[News] New Pipin-Mestre Book Released

[josedesucre]

Right. Whats the point of having him there? BTW, I don't believe he could've possibly be in complicity with anybody to kill Audrey. In the video -according to Carlos- Pascal is seen there trying to help, foolishly pushing the sled up and trying to fill the balloon with his regulator. He later took Audrey up almost all the way to Wiky, at -90m. Since Audrey was at -171m only for a minute or less, couldn't she have taken at least one trimix breath from Pascal and then swim to Wiky, take one breath of air, exhale and then ascend?

 

[nostres]

MKDVR, Josedesucre

Here's the answer to Your SCUBA safety concern

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8qCIu3q7E4"]YouTube - PSAI Freediving Rescue at 122msw[/ame]

Carlos, I just ordered the book so I don't know the sircumstances of this fatal dive yet but it seems like it should be easy fix for safety diver. Now I read in previous posts that Pascal tried to fill lift bag using his regulator so why didn't it go up? If the sledge was stuck, in emergency situation like this one can't You just unhook balloon and hold on to it?

 

[Marwan]

ok i still dont get it, whats the expectation from the safety diver at the end of the line in case of:
1) blackout from the freediver
2) Things like getting stuck or equipment malfunction...?
what are they "supposed"to do, if they cannot offer air?

 

[Stavros]

The idea of the safety scuba/trimix diver is to help things get unstuck or fill the ballon... under no normal NLT dive is it reasonable for the diver to BO at the bottom and as Eric (Fattah) explained they are definately not there to offer the freediver air.
(In general they cannot do too much to help and as you go to depths seriously passed 100 the safety of the scuba safety divers becomes a real issue in organising such dives... that is the reason why there is a trend not to have them as safety in NLT dives in recent deep dives)

One final idea about why Audrey didn't go for air is that she was most likely suffering for a good case of narcosis and didn't have the capacity to do anything outside the things her mind was tuned to do in a NLT dive (get to the bottom - open the valve - go to the surface). That would explain why she just held onto the sled and did nothing. (I would not expect anyone to be really thinking straight at the bottom of a 170m dive...)

Just my two cents on this

Cheers Stavros

 

[Marwan]

but then again, pascal didnt seem to find it perposterous when he was asked why didnt he give air, in light of your explanation and that of eric's, if someone were to ask pascal, "hey why didnt you give her air?" he should have replied "Air?!! are you crazy??" and just walked off, according to carlos, Pascal said that he had agreed with Audrey on a sign to give her air if she needed it... so it doesnt seem like its out of the question...again, im definitely clueless to no limits and what actually happened down there, but still something seems amiss there...

 

[Marwan]

also lets not forget that Carlos is a course director, i would assume that he would know about these technicalities about scuba/trimix breathing and not make a mistake in the assumptions there....

 

[Spaniard]

After lurking in this thread I ordered both books being discussed, Pipins ghost-written book and Carlos' book. Got so engrossed that I read both of them back-to-back through the course of one day. Very interesting to see 2 different sides to one tragic story. In Pipins book he explains away the empty pony bottle situation by claiming that someone on the dive platform answered yes when he shouted out, from his position near the sled, whether or not the bottle was filled.

Murder theories notwithstanding, I would have to say from the material presented that Pipin (or people close to him) is/are an accident waiting to happen. One phrase from his book sums him up, "Quien es el mas macho?". Well mate, no-one is more macho than the sea and that will bite you on the ass seriously one day, unfortunately it already has done for Audrey. He also has quite a track record of blackouts/sambas etc and a scan revealed he has numerous lesions on his brain. Freediving, especially No-Lmits, has to be driven by safety and this concept seems alien to him. Let the film version not glamorise him too much lest the kiddies out there take to his ways.

Carlos, un libro muy interesante, gracias.

 

[trux]

BTW, what was the small bottle Audrey had on the back? Was it a secondary security inflantable device? Or was it just some measurment device?

 

[Spaniard]

It was a computer of some description to measure the dive in minute detail.

 

[Jorg]

If anybody is interested, the video of the fatal dive is still available on the internet. You can exactly see what happens at the bottom, and the not so pleasant sight of what happens at the surface. I don't know if it's good ethics to post the link here... So let me know what you think.

