splashdown divers stay away!

[dumpsterDiver]

I have had no other dealings with this operation and rarely dive in that area. I know nothing of the dive shop's reputation, so the day after the incident, I called the dive shop to find out if they had a new captain or something. I was informed by the owner/operator that she is the only boat capt.

I had assumed that the capt. must have been a new employee or something and I honestly wanted to inform them that their boat operator had endangered their customers lives. When I realized that the women on the phone was the owner and operator of the boat, I realized it was useless to complain and I figured it would be better to make a post about it on this site.

This has NOTHING to do with spearfishing or someone being rude. Years ago, I had to drag my buddy's body from the bottom while looking down and seeing into his brain exposed by a large gash that the props of a boat had left. I take boat safety and drift diving pretty serious now. Too bad not everyone does.

I have NEVER seen a commercial charter boat operator engage in such reckless behavior.

 

[LiteHedded]

ironic that that particular operation has taken me to a wreck named after a diver who was decapitated by a boat prop...

 

[fl_coastie]

The Coast Guard would love to hear about this type of stuff, they can write a ticket for gross-negligent operation. I have heard it carries a hefty fine and does not help your commercial license. I can not stand people who have such disregard to others

 

[bullshark]

Good for Lynn. Your exaggerated tale of danger and woe belies the fact that you were endangering her divers. You have no business spearing (or launching your divers) on top of an ongoing dive operation. There is law to support that, I'll let you find it yourself. Buy a copy of the colregs and read the actual law instead of your urban myths and NG lore. Boats can and must approach other boats whether or not a diver down flag is displayed. The approach would not have been necessary had your boat been operating a radio and monitoring contact channels.

As to her divers: having over 700 dives in Boynton and a couple hundred trips on her boat, I know with certainty that she is, bar none, the finest boat driver in Boynton Beach, if not South Florida. No one even comes close. She may drive as close to my flag as she chooses any time she wants. She knows exactly who her divers are, exactly how long they've been down, and any dolt that has the experience you claim to have knows that you can track divers depth and location by bubble observation.

She endangered no one.

What you can't stand is that someone had the temerity to tell you that you had no business doing what you were doing, they were right, you were wrong and you're frightened.

Next time you have a beef, why don't you man-up and take it to her, face to face instead of going behind her back?

There's no need for people like you to avoid Splashdown, since you're not welcome anyway. It's a green boat.

Skip Splashdown, and give up:
Free drinks and snacks
*Operating*, fully compliant USCG approved Electrosan Macerating head.
Hot and cold showers.
Fastest twin Delta in the area.
Incredibly accurate repeatable drops on locations no else even knows about.
Solo diving? Sure.
Deep, completely dry forward cabin for changing and stowage that doesn't smell like a urinal and has room for several people.
Plenty of shade in the summer.
Plenty of shelter in the winter, even drop curtains for those really cold days.
Fine, fine service from 1 to 3 deckhands/DM's. Guido is Best in Class.
Unequalled local knowledge of flora and fauna from a degreed Marine Biologist.
Comfortable, safe dive ladder.

38 feet of deep-vee twin heft that make you want to cry for the poor people stuck on those little crusader hulls. You don't want to be on 'em in anything over 3-5, and for most people 2-4 is the limit. When it's 4-6, fugedaboudit. Splash and Deeper are the only rational option if you remember that getting back on board safely is a priority when the dive is done.

We often dive back to back with SI's under 10 minutes. It's our dive, and Lynn lets us dive it our way. We don't have to march to some fascist drum built on defective dive lore. SI's aren't magic. Air divers need 'em Nitrox divers don't. We dive 36 and 40, just so we can skip them. The benefit? Bottom time, baby. That's what it's about. Lynn lets us dive long and where we want because we recognize their are other clients and other trips. We dive to accomodate that, Lynn drives to accomodate us.

When it comes to deciding what an appropriate SI is, who do you think knows more, the indignant noob armed with his copy of PADI dive manual, or the captain that has run a 5-10,000 dives a year for a couple of decades? If you pick the former, you might want to get a clue.

I'm not real big on using the head, but when you dive as much as I do, it's inevitable that you're going to need one sooner or later. When it happens to you, you'll want to be on Splashdown and not some other boat with no head at all or a porta-potty joke waiting in a tight, cramped anchor locker.

