Taking GPS coordinates of a site... captain's permission?

[skankpile]

And I would have you arrested for assault and theft. ANYONE touches me or my sh** is in for a world of hurt. For any reason.

That's funny. On some boats they don't care if they go to prison.. they may have just gotten out. Hopefully you are on a boat flying a US/UK flag else good luck with that.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Given the abundance of GPS-enabled multifunction devices… good luck with that. It’s one thing if they request that you do not record it, which would then be a breach of trust.



Agreed. However, that bit of etiquette has become as outdated as asking for a hand in marriage. Nice, but unreasonable to expect in an age where recording only requires a push of a button on a cell phone or similar size device.

This is a sad commentary on modern society. Good manners, proper etiquette, and politeness are not and will never be outdated. They may be scarce, but when present they are always appropriate and welcome.
DivemasterDennis

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

True enough but you have just left the conversation that involved the OP......a handheld GPS device, cell phone, customer.......not another charter in their boat 20 miles away.

Actually, I never said charter boat, anyone with a boat can follow the charter to the "secret" location, an do so incognito to discover its location.

I think its silly that a captain thinks it necessary to threaten their customers with destroying their property or locking them in the "brig". Not only are they ignorant of the current technology, but they are irritating the heck out of their customers. Both are still relevant to the OP.

As I said before, tell me the rules & I will follow them. Don't post the rules and throw a tantrum, you loose one way or the other.

 

[Reck Diver]

And I would have you arrested for assault and theft. ANYONE touches me or my sh** is in for a world of hurt. For any reason.

I'll be brief, You too are mistaken.

---------- Post added January 8th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ----------

Would I need to leave my Nautilus Lifeline on the dock?

If that is the rule, than yes. Indeed the captain has that authority. Luckily you have the option to dive on another vessel.

---------- Post added January 8th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ----------

....I think its silly that a captain thinks it necessary to threaten their customers with destroying their property or locking them in the "brig". Not only are they ignorant of the current technology, but they are irritating the heck out of their customers. Both are still relevant to the OP.

You don't need to make it sound sinister. No threats are ever made. Like any vessel, I have rules which are made clear prior to boarding. Passengers may accept or reject them. Once aboard and underway, they are under the authority of the Captain.... like it or not.

 

[nimoh]

I am all for a charter protecting it's dive sites, if they have a rule for no GPS, I will either follow it, or choose another charter.

However, I want to be notified before getting on the boat, and before paying whether it be a sign in plain sight, or a list of rules on a handout. I don't want to find these things out once I am on the boat.

 

[Lefty Writer]

<snip>They felt that the dive sites were known to them and the crew.<snip>

This wouldn't be the same dive op you told me about that, ummm, couldn't find their way back to the dock is it?



I've always been obsessed with collecting data, be it geocaching, camping, diving, etc. My GPSr goes everywhere with me. On cruises, every time I'm on an open deck the GPSr is active and recording a tack log. It's fun to download these track logs onto something like Google Earth to see where I've been.

That being said, of the FEW times I've had the good fortune to be on a dive boat (versus lake diving), I've asked before getting underway if it was OK to use my GPSr. Since these have been pretty much "tourist" dive spots in the Caribbean, no one has ever objected. If I know the dive op doesn't want their data recorded, no problem, the GPSr stays off the boat.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

IYou don't need to make it sound sinister. No threats are ever made. Like any vessel, I have rules which are made clear prior to boarding. Passengers may accept or reject them. Once aboard and underway, they are under the authority of the Captain.... like it or not.

Check post 36 (yours), 51 and 76 (not you). These all contain threats, I assume mostly chest thumping and bravado.

Captains do have special authority while underway, most of this is is derived from safety issues. I am not an expert at this. I do know this does not absolve them of the liability for their actions once they return and they would be hard to justify a safety related reason to tossing a GPS enabled device overboard.

As in more situations, a clear rule or request before departure is going to get the honest people (like myself) to comply. Its the threats that leave a bad taste in the mouth of the customer or in the case of the OP, the policy was not made clear and the crew reacted with an implied threat.

 

[Echinoidea]

I tend to agree with the principle of charters being able to protect their investment in finding good dive sites, however we are now in the interesting situation that most phones (and quite a few cameras) log GPS coordinates in the metadata of all photos by default (I dare say lots of people don't know this, let alone know how to switch it off). Many people then post their photos to Flickr etc.. I think a quick trawl of photo sharing sites would dredge up quite a lot of unwittingly revealed diving and fishing sites (not that I condone this idea).

I think that, for better or worse, the concept of the "secret location" is going the way of "private communications" (i.e. only possible with the cooperation, effort, and competence of all involved; and very rarely achieved by the general public).

 

[Akimbo]

&#8230;Phone GPS is only accurate when it has cell coverage as well - which immediatley limits the scope of that info.......and plus you have a certain percentage of people that understand this and wont try to "steal" the numbers...

Virtually no cell phones have GPS, they report position by triangulating cell towers. But many cameras, DSC enabled VHF radios like the Nautilus Lifeline, many laptops, and hand-held GPS receivers do.

I would say only a very small percentage of divers would betray the confidence, even if they get the numbers. But it only takes one person to blow the business advantage and very few competing captains would choose not to use the numbers even if they know the policy on the boat they were taken from. Somehow it doesn&#8217;t work both ways.

 

[Mike]

I'll be brief, You too are mistaken.

---------- Post added January 8th, 2013 at 10:41 AM ----------



If that is the rule, than yes. Indeed the captain has that authority. Luckily you have the option to dive on another vessel.

---------- Post added January 8th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ----------



You don't need to make it sound sinister. No threats are ever made. Like any vessel, I have rules which are made clear prior to boarding. Passengers may accept or reject them. Once aboard and underway, they are under the authority of the Captain.... like it or not.

I'm finding it hard to believe you could actually run a successful dive business, but you make it sound like you do. What's the name of your dive business so I can be sure to avoid it?