Mandatory tracking device for divers?

[doctormike]

Doc come on up to RI for a shore dive or two you can tow the govt mandated flag, then you can experience govt. help to the dive community up close and personal like. Plus we'd have a good time! Oh yeah, bring your locator thingmi I'll carry that.

I may take you up on that! Last time I was in RI was when we left for a Block Island three day from somewhere near Point Judith. I also hit the Onondaga a few weeks ago on the Sea Turtle, and that's an RI wreck, right?

I want to do one of those RI blue shark snorkel trips one of these days.

We can test the transponder, and pitch the idea to the state senate...

 

[AfterDark]

Doc, the Daga as we call her is the signature dive of the Rebel Divers Club one of the dive clubs I belong to. How appropriate for me Rebel Divers don’t you think?! Who else could find a Rebel Dive Club in the northeast?

I just got home from a beautiful night dive at Fort Wetherill Jamestown. The life was out tonight!!
Black sea Bass everywhere, good size ones, small togs sleeping in the rocks, sea anemones too many different kinds for me to remember covered the huge rocks that jut up from the bottom and create overhangs 10’-20’ deep and 30’-40’ high, lobsters, blue crabs, spider crabs, running around the rocks hunting, Johnna crabs sitting back in the rocks waiting for their next meal to come by, green luminescent critters covered the surface and gave off a light show with each fin kick going back to shore. Total time 1 hour, bottom time 50 min, max depth 80 w/ 61F, surface temp 72F, visibility was a surprising 15’ 20’. My buddy Dave and I swam out from Sandy bottom Cove went around the outer most point at the west end of the cove and ended the dive in West Cove.

The outer point is one of those places where the current can run in opposite directions at different depths and sometimes be very strong. We hit it just right, almost zero current! Just a little weak outgoing current at 40-45FSW and then once around the point the current was pushing us towards shore which is where we wanted to go.
This of course was no accident it was due to my careful and expert planning, followed by the timely execution that plan by to 2 very experienced divers; David has been diving 35 years, I 45 years for 80 years of diving experience combined.
So come on up to the smallest in size but biggest in corruption state in the union RI, the state of corruption as we long time RI’ers like to call it.

I can’t afford to go on any charters with you but if you can find time for a shore dive, I’ll plan us a winner!
Don’t forget the beacon, locator whatever the gizmo is called for me to carry!

 

[Diving Dubai]

If a license is required to have a VHF radio, why not just get the license? A license is required for SSB in the US, but it only took about 10 minutes to get it.

Where I live getting the licence is wrapped in all sorts of Red tape. As a for instance as far as officialdom are concerned why would I need a Licence unless I have my own boat (of whatever size it needs to be) and possibly a host of other rule and regulations. Its very black and white here so if you don't fit into a precise pigeon hole you get passed from pillar to post OR you just get a NO (which is easier than trying to assist)

Further more Lifeline's are of limited value here - we get big rocks in the way preventing direct line of sight sometimes. to get an MMSI number you would have to go back to your home country to register etc. I'm not saying that I or a number of others don't carry them but we have other methods.

Because we dive as a club we control the boats, we have a diver in the safety boat, have a register of who is in the water, their expected surface time and protocols (all tried tested and practiced) giventhat we know that external help may be slow in coming.

All that said we are lucky in that we have control of our off shore diving. If you are on a charter then you are in their hands. Equally the amount of people I've seen on charters or liveaboards who don't have their own SMB, get given one and just tuck it in their pockets with no idea what to do astounds me

There is no point bitching about being left in the water if you as a person (not aimed at Ktomlinson) haven't taken measures to enable yourself to be found. In this litigious day and age people refuse to accept personal responsibility for anything as the is always someone who will help then sue for it being someone else's fault.

 

[doctormike]

Doc, the Daga as we call her is the signature dive of the Rebel Divers Club one of the dive clubs I belong to. How appropriate for me Rebel Divers don’t you think?! Who else could find a Rebel Dive Club in the northeast?

Hah! I'll bet you have plenty of fellow Rebels to dive with in our tribe. That's the great thing about diving, it brings everyone together...

Terrific dive, although it was a consolation dive when the weather chased us away from the Bass and the U-boat...

I can’t afford to go on any charters with you but if you can find time for a shore dive, I’ll plan us a winner!
Don’t forget the beacon, locator whatever the gizmo is called for me to carry!

Sounds great! I have heard that the shore diving there is awesome. In my area, most people hit the old Ponquogue bridge, which is a petty long drive into Long Island traffic for us NYC people. There is a good shore dive in the city - Beach 8th Street, near JFK airport - but the conditions are unpredictable and often not great.

Hoping to hit the Oregon tomorrow off LI. Already got blown out of a NJ dive on the Beth Dee Bob yesterday.