 

[samdive]

I'm sorry, I know it's not done to criticise the victim but I still think that Audrey should have made the checks herself.

Would YOU make a dive like that without checking the air bottle? without an alternative way to the top?

I don't care how much in love you are, you have to take responsibility for your own life!

Every diver, scuba or free, surely knows to check his/her own kit/condition before committing to a dive, any dive, let alone a dive like that.

But I'll go now, because it's making me angry!

 

[Fondueset]

The subconscious is a real force. Seeing a meaningful pattern in events does not necessarily mean they were deliberate - at least not consciously.

If I'm not mistaken brain lesions basically amount to little closed-head injuries. And that gets to be some very complex territory.

This whole story is really rich and dysfunctional psychologically.

I agree with both Adrian and Samdive.

 

[CEngelbrecht]

I'm sorry, I know it's not done to criticise the victim but I still think that Audrey should have made the checks herself.

You're absolutely right, but according to Serra's depiction, Audrey were left with very little room to make her own decisions. During the last record session, Pipin kept her in her hotel room, and wouldn't let her go anywhere without him accompanying her. Another example: Serra tells how Audrey was a vivid student of ancient Egyptian history, and that once when the couple was in Cairo, Pipin wouldn't even let his wife go to see the pyramids. Pipin is aparently an absolute machismo, and that left Audrey with no influence on her own life.

Chris Engelbrecht, Copenhagen

 

[CEngelbrecht]

For those capable in Italian (of which I'm not) I found this interview with Serra:
Apnea Magazine - CARLOS SERRA: LA VERITA' SU AUDREY MESTRE

Chris Engelbrecht, Copenhagen

 

[cebaztian]

1) Check the bottle
2) Check that the rope has been measured and lowered correctly
3) Check currents
4) Check if the doctor has arrived
5) Check that the doctor is not a dentist
6) Check that there is enough weight on the bottom of the line
7) Check that no scuba is in the way
8) Check that the rscue boat is there
9) Check that the hyperbarchamber is available
10) Check the safety lanyard
11)...etc

No NLT is a team effort. Audrey did the dive - the team failed.
It was not her job to do the checks...

There are sports where we have to rely on each other, climbing is one, freediving another. The diver focuses on the dive.

Sebastian

 

[samdive]

well if it was me, I'd do all that... and probably some more...

trust issues? maybe, but you're on your own down there. The least you can do is make sure the basics are sorted. most of that doesn't have to take place on the actual dive day so it's not as if you haven't got time.

 

[CEngelbrecht]

Again, I think we should remember that Audrey Mestre (acc. to Serra's account) was not being allowed much room to make her own decisions. Or, at least not during the record sessions, where Pipin turned into Mr. Hyde. For a long time, it seems to me she just accepted that. In that, I'm sorry to say it out loud, she wasn't that strong a woman. EXCEPT perhaps towards the end, when Pipin had not only mistreated her enough, but were also pushing her to more and more insane depths without giving a rat's hind about the dangers for her, AND even chastizing her in public because of a stupid penis pride!

Just remember that in this case. It's all easy to say this-and-this, that a diver should make sure to check everything herself, but she was never given the chance here.

 

[efattah]

I would not, and will never, make a variable weight or no-limits dive without personally testing and inspecting the equipment that will bring me back to the surface....

Yes, it would distract my focus, but that is the price to pay for such complicated logistical dives.

 

[shoutatthesky]

Jorg - Please post the link. This whole tragic incident has only one thing to give us now and it is not revenge but education.

As for lesions on the brain. How, Why?

 

[Jorg]

Well, I agree, there is for sure something to learn from this tragic dive and after carefull consideration and consulting with some other freedivers it's time to post the link. The link I post is an archived version of the masdebuceo.com website. The page itself is not online anymore, but thanks to archive.org we still can watch the video.

Just a small warning: To be clear, during this video somebody dies! If you're not up for this, then just don't watch it. If you want to see some visual evidence supporting your beliefs then watch it. Total time is 6 minutes something, and from the point you see Audrey brought back back to the surface it doesn't get pretty.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040629154638/http://www.masdebuceo.com/videos/mestre/video_mestre.swf

I've seen the video several times now. Every time I watch it, I'll take some time to think about Audrey. I think you should do that too. Treat it with respect.