http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060621/9017119.asp

I wonder who these divers were and what kind of boat they were in.

One would think that someone who dives would be able to swim half-mile to shore instead of having to be rescued........

If youve ever been diving you know that its insanely hard to just start swimming. Unlike just hopping on your board and paddling you have heavy, extremely expensive stuff on your back. My guess, a couple guys got flipped before they put on their air and had to bail on there equipment.

It's about a half mile out and not an easy swim even without scuba tanks. It's a fun dive but one has to have the right boat and captain. Once there was a captain that dropped anchor out there and drifted way off the spot; and ended up having to get two, young divers rescued.

Every surfer who is a waterman should try diving on some of the Great Lakes wrecks in our area. The Raleigh shipwreck is a relatively shallow dive but one in which people can see the old mortise and tenor joints and huge ship planks and ship ribbing still intact. The wrecks are like underwater museums. You won't see or experience this sort of history from in front of a screen. The main thing is that to dive one must always be very safety concious and dive with a dive partner.

My surf buds and I were kicked out of the water once on a head high day at Wyldewood by the OPP because of a diving related drownding. This diver went out undewater into the waves all alone. The conditions were so turbid that day that it could be compared to diving at night without a light source. Never dive alone.