How to ignore a dive flag?
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SeaJay
Contributor
I was with a couple of buddies of mine, on a weekend afternoon. The air was chilly, and boat traffic was very light.
We got into the water at a public landing and drifted 100' or so downstream. We were basically close to the shoreline, looking for things that boaters drop. Visibility was near zero. Depth was within 20 feet or so.
One of my buddies had a dive flag float, and we all stayed within a few feet of him.
We're all down there, and we hear a boat... Getting closer and closer. I couldn't see anyone else's expression, but I know I began looking at the surface (as if I could have seen it) and thinking, "Aw, man... Go away..."
The boat gets super-close and then goes to idle. I know for sure that they're checking out the dive flag. I start shaking my head, thinking, "WTF??" No doubt my buddy untied himself from the flag pretty quickly and simply held the line in his hand... Undoubtedly awaiting a huge pull and the boat taking off...
That's when the boat began to "rev." It didn't change position... It just "revved" a lot... For five minutes or more. One by one, we all sorta swam out 50 feet or so, then began a really slow and cautious ascent.
Know what I found when I surfaced? Firstly, I was the last out of the water. Secondly, I was warned on surfacing by said buddy with dive flag, "Watch your head," and he pointed behind me. I turned to look, with hands up in the air for protection... It was the hull of a boat.
Moving away to give the captain an earful, I was met by a badge. Department of Natural Resources... What we locally call "water cops."
I couldn't believe it... This dude actually saw our dive flag and motored over to it, tied off to it, and revved his engine in neutral to "scare us to the surface." I just looked at him, mouth agape.
"You can't dive here." He said.
"Why not?"
"It's illegal to dive from a dock," was his reply.
Seems that this numbskull thought it was illegal to get into the water from a dock. Not a "public dock," but from ANY dock. He insisted that it was illegal to be in the water without a boat, even if you're doing a shore dive.
In all of the searching we did afterward, we admittedly found a law that says that swimmers cannot block a public landing... For obvious reasons. But we weren't anywhere near the landing, we certainly weren't blocking it, and for the most part, there was nobody else in the water that day. Except for dip-doh there.
Of course, what he did - approach, tie off to a dive bouy, and then rev his engine "to scare us to the surface" - was the most incredible act of stupidity I've seen in a long time. And to think that it was a COP who did it... To tell us that we were doing something illegal and unsafe!
I began to really read this guy the riot act, but was promptly and politely asked to shut my pie hole by my buddy, who was the instructor for the day. Out of respect for him, and so that we'd have no trouble from said dumbass, I did so.
I understand that my buddy reported him and complained to the local DNR sergeant... But I don't know that anything was ever really done about it.
How incredibly frustrating!
We got into the water at a public landing and drifted 100' or so downstream. We were basically close to the shoreline, looking for things that boaters drop. Visibility was near zero. Depth was within 20 feet or so.
One of my buddies had a dive flag float, and we all stayed within a few feet of him.
We're all down there, and we hear a boat... Getting closer and closer. I couldn't see anyone else's expression, but I know I began looking at the surface (as if I could have seen it) and thinking, "Aw, man... Go away..."
The boat gets super-close and then goes to idle. I know for sure that they're checking out the dive flag. I start shaking my head, thinking, "WTF??" No doubt my buddy untied himself from the flag pretty quickly and simply held the line in his hand... Undoubtedly awaiting a huge pull and the boat taking off...
That's when the boat began to "rev." It didn't change position... It just "revved" a lot... For five minutes or more. One by one, we all sorta swam out 50 feet or so, then began a really slow and cautious ascent.
Know what I found when I surfaced? Firstly, I was the last out of the water. Secondly, I was warned on surfacing by said buddy with dive flag, "Watch your head," and he pointed behind me. I turned to look, with hands up in the air for protection... It was the hull of a boat.
Moving away to give the captain an earful, I was met by a badge. Department of Natural Resources... What we locally call "water cops."
I couldn't believe it... This dude actually saw our dive flag and motored over to it, tied off to it, and revved his engine in neutral to "scare us to the surface." I just looked at him, mouth agape.
"You can't dive here." He said.
"Why not?"
"It's illegal to dive from a dock," was his reply.
Seems that this numbskull thought it was illegal to get into the water from a dock. Not a "public dock," but from ANY dock. He insisted that it was illegal to be in the water without a boat, even if you're doing a shore dive.
