Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[DiveDivaDM]

Hi DiveDiva...
KNow you do know that I had nothing to do with the Park issuing a contract to a vendor....the local shops had been approached for years, and offered a Request for Proposals so that the Park could rent out space on the North West side of the park...it would require somewhere between $30,000 and $100,000 from what I read of the last RFP I saw 2 years ago....and more important than the money to the Park, was the promise to offer major services to the people using the park--to enhance the park. For years, no one was interested, and this included Force E and Pura Vida, and JASA. It was just not what they do, and they did not want to experiment.....Apparently Stuart Scuba and Little Deeper felt that the time was right to experiment with what they could do to increase services and park experience quality....From the RFP, it was clear that this was the real deal maker for the Park, not so much what they could charge the vendor.

Top people of the Park? As you may have heard, I was working closely with the County Park service, meeting frequently with their staff and management teams over Project Seahorse----we are instituting a youth outreach, teaching the little local kids to swim, and to snorkel at the BHB. As you may know, many of the local families at the BHB have both kids and parents in the water, and they don't swim....We worked with a bunch of kids for the Event in JUne, and all the kids are now excited about the underwater wonders of the BHB....and the non-swimmers now want to learn to swim, to see what is blowing the minds of their friends.... www.projectseahorse-bhb.org

Dan, I don't think you were in on the decisions. I just know that you are the go to guy if you want to know what is happening at the bridge... I am sure we all hope everything goes well. I just want to go to the bridge park my car, socialize, dive, go get my tank filled and have lunch. I hope that the drama factor stays in check. I hate drama. I did wonder if the LDS were given the opportunity to get in on the contract.

As for the "top people" that was just for fun. It is a great line by the government to Harrison Ford's character in the last few minutes of Raiders of the Lost Arc. Give a listen to it you will get a good chuckle. That was not a serious comment I made. It was referring to the line in the movie only.

I am aware what you are doing with the local kids. I think it is great would love to see them enjoying and appreciating the bridge.

 

[danvolker]

Dan, I don't think you were in on the decisions. I just know that you are the go to guy if you want to know what is happening at the bridge... I am sure we all hope everything goes well. I just want to go to the bridge park my car, socialize, dive, go get my tank filled and have lunch. I hope that the drama factor stays in check. I hate drama. I did wonder if the LDS were given the opportunity to get in on the contract.

As for the "top people" that was just for fun. It is a great line by the government to Harrison Ford's character in the last few minutes of Raiders of the Lost Arc. Give a listen to it you will get a good chuckle. That was not a serious comment I made. It was referring to the line in the movie only.

I am aware what you are doing with the local kids. I think it is great would love to see them enjoying and appreciating the bridge.

Thanks. And I do remember the line from the movie...it is excellent.....

 

[0002s]

I read that as them "adding" some parking spaces..in that the building they now have on the north side across the water ( on singer Island) has some additional parking.

Speaking of parking and spaces....with all the boat spaces at Phil foster Park...I think some of us regulars could look into finding cheap and tiny trailers that "could" hold a small raft...and then we get the boat pass for parking
If anyone has any sourcing for a small and cheap trailer, please let me know. View attachment 189054 I would be fine towing this on a dive ( about 4 feet by 2.5 feet) at BHB, if it meant Parking would be a non-issue....and then I would just leave the tank on the Tooka, as that is the concept with Surface supplied air. Or use one of these
View attachment 189055View attachment 189056 --these are available at Florida Freedivers, and could also hold a tank, meaning that you would just add the Brownies Kayak hose to it...

I've thought about the trailer aspect as well.

It won't take long before the rock piles right off Rivera Beach are going to become a more popular spot.

 

[danvolker]

I've thought about the trailer aspect as well.

It won't take long before the rock piles right off Rivera Beach are going to become a more popular spot. Hauling the gear is the hardest part of that dive.

