The Daily Times

Patricia Reeves hasn’t been on a single diving expedition since an October 2009 outing in Key Largo, Fla. — a trip her husband, Larry, never made it back from. The two Maryville residents had been on 32 dives before that day. And it’s become the last dive for both of them, Patricia said.

“It was on his bucket list when we got married,” Patricia said. “It was something he wanted to do. I never dreamed I wanted to dive but I went along with him and really enjoyed it ... . We were trained together ... and we were the only diving partners either one of us had.”

While that life is now behind her, Patricia wants other divers to hear the story of what happened that day. As retired teachers, the couple always believed that the past can help shape the future; that yesterday’s mistakes can lead one to a better tomorrow.

Last day

There were several red flags even before that Tuesday afternoon when she lost Larry, Patricia said. They arrived in Key Largo on Sunday, Oct. 18, with plans to dive the following morning. But a walk down the beach drew their attention to the large waves breaking at sea. The two had been diving at the same location the previous year and had become incredibly seasick during their dive. They decided to postpone their Monday dive.

In the minutes leading up to the moment they entered the choppy waters of Key Largo that Tuesday afternoon, Patricia told the captain that she and Larry had decided to forego their dive for 24 hours because of the strong wind and their fear of becoming seasick again. Yet she learned that the wind was strong — even stronger than on Monday — and would come to find out that the current was possibly even stronger.

But their outing had already been postponed a day and she knew Larry would be incredibly disappointed if they didn’t go.

So the two embarked on a boat full of about 15 others and set out atop the waters. Patricia said she still worried about their safety that day and even expressed her concerns to the captain. His comment indicated that they, as experienced divers, shouldn’t have any problems, she said. And she felt that the captain — who didn’t take the boat out at all on Sunday because of the strong winds — wouldn’t have taken them if he thought they wouldn’t be safe.

When Patricia was put into the water, divers were being placed in at four different points on the boat, she said. By the time Larry jumped in, the captain and crew were busy attending to other divers and couldn’t help Patricia, who was having problems sinking, she said.

Roughly a minute after trying to sink below the waves, Patricia said she looked up to see that the current had already swept her far from the boat. On top of that, Larry was nowhere to be found.

Patricia said she tried several times to get the attention of the captain, who was looking the other way. Floating at sea, she had to time her shouts between every wave break, removing her regulator for just long enough to call for help. After her third shout, she noticed someone was sending a rope out to her position.

When she got back to the boat, she noticed someone even farther out than she had been. She would discover that this was Larry.

“After reading witness reports I realize perhaps Larry wasn’t even seen or noticed until then,” Patricia wrote shortly after the incident.

To make matters worse, the captain couldn’t reach him with their rescue rope; the crew had to rely on a neighboring boat to recover Larry — who at that point had drowned.

Questions and answers

Patricia had many questions about procedures, precautions and safety regulations following Larry’s death.

“I’ve found out there are no regulations for recreational diving,” Patricia said. “There’s no regulation for the number of people (on the boat), they don’t have to have a dive master, no staff numbers, (nothing) for checking the current.”

Patricia wants others to be aware that even though the certification process is regulated, the actual diving process is not.

Brad Forsythe, a manager and dive technician at Rhea’s Diving Services in Maryville, said this is typically the case no matter where one dives.

“There’s not really any regulations, except for signing your waivers” Forsythe said. “(And) proof of certification. You show that you’re qualified to do that type diving. If you don’t have a certification you do not get to dive.”

Patricia feels that maybe if the boat had a longer rope or any extra boating craft that could have been used to rescue Larry, things might have been different. When she looks back on that day, she wishes the boat would have been better organized and housed with the sharply attentive staff she usually encountered on dives. She also wishes they wouldn’t have signed the waiver, which Patricia said essentially gives the boating company the ability to be negligent.

“I’d love to generate enough public outcry that they would change the laws and not allow people to sign such waivers,” Patricia said. “At least (for) those that hear the story and hear the warnings, it might make a difference for some individuals as far as the choices they make when they decide to go diving.”

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