Forgive me if I seem to be taking you to task or belaboring this issue, but please clarify and correct me if I have misunderstood your descriptions of what happened.
Earlier, you described the AS dive boat passing at significant speed close to your dive flag and then at slow speed coming right alongside your flag. How close to your flag were they on the fast pass?
Since you disagree the incident occurred in a navigation channel, where is that channel in relation to the dive track in your maps? East of it over deeper water? Is there a locally accepted navigation channel?
Did the two prior boats also come close to your flag? How much time in between the three passes? Five minutes? Any idea why they came so close to your flag?
All in all, do you think the first three passes by all the boats were too close? Is this typical in Coz?
In all of your discussions with the various people associated with the dive op, what is your understanding of why they came so close on the fast pass? Did you determine that? Did they say they didn't see your flag? Ignored your flag? Didn't feel it was important to give more room? Do they expect divers to keep safe by remaining submerged when boats approach? Do you think the dive op give a dive flag more room in the future? Are you satisfied with that?
Have you subsequently done some research to determine the local boating regulations regarding approaching dive flags? What are they? Does local boating practice comport with those regulations? Locally, has this happened to you or others you know before? How widespread is the problem?
The reason I'm asking is because it's not uncommon here in the NE USA to have boats violate a typical state dive flag law by going faster than headway speed within 150 feet of the flag for a variety of reasons, usually ignorance or error, rarely wanton negligence or disregard.
Just for info, here are some links to US state boating laws regarding dive flags showing some variation in the statutes:
Dive Flag Law
I've experienced violations several times and it was always in pretty heavily trafficked areas like where you were, including navigation channels and near boat landings. I felt I should have avoided those areas and not encroached. I felt it was my fault or an understandable mistake on the part of the boater.
When I hear boats passing close, I stay away from the surface and go about my business. I usually plan my dive so I don't have to surface in a heavily trafficked area because I expect mistakes will happen. As a boater myself, I know how easy it is to overlook something.
I remember an incident where some local divers I know got all worked up and "jumped ugly" with some boaters who slowly passed close to their flags as the divers crossed in front of a boat launch. My feeling was the divers shouldn't have planned a dive to cross a high traffic area. Most of the divers didn't realize that boats are allowed in close proximity to the flag if they are moving at headway speed. They unreasonably felt entitled to a 150-foot radius of exclusion. That isn't the law here. Frankly, it was an embarrassment.
I've seen divers get upset to see lobster boats motoring around and bumping into their flags. Not me. The water is a shared resource.
What's the law in Coz?
Jonathan, Ted has implied that there is a local problem of dive boats coming to close to shore or typical snorkelling areas. Is this a thorn in the side of shore divers there? Is there a feud going on?
Ted has also said on more than one occasion:
Jonathan, if you had been given an apology or acknowledgment of your concern at the time of the incident, would you have still felt the need to attack the dive op on the internet?
In the future, if this same incident happens to you again with a different dive op, will you first go to the dive op management for resolution or will your first choice be to attack them on the internet?
Obviously, I've taken issue mostly with you immediately using the power of the internet to attack a business operation after having a single isolated incident with a couple of their employees. I don't have a problem with trying improve safety by getting boat drivers to give more room to a dive flag.
You have summed it up perfectly when you say above, "There is obviously too much pride in everyone...myself included...for this thread to come to any benefit."
Unfortunately, IMHO, your pride led you to attempt to cause actual harm to this dive op by posting multiple threads disguised as public service or legitimate warning.
That just wasn't fair to the hard-working people of the dive op. I still think the damage is unknown, but it will continue to be unfair to them for a long time. It certainly has been costly in personal terms for the people of the dive op and for yourself.
You probably don't view your motivation as primarily to retaliate in anger and harm them, but did you actually have a positive or constructive goal, perhaps to get the captain of the boat to respect dive flags more? Was this a fair way to do it, by smearing the whole op with damning titles in your posts on the internet?
Sorry to go on so long, but I'll just add that today's "righteous rage", "victimhood" and "getting even" have become so acceptable and prevalent as to greatly erode civility, respect and tolerance of others. This is just an example of it, IMHO.
Nevertheless, I greatly respect your overall reasonableness and self-reflection. You've made a significant effort to openly discuss the issue despite the backlash.
We've probably all learned something from this, but not worth the cost, wouldn't you agree?
Dave C
