Proper boat mooring

[Col.Cluster]

divedude once bubbled...


If you guys and gals on the board are interested I'll put a post in for POW's year end meeting date and you can attend and become members.

Jim

I think this a great idea. It will be interesting to see what kind of turn out you get. Please keep this in mind and post the meeting date.

All the best

CC

 

[pufferfish]

Groundhog246 once bubbled...

What exactly is "unsafe" about people diving off their own boats, instead of a charter boat?

Well to name a few in Toby I have seen:

Insufficient lifejackets on board
Too many divers on board for boat's capacity
No oxygen on board
Tied to mooring with no one left on boat during dive
Broken non-functioning VHF radio
Gas inboard cruisers with rear/side exhaust idling near dive sites while diver's are on surface preparing to decend (huge CO poisoning risk)

More likely to see this stuff on private boats than the charters. Not saying all private boats are bad but just more likely to find 'unsafe' behaviours by the owners of private boats. A charter captain/owner has much more to lose if he/she does not abide by the proper regulations and keep TC off their back.

 

[Tom R]

Groundhog246 once bubbled...


What exactly is "unsafe" about people diving off their own boats, instead of a charter boat?

I think most of you are taking this out of context, maybe not. Maybe concerns is a better though

Wreck markers are not the only things out there, fishnets of all types are out there also. Marked with a jug

Some boats are not equipted properly to be out in the lake but they do anyway. I have found unattended zodiacs on the Frontanec thats about 24 hour swim to shore.

Also if a diver finds a jug with no bottom sounder you can be in 200 ft of water before you know it.

If you come to the store before leaving in your boat I would tell what is a good choice for the day.

Tom

 

[pufferfish]

Tom R once bubbled...

If you come to the store before leaving in your boat I would tell what is a good choice for the day.

And this would be a good opportunity to strongly suggest a donation to POW would it not?

Just curious what percentage of dives done on Ktown wrecks are likely from private boats vs charters?

 

[Tom R]

Most of them are given a POW pamphlet, they like as it has a map on it and descriptions of the wrecks, I would say that only 30 percent of the diving is done off private boats with the exception of the Wolfe which could be 50/50

TOm

 

[pufferfish]

Tom R once bubbled...
Most of them are given a POW pamphlet, they like as it has a map on it and descriptions of the wrecks, I would say that only 30 percent of the diving is done off private boats with the exception of the Wolfe which could be 50/50
TOm

That is quite a bit higher than I thought. If all the charter divers are making a donation to POW through their charter fee to maintain buoys that is a heck of a lot of private divers who are likely contributing nada. What percentage of the people whom you give that nice map to actually make a donation to POW?

I like the idea like I have seen in many provincial/national parks where there is a box with a 'suggested' donation amount and one just tosses the coins into the box at the start of the trail. How about some sort of 'parking meter' on the Wolf and other popular wrecks where people can toss a toonie into a locked box.

It would probably be too much to hope for, but a simple mechanism to collect a fee from everbody would be when divers come for their fills. One could purchase a POW membership for the season offering unlimited diving or the diver would be charged say an extra two dollars a day with no membership. Of course this would require the cooperation of the ?three shops in town to institute and collecting the fee might be a problem. Thirty percent of the divers not contributing to the buoys upkeep just doesn't seem fair though. With a more aggresive fee system comes publicity for POW which would likely bring in more bodies to help with the cause. Just some food for thought.

 

[wetman]

Does anyone know exactly what the costs are for all of this stuff? If there was something that someone got in return (like those tags in tobermorry) then it might get more recognition and more people would be conscious of it. Like an "I donated to POW - 2003" type thing. Not that i'd ever where one, but seem like a lot of people keep their toby tags on for a long time. I would think for donations to make much sense people need to see the costs involved right up front and see that their donations are making a real difference. Its clear that POW and other groups are doing great work up there, but if no one knows about them or there isnt much info thats publicly available, maybe people have a harder time seeing why they should donate.

steve

 

[pufferfish]

I'm sure if you ran for the executive they would tell you the costs

That is a great idea with a tag system like Toby has. Have a day tag and a season tag and the shops ask to see them and sell them when the divers are getting their fills. Most divers once they realize all those buoys are purchased and maintained by POW would gladly purchase a tag. Make it a nice tag with the diver wearing pink split fins and a can of spare air on his belt

What would be a fair fee structure? I'd say $20 for a season pass which includes POW membership otherwise $5 for a weekend or $3 a day sounds reasonable. POW then gets lots of addresses to send their newsletter to and expand their volunteer base.

 

[Tom R]

I put it out in to this forum,

What would like to get in return for your donation.

A Sticker already done.

A Tag

Something else.

Remember membership is only 20.00 and 100.00 for commercial endorsement.

Tom

 

[wetman]

I'd think some small visible token not necessarily a tag would be good (and it clearly must be DIR ) . I didn't know they even have stickers currently. Maybe a waterproof sticker that could wrap around a hose so that its completely out of the way and totally forgotten. Or a smallish tag you could hange off your first stage or something like that Or something that could comfortably fit around (slip over) the tank straps of most BCs so it could be visible. Big shiny letters - POW 2003 or something like that.

Another thing you might want to consider is get some of the local businesses involved that get some advantage for having divers be there - like restaurants and hotels/motels etc. If they're associated with POW, get them to donate a couple bucks with each room rental and point out to divers in the area that these particular hotels do that and provide flyers at dive shops that list these businesses and make people aware of it that way. Give out a book mark with POW info and the name of these sponsoring businesses on it with each air fill.

I have to admit, i've been diving up there for 3 summers now and if it wasnt for this board i doubt i'd be aware of POW at all. Off hand, i cant even tell you if the wreck markers have their name on it - thats how much I pay attention to such things.

Another though is, let people "sponsor" their favorite wrecks and put that up on a website listing. Gives them a "target" for their money. If i could say hey, ya i sponsored the Davie mooring or something like that, check out pow.com/sponsors and show people they might think hey thats cool. Just an idea.

steve