Diver struck by boat off Sandy Point

[Angelo Farina]

In Canada anyone who operates a motorized boat has to have a license but it's an on-line test and while thorough I doubt there is much retention in even the basic rules.

They oddly make an exception for boat rentals... any fool can rent a boat from a marina and be on their merry way with no licence and likely little instruction other than the basic operating procedures of the boat.

Even with our local permanently buoyed dive site we end up chasing boats and fishers out... even a float plane on one occasion.

That's incredible. i was thinking that a license was required worldwide, as here in Italy. And getting it is far from easy, theoretical exam is very difficult, with all those lights to be recognised by night, the flags, the rules of precedence, charting, using the nautical tools, planning for fuel and weather conditions, etc...
then there is the practice, which is also quite challenging, as you are required to do all the standard manoeuvres, often in between obstacles.
Not talking about the license for sail boats, where you, in addition to all above, need to proof your skill regulating the sails and manoeuvring the boat in different wind and sea conditions.
The course lasts months and costs a a lot of money, and the percentage of people being rejected at the exam is significant.
I was thinking that the same was required all around the world. Really in US you can operate a boat without a license?
Here only small inflatables with an engine less than 30 kW are exempt from a license...

 

[TuckerIdaho]

Also, a lot of the operational boating safety laws are state, not federal. For example, where I live, it's a Florida law, not a federal law, that boaters are supposed to try to stay 100 yards from a dive flag. (If it's also a federal law, someone can correct me.)

COLREGS states you must keep clear of a stand on vessel. (which includes ones engaged in diving operations displaying proper flags)

BTW, Florida is 100 feet, not 100 yards, unless its changed since 2014.

 

[AfterDark]

AfterDark,

I agree that education is better than enforcement.

But the problem isn’t lack of available education. The Coast Guard Auxiliary still offers an assortment of courses, as do the Boat US Foundation and commercial training companies. The knowledge is out there for the taking.

Unfortunately, a lot of new boaters don’t know what they don’t know and don’t seek out the training they need.(Kind of like new divers?)

Well if they couldn't register their boat until they passed one of those courses they'd have a chance to maybe retain some knowledge. And that is not hard to do as I have pointed out. Of course they probably wouldn't be any better then they are at driving a car.

 

[AfterDark]

That's incredible. i was thinking that a license was required worldwide, as here in Italy. And getting it is far from easy, theoretical exam is very difficult, with all those lights to be recognised by night, the flags, the rules of precedence, charting, using the nautical tools, planning for fuel and weather conditions, etc...
then there is the practice, which is also quite challenging, as you are required to do all the standard manoeuvres, often in between obstacles.
Not talking about the license for sail boats, where you, in addition to all above, need to proof your skill regulating the sails and manoeuvring the boat in different wind and sea conditions.
The course lasts months and costs a a lot of money, and the percentage of people being rejected at the exam is significant.
I was thinking that the same was required all around the world. Really in US you can operate a boat without a license?
Here only small inflatables with an engine less than 30 kW are exempt from a license...

At some point size matters and some type of license is required on large vessels but a 20' boat isn't big enough.

 

[Scraps]

COLREGS states you must keep clear of a stand on vessel. (which includes ones engaged in diving operations displaying proper flags)

BTW, Florida is 100 feet, not 100 yards, unless its changed since 2014.

You almost got your COLREGS references right. Your standard recreational or commercial dive boat is either a) anchored, b) made up to a mooring buoy, or c) drifting while conducting diving operations. In a) and b) the boat isn't underway, so it is neither a stand on or a give way vessel. In c) it can display the international code "Alpha" flag to claim restricted in ability to maneuver status if its size prevents it from showing the ball-diamond-ball day shapes. I have seen exactly zero dive boats in Florida claim this status, but there's a lot of the state I haven't dove yet. In any event, COLREGS doesn't shed much light on the situation that prompted this thread because we're talking about hitting divers with boats, and the COLREGS are about preventing collisions between boats.

So we're talking about Florida law because that's the code that tries to keep recreational divers from getting killed by boaters. And again, you almost got it right. the 100 feet limit you remember applies in a river, inlet or navigational channel. However, dive ops aren't allowed to impede navigation in those places, except in an emergency, so you should never see a recreational dive in those places where it could impede navigation. The limit is 100 yards everywhere else--and technically, boats can enter those zones but must do so at bare steerage.

 

[Altamira]

In Texas, if you were born after 1 Sep 1993 you are required to pass an online test for a boater safety card if you are going to operate a motor boat over 15 hp or a sailboat exceeding 14'. However that still leaves of lot of yahoos who don't have a license, training, or brain for that matter. In my community, a diver flag is nothing more than invitation for some idiot boat or wave runner driver to "come over and see what's going on."

 

[Kev in CT]

Connecticut has a boat license, personal watercraft license, and a safe waterskier endorsement. I recently registered a boat and the license number is now required.

 

[TuckerIdaho]

Bit more info

There is a go fund me for the diver hit last week. Here’s some info on the man. Sunday, June 28th was like many other days - Rhode Island shellfisherman, Mark Nayman, was diving Underwater for fresh R.I. Shellfish to sell to support his family. Two dive flags marked his location. Another boat sped through and Mark was hit by the propeller. The driver was charged. Mark suffered a fractured skull, a concussion And brain bleed and several body gashes. Recovery is going to take time and July is Usually Mark’s highest earning month of the year. In addition to your prayers for his healing, he could use some help staying afloat financially.

 

[CanadaDan]

One time my buddy and I were diving the lake my cabin is on. Isolated lake with a fair number of boats and few licensed operators (private access only so no patrols, thus few bother to get licenses). I hired one of the teens on the road to paddle a yellow kayak flying a diver below flag over our bubbles. If a boat came into the area he would wave them off. Best dive buoy I ever had.