Diver Dies: Boat Moves to Next Site without Him

After a dive on the Yukon, the San Diego charter boat Humboldt had moved to the next dive spot when a passenger noticed that a diver was missing. The boat turned back and authorities were called to help find him. Robert Clampitt, 48, was found submerged and unconscious about 30 yards off the side of the Yukon in one hundred feet of water.

Waterhorse Charters owner Ryan Wilbarger told San Diego’s Channel 10 News that Clampitt was not a stranger on his dive tours. Wilbarger said he was not ruling out that it may have been a medical emergency that killed the diver on September 11.

“There is no warning. There is no bell that rings [and] it’s part of your responsibility as a diver to monitor and know how much air you have when you are diving,” said Wilbarger. The owner of the charter company was not there the day it happened, but he has been talking with the two women — the captain and the crew member — who were.

“If they did something incorrectly, if they did a tank count incorrectly, that’s a separate issue that wouldn’t have caused him to die, but it causes me and my company to look like an idiot,” said Wilbarger