New to boating and divers
New to boating and divers.
I am a new boat owner having taken my boat out 3 times since I Have had it so most of what I do/come across is new. Left out of hilaries yesterday and head up north to then go out deep (having someone show me the reef gap before I start using it) and just north of little island as you get out over the reef line, there were 2 boats. 1 Boat had its dive flag up the other had no flags up and they were about 200-300 metres apart. The boat with no flags obvioulsy had divers below either that or they realised they had left something back in the car and swam back to shore to get it as there was no one on the boat.
As I kept about 100 metres from either boat I still slowed down due to this is new thing and lo and behold a diver scares the crap out of me by surfacing about 20 metres away from me, much further than 50 metres from either boat. At first I thought I was reading my gps wrong and I was about to run aground on reef. thought it was a reef break but no further inspection revealed the goggles etc etc. Now is this a normal occurrence that divers stray and surface more than 50 metres from their boats and some don't put up their flags??
Fishing was fishing, caught 3 whiting and hooked a shark that busted me off and then proceeded to launch itself about 2 metres in the air 20m from the boat, did this about 7 times quite spectacular actually.
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
Yes it's normal!
the problem is a lot of divers put their lives at risk by not using a flag, they will be the first to complain when you run over one. basically most divers cant navigate properly underwater (me included) this is why I and my dive buddy use a dive tracker which is a sonar transmitter hung from the boat and a receiver carried by the diver, it brings us back to the boat everytime without having to surface (anyone interested can pm me for details of where to get them)
damo6230
Posts: 2029
Date Joined: 07/06/08
yep can be common
dont always assume people obvsere and then follow the rules.
last dive trip two boats and only one had a flag even though both were diving. the first thing i do when I stop is put the flag up and its the very last thing i do before i move, even if i sit in the boat for a while.
if boats around i double the distance! some divers i have seen have been well beyond 50 meters from there boat.
my deckie always rides on the bow as lookout and never hurts to lower the anchor slowly........
like everything mate with your boating just go easy until you get more confidence, but as above never hurts to be conservative around divers as a good mate of mine was run over and the prop smashed him up (he wasnt diving, he was out catching crocs..)
kane
Posts: 1752
Date Joined: 07/12/08
I havent lost the boat......"yet"
But its fairly common for divers to lose their bearings and end up a fair way from the boat.
Give as wide a berth as possible is my best advice.
As for the flag, I always use a flag....but people will be people and rules are always broken at some point...
Gooooone Fishin!
Cammos
Posts: 606
Date Joined: 30/06/09
Lost divers
We do our best generally to surface near the boat but sometimes you just have to go up and hope for the best. Most divers will hear a boat coming very clearly, but have no idea which direction or how far away it is. Otherwise we can deploy a SMB (Surface Marker Buoy) from about 5m down. This is basically a big orange sausage that you cannot miss. Divers will be doing their safety stop "hanging" from it.
If you can, give us a wide berth, but if we surface 100m from our boat and get whacked, we just have to cop that.
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
I'd just like to add
these units do work very well we have never and i mean never had a problem in 7 or 8 years, I was once diving in extremly bad vis (yes we aborted after 10 mins)I actualy banged ny head on the transmitter when swiming back to the boat!
kane
Posts: 1752
Date Joined: 07/12/08
I got one of those units
I got one of those units from the states just before i flew back to work, keen to try it out when i get home.
Gooooone Fishin!
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
You wont be dissapointed
I wouldnt dive without it now, remember to clip your receiver on with a good retractable lanyard and also have a clip on the bottom as double security (expensive if you lose it).
Just dont dive within a kilometer of me you may swim to the wrong boat
Having said that with the amount of interest I have generated on here since the post appeared quite a few people are looking into them so if you leave the settings at default you could pick up someone elses transmitter so it's best to change the ping rate to identify your unit
Northwest
Posts: 71
Date Joined: 06/03/08
A flag is a must, however we
A flag is a must, however we usually do venture more then 50m from the boat both when diving and freediving.
When scuba diving generally we have our bearings right and we try not to surface until near the boat, however sometimes sh#t happens.
When free diving half the time your on the surface and most of the time much further then the 50m rule. However when i am venturing 50m past my boat i always have a huge orange buoy towing about 10m behind me (you have to be blind to miss it). for one it keeps me visible and secondly its attatched to my gun so if i ever shoot a big mackie in the wrong spot i can just let go of my gun.
Generally, its easy to avoid divers even ones further then say 50m. id say that most divers anchored near a reef break are generally going to be swimming around or towards the reef, therfor the diver is likly to be between the boat and the reef, or on the reef itself, so given you go around the reef(not a bad idea) and around the boat you shouwld be sweet most of the time.
wangler
Posts: 607
Date Joined: 26/04/08
I'm pretty sure it is
I'm pretty sure it is illegal to dive without a flag, and it also has to be seen in 360 deg. Many years ago I had Water Police aproach me after a dive because my flag could not be seen properly, and they said next time would be a fine....oops ! Now I have it high on the targa bar and a floatie out the back.
Want to make someone mad... tell a lie! Want to get the world upset... tell the TRUTH !
Dougie
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
It is illegal to scuba dive
It is illegal to scuba dive without a flag. Its not illegal to snorkel, or freedive, without a flag.
Its totally stupid, but the regs reflect that it was decided that having your avg joe bring a flag down for a snorkel at the swimming beaches was a bit onerous.
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
I think you may be wrong
But I will stand corrected, from my understanding your supposed to show a flag when snorkeling or diving but havent read up on the rules of late so you could be right...it's been a while!
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18317
Date Joined: 11/03/08
i feel that if you are
i feel that if you are snorkling / diving / free diving anywhere there are likely to be boats or jetskis you would have to be crazy not to show a flag, we have a flag on a length of rope that you tow around when snorkling . there has been a few deaths which involved snorklers being hit by boats , one recent one was in shark bay when a high powered boat just didnt see the guy snorkling
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
mejutty
Posts: 96
Date Joined: 21/12/09
cheers guys, just trying not
cheers guys, just trying not to stuff a good day out on the boat by running over someone then having to pull them onboard and have all this blood and crap everywhere, waiting for water police having them give me the third degree then going back to the ramp and pull boat out with now a heap of onlookers including the person I just ran overs parents/girlfriend/boyfriend/wife there pointing at me , seems all too much :)