Hot and Cold showers are something else. Diving without is just uncivilized.

Splashdown is the best dive operator in Boynton Beach. Nothing else even comes close.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Good for Lynn. Your exaggerated tale of danger and woe belies the fact that you were endangering her divers. You have no business spearing (or launching your divers) on top of an ongoing dive operation. There is law to support that, I'll let you find it yourself. Buy a copy of the colregs and read the actual law instead of your urban myths and NG lore. Boats can and must approach other boats whether or not a diver down flag is displayed. The approach would not have been necessary had your boat been operating a radio and monitoring contact channels.


Hot and Cold showers are something else. Diving without is just uncivilized.

OP said he was 300 feet from nearest flags. Last I heard, "300 yards away" does not equal "on top of."

If there is law that says he was too close, then how the hell doesn't that law apply to the boat driver in question, who occupied the same space with a spinning prop?? (OP's engine was in neutral, prop was probably not spinning.)

Can you tell me for certain that the boat driver in question tried hailing him on VHF? You assume the OP had no radio or was not monitoring correct frequencies but you could be wrong and I sort of hope you are, because I don't like the way you post.

Moreover, you go as far as to tell me that I am uncivilized because I often dive at places in the woods far from civilization where there aren't hot and cold showers, much less bathrooms. I find myself and my diving to be quite civilized, unlike the boat driver in question.

Dumpster Diver, I appreciate how you approach the issue with clarity and lucidity of thought, you are not trying to incite wrath and I find that admirable. Please clear up the issue of the radios in order to shut up the poster above me please.

 

[redacted]

Good for Lynn. Your exaggerated tale of danger and woe belies the fact that you were endangering her divers. You have no business spearing (or launching your divers) on top of an ongoing dive operation. There is law to support that, I'll let you find it yourself. Buy a copy of the colregs and read the actual law instead of your urban myths and NG lore. Boats can and must approach other boats whether or not a diver down flag is displayed. The approach would not have been necessary had your boat been operating a radio and monitoring contact channels.

As to her divers: having over 700 dives in Boynton and a couple hundred trips on her boat, I know with certainty that she is, bar none, the finest boat driver in Boynton Beach, if not South Florida. No one even comes close. She may drive as close to my flag as she chooses any time she wants. She knows exactly who her divers are, exactly how long they've been down, and any dolt that has the experience you claim to have knows that you can track divers depth and location by bubble observation.

She endangered no one.

What you can't stand is that someone had the temerity to tell you that you had no business doing what you were doing, they were right, you were wrong and you're frightened.

Next time you have a beef, why don't you man-up and take it to her, face to face instead of going behind her back?

There's no need for people like you to avoid Splashdown, since you're not welcome anyway. It's a green boat.

Skip Splashdown, and give up:
Free drinks and snacks
*Operating*, fully compliant USCG approved Electrosan Macerating head.
Hot and cold showers.
Fastest twin Delta in the area.
Incredibly accurate repeatable drops on locations no else even knows about.
Solo diving? Sure.
Deep, completely dry forward cabin for changing and stowage that doesn't smell like a urinal and has room for several people.
Plenty of shade in the summer.
Plenty of shelter in the winter, even drop curtains for those really cold days.
Fine, fine service from 1 to 3 deckhands/DM's. Guido is Best in Class.
Unequalled local knowledge of flora and fauna from a degreed Marine Biologist.
Comfortable, safe dive ladder.

38 feet of deep-vee twin heft that make you want to cry for the poor people stuck on those little crusader hulls. You don't want to be on 'em in anything over 3-5, and for most people 2-4 is the limit. When it's 4-6, fugedaboudit. Splash and Deeper are the only rational option if you remember that getting back on board safely is a priority when the dive is done.

We often dive back to back with SI's under 10 minutes. It's our dive, and Lynn lets us dive it our way. We don't have to march to some fascist drum built on defective dive lore. SI's aren't magic. Air divers need 'em Nitrox divers don't. We dive 36 and 40, just so we can skip them. The benefit? Bottom time, baby. That's what it's about. Lynn lets us dive long and where we want because we recognize their are other clients and other trips. We dive to accomodate that, Lynn drives to accomodate us.

