The tulip, $5 dive flag and buoy

[Nathan Doty]

Yes, you can buy a buoy for 30ish bucks. But what's the fun in that? Let's be honest. The real question is "what's does he come up with these names?"

Since things are a mystery even to me.

So let's do this!

Supply list:
4 foot fiberglass driveway marker from lowes. $2

1 can expanding foam, free because i always have some on hand. $3 otherwise.

That's the end of the $$$.

Duct tape

If you can't fix it with expanding foam and duct tape, It's not worth fixing.

2 planters, leftover from last spring.

Lead fishing weights collected during a pier clean up last summer.

1 piece of wire

1 dive flag, also free,. See my last minute dive flag post.

This one's quick. Tape planters together.

Drill a hole through the bottom of both planters just big enough to push the marker through. Once you're happy with the spacing fill the planters with expanding foam. Let it cure.

Attach the flag to the pole. Drill a hole the size of your wire through the marker, at the top edge of your flag. Slide the wire in and attach to your flag, that's your stiffener.

You're almost done.

Drill a 1.25 (or whatever, this ain't rocket surgery) hole in some scrap wood. This will be your mold. Get some pliers to hold the lead and make some drain bramage!

That is melt the lead into the mold, let it cool. Then drill a slightly less than marker sized hole through the middle.

Force the marker pole through the hole, and you're done.

You can peel the planters off, im leaving mine because i think it's fun. I did take off the tape and hit the lead with plastidip.


This is actually my 2nd attempt. My first didn't float like i wanted. I used a 20 oz coke bottle as a float mold and pex as my center pole. Im a little disappointed not having a coke float. I think the pex was just too much weight. I'll be doing another flag shortly, i'll probably try the coke again with a fiberglass marker.

This one is perfect, at least in my hot tub. Ocean tomorrow!

 

[0321tony]

Excellent Idea and thanks for sharing. I am curious to know if the foam will become water logged or not though.

 

[Sam Miller III]

The dive flag was created in September 1957 by the late great Ted Nixon-- Recreational diving is the only sport that has a universally accepted unique distinctive flag

It is red with a with stripe general 4 units high X 4 units wide with a 1 unit white stripe from the upper right near the flag staff to the lower left.

I would suggest that you alter your creation so the white stripe is 1 unit extending from the upper right near the flag staff to the lower left.

Then you have created a "Dive Flag " that represents diving

Samuel Miller, 111

 

[Nathan Doty]

Excellent Idea and thanks for sharing. I am curious to know if the foam will become water logged or not though.

I dont know actually. If it's "closed cell" it shouldn't absorb any water. Id originally planned on peeling the plastic off and coating it with Plastidip, which should seal it regardless. In theory I should have a perfect shape inside, but who knows what I'll actually find. It did work perfectly for an hour dive, it wasn't noticeably heavier at the end.

 

[Marie13]

On southern Lake Michigan, a number of the wrecks are buoyed for the dive boats. The buoy is a large laundry detergent bottle filled with the expanding foam. Cheap and easy to replace if needed.

 

[shoredivr]

In Tobermory there is an empty propane tank at 15ft depth to hold a mooring line up, then a rope to the buoy at the surface.