JetSki's circling my flag - incurred VERY LARGE DECO OBl.

[divad]

What about spear guns?

Mmmmmm............spearguns.....:arrow:

 

[Diver0001]

EDIT: This may belong in the sub forum instead of the main forum - sorry I thought I was in the right place.

So....normal day. I dive down to 50' with the intent to stay for 70mins. On my way up a few jetski start circling my flag and generally just driving around all crazy. I got scared I was going to be run over so I went back down and waited AN HOUR for them to go away. At this point I now had a 17min deco stop at 20ft and a 40min stop at 10 feet. I used ~213cf of gas and had ~231cf of gas on me, So I was safe enough in terms of gas, but it was honestly really scary. Why can't people just stay away from the dive flags?

My total time underwater was 187 mins or about 3 hours and 10mins.

My RMV is .49 and thankfully I was diving double LP85's overfilled to 3600 - or else I would probably be dead. ( test run on the tanks to see if I want to buy some. I do )

I'm starting to hate my dive flag, it draws unwanted attention. I may just start leaving it at home - I'd rather pay the fines then die.

You should have thought it through. The biggest jetski's have a draft about about 60cm. If you REALLY needed to wait then there was not reason whatsoever to descend to a depth at which you were accumulating a deco obligation. You could have been 6ft under the surface and you would have been perfectly safe. Shallower than about 18ft and you don't accumulate any (more) deco all you do from about 18ft to the surface is offgass. I would think that if you are diving doubles and willing to take on a significant deco obligation that you would be aware of such things. Personally, and I don't want to be rude, but I'm a little skeptical about the details of your story.

That said, I don't know what I would have done in this scenario, but I would have been inclined to swim away from my upline and surface at a safe distance. I know what you are trying to say about dive flags. My OW instructor (in 1984) told us that if you wanted to use a dive flag to make yourself safe that you should set it up where you are NOT diving so it will attract all the boats and you can surface safely. I guess some things, in some places, haven't changed since then.

R..

 

[Steve_C]

Swimming away from the flag and surfacing may lower your probability of being hit, and may be the best option, but it does not remove all risk. Same for swimming at the surface. More than one diver/swimmer on the surface has been hit by a boat.

 

[OldNSalty]

How exactly did you get into the water? I am guessing this was a shore dive so....you could have just swam back to shore...towing your flag or leaving it. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I'm starting to hate my dive flag, it draws unwanted attention. I may just start leaving it at home - I'd rather pay the fines then die.

So how will not having a flag help you avoid Jet Skis or any boat traffic for that matter and not die? I don't understand that logic - what would you do differently?

I am not sure I understand why you would not start for shore, move to a different location rather than stay in the middle of the mayhem incurring deco or come up directly on the flag and give them a 1 finger salute or at least let them know you are there?

I think I would have given the flag a few tugs to show them I was underneath and then I would have moved to a new location or started to head back to shore. Once I surfaced I would have liked to get a visual on who or what they looked like. From there you can go to the authorities or follow up with them once on shore...

But staying on the bottom for an hour?

 

[Pinecube]

So how will not having a flag help you avoid Jet Skis or any boat traffic for that matter and not die? I don't understand that logic - what would you do differently?

The idea is that the dive flag attracts boats rather than repel them, such is the case with these jetskis.

or come up directly on the flag and give them a 1 finger salute or at least let them know you are there?

I wouldn't try surfacing anywhere near that flag knowing people were intentionally buzzing it.

I think I would have given the flag a few tugs to show them I was underneath and then I would have moved to a new location or started to head back to shore.

I like it. Grabbing the flag and towing it towards shore, or anywhere really, is probably the best solution. I'd love to see the look on their faces when the bouy starts "floating away". Bonus points for towing it against a current




In my OW class we had a similar situation. The dive site (shore dive) starts up against a concrete wall and slops down the further you go out. From the wall the top of the water is down about 3-4' and has a depth of about 10', so it's great for giant-stride entries. The exit, however is a single set of stairs leading up. Our class and a class from another dive shop were both at the site that day, both classes had a dive flag. The classes seperated to avoid getting in eachother's hair which made the flags perfect for some jetskis to come by and do figure-8's around. The problem was that the jetskis could get relatively close to the stairs and trying to get a group of OW students, with (at least in my case) less than stellar bouyancy skills, to the stairs in shallow water was difficult.

Towing or moving the dive flag seems like the simplest solution. I'd like to assume it would send a message to them but if the big "DIVERS BELOW" writing on the bouy doesn't do the trick, who knows?

 

[CuzzA]

What about spear guns?

Mmmmmm............spearguns.....:arrow:

With a PPD on the end of your shaft. That should incapacitate a PWC. I'm kidding of course, err kind of... If I'm LOA and can't surface I'd consider it.

 

[archer1960]

with a ppd on the end of your shaft. That should incapacitate a pwc. i'm kidding of course, err kind of... If i'm loa and can't surface i'd consider it.

"ppd"?

 

[Reku]

Good points made so far thanks guys.

The reason I did not go up to the surface was because they were jumping each others wake and when they would land they would sink into the water about 3-4 feet farther then the normal draft so even if I was at 10 feet it would of still been pretty sketchy. I forgot to mention that I did deploy my SMB with the intent for them to see it and me to surface - they didn't seem to care. Next time I'll probably just leave the flag and surface somewhere else.

The reason I didn't have a better plan is because I never really expected people to just hang out by the flag for so dang long. I understand that they are interested in it / interested in racing around it. But an hour of that is a little much...

@DA Aquamaster - you make a lot of useful points - and don't worry it's not harsh honestly somethings just need to be said. That said I'm going to continue doing my dives at the same depths - however I am going to use some of the things you suggested if I get into a similar situation like this again and I'll probably setup a few more emergency plans. Thanks.

@Tobin - instead of posting something that doesn't help me. Could you elaborate on what I should of done differently, I've read some really great posts from you in the past but this one just confuses me. P.S. Thanks for the gear.

Up in Michigan where I dive it seems like the boaters/jetskiers are at least a little more knowledgeable about the dive flags because after 300+ dives in lake superior/huron I've never had a situation like I just had down here in Florida. Maybe it's just me.

 

[divad]

I've never had a situation like I just had down here in Florida. Maybe it's just me.

Well no, it was definitely Pensacola yahoos.............. making their town proud.