Quark Experiences a Tragedy

[sippican]

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/expedition-cruising/two-die-quark-expeditions-zodiac-incident-antarctica?fbclid=IwAR2ISymuxWfbHFwc8XgcuYCmmZj7DJ2_RY1Fj9YaBbpar65FLzDelosBfuI

 

Quark has been in the business of providing expedition cruising for 30 years. So sad for the families of these victims.

[Catlover54]

Quark also had a woman in her 60's die on a Zodiak that overturned in the Arctic in 2013.

 

I'm not sure if there have been other Zodiak deaths and/or severe injuries that then change your future.

[Rothko1]

These aren't called Expedition trips for nothing.  A horrible tragedy.

[donaldsc]

On 11/19/2022 at 2:40 PM, Catlover54 said:

Quark also had a woman in her 60's die on a Zodiak that overturned in the Arctic in 2013.

 

I'm not sure if there have been other Zodiak deaths and/or severe injuries that then change your future.

 

We had a friend who went on one of the last Crystal Antarctica who had a very severe leg injury  getting onto one of the Crystal versions of the zodiac.  Stuff happens.

 

DON

[pdmlynek]

On 11/19/2022 at 4:58 PM, sippican said:

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/expedition-cruising/two-die-quark-expeditions-zodiac-incident-antarctica?fbclid=IwAR2ISymuxWfbHFwc8XgcuYCmmZj7DJ2_RY1Fj9YaBbpar65FLzDelosBfuI

 

Quark has been in the business of providing expedition cruising for 30 years. So sad for the families of these victims.

It is weird that an inflatable boat would overturn, but once a boat overtuns, dying of hypothermia is not unforeseen.  

 

What surprises me is that death from overturned boats, such as kayaks, associated with cruising in Antarctica, Alaska, etc. do not occur more frequently. My understanding is that the cruise line does check if the passenger can roll the kayak and upright self.  

 

Given how incredibly safety concious anything about a cruise is, I am pretty shocked that the cruise operators let people do that.

 

The reason that I write the above is that I am pretty comfortable being under water, but when I started kayaking, and was given instructions on how to get out of a flipped over kayak (head forward, hands front to pop the skirt, hands back to push off the kayak, do a forward somersault out, pulling your legs out), it was still pretty scary getting out for real the first time. It was nothing that I've ever experienced before -- being trapped upside down, with head hanging down, leg immobolized, flailing hands doing nothing, is pretty panic-worthy.  And that was under controlled conditions, in warm water, and I was all mentally ready for it.  Now, after kayaking for several years, I could get out of a rolled kayak in my sleep (I never did manage to learn how to upright, despite many weeks of lessons and attempts over the years).  

 

I cannot imagine how a person who has never been kayaking, flips over unexpectedly due to own carelessness, while wearing bulky clothes, in 4 C water, is expected to self recover. I would think that relatively few novice kayakers would be able to self rescue, and would drown very easily.  And even if they do get out of the kayak, then what?  Swim ashore?  Wait for a rescue boat?  If a person survives the shock and does not drown while exiting the sea kayak, surely he'll be dead within 10 min of hypothermia. 

 

But I suspect that I am wrong, and that these kayak trips are indeed safe.  I just can't figure where I am wrong.  

 

[kaisatsu]

From my understanding, the passengers from the zodiac accident did not die of hypothermia but were injured in the accident. The zodiacs weigh a lot, and they were in shallow water at the time, so it’s quite possible that they were pinned underneath or suffered a tragic injury during the accident. Especially if they had limited strength or mobility.

 

These kinds of accidents are less likely with the kayak programs because the kayaks are much lighter, and the passengers who participate tend to self select to skew more active. The kayaks are also open models, so should they flip, it’s easy to just slide out and surface, so it’s not a requirement to be able to roll them back upright.

[pdmlynek]

7 minutes ago, kaisatsu said:

From my understanding, the passengers from the zodiac accident did not die of hypothermia but were injured in the accident. The zodiacs weigh a lot, and they were in shallow water at the time, so it’s quite possible that they were pinned underneath or suffered a tragic injury during the accident. Especially if they had limited strength or mobility.

...

Thank you for the explanation.  I'll be intrested in reading the final report on this tragedy when it comes out.