New Dive Flag Regulations for Cape Ann Area?!?!?!

[MSilvia]

I'm happy down here on the South Shore.

I just had a good dive at Burke's Beach in Marshfield yesterday. Gotta love twin breakwalls perpedicular to the beach with 40' depths at the ends... great hunting!

There's even parking available if you're there early or late enough.

There was one guy setting traps from his kayak, and a couple of snorkelers hunting bugs, but no hassles to be found. I'm finding fewer reasons to go to Cape Ann by the day.

 

[scubadobadoo]

I am heading to CA this weekend with 7 people and we will spend thousands diving and staying there. This is getting silly! 25 feet away from lobster traps? LOL! Impossible in 10 feet of viz!!!! 1 dive flag per diver? lol!! I am guessing a diver wasn't around when this law was passed? The reality is that the average income in this area means that they don't care if divers come and stay in CA. However, I am guessing that the business owners do care. That is the way to go! Local business owners have to get envolved here and we (dive clubs) have to get behind them. This isn't an easy fix though. One way to go here beyond the financial loss, argument wise, is to claim that these laws will cause accidents and that the city could get sued if divers hurt themselves obeying these stupid laws. Just thinking out loud now....

Let's face it though, CA residents tend to be rich and they don't really care if we are there or not supporting the local business.

 

[christine1223]

The whole flag thing is nuts, but leaving diamond rings in a bag is just dumb, and I'd hardly blame their loss on "Cape Ann" trying to bring people down.

It is just so coincidental that so many bad incidences have happened at Plum... Off the top of my head... Stolen keys, slashed tires, keyed cars, stolen rings, lobster boat harassment on divers... Just to name a few. It is one thing after another.

 

[scubadobadoo]

Now you all got me thinking...What is the fine for not following these silly rules, assuming they are being enforced?

Also, let's say someone harrasses a diver's flag by pulling on it or pulling it away etc...Isn't this illegal considering it could cuase a diver to panic or ascend too quickly? This, as we all know, could cause serious injuries or even a fatality. If someone harrasses a dive flag and is witnessed doing it, is it even worth reporting them, considering the police force in CA tends to not be too diver friendly?

Man this is making me mad and it hasn't even happened to me yet. I have had my dive flag buzzed by small craft. Some idiots just don't understand the danger they are putting divers in.

 

[RIOceanographer]

My question is, what sort of territorial rights the state of MA grants towns for coastal waters? From what I can tell, MA towns seem to have control over harbors, salt ponds and other confined water bodies enclosed by the the town as well as tidal flats since towns control moorings and shellfishing for these areas, but I don't know how far offshore, if at all, MA grants towns territorial rights on open coastlines. If towns only have territorial rights to the low tide mark then you aren't in Gloucester during the dive. Do any MA legal experts know the answer to this question?

 

[Dragon2115]

Actually I think it more likely that the boaters just don't care.


As for the one dive flag per diver, the ones that will be hurt the worst will be the OW classes. Most of these people are just learning to deal with being UW for the first time and now they're going to have to haul a flag around on their very first dive? This is just plain BS. About the only way they'll be able to deal with it if the law is enforced is to use the ganged floats on one line approach suggested earlier. I'm sure once CA catches on to this loophole it will be closed by requiring each diver to control their own float.

My guess is this is the local lobstermen pressuring the politicians because their catch has been getting thin lately. In their opinion it must be the divers because it couldn't possibly be anything to do with them over fishing the resource. So what they've done is get it set up so that it's physically impossible to hunt for lobster and stay 25' away from their pots so therefore you can't go into the lobstering areas at all. this is nothing more than typical protectionist BS at its finest. Who says you gotta be the CEO of a huge corporation to be a self absorbed a-hole?

 

[scubajenn81]

Wow.... sorry, but there is no way that people are going to follow that rule, I know I am not. How would they even monitor that? I am safe when I dive, but there is no reason for one flag per person, especially if you are nice and close to your buddy like you should be.

 

[yak]

I just had a good dive at Burke's Beach in Marshfield yesterday. Gotta love twin breakwalls perpedicular to the beach with 40' depths at the ends... great hunting!

There's even parking available if you're there early or late enough.

There was one guy setting traps from his kayak, and a couple of snorkelers hunting bugs, but no hassles to be found. I'm finding fewer reasons to go to Cape Ann by the day.

as long as you don't have to ascend between the breakwalls...

I would expect there would be lots of mono entangements in that area, it's popular for fishing.

I agree, I see no need to drive 128 to dive.

 

[mello-yellow]

"One flag per person" rule is just plain dangerous, and NEADC's lawyer should be arguing that. Whereas "25 feet from lobster pot" rule is impossible to observe and impossible to enforce. How does anyone on the surface know whether you are within 25' of a lobster pot or not? If your flag is within 25' of a lobster trap float, it is virtually certain that you yourself are not within 25' of the corresponding trap, because flag lines and trap lines reach surface at very different angles.

 

[dbg40]

To hell with them, they want a war, start cutting bouy lines. Every time a divers car is vandalized, 20 bouy's go floating. Kind of a "Boston lobster party"