Nubble Light 3/10

[chipwd]

Dive flags can be a pain. I'll bet that at least one of us gets tangled in the line during any dive outing. Unfortunately, they are necessary and required by law where I dive. Even in cold weather, there are fishing boats out until the lake freezes over. I have a real fear of getting hooked by a deep lake trout trolling rig.....no fun at any depth and especially not at 100'! You'd never see it coming until it grabbed you.

No guarantee of safety either. Sometimes a fool will drive their boat over to see what's going on.....we always hang low and keeps our ears open during safety stops and ascents. Fishermen are usually good but summer boaters can be a real hazard especially rental boaters! They are a "special" class of their own.

 

[chipwd]

I also do some diving with SI and DM friends when they teach clases. We often will surround the entire class dive area with flags and floats. Me and a DM will swim/dive them out at the start of the class and hook them to underwater tethers on the bottom. After class, we will then dive out and retrieve them.

(BTW the extra dives to set and retrieve them are NOT logged dives in my logbook! I also will not log it as a separate dive if for some reason the class surfaces during a dive for the SI to review or go over something.)

 

[TimK]

Dive flags are required here as well (NH, MASS, Maine), however, at Nubble I don't recall anyone I dive with ever using one. Nubble is a pretty well protected cove and even though there are a couple of lobster traps in there, doesn't seem to have much in the way of boat traffic. Probably not a good reason but I haven't been with anyone who uses a flag there when they would typically use one elsewhere.

 

[spectrum]

Dive flags are required here as well (NH, MASS, Maine), however, at Nubble I don't recall anyone I dive with ever using one. Nubble is a pretty well protected cove and even though there are a couple of lobster traps in there, doesn't seem to have much in the way of boat traffic. Probably not a good reason but I haven't been with anyone who uses a flag there when they would typically use one elsewhere.

Dive flags are not required in Maine. There are some local associations that encourage them.

In the tourist seasons you can have several tour boats cycle through the cove during a dive so a flag or a DSMB are in order.

I do not bring a flag but always have my DSMB and spool in case I need to come up in the open.

Pete

 

[chipwd]

I dove Nubble in mid-Sept and there were a lot of classes going on and a lot of flags all around the cove.

That being said, there were a couple lobster boats that were near by and a sightseeing boat that went into the cove and pretty close to some flags!

 

[spectrum]

I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) many insurance companies / shop practices require a flag with students in the water regardless of local requirements.

Pete

 

[TimK]

Hmmm, I misspoke then. I thought dive flags were required in Maine. Could explain why no-one uses them at Nubble!