Howard Neill
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Jun 1, 2006, 10:46 PM
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Police Diver in Africa - Crocodile story
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Hi
I normally hang out on the Wedding and Event Forum. This little story might be of interest.
About 500 years ago - 1967, to be precise. I was a member of the British South Africa Police, in Rhodesia which is now called Zimbabwe. I volunteered for the, part time, Sub Aqua unit. Our principal function was the recovery of evidence as well as the recovery of bodies. The latter seemed to be our main function.
A local tribesmen had drowned in a dam, at Kamativi Tin Mine, near Hwange. We were sent to dive for the body. It was a 200 mile journey and, when we arrived, it was getting dark. We had been told that a number of crocodiles lived on the banks of the dam. The next morning an official from a nearby mine came and told us that we should be OK. He had been down to the dam the previous evening and shone his Hunter Lantern around. "I didn't see any eyes.", he assured us. Gulp! 
Off to the dam we went. All was calm and there was no sign of crocs. We set out, in two boats, to where the drowning had occurred. It was decided that I would go first.  Over the side at 10 feet, because of sediment in the water, it was pitch dark. The visibility was zero. You could move your hand in front of your mask and not detect any movement. Down I went and found the bottom at about 40 feet.
It was not nice down there. Besides the fear of meeting a croc, the bottom, where I was feeling for the body, was a glutinous mass. You could plunge your whole arm into it and it would disappear. Working my way along the bottom, following a rope, which had been strung between the two boats, I completed my allotted time underwater.
Next was "Dozy" Donaldson. He went over the side and disappeared into the darkness. Suddenly I was glad that I went first.  I was paying out the rope, which was attached to Dozy. We had a system of tugs. I seem to remember that two tugs, from the boat, meant "Are you OK?". Two tugs back meant "Yes".
All was going well then I noticed that the bubbles, which were emanating from Dozy, had suddenly increased in volume. Not just a little, but a lot. Gulp! Had a croc got Dozy? I gave two tugs and the rope was snagged on something solid. Gulp! The bubbles were still pouring to the surface. After a few more tugs, the rope came away clean in my hand. Oh, oh! A croc has got Dozy, for sure!
I was hauling in the limp rope when, in a flurry of bubbles, Dozy surfaced - totally unharmed.  It turned out that, in the complete darkness, Dozy swam straight into a submerged tree.  His rope became entangled in the branches. Dozy used his diver's knife to cut himself free. The extra exertion resulted in the larger volume of bubbles, which alarmed me in the first place.
Dozy and I had done our dives. Now it was the turn of the others. There was a sudden outbreak of colds and ear infections from the other boat. No one was fit for diving.  The Member in Charge of our team, who was also suddenly unfit, swam over to our boat and urged me to go down again. For some reason, I felt that this was a raw deal for me.
As we were debating the matter, a big cry went up from the tribesmen on the bank. Like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the body surfaced all by itself. 
Ja well, time to pack up and go back to Bulawayo. We had just set off in the Land Rover when we spotted a large venomous puff adder, making its way across the dusty road.
"Stop, stop" shouts Dozy. He wanted to capture the snake and take it back to Bulawayo. Apparently they had some sort of value. "You're not bringing that in here!", we chorused. The poor old snake rode 200 miles, in a kit bag, attached to the aerial of the Police vehicle.
There is a sequel to this tale. The local Officer Commanding submitted an adverse report regarding our diving skill, or lack thereof. We spent the next few months doing deep dives. They were deep for us - about 100 feet. On one of those, Dozy's air supply was cut off and he wanted to share mine.  It's all very well, at ten feet, in the swimming pool, but when you are decompressing at 40 feet after a long dive at 100 feet, it is a different story.
BTW The nearest decompression chamber was at the Naval Base, in Simons Town - about 1,500 miles away. Dozy and I lived to tell the tale. He became a commercial diver, based in Cape Town. We still see each other from time to time. He is now the Managing Director of a large security company. For some reason, he doesn't like being called "Dozy".
I hope that I haven't bored you with this story but, at least, it is "on topic", in the Underwater Video Forum.
I must now go back to the wedding forum. It's safer.
Cheers
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Howard
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Cape Town, South Africa - "Where two oceans meet"
(This post was edited by Howard Neill on Aug 4, 2007, 8:14 PM)
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