Lanes Cove 7/24/2010

[oldflounder]

Stopped by Lanes Cove after doing Folly on Saturday. Just wanted to see if any divers were about. Left there with a hand-made 6" long nail studded tire killer in my tire. Was flat before I got 1/4 mile down the road. I want to thank the community of Lanes Cove for that. Has anyone else had a similar experience there recently???

 

[reefseal]

Joe,

Sorry to hear that. The local's weren't pleased at the amount of divers diving there participating in the Great Annual Fish Count on Saturday. You picked the wrong day to check out Lanes. The lower and upper lots were full of cars from divers. One of the divers that participated in GAFC at Lanes told me that one of lobster-men boats came close to shore dropping a bunch of F bombs at the divers on shore. Locals were making threats were going to call the police, etc,. I dove participated in GAFC Sat with my kids and chose to stay away from Lanes. Lanes is one of my favorite sites given easy parking, easy entry, interesting topography and even a small ramp to launch a Kayak. I've been fortunate to not ever have an incident with Car there. I purposely don't have a dive flag on my car advertising I'm a diver for that reason. Most of my dives are weekday, off Season and I try to keep a low profile. Don't go in w/ catch bag, to draw attention.

If I dive on a week end or when the locals are down there having a bender, I would recommend have a buddy keep an eye on car topside while you're under. There is a reason it's not posted on list of dive sites off Cape Ann Divers web-site or flyer hand out of theres. My advice, if you see a bunch of locals at the house on end partying when you drive by, (usually end of day, Friday afternoon..) would suggest avoiding.

It's a shame as it's such a cool spot. Great for lobstering as I have seen some HUGE bugs. Last thing you want to do there is show off the bugs you caught. You won't be popular.

 

[oldflounder]

I learned my lesson --- my tourist dollars will be better spent in NH and ME. I won't be going back to dive or be a tourist in the Cape Ann area for a long time.

 

[reefseal]

Sad thing is they won't care. They don't want any of Divers
dollars. The police just want fees for parking violatuons,

 

[oldflounder]

I have no problem when tourist-plagued communities put up signage to keep the traffic problem under control and then ticket the tourists when they visit the communities and apparently don't know how to read. I even understand how it is common practice up and down the east coast to use fines to round out the budget. I do have a problem when the locals use physical action against the tourists such as trying to disable their vehicle. As for not caring about my "diver's dollar" - I have been diving there twice in my life. I have been shopping as a tourist in the Rockport/Gloucester/Ipswich area about 8 times. We are blessed with many areas in this region to spend our "tourist dollars." Mine are going elsewhere in the future. At the very least I am hoping that others will be forewarned by this posting and at least make sure you have a spare with you next time you go to Cape Ann, specifically Lanes Cove:mooner:.

 

[DavidInNH]

I've done a lot of diving on Cape Ann and really like it but have avoided Lane's Cove because of its reputation. I've never had a problem at any of the other sites and have tried to be a good visitor, quiet in residential areas, not leaving any trash around, etc.

I'll continue to dive down there as it offers some very nice locations, even if Lane's isn't one of them.

Sorry you had the trouble there.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Sorry about that vandalism to your car. We have had some big discussions about Lanes Cove on here (do a search). As far as we know, it is understood cars will get vandalized when diving there. Some people have gotten away without getting attacked by that troll in the red house that's asking for a white diagonal stripe down its side.

I can also imagine that if the dive shop advertises Lanes Cove as a dive site, the shop may get repercussions also.

Maybe this Lanes Cove issue needs to be a sticky so no more people end up with the same treatment you got. It does look like a nice place to dive from the surface from what I have seen; and it was very tempting to us when we dove out there.

 

[Chugwhump]

WOW!
We would handle this thing so very differently in the south.
You folks show remarkable forbearance.

Chug
Loves deer season, fine rifles with fine optics, and long range shots.
Just cannot wait for November.

 

[crlavoie]

Stopped by Lanes Cove after doing Folly on Saturday. Just wanted to see if any divers were about. Left there with a hand-made 6" long nail studded tire killer in my tire. Was flat before I got 1/4 mile down the road. I want to thank the community of Lanes Cove for that. Has anyone else had a similar experience there recently???

A fine group of gentlemen indeed...

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/new-england-lobsta-divahs/106576-lane-cove-beware.html

 

[DavidInNH]

...Left there with a hand-made 6" long nail studded tire killer in my tire....

Did you keep the item and possibly report the vandalism to the police? Might be worth a shot. Not likely that anything would be done but if the cops down there (and other local authorities) hear about what's going on, they might do something about it. ("You may think that I'm a dreamer...").