12/20 Dive Report

[Cacia]

Gosh, get out there while the going is good, if you can! Flat ocean, like glass. We dove on the Elysium yesterday and went to the San Pedro, YO257, and Turtle Canyon. The Elysium, I might add is running smooth as butter since the vibration has been fixed. Also, no fumes! Yanmar finally got it tweaked. Congratulations Alex! Also, while I am going on like an official "Scuba Critic", Alex has sunnied up his disposition quite a bit. I think the awful stress and financial pressures of starting and owning a business have finally let up. A plus charter.
Anyway, water was 76, which surprised me. I would like to go on record and say all those Maui people have been closer to correct than I have. Still, feels very chilly after Palau. Lots of Hawkbill turtles spotted especially on the surface since it was so flat out there. Viz was fantastic, "like diving in Gin".
One safety observation somebody needs to address: Boats with big keels and no engine noise were tacking directly over our new divers. Yikes. We alerted the captain, I do not think they understand the dive flag concept. Maybe its not their fault. Maybe they are tourists renting sailboats and the Coast Guard is not getting the message out.... I do not think they would intentionally try to whack somebody's head off. One diver said the keel came within twenty feet of them. This was at Turtle Canyon, one of the busier water playground areas.
Anyway, excellent dives. JB's days in Paradise wrapping up, so we freedove the second one (I know...) and played around taking pictures and burning memories on the hard drive. I hear Alex (the Pirate) is putting together a dive club that sounds very reasonable. He has an excellent Captain "Chris" an X-Navy Salvage diver/ Captain/ Instructor that is a smart mellow dude with a good vibe. He keeps Alex in line by modeling politeness. Kearsten (sp?)---what a top notch Instructor! That is one joyful person and it is contagious. (have fun in Costa Rica).
Seriously, take a break from the mall and go diving. So what if the packages arrive late?

Pics: San Pedro, Captain Chris, Alex, Kearsten, me, Elysium.

 

[okamiotoko2004]

Catherine it was a great day for diving. Went out with Island Divers on capt Joe's boat. It was like you said like glass out there and there was very little current. We dove LCU and Fantasy Reef. Both were great. Water temp was perfect and not a cloud in the sky topside. Vis was remarkable some of the best I have seen in awhile which really surprised me. Max with Island Divers was a great DM and everyone we were diving with was great fun.
If you get the names of any boats cruising over divers let me know I know a few people with the Coast Guard here.
Hopefully the conditions will hold up tomorrow when I get wet again.

 

[justleesa]

just 2 more hours and I'm hitting the water....Hope the conditions are still good
Love the B&W skin diver pic...that is worth framing

 

[Cacia]

okamiotoko: Nori Z goes to some of favorite spots. This is my favorite time of year. The viz gets so nice.

About the Coast guard thing. Ok, will do. I just have the impression that the people sailing these boats honestly do not know They looked mortified and scared so I wonder if there is a "systems" problem. I mean, if you rent a boat, and you are from fly-over country, on holiday, and do not have a Captains liscense, who tells you about this dive flag rule? I am not looking for more regulation, but maybe some public awareness effort would help.

 

[okamiotoko2004]

Could very well be true with the people riding in the boats. Also allot of countries and blue water type ships use code alpha for divers not our diving flag. Also I know places like Kbay where they rent boats to go to the sand bar and they only get a quick safety lesson after a quick coast guard class which is supposed to cover flags. I know you have to be coast guard certed to pilot a boat/ship but in Waikiki who knows how much that is enforced.
I agree there is too much legislation out there as it is. I'll bring it up to my buddies over a couple beers and see what they say. Could always print a copy of our flag with a brief explanation of what it means and give it to the boat captains to post on their boats.

 

[drbill]

We fly both dive flags here just in case. When boaters don't heed them, we fire torpedos.

 

[Wildcard]

The Alpha flag is required but the red and white dive flag is more used and known. If you can get a vessel ID number, call the coasties and have them contact the people. I hate rules and regs but I feel a boat operator license WITH TRAINING should be required. But heck, we can't even get people to drive cars correctly, how much luck will we have with boats?
I like Bills idea but I thing a few small cal warning shots across the bow should do it.