Sailboat Runs over DiveFlags at BHB

[Thalassamania]

I rather doubt that the vessel had any yardarms, 60 foot is a bit short for a brigantine or even a hermaphrodite brig.

[danvolker]

Novice divers that frequent the BHB "Marine Santuary" should not be expected to distinguish a doppler shift and the whole idea of listen for boat traffic is tough at that site, because there is frequent noisy boat traffic going through the designated channel. How is a diver going to distinguish from boat traffic in the channel which presents no danger versus traffic that is right through the diving area?

However Dan is right (I don't say that much) probably best not to bitch too much. I've never seen a sailboat go through there, but it could make for a terrible accident.

Also, a much more common occurance....I have heard on Channel 16 a few times in the last a month about boaters reporting divers going out into the channel itself, it has the potential to be an extremely dangerous dive location because being just a few feet "out of bounds" could be lethal to the uninformed diver.

DD, I do agree the listening is wildly complicated by the boat traffic in the normal channel. Even on a busy day, there are lulls every minute or so, meaning on scuba, you should be able to wait for this....for a freediver/snorkeler, well, we are suppossed to scan the horizon each time we are on the surface breathing....since any boat in the channel here will have been at idle speed, unless it is you or me doing 3 minute plus breath-hold dives, I don't think this will be an issue for the snorkeling population at BHB.

And maybe, there is just a simpler solution...a new behavior that is NOT coming up in the east channel--treat it as a virtual overhead ( a good skill for many at the bridge to learn) , and make all ascents on scuba well east or west of the big Sailboat crossing area. Thal's comment is dead on though...the keels do go down along way..the water here is about 12 feet to 15 feet deep....one of these big sailboats could have a keel coming very close to the bottom---it would NOT be absolutely safe, even hovering 1 foot off the bottom. When I have done scooter runs across the main channel under the bridge, glued close to the bottom, I have watched the props on the big boats going through, and some of the really big ones make it down to about 7 feet off the bottom--which does not leave much of a "safe zone" for divers. it's not really good enough to be just one or 2 feet under the bottom of the prop, as you know.

This could be a big problem for divers, if one of us ever gets run over and hurt..... We are in the navagation channel--it is NOT technically a diving area, we do NOT have any rights to this area.. The big sailboats can NOT stop when they commit to going under the bridge...it is crucial for them to maintain their speed, so as not to loose course in the current, and have a $100,000 plus collision with the bridge.

We are fortunate, that these big sailboats only go through a handful of times per year, in the east channel crossing.

Maybe we should ask nicely for the Air horns to be sounded into the hulls prior to the sailboats running under the bridge--a call to "swim like hell" out of the crossing area

[jar546]

I am looking at Google Earth with a photo dated 3/21/2011 and the amount of boats and traffic around the BHB makes me wonder where you can actually dive safely. There really only appears to be one channel that I can see to the west of the island.

[danvolker]

I am looking at Google Earth with a photo dated 3/21/2011 and the amount of boats and traffic around the BHB makes me wonder where you can actually dive safely. There really only appears to be one channel that I can see to the west of the island.

I doubt you will see this area on google earth, as it is UNDER the bridge...see page Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park ..in my BHB article.....you see the area south of the beach people dive in, and the area under the bridge that is out of the boating channel...
the main channel can't really be seen in the picture, but it is the area that is seemingly the highest point of the bridge in the photo.

The boats have a clearly marked channel they go through, but the biggest sailboat know that the path for them is a "separate channel" east of the main channel, and actually inside of the area under the bridge manyh of dive in...some of the regulars will have photos they could post, which shows this in a view you could use to see the course better, and also our options :-)
Meanwhile, take a look at the BHB article, for some of the reasons so many of us dive it regularly....

[jar546]

Thank you Dan. The link and information is very helpful.

[Zaixon]

if anyone is on facebook check out this page they have a clear video of the incident Blue Heron Bridge Dive Club | Facebook

here's a direct link to the video as well
Sail boat runs over divers with a dive flag - Sheriff does NOTHING! on Vimeo

[imwright1985]

Divers need to stay out of the channel and be careful of that so we recieve no backlash, with the sail boats using to the east of the channel they are somewhat in the wrong since the channel is desigated by the retaining walls. Since BHB is a fixed bridge they should be using Jupiter if they are too big to pass safely within the designated channel. To me the video posted just shows someone inconsiderate, rushing to hit the ocean and being lazy.

[deeper thoughts]

How do we know that the Sheriff or marine patrol did nothing?
Thnx

[dumpsterDiver]

Amazing that someone got the video. I doubt that the sailboat would be charged with anything. Apparently nobody got hurt, he operated his vessel at a very slow speed and did not violate the dive flag laws by operating his boat in that manner.

I would be very surprised if he got a ticket.

This situation is another reason why the area is not really appropriate to be designated as a "diving park" or some other kind of "reserve for divers, in my opinion.

Thank GOD nobody got killed!

[danvolker]

Divers need to stay out of the channel and be careful of that so we recieve no backlash, with the sail boats using to the east of the channel they are somewhat in the wrong since the channel is desigated by the retaining walls. Since BHB is a fixed bridge they should be using Jupiter if they are too big to pass safely within the designated channel. To me the video posted just shows someone inconsiderate, rushing to hit the ocean and being lazy.

There was a meeting several months ago with the Park and a lot of the locals, on the sanctuary designation...one thing that came out of this, was that the big sailboats DID have a legal right to cross in the east channel, that in fact, it had been "designated" for them. A couple of the owners of big sailboats were there for the meeting, and considering how important this is for them, they were "very" agitated" over divers they thought would attempt to remove their access to this channel....

The way this shook out, if anyone loses access, it will be DIVERS, so we need to be cool about the big sailboats.
Instead of tryiing to get them ticketed, in trouble, or blocked, we need to figure out an "early warning system" and a diver evacuation response from this channel area for the once every 3 months a big sailboat goeas through there.

This is one of those important things that we need to figure out and deal with on our own--get government involved in solving this, and it will be a CF, and we will likly lose badly. Remember, the Intracoastal Waterway is like I-75 and I-95 combined, for boats, and it represents an Economy far larger than diving in Palm Beach..... or the by-product economy of divers at the BHB