Cool heads save divers’ lives in dark

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 2

Cool heads save divers’ lives in dark

PA Tauranga Fitness and cool ..heads probably saved the lives of two young Navy divers when they were “lost” at sea after darkness fell, on Monday evening, the Te Puke police said yesterday. Seamen C. Tapsell and S. Simpson lost contact with their private diving tender after dusk and spent more than an hour floating in the sea before being rescued from the Bay of Plenty off Maketu. A prompt search found them.

The pair set off about 5.30 p.m. in a private boat, accompanied by a third, from Maketu on a diving expedition.

Constable R. Burgess said the man who remained in the boat was unable to. find the

divers at the time they should have resurfaced, about 6.30 p.m., and after a fruitless search he alerted the police. Three small boats put out from Maketu and the two divers were found at 7.17 p.m. Neither suffered any physical side effects from the prolonged immersion. Constable Burgess said he attributed this to the high degree of fitness of the two ratings, combined with the fact that they had “used their heads” and floated quietly on the surface.

“They were not very far from where they had been diving.” he said, but they were lucky to be found so promptly in the darkness. Both are crewmen in the frigate Waikato.