In all of the searching we did afterward, we admittedly found a law that says that swimmers cannot block a public landing... For obvious reasons. But we weren't anywhere near the landing, we certainly weren't blocking it, and for the most part, there was nobody else in the water that day. Except for dip-doh there.
Of course, what he did - approach, tie off to a dive bouy, and then rev his engine "to scare us to the surface" - was the most incredible act of stupidity I've seen in a long time. And to think that it was a COP who did it... To tell us that we were doing something illegal and unsafe!
I began to really read this guy the riot act, but was promptly and politely asked to shut my pie hole by my buddy, who was the instructor for the day. Out of respect for him, and so that we'd have no trouble from said dumbass, I did so.
I understand that my buddy reported him and complained to the local DNR sergeant... But I don't know that anything was ever really done about it.
How incredibly frustrating!
SeaJay
Contributor
We were all diving from a local dock right off of a very private island... One that's been in my family for generations. There are only a couple of families on this island, and it was very much off the beaten path, so the rivers were quiet and private and great for good, quiet diving... I grew up in these rivers.
My chosen buddies for the day consisted of about ten firefighters... Many of them really big dudes... Big, loud, boisterous, and ready to dive. We were all doing dives for our Search and Recovery specialty, and we'd all gone down onto the floating portion of the dock to brief before the dive.
The divemaster made us all turn around while the threw in his "pet cement" - a 5 gallon bucket filled with cement, and worth maybe 50 or 60 pounds - off of the dock and with a mock cry said, "Oh, no... I've lost my pet cement! Can you guys please help me find it?" With a dock that size, and in near-zero vis, that was easier said than done!
Anyway, from around the corner came ***hole of the year, who stood up in his johnboat, and yelled at us, giving us the finger. Now, keep in mind, we were about ten, really big, beer-drinkin', loud firefighters dressed in day-glow neoprene, holding tanks and fins. Some of us were holding multiple tanks under each LP104-sized bicep.
We were all looking at each other thinking, "What??" They started looking at me and asking, "Do you KNOW this guy?" I mean, nobody owns the rivers here, but pretty much, this area's so off the beaten path that they all looked at me like this was my backyard.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Can anyone hear what he's saying? Maybe he's in trouble," I questioned. Of course, say that to a bunch of firefighters, and half of them will swim out to the dude just to help...
***hole of the year got closer. "I said, 'you ***ing ***holes!' I FISH from this river!" He goes on, yelling in a drunken stupor. "Don't be throwin' your TRASH in my river! I EAT the fish here!"
WTF?
Of course, we all got a pretty big kick out of it. In fact, it was so funny that we started yelling back, "We're rescue divers... Taking a class for Search and Recovery... It's okay, it's just an exercise... We'll be getting it off the bottom in a moment..."
There was no rationalizing with this guy. I thought he'd have a coronary right there.
Of course, we just erected a dive flag on the dock and began our dive.
He "buzzed" us a few times, too... How irritating... Each time holding his finger higher and higher in the air. It got pretty irritating...
At one point he even stopped, about 100 feet out, and stood up in his boat and pretended to call 911... He thought he'd call the cops on us and report us for littering his river. What a crackup.
The really funny thing is that if he really WERE calling 911, guess what would have happened? That's right... The cops, who knew all of us all by name, would have asked us very politely to go down and do a Search and Recovery for the 50 pound bucket of cement that someone just threw off of their (privately owned) dock. Duh.
We all got a kick out of it.
Two minutes before we all decided that we'd scuba over to his boat and ambush it and kick the crap out of this guy, he got smart and left. Both him and his lovely she-it girlfriend gave us a "New York Salute" on the way out.
What an idiot. If I ever have to pull this guy's truck from the river, I'm gonna make him wait a REALLY long time... Then tell his insurance company that I think he sunk it on purpose.
My chosen buddies for the day consisted of about ten firefighters... Many of them really big dudes... Big, loud, boisterous, and ready to dive. We were all doing dives for our Search and Recovery specialty, and we'd all gone down onto the floating portion of the dock to brief before the dive.
The divemaster made us all turn around while the threw in his "pet cement" - a 5 gallon bucket filled with cement, and worth maybe 50 or 60 pounds - off of the dock and with a mock cry said, "Oh, no... I've lost my pet cement! Can you guys please help me find it?" With a dock that size, and in near-zero vis, that was easier said than done!
Anyway, from around the corner came ***hole of the year, who stood up in his johnboat, and yelled at us, giving us the finger. Now, keep in mind, we were about ten, really big, beer-drinkin', loud firefighters dressed in day-glow neoprene, holding tanks and fins. Some of us were holding multiple tanks under each LP104-sized bicep.
