little jerk kids in kayaks

[archman]

Hey all, I'm new to living in (mainland) Florida. Dealing with rude/jerk people in the water is new to me, and figuring out the local and state rules is not so black and white as I'm used to.

I snorkel a lot off the beaches between West Palm and Lauderdale. If I'm away from an unguarded beach I use a dive flag (lifeguards don't want me in guarded beaches with a flag for some reason they have yet to explain).

Anyways, every once in a while I get these jerkface kids in kayaks sidling right up alongside my dive flag and screaming and hollering. They are a safety hazard. I want them to stay clear of my flag. Sometimes they get directly over me. My question is, how broad a protection does my flag afford me (legally)? Can I legitimately tell people in unpowered kayaks to stay the #$%^ away from my dive flag? And if so, how far away?

Any help would be *greatly* appreciated.

 

[bilsant]

Children need love. I find that if get them off the kayak, wrap my arms around them, and fully deflate my BC, after about a minute's affectionate hug they hit the surface pretty quick and then go elsewhere...

Seriously though, they're supposed to stay away from the flag. As to screaming and hollering..if you're under water, who cares? And while you can legitimately tell them to go away, unless there's some sort of enforcement officer nearby there's not much else you can do.

 

[ScubaSteve]

If they are old enough to kayak alone then aggression towards them is likely going to make things worse for you. I'd recommend trying civility first and "talk" to them about why you are uncomfortable with them being there.

Just my $0.02


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- Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RonFrank]

I mostly have done early morning and evening dives and was never bothered by kids. Heck the bottom line is they can be annoying, but not run you down. I'll take the kids over a jet skier who came looking to see what a dive flag is doing on the third reef.....

 

[Wookie]

Your dive flag offers them the ability to find you, and requires that they reduce the speed of their craft to idle speed within 300 feet of the flag. I'd use the "children need love" method myself.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

Wear a shark fin and tip them over.

 

[Garrobo]

What's it take to cut a hole in the bottom of their kayak?

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Children need love. I find out if get them off the kayak, wrap my arms around them, and fully deflate my BC, after about a minute's affectionate hug they hit the surface pretty quick and then go elsewhere...

Seriously though, they're supposed to stay away from the flag. As to screaming and hollering..if you're under water, who cares? And while you can legitimately tell them to go away, unless there's some sort of enforcement officer nearby there's not much else you can do.

 

[Dragon Down]

I'm concerned for these poor kayakers, dont they know how easy those things are to tip over? I would feel terrible if one of them got all wet.

It would also be terrible if somehow a chumcicle got stuck to the bottom of the kayak.

They really should be careful.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... around here its worth a Class A misdemeanor.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Is there any way to mount a couple small claymores on the flag that you could trigger from below? That could work.