Allison Finch
Contributor
That buoy will be SOOOO much fun to tow in high winds......NOT!!
New Florida dive flag law coming on July 1, 2014
- Thread starter The Chairman
- Start date
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OP
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
As low as the buoy is to the water, I don't see wind as the problem, but the drag from surface currents. They've come up with a product and sold the gubbermint on the need to change the laws for them. Now they have a much more critical group to sell this product to: YOU! No matter how much the gubbermint likes it, if you don't well let's say that it will float like a lead balloon! 
I would still love to hear more input from y'all on what's needed. I think we need to add safety sausages, and the ability to deploy from 20 ft as well as stiffen the fines for boaters who don't honor the boundaries it creates. What am I missing?
I would still love to hear more input from y'all on what's needed. I think we need to add safety sausages, and the ability to deploy from 20 ft as well as stiffen the fines for boaters who don't honor the boundaries it creates. What am I missing?
Reef_Haven
Contributor
Are there applicable patents on this device preventing others from making or marketing one?
The person who commented on this thread linking the website, might want to reconsider at least one photo on their website.
It is illegal to display the dive buoy on a vessel.
(2) All divers must prominently display a divers-down flag
or buoy in the area in which the diving occurs, other than when diving in an area
customarily used for swimming only. A divers-down buoy may not be used
or displayed onboard a vessel
The person who commented on this thread linking the website, might want to reconsider at least one photo on their website.
It is illegal to display the dive buoy on a vessel.
(2) All divers must prominently display a divers-down flag
or buoy in the area in which the diving occurs, other than when diving in an area
customarily used for swimming only. A divers-down buoy may not be used
or displayed onboard a vessel
OP
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Unless they are using it as their "divers down" flag for the vessel, it's OK. It's how vessels can paint a dive flag logo and still be compliant.
Reef_Haven
Contributor
Where in the new law does it state that?
havnmonkey
Contributor
I have to ask... Are we irked because Florida divers have been trying to change the dive flag law and have been unsuccessful? Or are we bothered because we weren't consulted about this new addition?
Once again, the new law doesn't change anything about what we've been doing for years. It just allows this new product to be used.
Once again, the new law doesn't change anything about what we've been doing for years. It just allows this new product to be used.
OP
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
I'm irked because the law simply doesn't work very well and nothing was changed to remedy that. If you're going to change the law, let's make it useful. Let's ask the people who are actually using it what does and does not work.
wspalding
Contributor
So I will be diving in a couple weeks.... if I shoot my SMB from depth and am more than 300 feet from the boat I will be in violation of the Florida law? I mean, pretty much every time I dive in Florida I am more than 300 feet from the boat when surfacing.
Mgreenfield63
New
Everyone is in fact correct, you can continue to dive with the old flag or you can use the new, buoy-style flag. The straps on the flag will be wrap-around style so you can put your arms through it. The flag is currently in testing for approval as a USCG flotation device but as it stands now, the Goumba exceeds USCG requirements for flotation devices.
I cant stress enough that this is just an ALTERNATIVE. You dont have to use this flag. We should all be happy that there are now more choices. The LED flasher on top is actually visible from 2 nautical miles and the reflective film is USCG-grade, far more visible than the current flag. The current flag is non-reflective PVC film, its visibility depends entirely upon its red color.
There are no perfect solutions and any product that reaches the marketplace, in any field, is the result of a careful balancing act that requires some concessions. Its also important to keep in mind that this flag is not the result of haphazard guessing about what could work, its the result of 3 years of testing and design modifications, that have resulted in a product that does work. Relative to size, it has less resistance than the current flag. Its the most efficient and visible dive flag.
Thanks to the new law, anyone who has, what they think will be a functional design, should feel free to pursue development. You now have that ability, thanks to the new law. The fact that this law has given new life to the dialogue on diver safety is commendable in and of itself.
All the new law has done is give divers more choices. Its always better to have a choice than not.
I cant stress enough that this is just an ALTERNATIVE. You dont have to use this flag. We should all be happy that there are now more choices. The LED flasher on top is actually visible from 2 nautical miles and the reflective film is USCG-grade, far more visible than the current flag. The current flag is non-reflective PVC film, its visibility depends entirely upon its red color.
There are no perfect solutions and any product that reaches the marketplace, in any field, is the result of a careful balancing act that requires some concessions. Its also important to keep in mind that this flag is not the result of haphazard guessing about what could work, its the result of 3 years of testing and design modifications, that have resulted in a product that does work. Relative to size, it has less resistance than the current flag. Its the most efficient and visible dive flag.
Thanks to the new law, anyone who has, what they think will be a functional design, should feel free to pursue development. You now have that ability, thanks to the new law. The fact that this law has given new life to the dialogue on diver safety is commendable in and of itself.
All the new law has done is give divers more choices. Its always better to have a choice than not.
OP
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
More choices is always good, we just wish that a more comprehensive solution had been sought for. Hey, we get you're focused on just your product, but that product as well as the current dive flag don't always make sense for hundreds of divers who push the recreational/techreational envelope. That we hadn't heard about the law until AFTER it's passage alarms us considerably.
Last call for any other considerations to discuss with Rep Raschein. I'm going to bring in a 6' HOG Safety Sausage for show and tell.
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