Angler charged after pulling up diver

[MXGratefulDiver]

Just another day in the Tahoe Benchmark:

All the best, James

... anchored dive boats seem to attract 'em too ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Rhodesaz]

This website has a picture of the 74 year old %$@#*&
Angry Angler Hauls in Biologist « TheRockyRiver.com

 

[Bratface]

This website has a picture of the 74 year old %$@#*&
Angry Angler Hauls in Biologist « TheRockyRiver.com

And I assume a few people were amused by that headline not realizing the danger the old fart put her in.

 

[Laurie S.]

It also states that the diver was there first.

---------- Post Merged at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:21 PM ----------

Yesterday, we went diving in Lake Pleasant. (Jax, hubby and I). The regular dive spot was closed off and we were directed to a small cove with a parking lot and boat ramp around the corner outside the cove (close). There were two or three dive classes going on with several flags in the cove.
Apparently, this is a favorite beach ramp for those who don't want to wait in line for the regular ramp. While Jax and I were doing our last dive, my husband stopped 3-4 people from unloading their boats or jet skis into the cove, right next to the flags. He politely explained the 100 yard distance required by state law, (cove was much smaller than 100yds) and suggested they go to the adjacent boat ramp. He also explained that there were several dive classes with many divers under the surface and how they could injure/kill a diver, even with a large sailboat/no motor. (head injury) I can tell you that my husband was very polite although getting progressively more frustrated by the minute. The instructors for the classes were anything but polite and yelled at quite a few more boaters.
You can imagine the idiotic and even hateful comments some of those boaters gave him. Some just gave a deer in the headlights look and continued to unload boats, to which my husband would let them know that he would take down their license and report them. Other boaters (already in the water) were entering from the back of the cove ( the nearby boat ramp had a backup so boaters were coming around the corner to use this cove as an alternate loading ramp). We would yell to the boaters that they needed to stay one hundred yards from the flags, to get out of the cove, everything. Many simply kept coming. Jax, at one point hollered "somebody call the police" in an attempt to get a boat to turn off.
Sometimes, I think dive flags are magnets to boaters rather than deterrents. For those that dive in areas with boats, be careful and treat that surface as an overhead environment until you're sure it's clear!

Why on earth would someone have directed divers to use an area where there is a known, and commonly used, boat ramp? That makes no sense at all and I certainly could understand the boaters' confusion. Seems to me that the divers should not have been there. If that was the only "safe" area, then at a minimum, the boat ramp should have been closed off in some way and notices posted. I'd be willing to bet the boaters saw the divers as interlopers who had no business there, and really, they didn't. It doesn't excuse ignoring dive flags, but that was not a good idea.

 

[tracydr]

It also states that the diver was there first.

---------- Post Merged at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 03:21 PM ----------




Why on earth would someone have directed divers to use an area where there is a known, and commonly used, boat ramp? That makes no sense at all and I certainly could understand the boaters' confusion. Seems to me that the divers should not have been there. If that was the only "safe" area, then at a minimum, the boat ramp should have been closed off in some way and notices posted. I'd be willing to bet the boaters saw the divers as interlopers who had no business there, and really, they didn't. It doesn't excuse ignoring dive flags, but that was not a good idea.

I actually mentioned after the 3-4th car/trailer pulled in that they should have posted a sign at the front of the parking lot. I have no idea why the usual dive site was closed. But, it was obvious we were directed to the same spot as everybody else, as there were several classes going on and flags all over the place. The cove was small and shallow. Less than 100yards. Not possible to enter with a boat and be 100 yards away from a dive flag.
i agree it was a bad situation. It was only my second time to Lake "Unpleasant" but nobody seemed to know why the usual site was closed. This cove was not ideal and was a crappy spot to dive, too.

 

[nimoh]

I'm guessing the people doing the directing don't know what a dive flag either

 

[usmarinekurt]

I'd like to say I would have ripped his dumb mustache off if it was me but I doubt he would have lowered his ladder down to allow me access onto his boat
chances are I would have made a moron of my self flailing swearing and choking on water as I tried to roll his boat over

 

[irishsquid]

if only this picture were enough to convict

It works when they take photos of my truck tag with speeding cameras.

 

[matt_8777]

In Tennessee, "No boat shall come any closer than fifty feet (50') from any divers-down flag and shall

treat the area within two hundred feet (200') of a divers-down flag as a no wake zone.This section shall not apply to a boat used as a diver station, diver support, or diver​

supply boat. Frankly, they shouldn't be diving that close to a launching area to be honest. Probably should have found another place to dive, IMHO...

 

[theduckguru]

A month long investigation? Surely they are not serious.