debajo agua
Contributor
Hi All,
Yesterday, since me and my girlfriend haven't been in the water too much this winter, we decided to do a nearby shore dive. The dive plan was simple: snorkel offshore until we get close the remnants of the wreck, descend to the bottom at a mere 15 feet, surface with 500 psi or greater, then snorkel back to shore.
Simple right?
Here's what happen:
We geared up and made it half way to the site, when off in the distance of about 25 yards, we noticed two boats near our intended dive site, and one person splashing in the water. Both boats appeared to have teenage operators, and I could hear the word "dad" being shouted, as they handed overboard a spear-gun.
No dive flag on either of the "sea-worthy" vessels!
Just dandy!
At this point, a smarter man would have aborted and waited for the boats to clear the area...but our dive site was a little ways off from where the two boats were located, so I made a decision to talk to them and see what their intentions were. They seemed content with where the area the occupied, so we swam to our dive site and descended.
Everything went swell for ten minutes...
Then out of nowhere, we hear a boat close by revving it's engines and switching in and out of gear! Mind you, we're only in 15' of water, so I make sure my girlfriend knows to stay close to the bottom, which she does. So I'm hugging the bottom and rolling over on my back to look up to see what's above me.
This goes on non-stop for well over 5 minutes, before I decided that, whoever is on the surface, they're intent is to kill us. At this point, I'm almost positive it's a "bi-polar crabber" who's flippin out about people getting around his traps, so I decided our best option is to move off the wreck, stay down as deep as we can get, and make our way back to shore. At a depth of 12 feet, I realize the boat above us is following us, so my flight turns into fight, and I decided to ascend and have a confrontation! :chairfight: I reach the surface and recognize the markings on the boat immediately...
Why if it isn't the U.S. Coast Guard!!! Here's a confrontation that ends up with me spending the rest of the weekend trying to make bail.
So the Bozo captain says, "We were driving by and we could hardly see your dive flag." (Isn't that just great! Thanks for scaring the hell out of me pal!!! Is that the Coast Guard protocol for getting divers attention? Rev your engines and shift gears above there heads in shallow water? Really?) I responded with, "you were scarring the hell out of us down there, I thought we were dealing with an angry crabber." To which he replied, "Oh, sorry."
Apparently, while all of this was going on, I lost my camera, which floated to the surface, which they gave back to me.
I actually thanked them!
If it wasn't for them, I would have never lost the damn thing in the first place!!!
They left... Now what...
Despite everything, it was a positive experience. Not to stroke our own ego, but I saw that me and my girlfriend, were able to keep our heads cool in a very stressful situation;furthermore, I should not assume, just because the boat reads U.S. Coast Guard, that I'm dealing with someone with common sense.
Yesterday, since me and my girlfriend haven't been in the water too much this winter, we decided to do a nearby shore dive. The dive plan was simple: snorkel offshore until we get close the remnants of the wreck, descend to the bottom at a mere 15 feet, surface with 500 psi or greater, then snorkel back to shore.
Simple right?
Here's what happen:
We geared up and made it half way to the site, when off in the distance of about 25 yards, we noticed two boats near our intended dive site, and one person splashing in the water. Both boats appeared to have teenage operators, and I could hear the word "dad" being shouted, as they handed overboard a spear-gun.
Just dandy!
At this point, a smarter man would have aborted and waited for the boats to clear the area...but our dive site was a little ways off from where the two boats were located, so I made a decision to talk to them and see what their intentions were. They seemed content with where the area the occupied, so we swam to our dive site and descended.
Everything went swell for ten minutes...
Then out of nowhere, we hear a boat close by revving it's engines and switching in and out of gear! Mind you, we're only in 15' of water, so I make sure my girlfriend knows to stay close to the bottom, which she does. So I'm hugging the bottom and rolling over on my back to look up to see what's above me.
Why if it isn't the U.S. Coast Guard!!! Here's a confrontation that ends up with me spending the rest of the weekend trying to make bail.
So the Bozo captain says, "We were driving by and we could hardly see your dive flag." (Isn't that just great! Thanks for scaring the hell out of me pal!!! Is that the Coast Guard protocol for getting divers attention? Rev your engines and shift gears above there heads in shallow water? Really?) I responded with, "you were scarring the hell out of us down there, I thought we were dealing with an angry crabber." To which he replied, "Oh, sorry."
Apparently, while all of this was going on, I lost my camera, which floated to the surface, which they gave back to me.
I actually thanked them!
If it wasn't for them, I would have never lost the damn thing in the first place!!!They left... Now what...
Despite everything, it was a positive experience. Not to stroke our own ego, but I saw that me and my girlfriend, were able to keep our heads cool in a very stressful situation;furthermore, I should not assume, just because the boat reads U.S. Coast Guard, that I'm dealing with someone with common sense.
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Oh, by the way, you don't need a name, just give the time and place 'cause it's all logged.