We were all looking at each other thinking, "What??" They started looking at me and asking, "Do you KNOW this guy?" I mean, nobody owns the rivers here, but pretty much, this area's so off the beaten path that they all looked at me like this was my backyard.
I shrugged my shoulders. "Can anyone hear what he's saying? Maybe he's in trouble," I questioned. Of course, say that to a bunch of firefighters, and half of them will swim out to the dude just to help...
***hole of the year got closer. "I said, 'you ***ing ***holes!' I FISH from this river!" He goes on, yelling in a drunken stupor. "Don't be throwin' your TRASH in my river! I EAT the fish here!"
WTF?
Of course, we all got a pretty big kick out of it. In fact, it was so funny that we started yelling back, "We're rescue divers... Taking a class for Search and Recovery... It's okay, it's just an exercise... We'll be getting it off the bottom in a moment..."
There was no rationalizing with this guy. I thought he'd have a coronary right there.
Of course, we just erected a dive flag on the dock and began our dive.
He "buzzed" us a few times, too... How irritating... Each time holding his finger higher and higher in the air. It got pretty irritating...
At one point he even stopped, about 100 feet out, and stood up in his boat and pretended to call 911... He thought he'd call the cops on us and report us for littering his river. What a crackup.
The really funny thing is that if he really WERE calling 911, guess what would have happened? That's right... The cops, who knew all of us all by name, would have asked us very politely to go down and do a Search and Recovery for the 50 pound bucket of cement that someone just threw off of their (privately owned) dock. Duh.
We all got a kick out of it.
Two minutes before we all decided that we'd scuba over to his boat and ambush it and kick the crap out of this guy, he got smart and left. Both him and his lovely she-it girlfriend gave us a "New York Salute" on the way out.
What an idiot. If I ever have to pull this guy's truck from the river, I'm gonna make him wait a REALLY long time... Then tell his insurance company that I think he sunk it on purpose.
I've read some of you saying that it's not required a license to drive a boat or jetski. Is that true? Here in Portugal you have to have one. Although that doesn't always prevent events like the ones described here... I've never had a close encounter whith a boat while scuba diving but I've had while spearfishing. Actually one was whith a boat that passed just by me, and i was on the surface! On the other was some guy swimming too far from shore. He saw my buoy and decided to grab it to rest. He could have been arpooned!
Gmfish
Guest
I am going to start carrying a "spare" boat plug. Simply surface behind the offender and toss the plug into the boat and watch em FREAK OUT!
Of course the active fishermen are always fun to mess with.
Glenn
Of course the active fishermen are always fun to mess with.
Glenn
Yes, in some states you are not required to have a boating license. This is unfortunate, but on the other hand (at least here in Missouri) they will take your drivers license away if you have liquor opened on your boat. So there is some accountability even though any moron with the $ can get a boat and use it as a weapon without having passed any type of test.
I know in Croatia and other parts of Europe you have to be licensed depending on your boat size for Ocean/Sea fairing.
This is all very funny to read.
but i heard of a couple of stories that always get me laughing. on a lake west of ft worth there was a person who had a big cigerette boat(was also the owner of a mercadies dealer in ft worth) and was known for thinking that he was all that and everybody should stay out of his way. well one day he pulled into a cove and tied up to a divers flag, well person on another boat told this idiot that he couldnt do that and it wasnt legal to do that, well the reply was from the big shot that the other person was full of it and didnt know anything, so the guys responce ok well what ever you say, so about 5 minutes later the diver was coming up when he saw boat hull he knew who it was and known that he had been warned before so the diver put his back toward that surface exhaled all of the air in his lungs nad pegged the inflator and went flying toward the surface. well the diver hit the bottom of the hull with a load crack putting a massive dent in the bottom of the hull, then the diver came to the surface were the owner of the cigerette boat started to give him a earful about what he had just done to his boat. so the diver goes yeah yeah, and swims to his boat and unloads his gear then starts up his boat and moves to the boat toward the cigerette boat, well about half way there the cigerette boat the owner of the cig starts into him about how hes gonna sue the guy yet again, but then about this time the guy brings his boat sideways to the cig and the owner just stops mid sentence when he notices that its the local game warden and lake patroll officer. who then starts in on the cig owner about how many laws he broke, and then preceded to do a inpsection of the vessel we the owner go several more tickets for maritime laws broken and and open container and a charge for adding in the deliquncy of a minor because the guys kid had a beer in his hand. then after the warden was done he left the boat and told the owner to get off the lake before he called the state troopers to arrest him. after that the cig boat owner left with the tickets and the massive unfixable dent in his boat.
