Two divers have recounted a harrowing 90-minute ordeal after surfacing from a dive to find their boat had completely vanished, leaving them stranded in the ocean off the Perth coast.
The Moment of Panic Captured on Camera
Ryan Chapman and a friend were free diving and scuba diving approximately 5 kilometres off Mindarie, a northern coastal suburb of Perth. After an initial 45 minutes in the water where "things were all good," the pair resurfaced to an empty horizon. In GoPro footage provided to the media, Chapman can be heard exclaiming, "Where the fuck is the boat?" and alerting his companion that "it's come off anchor."
Chapman admitted to Guardian Australia that his anchoring knot may have been improperly secured in his eagerness to enter the water, and suspected rising winds did the rest. "When we resurfaced, the boat was completely out of sight," he said. His first thought was that the vessel had sunk, leading them to search the surrounding area before deciding to swim towards another boat roughly a kilometre away.
A Long Swim and an Unlikely Rescue
The two athletic men spent the next hour and a half in the water, attempting to hail distant vessels. They were eventually picked up by a passing boat whose occupants had been concerned after spotting an empty boat drifting out at sea. Despite the serious situation, Chapman claimed he "wasn't too worried" at the time, confident in their ability to swim to shore if necessary, though he acknowledged it would have taken hours and their boat would have been lost.
In a remarkable turn of events, after being rescued, the divers deduced the drift direction, located their own boat 2 kilometres away, and promptly returned to it. Rather than call it a day, they decided to continue their outing, this time implementing a crucial safety change: one person remained on the boat while the other dove.
A Public Mea Culpa for Diving Safety
Chapman has publicly released the footage to highlight vital safety lessons for all boaters and divers. He stressed the non-negotiable importance of always having a "decky" – someone to remain on board – and of double-checking anchorage. "The reason I agreed to air it and own up to stupidity was for awareness," he stated. "It's easy to get complacent and think everything's all good. But in hindsight, it could've been a lot worse."
He admits they probably should have paused to reflect after the incident but instead chose to "continue to send it." His story serves as a potent reminder of how quickly a routine dive can turn dangerous and the simple steps that can prevent a tragedy.
