Know your job!!!

[on_two_wheels]

I was diving with a SB member a couple weeks ago. As we hit the beach, a lifeguard told her she needed a snorkel. Fortunately, there was a found one laying near the steps. So the next week, I dove the same location with another SB member last week and the same lifeguard didn't say a word. At the end of the day, I asked the lifeguard about it.

He said they were misinformed in training the previous week. Then he continued to explain that law disappeared because it was determined that the diver is trained and has the knowledge to determine if he/she needs one. He added, "If a diver wants to be stupid, that's their choice." I couldn't help but point out the obvious....we can just put a reg in our mouth and be better off going through the surf that way than with a snorkel.

Amazingly, he said, "Then you're relying on your air." Uh.....yeah!!! He realizes that was a stupid arguement so he changes tactics. He says while breathing on air, if you get hit by a wave, you can go from surface to 5 feet deep in a fraction of a second which causes embolisms. So I reply, "That would happen with a snorkel, too. Just you'd be a few feet deep sucking down water instead of air."

Finally, the entertainment value of his ignorance ran out so I simply asked, "Do you dive?" Wanna guess his response? Wait for it.....wait for it......"Nope." So I had to part with, "so you're not speaking from experience, then?" :mooner:

So, just a reminder in case this happens to anyone else, no snorkel required in CA as of early 2007.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

Don't you just love getting advice from people that have no idea what they are talking about. It's just awesome!!

 

[james croft]

Still trying to figure out how you would get embolized going deeper...

 

[1_T_Submariner]

A LITTLE information in the wrong hands/mind is very dangerous.

 

[maged_mmh]

maybe he meant water embolism

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

I hope you don't mind me taking this off topic a bit, but how big do swells have to be before a prudent diver would thumb the dive? I'm looking for a bright-line rule here, something like, "under X feet swells, dive, over X feet swells, stay out of the water." I'm talking about the general kind of swells, not going through the surf.

Right now I just go by the "if it looks too rough" rule, which I get tempted to fudge on because I want to get in the water. So a bright-line rule will help keep me in check.

 

[mig_diver]

Haha lifeguards...

 

[RJP]

Don't you just love getting advice from people that have no idea what they are talking about. It's just awesome!!

Isn't that what the internet is for?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I hope you don't mind me taking this off topic a bit, but how big do swells have to be before a prudent diver would thumb the dive? I'm looking for a bright-line rule here, something like, "under X feet swells, dive, over X feet swells, stay out of the water." I'm talking about the general kind of swells, not going through the surf.

Right now I just go by the "if it looks too rough" rule, which I get tempted to fudge on because I want to get in the water. So a bright-line rule will help keep me in check.

It depends on the dive site. I've gone through overhead surf at La Jolla Shores with no problems. It's a sandy beach that seems to remain shallow for a mile! Actually, it drops off to about 30 feet a few hundred yards from shore before hitting the canyon, but it's a long swim. I wouldn't enter the rocky point at Marineland in any surf over two feet. I've been tossed and turned there too many times.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

So, just a reminder in case this happens to anyone else, no snorkel required in CA as of early 2007.

Unfortunately, it's still up to the Lifeguards. Although the Laguna Beach Marine Safety Officer said they will no longer enforce the ordinance, it remains on the books. Whenever I dive Laguna, which is rare these days, I duct tape a snorkel to the back of my tank.