besides that im building a dive float for myself for the area lakes but im going to make it a nice size that highly visable but on the top piece will have a statement on top similar to this
If you are reading this you are breaking marine law and are subject to penalty under law (then below are the marine laws, in essence reading them the riot act) then in fine print below along the lines of now that you have read the laws you have broken and the diver below this flag has the right to remove the plugs from your boat and or surface underneath your boat and is not responsible for any damges caused, so have a nice day
but also the mono filimant idea sounds pretty good to me, also if a PWC come near my flag i will do a tank ram and then claim that they ran me over and sue them, man i hate those things, especially when im sailing a hobbie cat. (YMCA Camp Grady Spruce you know who you are)
but i heard of a couple of stories that always get me laughing. on a lake west of ft worth there was a person who had a big cigerette boat(was also the owner of a mercadies dealer in ft worth) and was known for thinking that he was all that and everybody should stay out of his way. well one day he pulled into a cove and tied up to a divers flag, well person on another boat told this idiot that he couldnt do that and it wasnt legal to do that, well the reply was from the big shot that the other person was full of it and didnt know anything, so the guys responce ok well what ever you say, so about 5 minutes later the diver was coming up when he saw boat hull he knew who it was and known that he had been warned before so the diver put his back toward that surface exhaled all of the air in his lungs nad pegged the inflator and went flying toward the surface. well the diver hit the bottom of the hull with a load crack putting a massive dent in the bottom of the hull, then the diver came to the surface were the owner of the cigerette boat started to give him a earful about what he had just done to his boat. so the diver goes yeah yeah, and swims to his boat and unloads his gear then starts up his boat and moves to the boat toward the cigerette boat, well about half way there the cigerette boat the owner of the cig starts into him about how hes gonna sue the guy yet again, but then about this time the guy brings his boat sideways to the cig and the owner just stops mid sentence when he notices that its the local game warden and lake patroll officer. who then starts in on the cig owner about how many laws he broke, and then preceded to do a inpsection of the vessel we the owner go several more tickets for maritime laws broken and and open container and a charge for adding in the deliquncy of a minor because the guys kid had a beer in his hand. then after the warden was done he left the boat and told the owner to get off the lake before he called the state troopers to arrest him. after that the cig boat owner left with the tickets and the massive unfixable dent in his boat.
besides that im building a dive float for myself for the area lakes but im going to make it a nice size that highly visable but on the top piece will have a statement on top similar to this
If you are reading this you are breaking marine law and are subject to penalty under law (then below are the marine laws, in essence reading them the riot act) then in fine print below along the lines of now that you have read the laws you have broken and the diver below this flag has the right to remove the plugs from your boat and or surface underneath your boat and is not responsible for any damges caused, so have a nice day
but also the mono filimant idea sounds pretty good to me, also if a PWC come near my flag i will do a tank ram and then claim that they ran me over and sue them, man i hate those things, especially when im sailing a hobbie cat. (YMCA Camp Grady Spruce you know who you are)
this has been a great thread, and i love the stories people have posted so keep them coming
OP
SquintyPete
Contributor
I think the talk of potato guns scared everyone off ScubaTooth... I have another one...
Drift dive down a local river, 3 out of 10 got hit with oars by a group of canoeing college students. If the ones who had whacked me with an oar were not extremely cute girls, I would have given them a piece of my mind, like the other 'injured divers' did.
We were not using a flag but come on... bright yellow tanks less than 2 ft from the surface.. and lots of bubbles.. any idiot would notice it... esp. when a head periodically sticks out... looks around for the buddies... and then ducks under again!
_______
I think its the duties of the smart ones to have large families so that the gene pool won't be full of stupid people, they are starting to take over...
Drift dive down a local river, 3 out of 10 got hit with oars by a group of canoeing college students. If the ones who had whacked me with an oar were not extremely cute girls, I would have given them a piece of my mind, like the other 'injured divers' did.
We were not using a flag but come on... bright yellow tanks less than 2 ft from the surface.. and lots of bubbles.. any idiot would notice it... esp. when a head periodically sticks out... looks around for the buddies... and then ducks under again!
_______
I think its the duties of the smart ones to have large families so that the gene pool won't be full of stupid people, they are starting to take over...
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