Which Rock piles?
Do you mean the rocks that go out for a 1/4 mile to the East and south of the South Jetty at the inlet mouth? That is actually a killer area, but needs to be treated as a virtual overhead from dive start to finish, as there would be boats running continuously over your head

 

[0002s]

Which Rock piles?
Do you mean the rocks that go out for a 1/4 mile to the East and south of the South Jetty at the inlet mouth? That is actually a killer area, but needs to be treated as a virtual overhead from dive start to finish, as there would be boats running continuously over your head

Singer Island Reefs (see right)

 

[mscott556]

Let's get real here, these guys aren't law enforcement and won't be able to enforce anything. As a local, I will no longer be diving with Little Deeper nor will I be supporting Stuart Scuba.

 

[adurso]

I have been diving at the BHB when various civilian park employees chased spearos and collectors off.

Having any organized group that will approach and attempt to deter those who are violating laws or rules is not a bad thing.

Early one afternoon when I came out of the water I was approached by the guy I had seen emptying trash cans in the parking lot when I was gearing up, he asked if I had seen anyone spearing. I had not, but as he was telling me he was told there were a couple of people spearing, two older teenagers appeared in the water over his shoulder, I pointed and he went to the waters edge and began yelling at them to get out of there they were not allowed to spear there, and so on.

The two left the water and went to their car and left, quickly.

Whether dive shop employees will do this remains to be seen...

 

[mscott556]

Having any organized group that will approach and attempt to deter those who are violating laws or rules is not a bad thing.

I agree.

Sorry, I was speaking towards them controlling who can/can't dive and having "power" over other shops.

 

[danvolker]

The aspect of this that needs to be understood by everyone that is annoyed right now....is that it is totally illegal to teach a class in the park, without a permit....at least this is my understanding. If someone wants to check on the law on this, that may be a way to go...but I am pretty sure at the moment that the Park does NOT want a 3 ring circus of hundreds of vendors of all types, selling their wares or services in the parking lot, or on the beach of the BHB....And they believe they have laws that prevent this.....and they have LEO's that "can" enforce it. That have been enforcing it---which is why there are not a dozen food trucks and vendors at the parking lot every weekend already....the dive classes have been harder for the LEO's to discern.....and as TC suggested, many shops may try to act as though they are just a group of friends. This is going to be a confounding problem for the LEO's, but it will not be confusing to the local divers---as the local divers will see a class with students, and they will know that instruction is going on, or if a group of friends is just diving together....Ultimately, the embedded shop is likely to use local divers to alert them to non-permitted classes.

How much they charge for the class permit, could go to making it easier for locals or tourists to find parking spaces....It could cover the upgrades to the diving services to the park, like several rinsing stations, like stairs going down on the west side north of the fishing bridge where classes should be getting in to the water and doing drills prior to having any buoyancy control.....it could go to a lot of things the park needs to do for divers... Or, it could just go to the park, for being the resource it is for us....where the local divers and dive tourists get to dive for free in a world famous dive site.

But ultimately, you are not supposed to be able to sell a service or a product AT the BHB or any other County park, without a permit ( which costs money). At least that is my take on this. Nothing about this is about the RIGHT of divers to dive there....Divers do not need to get permitted to dive in daylight hours, and divers don't need permits....only shops or those selling instruction or classes need permits.

 

[Arubandi07]

I have been diving at the BHB when various civilian park employees chased spearos and collectors off.

Having any organized group that will approach and attempt to deter those who are violating laws or rules is not a bad thing.

Early one afternoon when I came out of the water I was approached by the guy I had seen emptying trash cans in the parking lot when I was gearing up, he asked if I had seen anyone spearing. I had not, but as he was telling me he was told there were a couple of people spearing, two older teenagers appeared in the water over his shoulder, I pointed and he went to the waters edge and began yelling at them to get out of there they were not allowed to spear there, and so on.

The two left the water and went to their car and left, quickly.

Whether dive shop employees will do this remains to be seen...

They just might ... After all, even from a pure business perspective, it would make sense to 'protect' this tiny, but outstanding dive spot ...