Useless Dive Flag in Rainbow River, Florida!

[Redshift]

This is a big problem in places where there's no requirement to have any training to drive a boat. And I don't see the boating industry appreciating much if divers try to make such training mandatory.
It's similar in the UK and we've had divers in our club being ran over by a boat, despite having an SMB and the dive boat with flags being there.
Some clubs have organised awareness activities and made some leaflets and posters A Flag Recognition Publicity - British Sub-Aqua Club
There's also a project to see if having a different flag would be easier to understand Dive Flag - Diver Safety Diver Down | diveflag.co.uk

As for having an anchor being lowered on me instead of dropped, I'd prefer it, of course, but I'd still rather not have that happening. Divers are usually less aware of things coming from above, an anchor is still heavy, hard and with pointy bits.

 

[OtherHalf]

pneumatic drill hooked up to an LP inflator hose on a bailout bottle?

 

[agesilaus]

I'll find out we are heading out for the Rainbow River in an hour or so.

BK

---------- Post added April 12th, 2014 at 06:26 PM ----------

OK just back from Rainbow river. My wife and I dived from the park boundary to KP Hole. We had been in the water no more than a minute when we had one boat race by within 10 feet. We we maybe 15 feet down at that point and right at the park boundary. Otherwise no problems. You really could have a serious problem since the depth, at least on the route we ended up taking, varies fro 25 ft to maybe 3 ft and you are very vulnerable when your tanks are just about sticking out of the water.

Fun dive tho, lots of fish. Saw what I think were large mouth bass spawning. Panfish were clearing their nest sites too.

The river was very crowned, one LDS had two pontoon boats in the water and was dumping platoons of snorkelers in the water. Saw maybe 8 or 10 other divers. Otherwise there were a lot of kayakers and tubers. Not so many power boats.


BK

 

[scubastingray]

I'll find out we are heading out for the Rainbow River in an hour or so.

BK

---------- Post added April 12th, 2014 at 06:26 PM ----------

OK just back from Rainbow river. My wife and I dived from the park boundary to KP Hole. We had been in the water no more than a minute when we had one boat race by within 10 feet. We we maybe 15 feet down at that point and right at the park boundary. Otherwise no problems. You really could have a serious problem since the depth, at least on the route we ended up taking, varies fro 25 ft to maybe 3 ft and you are very vulnerable when your tanks are just about sticking out of the water.

Fun dive tho, lots of fish. Saw what I think were large mouth bass spawning. Panfish were clearing their nest sites too.

The river was very crowned, one LDS had two pontoon boats in the water and was dumping platoons of snorkelers in the water. Saw maybe 8 or 10 other divers. Otherwise there were a lot of kayakers and tubers. Not so many power boats.


BK

What do you mean by park boundary? I've always been dropped by the wall. You then drift back to the park.
I've always gone in the winter and never seen a boat.

 

[agesilaus]

We have our own boat. We put in at KP Hole county park and ran upstream to the Rainbow Springs State Park boundary. Powered boats aren't allowed past that point. Supposedly about 1 mile upstream. And that's where we jumped in. I don't know about a wall.

BK

 

[scubastingray]

We have our own boat. We put in at KP Hole county park and ran upstream to the Rainbow Springs State Park boundary. Powered boats aren't allowed past that point. Supposedly about 1 mile upstream. And that's where we jumped in. I don't know about a wall.

BK

Gotcha. I thought you meant you started at the boundary of the KP hole park (which is like 100ft upstream). A mile upstream is about the same start location.

 

[keller34]

I was there just last weekend. It was crazy. I tried the tubing, had to dodge boats the whole 2 hrs, so we tried the kayaks and the same thing if not worse. There were a few divers and I signaled to them if I could pull along side them and they told me they had almost been hit 2x already and they only had one dive flag because the other was ran over and popped by the prop. I was thinking about diving it but not any more. There was an FWC boat but it stayed near the head springs.

Going to Manatee next weekend, it is safer. To be honest, I feel safer diving near Anna Maria and St Pete than I would at rainbow river.

 

[Lost down under]

I've had a few 'words' with jet skiers in the past, folk who are not only dangerously close to a massive flag but also in a zone dedicated to diving and all maps are clearly marked as such. What get's to me more is that about 800m north there is an area designated for jet-skies but as the diving area is closer to the main beach blokes want to show off to their admiring fans... idiots.

 

[scubagrant]

Has anyone thought of cutting the anchor rode when they drop anchor on you? Not that I would do it, but I'm sure someone else has thought of it.

 

[sibermike7]

I think you left out a word in your question and misspelled "everyone". Probably just a typo.

Has anyone NOT thought of cutting the anchor rode when they drop anchor on you? I'm sure everyone else has thought of it.

There I fixed it for you!
EMT cutters work quite well, BTW...