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Every year experienced divers die in diving related avoidable accidents that should not have happened because the victim was "always so careful". One of the more common examples is a failure to analyse gas before diving, but there are many different types of avoidable accidents. The usual explanation put forward is a lapse in following their training, typically as a result of complacency. The victim is blamed for becoming complacent, the dive community is again reminded to be vigilant against complacency, and then another avoidable accident occurs. Perhaps a different way of explaining the cause of these predictable accidents could help effect a change in this unfortunate cycle.
The concept of Normalisation of Deviance has been used to describe the cause of NASA's flawed decisions that led to the Challenger space shuttle disaster. Normalisation of deviance from dive safety begins when the diver has a lapse in one or more safety protocols (often as a result of time and/or financial pressures) and nothing bad happens. The lapse reoccurs without incident and slowly the diver grows more accustomed to the deviant behaviour. Eventually the diver becomes so accustomed to a deviation from dive safety standards that they consider their unsafe behaviour to be acceptably normal. Ultimately one or more safety protocols are permanently deleted from their routine; enabling the diver have a serious, perhaps fatal, accident. To other divers, the accident is bewildering because the behaviour seems obviously unsafe and the victim had enough training and certainly enough experience to "know better".
It's clearly not productive to keep blaming the victim for these avoidable accidents. We can't solve this complex problem in a Tech Tip but a step to addressing this dive safety issue is to begin a discussion within the dive training community. Do we need a different educational approach that formally recognises and addresses normalisation of deviance as an underlying cause of many avoidable accidents among experienced divers? If you are an experienced diver, or dive professional, The Scuba Doctor urges you to raise awareness of this issue among your peers.
Schah
Wreck Dive | 
Boat access
Two-Masted Wooden Schooner | Max Depth: 5 m (16 ft)
Schah Dive
Source: Heritage Victoria
Level: Open Water and beyond.
The schooner Schah is the second oldest identified wreck in Victorian coastal waters. It's of great historical value as a onetime illegal African slave trader, and for its short involvement with early prominent Australian colonists, John and John Robert Raine. The archaeological potential is also very high as the remains of the wreckage still exist at Shipwreck Creek, 6 miles south-east of Mallacoota.
Schah Shipwreck History
Schah
© Unknown
The Shah was a two masted, wooden schooner of 91 tonnes, built on a length of 80.1 ft (24 m), a breadth of 18.3 ft (5.58 m) and a draught of 8.6 ft (2.62 m). It's timber construction was of oak, cedar and pitch pine, which would point to it having originally been built in North America (date unknown), and sheathed with copper during subsequent repairs.
The schooner Shah was known formerly as the Frasquita/Centella, when it had been engaged in the illegal African slave trade. It was one of a small number of ex-slave ships known to have plied the eastern coast of Australia. Its participation in the slave trade ended in 1831 with persistent British efforts to suppress the illegal practice. It was captured, condemned, and then auctioned in Sierra Leone. It was taken to Leigh in Scotland for repairs, and it was probably here that it was given the new name, Schah.
The Schah was first registered in Lloyd's register in 1834 as a 162 ton two-masted, carvel-built schooner constructed of oak cedar and pitch pine. It received extensive repair and copper sheathing in 1833. It had one and a half decks, square rigging with a bowsprit, a square stern and a griffin figurehead. It had been bought by Kettle and Company for trade between London and the Ottoman Empire, in what is now Turkey. However, it seems that its small size left it at a disadvantage against the larger steamers it was competing with.
The Schah was again sold, and in 1835 was registered under the names of Henry Goodwin and Charles Lee of London. It was sheathed with felt and copper before it sailed to South Australia from London on 8 January 1837, captained by Lee. In Australia, the vessel was again auctioned, and purchased by John Robert Raine for £1,100 and mortgaged to Moses Solomon, who also held the license for the Australian Hotel, Sydney. It was used for a limited and problematic time for trade and passenger travel between Sydney and Hobart. Mishaps from its maiden voyage on 27 August 1837 up to its sinking on 20 December of the same year included a shortage of cargo and passengers, bad weather, and a dismasting (from which the captain, Hayle, was severely wounded, but quickly recovered).
Schah Sinking — 20 December 1837
The Schah's final voyage carrying 13 passengers, including John Raine (John Robert Raine's father), 8 crew members, general cargo, and the new Captain William Milligan, began on 15 December 1837 from Hobart to Sydney. On 20 December 1837, the Schah was forced to alter its course away from shore due to gale-force winds. When the winds had dropped, the vessel began drifting dangerously towards land in the pitch darkness of night. Bower anchors were dropped, but the larger of these broke while the other dragged.
The Schah struck the seabed violently a number of times. A boat carrying eight passengers, including all four women, one child and three crew, was being lowered when confusion caused it to be dropped. It swamped upon crashing down into the water, and while two of the crew were able to swim back to the schooner, the rest drowned.
The Schah continued to crash into the rocks, and a total nine people, including Raine, who was trapped in the steward's cabin attempting to retrieve his documents, perished. The survivors had clung to the main beam and made their way to a safe place among the rocks. They believed they were at Ram Head, but the wreck was later located to the west of Mallacoota, at Shipwreck Creek.
The thirteen survivors, battered and bruised from being washed over the rocks, then made a five day journey to the settlement at Twofold Bay.
See also, Heritage Council Victoria: Schah.
Heritage Warning: Any shipwreck or shipwreck relic that is 75 years or older is protected by legislation. Other items of maritime heritage 75 years or older are also protected by legislation. Activities such as digging for bottles, coins or other artefacts that involve the disturbance of archaeological sites may be in breach of the legislation, and penalties may apply. The legislation requires the mandatory reporting to Heritage Victoria as soon as practicable of any archaeological site that is identified. See Maritime heritage. Anyone with information about looting or stolen artefacts should call Heritage Victoria on (03) 7022 6390, or send an email to heritage.victoria@delwp.vic.gov.au.
Bass Strait Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive in Bass Strait on Victoria's coastline. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-in-bass-strait before diving or snorkelling this site.
Traditional Owners — This dive site does not lie in the acknowledged traditional Country of any first peoples of Australia.
Schah Location Map
Latitude: 37° 39.100′ S (37.651667° S / 37° 39′ 6″ S)
Longitude: 149° 42.000′ E (149.7° E / 149° 42′ E)
Datum: WGS84 |
Google Map
Added: 2012-07-22 09:00:00 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-26 21:26:20 GMT
Source: GPS
Nearest Neighbour: Monumental City, 16,458 m, bearing 50°, NE
Two-Masted Wooden Schooner.
Sunk: 20 December 1837.
Shipwreck Creek, Mallacoota.
Depth: 5 m.
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DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.
The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.
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