Do you dive from your boat leaving no one aboard?

[Rick Murchison]

When I was a youngster, everbody in the water at once was the rule and not the exception. So long as we took care to make sure the anchor was properly rigged and set there were no worries.
But now...
Now things are different. Thieves come in all sizes and shapes and ride anything from sport fishermen to sea-do's. Now we leave someone on the boat. Someone well armed..
Rick

 

[Cacia]

wow...is this since Katrina? I am sure that has effected the mindset a bit.

I am probably jaded by now about the "balls of steel" the USCG has, since somebody has been trying to kill JB for most of the past five years. I wonder what the USCG death rate in the line of duty is?...I could be totally ignorant the danger element of their profession. Do they have a choice? Or do they get orders to be on a given mission?

 

[DennisS]

.I could be totally ignorant the danger element of their profession. Do they have a choice? Or do they get orders to be on a given mission?

"Ya gotta go out, you don't have to come back."

 

[Skull]

N ...was using $65k as an example ...not directed at you. Also lets be honest here the CG is an agency that has very little to do ...much like the Fire Dept. Not to defend them but ...and here is the big but ...they need to be ready and unfortunitely they practice on us. Thats all doesn't mean I agree with there policies and tactics ...just my observation.


Catherine ...there is something pecular about calling your friends Nemrods and boating buddies Nemrods ... even though it is my experience that the Nemrod in subject is a fine and well informed boating enthusiest. TFPIC...

 

[Cacia]

Catherine ...there is something pecular about calling your friends Nemrods and boating buddies Nemrods ... even though it is my experience that the Nemrod in subject is a fine and well informed boating enthusiest. TFPIC...

A *Nemrod* has become my generic term for independent, competent, freedom loving citizens, not partaking in team think.--the resistance movement. It's a litmus test for guys who won't sue you if you take them diving and the boat floats off. Is he a Nemrod? yes, he can come. no?-- avoid him like a lawsuit.

 

[Wildcard]

I would suggest your 180 degree view is a bit myoptic - the CG in Hawaii has saved 83 lives, assisted 78 other people, and saved $400,000 in property this year. You missed a couple of chances to observe parts of the real world.

'nuff said. Didn't mean to hi-jack my own thread, but some people don't have as big a picture as they think.:no

ROTFLMFAO.....Thats there numbers and you believe it?:11: Fire dept shows up and puts out a campfire 100 feet from a building, they claim $400K save.... Samesame...

 

[Skull]

Catherine ...nuff said I will stop digging ...I concur that N is a true boating aficionado.

 

[gonphishing]

just chiming in on this topic. you all bring up good topics. I dive sonoma and Mendocino coast here in california with my boat all the time. I also getting into kayak diving. and I treat them much the same. and have no problem leaving by boat to do a dive with my buddy. I think its stupid do solo dive. and if I had my choice of having my boat. or my buddy's alt air source. will I need air before I need a boat. we here on the north coast have lost some divers just recently who dive solo. I always look for a back up plan. a place I can get out of the water from my dive sight. sense most of the diving is close to shore out here. but if you have been to sonoma and mendo coast. you would know its full of rocks, cliffs and strong currents. no sand here. so it can be tricky. but of curse there is always the exception. there are some spots where it would be foolish to leave a boat unattended. it helps to know some other divers and boaters to pool knowledge of dive sights and conditions and such. I should be doing a dive this summer with a buddy out at arena rock, for some scallops and rockfish. but I have herd this is one of those spots you don't want to leave your boat unattended. if any off you ever make it to no cal. give us a shout for some of the best diving on the planet.

 

[Rick Murchison]

wow...is this since Katrina?

No, Katrina has nothing to do with it. It has been a shift in demographics on land and on the sea in the northern Gulf. When I was a youngster, those who went to sea were sea-folk. They respected a man's boat above all other things, and his crab traps next. A respect for private property was universal... we could leave our house in Montgomery unlocked 24/7, even when gone on vacation for two weeks, with absolutely no fear that anyone would ever take anything. No one even had keys for their cars - you didn't need 'em to start the car, and locking a car was unheard of.
But there has been a sea-change in society. Coarser, less polite, less respectful of private property. There are many factors in play in that sea change and I won't go into them here, for they are all hot buttons... but the bottom line is that now, lock your car, lock your house, never leave your boat unattended in the open sea.
Rick

 

[Aquanautchuck]

Most the time when I dive solo there is nobody on the boat. After getting back to my boat one time just as it was dragging it's anchor I started using two anchors. One is a 15 lb and the other is a 12 lb, both Danforth. Plenty of scope and I check the set when I go down the anchor lines. Common sense does come into play about current and wind.

Last year in the spring I anchored, for some reason I decided to put out 4 to 1 scope instead of my usual 3 to 1. While I was diving a fast moving spring storm front rolled through with 30+mph winds. My Zodiac was lifting as much as 5' in the air. It was all I could do to get back into it but the anchors held. I really pay attention to my anchor set even more now.

Charles