dumpsterDiver:
Sunday July 8, 2007 I was operating a private recreational boat from which scuba diving was being done off Boynton Beach. We had a very scary situation arise due to the manner in which captain Lynn Simmons of Splashdown Divers operated her commercial dive boat. We were preparing to drop two divers along a reef line in 60 feet. Apparently this captain felt that it was inappropriate for us to dive within about 100 yards of another dive flag which was apparently being pulled by some of here customers.
When she observed that we were preparing to drop divers she came flying up in her Delta Dive boat and began screaming that no diver was going to enter the water along this reef with a speargun, since she had divers in the water in this area. We were drifting in neutral and she approached within 20 feet of our boat (While we had the diver down flag displayed).
We did not engage her in a discussion and essentially ignored her and put two divers in the water. The full extent of my conversation with her was Have a Nice Day (I was uncharacteristically subdued). This apparently further aggravated her and she then put the boat in gear a took off at a very past pace, driving over a bunch of reef that presumably had divers down on it and passed within 50 feet of other dive flags at a speed of probably 12 kts. As she drove off, we could hear the turbo(s) whining for quite a way.
I was a little upset about her arrogance and how close she drove her boat to ours, but what really upset me was the apparent total disregard for the safety of her own customers as she drove the boat over the reef and in close proximity to submerged divers. I worked as a divemaster on a similar dive boat in the local area for a number of years, I can honestly say that Ive never seen a commercial charter boat capt, operate a vessel in such a reckless manner. In my opinion, she was clearly a threat to her own customers on Sunday morning July 8, 2007.
I did note that her divers were in small groups and each group was carrying a surface dive float and flag and that each float was attached to some light poly line, which was wound up on a line holder as the divers ascended. If everything works out perfectly, all divers will be ascending within just a few feet of the float, since they are winding line up as they ascend which means that they will normally ascend within 10 feet of the flag. Apparently, this Capt. Is willing to bet the lives of her customers on the assumption that no diver could have a problem, become separated from the individual carrying the float and be required to make an emergency ascent at a location somewhat distant from the flaot/flag.
I hope that everyone reads your note here, which appears to describe a very dangerous situation. But read it a bit more carefully...because, at first reading, this appears to be a nut case dive boat captain endangering everyone in the ocean...after giving it some thought.. a couple of comments:
1. You were "preparing" to drop divers. A reasonable translation of that is that you just got there. I assume you did that using your motors. Having another boat come over to you at that point is not dangerous.
2. You had your dive flag out, but no divers in the water, which to you means that this was dangerous. Unless you fly the dive flag all of the time, I would bet that you were putting it out as she approached.
3. She yells at you... That is a very aggresive act, and one that offended you. On the other hand, if she wanted to communicate something from a distance, it would be yelling. At 20 ft, it would have been talking, so I would suspect it was a bit farther.
4. You ignore her.. and put divers in the water..knowing for her to leave, she has to use her engines..the unsafe act is not hers at that point. Fast or slow, by the way, a prop can kill. And you did it, with her boat underpower, just 20 ft away.
5. She has to go out and around her divers, in order to be safe, and does so at a fast speed...faster than you believe she should.
While I know she will not respond to this thread, consider this:
What if, just what if, she put people down on the reef and they were drifting in the direction you were approaching. She keeps her boat behind all the drift divers, so is fairly far away, with flags between you and her.
She sees you approaching, gets worried about how close you are, and goes out and around her divers to get to you.
Yells at you.. you get mad.. she gets mad, and then has to take the giant out and around path to get to a safe area behind her divers.
What if, you did not see all the flags.. that they were drifting in your direction...now the unsafe person is you. I would doubt you would know that, or why she was so aggressive, so to you, this is wild person actions.
Note: During that same week on Splashdown, with divers in the water, I saw the boat do exactly that same action.. only this time it was the fireworks barge, headed directly over the top of the divers. The boat went out and around...blocked the path and would not move. I'm sure the tug captain was cursing the boat for making it turn. Afterwards, it went back behind the divers, not over the top of them.
It is also understandable, that angry, you perceive that everything she did was "dangerous", as she had accused you of that very same thing. But saying you are 100 yards away and then giving exact distances she was from a flag in ft, is silly.
