It's a Jet-ski....................with wheels.
I know the picture is as blurry as one of Sasquatch, but it's real. That right there my friends is why I love my job! You just never know what you might find!

Apparently, the engineer who created this beauty, had taken out the motor and everything else inside, and installed something similar to a go-cart frame. There was no seat and no engine, but I bet that thing rolled down hill like a champ!

This has gone down in my memory books as one of my favorite recoveries. It's also the favorite of all those "experts" that were on scene as well. It's times like these that remind us that we only know what we know. And I know now, there was no trailer. Maybe next time team. Maybe next time.

Search negatively my friends,

Jordan

Did you think we drowned?!

Sorry to disappoint, but we did not. So all y'all out there are stuck reading this blog...all 3 and a half of you.

So what's been up?! Big things I tell you! As you probably noticed, the Blog name has been changed to CETi Diving Blog. I was told by my website consultant that this was a great branding move, so we shall see. We also updated the website. It's pretty cool. You should go check it. Click here.

Another thing that I am personally excited about is what the NAPD is gonna be rolling out over the next couple of months. They will be doing some online commercials as well as interviews with the President of the NAPD, Mr. Michael Gast himself! There will also be a video blog series that they will be doing, and we will be featuring some of those on this blog! Sweet, I know!

In addition to all of the awesomeness mentioned above, I'm also pumped about the multiple Special Response Diver classes we will be teaching around the country this year. There are some departments and organizations that will be hosting their first class and becoming training hubs for their communities and surrounding areas.
That's really what we are trying to accomplish here at CETi Diving: Develop places that want to be a host

location for this training, and build up that region's ability to handle the Underwater Search and Recovery needs that arise. We know it's very important for everyone who gets involved with these kinds of investigations and/or recoveries to be on the same page. When a fire department is called to the scene of a drowning and then the sheriff's department has to get involved because it could be a homicide, it makes things so much better when all divers and surface support are on the same page. And what better way for that to happen than for them to train together!

Well my friends, we are back. And we will be bringing you some cool stuff on here in the coming weeks! Gear tips, more great stories from the Pro's, interviews, and other stuff that I think is cool!

So stay tuned, and search negatively my friends!

The positives of negative buoyancy!

Finally, some clear thinking on the importance buoyancy has in the diving community. Wait a minute, what diving community is it important to? As a matter of fact, how many diving communities are there? Why don’t you just think about those two questions while I continue with the first thought.

Buoyancy is all about Archimedes, who was a Greek mathematician/scientist living in the 3^rd century BC.

Using scientific methods he determined that “…an object immersed in a liquid partially or totally is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the liquid displaced”.

Well, have you thought long enough on those two diving community questions? The answer is… understanding and mastering  Buoyancy is important in every diving community.

In the recreational diving community the attainment of Neutral buoyancy at any depth is the desired objective to be considered a competent diver. However Positive buoyancy is the most sought after and taught skill for a dive profile to have a happy conclusion. Then there is Negative buoyancy which has become the bain of sport divers and those who teach them.

In the Commercial diving community the knowledge, skills and abilities  (attitudes) when it comes to buoyancy is more a job for job tool and capability. That means that Positive, neutral and negative buoyancy is mission dictated and performed professionally to a successful conclusion.

In the Special Response Diving community Negative buoyancy is king! This community includes Police divers, Public Safety divers, emergency response divers, tactical divers, military divers, forensic divers and any other group that performs underwater search and recovery missions. Believe it or not trying to find something on the bottom while neutrally buoyant is a fools errand. Now some will argue that neutral buoyancy keeps the diver from disturbing the bottom, and that may work once in a while, but if you want to find something on the bottom you must become the bottom. This is achieved only with negative buoyancy. The only way to constantly have a positive resolution to an underwater search is becoming proficient in the use of negative buoyancy.

Remember, in underwater search & recovery you get positive results when negative buoyancy is king!

Written by - Michael W. Gast