They cried for their friends and family aboard the doomed Wave Dancer. They also shed tears of relief that they, too, were not aboard. "We went on our honeymoon with these people, and we were supposed to be on this trip, had it not been for a scheduling conflict," Richmond Dive Club member Darren Desoi said, embracing his wife, Milly, last night. "We've become a family. When you dive, you're a family. It's an immediate bond, even if you're not actually related." Last night would have been a regular, monthly meeting for the dive club. Members were going to watch a video for an upcoming trip to the Bahamas and enjoy dinner and drinks at La Siesta Mexican restaurant on Midlothian Turnpike. Instead, about 80 family, friends and fellow divers came looking for information on victims and survivors of the tragedy that has claimed 17 of their own. The trip was to be an exotic, weeklong reef diving excursion along the coast of Belize in Central America. The 30 Richmond Dive Club members were advanced divers, some with dozens of trips under their belts. Ten of them traveled on the Belize Aggressor and 20 on the MV Wave Dancer. Late Monday, both boats sought refuge from Iris two miles up the Monkey River in southern Belize. A storm surge lifted the Wave Dancer about 11 p.m. and smashed it against the dock, breaking it in two and capsizing it into water 12 feet deep. All passengers aboard the Aggressor survived. The Richmond divers on the trip were 30 of the club's most active members, including club founder and president Glenn Prillaman, who was among the deceased. "This is a big percentage of our active members," club membership chairman Jenny Chappell said. The club has 120 members. "It's the core." Dive club secretary Tricia Goodman, who is serving as acting president, gave a brief media statement about the accident yesterday. She said the American Consulate is handling the rescue effort and communications in Belize. "These are very, very true friends to all of us in the club, and the ones that have passed away will be deeply, deeply missed," she said. Last night, friends of the divers also sought comfort from one another. One family brought a photograph from a March diving trip that shows a few of the missing and known dead on the Belize trip. | | Peter Hughes Wave Dancer Chappell learned of the disaster shortly after 2 a.m. yesterday and immediately began calling relatives of the divers on the trip. By last night, she had reached at least one family member of each Richmond diver on the trip. "They knew a storm was highly possible," Chappell said. "One of the people on the trip called his family a few hours before it hit and said the weather looked bad. They were headed into it since Saturday. Diving is a safe sport, but there's always a little bit of that element of not knowing." The Monkey River, where the boats docked to ride out the storm, is about 12 feet deep and is surrounded by mangrove trees, which have gnarled roots. Some of the missing may be within the wooded, root-covered area, Chappell told some families. The last time the diving club met was Sept. 11, the day of the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Prillaman ordered a moment of silence. The club was his brainchild, his love. Since 1993, the group has taken trips once a month to the Outer Banks and more exotic places such as the Bahamas and St. Thomas. "I don't know what this club is going to do for a president now. He totally ran the show," said club member Graham Sherrod. "I'm still going to dive now, but I'm certainly not as excited about it." The group left on Saturday from Norfolk for Belize, a great dive spot with clear waters and colorful aquatic life. Last Thursday and Friday, they rushed to Gary Kinsler's shop, Dive Expressions next door to La Siesta, for last-minute supplies. "I've been diving with them for years, and I certified most of them," he said. "They were all close friends, and they had come by to say good-bye. I told them to bring back plenty of pictures." SOURCE - Richmond Times Dispatch |