When it comes to deciding what an appropriate SI is, who do you think knows more, the indignant noob armed with his copy of PADI dive manual, or the captain that has run a 5-10,000 dives a year for a couple of decades? If you pick the former, you might want to get a clue.

I'm not real big on using the head, but when you dive as much as I do, it's inevitable that you're going to need one sooner or later. When it happens to you, you'll want to be on Splashdown and not some other boat with no head at all or a porta-potty joke waiting in a tight, cramped anchor locker.

Hot and Cold showers are something else. Diving without is just uncivilized.

Splashdown is the best dive operator in Boynton Beach. Nothing else even comes close.

Seems to me that this bullsh... could cost Lynn some business. Sometimes it just does not pay to have friends.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

She may drive as close to my flag as she chooses any time she wants. She knows exactly who her divers are, exactly how long they've been down, and any dolt that has the experience you claim to have knows that you can track divers depth and location by bubble observation.

She endangered no one.

Splashdown is the best dive operator in Boynton Beach. Nothing else even comes close.

Wow, you have as much faith in this capt. as she has in herself. Apparently you are not considering the very real possibility that a diver could experience a problem or choose to terminate a dive earlier than anyone expected. Divers are also known to "get lost" and ascend away from the flag for a variety of reasons. NO captain knows where and when every single diver will ascend on every dive! It is also impossible to track bubbles when the vessel is being operated at a high rate of speed; additionally it makes a collision much more difficult for the diver to avoid if the boat is moving very fast. That is why a capt. must operate their vessel carefully and very slowly when divers are performing drift dives in the immediate proximity.

I have extensive experience in this issue and will reiterate that the actions I personally witnessed were irresponsible and dangerous. I have engaged in drift diving in the general area for 20 years and have personally operated a boat around drift divers hundreds and hundreds of days on the water. However, you are correct in saying that I was frightened by her behavoir. I even joked with my friends on the way in that it is very unusual to see a women lose it and act so very reckless with other people's lives.. normally it takes man to act this stupid. :shakehead

This is not a beef about spearfishing, or if she was rude or inconsiderate (or even if the divers on my boat broke some law or regulation, which you incidentally failed to specifically reference). This is a report that the captain apparently lost her temper and operated the boat in a manner that endangered HER divers, not mine.

Incidentally, as I already mentioned, I did give the operator the benefit of the doubt and called the shop to determine if they had recently hired a new or inexperienced captain (which is honestly the situation that I expected to find). I felt that it was my responsibility to local divers to let the shop know about what I had witnessed. However, when I personally spoke to a lady who gave her name and identified herself as the long-time owner and operator, it was obvious that complaining to her would be futile.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

With regard to monitoring of the VHF radio: We were NOT monitoring the radio and to the best of my knowledge, as a recreational vessel, we are NOT required to do so. Still, this is not the issue.

 

[BIGSAGE136]

Can she be rude....Yes...but I dont think so intentionally. Can she be impulsive? Yeah, but, I DONT THINK SO INTENTIONALLY. There is some history here.

I do know one thing. Lynn may not be everyone's cup of tea, but she is a jewel.

And hey....who has ever gotten hurt, loss, or injured by Splashdown?

Thats just my take.

 

[GulfCoastdiver]

We often dive back to back with SI's under 10 minutes. It's our dive, and Lynn lets us dive it our way. We don't have to march to some fascist drum built on defective dive lore. SI's aren't magic. Air divers need 'em Nitrox divers don't. We dive 36 and 40, just so we can skip them. The benefit? Bottom time, baby. That's what it's about. Lynn lets us dive long and where we want because we recognize their are other clients and other trips. We dive to accomodate that, Lynn drives to accomodate us.

I would not dive on a boat with an operater that lets you dive like that...
You dive Nitrox so you don't need a SI???

When it comes to deciding what an appropriate SI is, who do you think knows more, the indignant noob armed with his copy of PADI dive manual, or the captain that has run a 5-10,000 dives a year for a couple of decades? If you pick the former, you might want to get a clue.

There is no way I would let a captain rush me on a SI, when all they are thinking about is getting the next "Herd" out to the reef...