Dive Flag - Safety Sausage

[The Chairman]

Florida law states that you need a flag. In reality, I have been on boats that launch a flag or two, but expect you to deploy a flag. I have never heard of FWC or other law enforcement writing a ticket for a diver using a sausage when separated from the flag.

In actuality, I think that the Sausage is more visible in some situations than a flag. This is especially true if traffic is heading into or with the wind.

That being said, if not having a dive flag bothers you: ASK FOR ONE. Or bring your own if you have one.

 

[D_B]

I see that this is in the regular forum and not just for Florida.

Some places you are not required to have a dive flag with you or your group of divers

But, I think any open water diver that is diving from a boat should carry a safety marker buoy
It just not that hard to stow one and carry it .. I have one on all my dives, even shore dives

 

[discokat]

Every dive boat I've been off in Florida uses dive flags for all their drift dives. Generally they pair you up with a couple other divers and set you off with a flag. It's how they keep track of you and like mentioned earlier in Florida it's the law.

Unfortunately in Florida a lot of the boaters don't seem to pay attention to the dive flags. I've had some close calls because either the boater didn't see the flag or just did't care about my flag.

This is a major reason I have not dove off of New York yet. Boaters in NY are notorious for their lack of understanding of boating protocol and laws and have been since I used to clam off my hometown years ago. Plus, many boat owners let their kids run the boat even though they have none of the qualifications necessary or a license to operate the boat.

They seem pretty good in comparison in Florida, which is where I dive for the most part, at least in comparison to in NY.

 

[discokat]

Alright. I stand corrected. I encountered two Yo-Yos in Florida on a recent dive trip. Both were heading towards our boat while divers were in the water. The Captain of the dive boat was blowing his horn (we had a dive flag out) but they were unconcerned and continued to close until they finally veered off. One was chatting away on his cell phone.

 

[AfterDark]

How about both -

Inflate the smb when you're done and have it carry the flag to the surface.

That's what I have also! I use a 1lb weight to keep it upright in the water. I had a cobbler sew the flag to the SMB cost $15.00.
Most of my diving local. No place locally do I need to surface until the end of the dive and then it'll be near a rock or in 3 feet of water. I usually do the dive without a flag/float and only deploy the smb/flag if I need to surface at a place not of my choosing.

 

[Texanguy]

That's what I have also! I use a 1lb weight to keep it upright in the water. I had a cobbler sew the flag to the SMB cost $15.00.
Most of my diving local. No place locally do I need to surface until the end of the dive and then it'll be near a rock or in 3 feet of water. I usually do the dive without a flag/float and only deploy the smb/flag if I need to surface at a place not of my choosing.

Where can I buy one? OR did you make it?

 

[AfterDark]

I had a cobbler sew the flag to the SMB cost $15.00.

 

[tahqa]

I have drift dived a number of times in Florida off of commercial dive boats. The DM always had a dive flag on a line. All of the divers were required to have a safety sausage. When ever a diver had finished their dive, they were instructed to listen and look prior to surfacing after their safety stop. If they did have a line for their safety sausage, they would deploy it prior to surfacing. If they did not have a safety line, we were asked to deploy the safety sausage at the surface. The dive boat would then retrieve the surfaced diver when appropriate. Typically, we were traveling a very good distance in the water during the dive and would be more than 300 ft from either the DM or the boat.

Question: Is a safety sausage the appropriate signaling device when drift diving? With or without a dive flag?

It appears that a safety sausage falls outside of the required size and shape of a "diver down" flag.

AFAIK the every diver must have a sausage rule is a Jupiter only regulation. Dive boats out of Jupiter will do a dive flag for every group and every diver must have a sausage as well.