Diver Tells of Being Stranded off Newport Beach by Diving Vessel Crew

From Beverly Hills Courier (Link)

A scuba diver stranded in the ocean off Newport Beach during a charter boat trip six years ago testified today that he tried to remain upbeat during his nearly five-hour ordeal and tell himself that death was not inevitable.

Daniel Carlock of Santa Monica told a Los Angeles Superior Court jury hearing the trial of his civil suit that he also resorted to prayer.

"I just started talking to God, I did not want to die, please help,' said Carlock, a devout Roman Catholic.

Carlock was left in the ocean amid foggy conditions roughly seven miles from shore the morning of April 25, 2004, after getting separated from about 20 other divers who had been aboard the motor vessel Sundiver.

Carlock filed his $4 million suit in January 2005 against Ocean Adventures Dive along with Sun Diver Charters, the company that owned the boat and its crew, alleging negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The case first went to trial March 9, but a previous judge declared a mistrial at the end of that month after testimony lasted longer than she anticipated.

Defense attorneys maintain that Carlock, now 52, contributed to his predicament by being careless and not following traditional rules for safe diving.

Carlock never confirmed who his diving buddy was before leaving the boat and surfaced far from the oil rig where he was supposed to come up and be seen by those on the boat, according to defense lawyers.

But according to Carlock, when he surfaced for a second and final time he saw he was about 400 feet from the Sundiver and did his best to get to the vessel by turning on his back in the water and swimming toward it.

"Then after a while, I was getting cramps in both my legs,' Carlock said. "Moreover, I was starting to hyperventilate.'

Demoralized from not making headway, Carlock said he resorted to blowing a whistle and deploying a diving signaling device known as a safety sausage.

Neither effort caught the attention of those on the Sundiver and it left the area, Carlock said. Yet, he said did not give up right away.

"I still thought it was temporary,' Carlock said. "I tried to be optimistic. I figured they were going to call roll call and find I'm missing and then they'll be back.'

He said he realized after about 75 minutes that the boat was not going to return, that he was alone in the ocean and that he should start praying. Carlock said he held out hope that the shoreline -- which he could not see -- was close by because there were birds and insects flying around him.

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