Local divers retrieve sunken boat

The divers at Amber Waves Diving Co. in Augusta know what it is like to use their expertise to help people.

Tyler Brewer is the Chief of the Augusta Department of Public Safety and the Chief Financial Officer for Amber Waves.

Most of the diving instructors are also firefighters or are employed in law enforcement.
It is nothing new for these men to serve the public during their "day jobs" but they don't get that chance as often as divers.

That all changed recently when a Wichita family lost a boat that had been in their family for almost four decades.

Larry, Christa and Madison Ulin of Valley Center were on Cheney Lake June 27 enjoying a day of boating and water skiing when some nasty weather rolled in. The motor failed to start and waves 2-3 feet high began to swamp the crippled boat.

Christa jumped in the water to help keep it pointed into the wind. Larry jumped on the deck and began calling and signaling for help. Fourteen-year old Madison began to bail water in an attempt to keep the boat afloat.

But help was slow in coming and it wasn't long before the water dropped the back of the boat and sent the nose straight into the air.

Then it sank in almost 20-feet of water.

"I was totally in shock," said Christa Ulin, who can't remember a time that the boat wasn't a part of her family. "I can't put into words how upset I was."

A call to their insurance agent led them to Amber Waves and the Augusta Public Safety Diving Team.

"We are one of the only teams that have access to specialized lifting bags that can lift a vehicle, boat, or truck and float it to shore," Brewer said.

There are 17 divers on the Augusta Public Safety Dive Team. It is one of the largest in the area.

Their training is stringent and requires a great deal of commitment from team members.

"All divers that want to be on the team have to make a commitment to owning their own equipment. This assures the command staff that we just don't have 'wanna bes' but have divers who dive as a hobby thus always honing their skills," Brewer said. "Also, divers who join the team and want to serve in full capacity as a submersible team member have to attain a Rescue Diver rating within 18 months of joining the team."

After the Ulins hired the team to help recover the boat, they became more than impressed with the way they do business.

Chief Brewer was joined by Captain Bruce Relph, Sergeant Tim Follis, and Sergeant Michael Stueven.  Boat support was provided by Volunteer Firefighter Aaron Hall who is also a diver and a full time firefighter on the Wichita Fire Department assigned to their technical rescue team.

"They went way beyond what we hired them to do," Ulin said. "I can't say enough about them.

They knew what it meant to us. They showed so much personal concern to minimize the damage to the boat and even helped us get it on the trailer."

For more than eight hours the divers worked to find, raise and tow the vessel back to shore. Ulin said they never complained.

"They joked the whole time. That made it so much easier on us," Ulin said. "Tyler Brewer even brought out his victory cigar after they got it on the trailer."

This isn't the only unconventional task the dive team has taken on. They have done many recovery operations from searching for drowning victims, to evidence recovery, to vehicle recoveries. They even assisted the El Dorado Water Department in a clean up of one of their holding tanks.

It could have been worse for the Ulins. The boat is in pretty good shape considering all it has been through. The engine will have to be torn down and rebuilt since it rested upside down on the bottom of a lake for several days. But they should be back in the water soon and not just in a boat.

"We have been talking about taking scuba lessons from Amber Waves," Ulin said. "We think it would be a fun way to give a little bit back to them after all they did for us."