Anchor Almost Dropped on Head - What Would You Do?

[Mike]

Wow, that boater was an idiot.

If boaters are that dumb there you shouldn't dive there, or if you do you should tow a dive flag to at least give yourself any advantage of safety you can get. Since according to you dive flags are so rare in your country, you might want to buy one off of Amazon and have it shipped international to you and then show everybody your novel new safety device, it will make a great conversation starter. Since nobody knows about dive flags where you're at, just tell em you invented it, they will think you're a genius.

 

[TSandM]

I empathize with clownfishsidney. We don't drag floats in the PNW, either. We don't have that much boat traffic in our popular dive sites, and for the majority of sites, there is no rule requiring a flag. I have seen a rare boat ignore the permanent diver floats in one of our sites, and had a boat dropped an anchor on my head there, I'd have been with Max -- I'd have fouled the darned thing, and sat on the shore and laughed myself silly watching the boat try to get free.

 

[Jan Kruger]

Wow, that boater was an idiot.

If boaters are that dumb there you shouldn't dive there, or if you do you should tow a dive flag to at least give yourself any advantage of safety you can get. Since according to you dive flags are so rare in your country, you might want to buy one off of Amazon and have it shipped international to you and then show everybody your novel new safety device, it will make a great conversation starter. Since nobody knows about dive flags where you're at, just tell em you invented it, they will think you're a genius.

:cool2:
Genius indeed !

Where we dive we always have a smb deployed whether we dive off a boat or shore entry. We once had fishing lines amongst us whilst diving on a reef even with the smb deployed.... Idiot boaters !!! Depending on the achor line I might have tried to cut it ....

 

[Foxfish]

Seems to me a freak accident but judging by the comments you're not the only one to experience this. It wouldn't surprise me if a boatie didn't see the bubbles on the surface, or if having seen the bubbles they threw the anchor over to try and hit the diver!

In WA if you have a dive flag up boats are supposed to stay 50 m away but sometimes they don't. We will often dive further than fifty metres from the boat anyhow so the risk remains.

In the river I've seen night divers with a tyre tube and light that they are supposed to tow around. They normally park them just offshore. When spearfishing/freediving it is common to tow a float and flag around. I use a drop weight which allows you to park the float and swim around it as required. I've had a jet ski come too close for comfort so this doesn't always work either.

What could you do to prevent the problem? If you are diving in an area with a lot of boat traffic and this becomes a possibility, then I suspect a float is probably your best solution. I normally carry a sharp knife on my leg which is just the bomb for cutting through anchor rope.

 

[fsardone]

First, there is no law that requires dive flags for shore diving. Fact.

I might be dumb and I am not a native speaker but the site of the regulatory body (Department of Transportation Australia) states at the following link:
Diving
Now must in my knowledge of english has a definitive meaning especially in regulatory verbiage ..... Fact.


=========
Diving without a vessel

Divers operating without a vessel must also display the International code flag "A".
The flag may be displayed from a jetty (for example) and must be at least 750mm long and 600mm wide.
Exception to size: If displayed from a buoy, the flag must not be less than 300 mm in length and 200 mm in width.
The flag must be clearly visible to all vessels operating in the vicinity.

 

[RJP]

I might be dumb and I am not a native speaker but the site of the regulatory body (Department of Transportation Australia) states at the following link:
Diving
Now must in my knowledge of english has a definitive meaning especially in regulatory verbiage ..... Fact.

You've linked to a document from WESTERN Australia, which is one of six states in Australia.

The OP is in Sydney, which is in New South Wales... a completely different state on the EASTERN coast of Australia.

Fact!

Regulations vary from state to state. Fact.

While they do recommend using a flag if diving from shore, the dive regulations for NSW only require a flag if diving from a vessel. Fact.

Boating Handbook

 

[chillyinCanada]

If boaters don't understand the meaning of the dive float/flag aren't they even more likely to come over to check it out, perhaps even help themselves to it?

 

[Mike]

I might be dumb and I am not a native speaker but the site of the regulatory body (Department of Transportation Australia) states at the following link:
Diving
Now must in my knowledge of english has a definitive meaning especially in regulatory verbiage ..... Fact.


=========
Diving without a vessel

Divers operating without a vessel must also display the International code flag "A".
The flag may be displayed from a jetty (for example) and must be at least 750mm long and 600mm wide.
Exception to size: If displayed from a buoy, the flag must not be less than 300 mm in length and 200 mm in width.
The flag must be clearly visible to all vessels operating in the vicinity.

I think that is a different Australia than the OP lives in.

Seriously, it really doesn't matter if it's a requirement or not does it. Isn't it just common sense if you've got something dangerous happening and there is something that might increase your safety you probably would think about implementing it instead of arguing about how uncommon or unrequired it is.

 

[RJP]

I think that is a different Australia than the OP lives in.

It is, in fact, as different an Australia as Colorado is a different "United States" as New Jersey.

 

[fsardone]

Hi RJP,

thank you for enlightening me on the Australias
I did search for the divers handbook but I only found the guide to spearfishing in new south wales http://usfa.com.au/guide/FINAL GUIDE.pdf
published by Australian Government Department of Agricolture Fisheries and Forestry (hopefully of New South Wales).
Again here the verb is should which I concur, has to be read as recommendation.
Nevertheless the wording states:
=====Snippet from page 21=====
These safety rules are intended to minimise the risk of injury or mishap to divers engaged in spearfishing. Divers are encouraged to adopt these rules without exception and to promote them amongst divers who may not be familiar with them. It is the responsibility of all participants to make our sport as safe as possible.
While engaged in spearfishing
you should:
Tow a safety coloured float (yellow, orange or red) with an international “code A” flag (signifying diver below) displayed in a vertical position above the float, alternatively a red flag.
Display a “code A” (diver below) flag on your boat.
======
Now is not mandatory to carry a redundant source of air or redundant cutting tools or or or ... just best practises that keep divers alive. This said mandatory or not (already said by others) its is recommended and reduces the risk.
Diving is all about managing risks to an acceptable level. Those who do not understand this, risk getting hurt by anchors, by running out of air or other mishaps (lost in hard overhead or in darkness comes to mind).
Hope this highlights that best practices do not need to be mandatory to keep you alive and whole.

Cheers and live to dive another day!

Fabio