This is once of the most unbelievable rescue story of scuba divers off Taiwan coast. The group of divers survived for 48 hours in the cold & wild ocean..
On April 26, Saturday, 8 experienced scuba divers started their scuba diving at 10:30 hour between Oluanpi and Chihsingyen, which is a popular diving spot off Kenting National Park. They were expected to return to their boat at 11:30 hours after completing the diving.
The scuba divers were not aware that the strong currents were drifting them far away. Unknowingly they drifted more than 100 kilometers from their diving spot. After a long wait, the skipper of the boat felt something was not right and he raised alarm and thereafter massive search and rescue operations took place to trace the divers. But the rescue team failed to find them.
on April 27, 32 year old Ting Po-ling, the diving groups dive coach reached Taimali and raised alarm to rescue the remaining divers. He swam around five kilometers (11 hours) against strong currents and tides.
Four divers were spotted and rescued on April 28, Monday morning at sea by the rescue helicopter. The same day one more diver was located on the beach in exhausted state and two divers were rescued near the Taitung coast. All the rescued divers were taken to the Hospital for further treatment for minor dehydration,facial burns and hypothermia.
Here are the tips given by the scuba divers, how they could survive at sea for 48 hours:-
In order to save their energy they were floating on their backs.
They formed a ring by holding each others hands to avoid separation.
To determine their safety the divers use to communicate with each other every three minutes.
To keep their survival spirit high, the divers were chatting and joking .
To indicate their position to the rescue helicopter in the dark they used their flash lights of their underwater camera.
The above rescue was only successful as the diving coach Ting Po-ling took the risk of swimming more than 11 hours to shore to ask for help. This was one scary unforgettable experience by the divers..
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May 10, 2008
Tips to Survive at Sea for 48 Hours!
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Labels: scubadiving, survival at sea
Jan 29, 2008
Water Sports making a big Splash in India !
INDIA!! What comes in your mind when u hear it? Yes food, beauty & adventure. There is a lot to explore. On land adventure sports like cycling, rock climbing, trekking are well developed. But in the past few months it’s seen that people have started gaining interest in water sports too. There is a increase in the demand of water sport products as the number of buyers who can afford it has increased. Fiber-glass boats, scuba diving equipment, outboard engines and kayaks are flooding the Indian adventure sports market.

Yaka which is a Mumbai-based adventure sports company says it is 'working to transform access to leading brands of kayaks, kite boards and other extreme sporting equipment for a new generation of adrenaline junkies in India'. Yaka stocks the legendary Peter Lynn kites and benchmark kite boards from Underground & the world's leading kayaks from Perception and Mission which are manufactured in New Zealand. Special range of surfboards, clothing and buoyancy aids are also offered by Yaka.
Mr. Guido Bothe who is a native of Berlin & runs a company called Chinkara motors with his Indian wife Mrs. Shama Bothe. The company manufactures sport vehicles & boats. When asked about his company and the future of water sports in India this is what he had to say. ‘I've had staff with me for 10 years. We are able to manufacture products of as good a quality as abroad and we price our products from Rs.600,000 to Rs.35 million. Similar vessels made abroad cost double the amount.’

‘Much of our work goes to the minor ports coming up. Lots of people in India are also taking to water sports as a hobby. Now it is still not significant. But it will take five to 10 years for water sports to arrive in India in a big way.’
Here is what few of the firms have to offer:-
- Polycoat Electra in Ahmedabad offers outboard and diesel engines and low-cost aluminum 5 meter x 3 meter speedboats.
Ferretti Yachts offers flybridge-type fiberglass yachts with an open upper deck. Offering luxury boats, it puts on offer choice cherry heartwood, leather and wood-coating material, tilting widows and wear-proof exterior material.
- Aquasail of Mumbai produces sailing dinghies, kayaks, windsurfers, powerboats and leisure yachts & the low price tag makes it easy for everyone and anyone to own a watercraft.
- The representatives of Gulf Craft Inc. in Mumbai have been producing hand-laid fiberglass boats for 25 years.
- Other firms from Mumbai, Goa, Kerala, Chennai and elsewhere offer a range of products like rescue boats, pleasure vehicles, oil spill equipment, diving equipment, yachts, cruisers, ship-repairs, fast-attack crafts and outboard motors.
'Boating and yachting has become an industry in itself. Goa has a truly international flavour. So I thought why not organise something here,' said Mumbai-based Joseph Dias, who organised the fourth Goa International Boat Show here a week ago. Dias has been keeping up at this venture and points out that places like Miami in the US have boat shows '50 times the size of the Goa show'.
'In the next five to 10 years, we can build Goa into a hub for boat shows and the trade in India,' he said.
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Labels: kayaking, kitesurfing, scubadiving, watersports india, yaka