high tide/beach dive question

[Walter]

"The yellow flag flies on the beach , that means "caution", i think."

Maybe you should find out before getting in the water? What if it means "toxic waste dump area"?

 

[FallenMatt]

heh
of course i checked what it means. State department of parks posted nice huge billboard by the entrance that lists the three possible states of the sea.

I am just not sure if the yellow one is called caution or some other word. But i am painfully aware that it means that the swimming conditions are quite far away from perfect.

just put it down under "english as a second language" thing then, although that shouldn't be an excuse for me. i've spent waay too many years on this side of Atlantic.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Sorry, FallenMatt, I really shouldn't be laughing at your expense so hard, but it just brings back memories of my first few beach dives.
At least you didn't get to experience the "beached whale" phenomemon. That is when, finally after fighting the surf and you are almost totally exhausted, you finally reach shore. But the sand gives way underfoot at the same time a wave smacks you from behind knocking you on your face. Attempts to get up are useless as you end up on your back, sand grinding into every nook and cranny of your gear. You can't get up, turn over, get on your knees, and tourists are staring at you not knowing whether to laugh or help. Your buddy is laughing so hard, they can't help you either becaue they are in the same predicament.
Beach diving does get better. I have learned to listen very carefully to the weather reports, look at any flag waving on my way to the beach and ocassionally decide a cold beer is better.

 

[FallenMatt]

.. no we didn't do the whale
instead we practiced: dancing with the waves while standing on one foot (aka "i didn't realize that holding to your buddy while putting the fins on actually makes a difference")

btw. we really have to be quite a show for all those weekend beach goers.. walking in full gear and in black wetsuits to the water while everybody else is trying to maintain minimum clothing policy because it is damn hot

... lesson for the future: i am going to zip tie the flag to the floatie next time i go beach diving.

btw. despite lausy conditions and beaing beat up by the waves i still enjoyed the dive. And probably will go there once more.. maybe not the jetty but the pepper park for sure (it hepls that is is county park and no entrance fees are required

 

[Dr. Jay]

The reasons I called the second dive yesterday:

1. The yellow flag.
The conditions were not pretty to begin with. If the lifeguards are warning swimmers, the "warning" probably extends to divers.
2. No other divers were seen all day.
This was evident at the first site we went to. Surprisingly, the day after a national holiday, and no one was diving all up and down the beach, as far as I could see.
3. Clueless lifeguards.
"Divers? You mean like...with a tank?" Yes, that was the first response from the first set of lifeguards at the inlet park. Made it seem kinda odd that they would have no knowledge of divers diving in the park, or where to point them. There were 3 lifeguards on the first stand...three. Not one of them had any clue about diving...or, as it seemed, anything else for that matter.
4. Weather
After calling up and down the coast for dive charters, not one of them were willing to do a night dive. The charters in West Plam area, just south of Ft. Pierce, reported 4-6 ft seas, and up to 16 knot winds. Not ideal dive conditions, IMHO. After looking at the sky, I noticed nearly 50% of it to be covered by dark clouds. I figured it was going to rain soon. :confound:
5. Tides
So...I kinda figured out why they tell you to dive at high tide. Here's the thing. It seems that when the tide is going in (i.e. - approaching high tide), you kinda get pushed in. Not such a bad thing. But when the tide is going out (i.e. - approaching low tide), you get pulled out. This can be a bad thing.
6. Pooped
Yep...so I was pooped. I worked a 16 hr shift the day before, getting about 4 hrs of sleep before the shift. I got home the night before the dive and got around 6 hrs of sleep. Not so bad for a drift dive...but when the first dive of the day you have to fight a strong current for a few hundred yards...it kinda wears you out. Maybe I am a wimp...I just figured after the first dive my body was trying to tell me something.
7. Ouchy
My wonderful fins somehow left a blister on my right toe and heel. Not so bad, but the blister was right where the spring strap goes. If I had to fight another strong current during the approach to low tide (our 2nd dive would have been around 6 pm), it would have made things a little worse.
8. The Dive Flag
This thing was a mess from the beginning. If you own one of these little $14 dive flags, watch out. What they sell you is not nearly what you'll need. The little plastic clip to hold the flag at the top of the pole failed...figures...dang plastic stuff. That should have been the calling point for the first dive, seeing as we were very close to a major inlet. So, we continued on and the top of the flag sank down to around halfway down the pole. Can't blame the boats for being within 100 feet of us when we surfaced to figure out where we were, since the flag was overcome by the small, but significant, 1-2 foot seas. The flag situation was kinda resolved after the first dive. Lesson learned.
9. Visibility
Sorry, I didn't feel like going back into less than 5 ft visibility again.
10. My inflator hose
Yep...I'm pretty sure it's still sticking. I'm going to let it soak, and try to clean it out some more. Seems Halcyon was trying to save some money when they went with the new inflator assemblies. I'm hoping to do a dive at Weekie Watchie sometime soon to clean it out.

Hopefully I can do another beach dive sometime...hopefully it will be better than this one. I did see a nice Queen Angelfish.