scubafool
Contributor
My buddy Cathryn swears up & down that we are actually going diving together tommorow. Anyone know what the vis & surf conditions have been like? Anyone else interested in going?
Venice Sunday 04/04?
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Surf was high enough there were surfers, visibility looked like it'd be dive by brail based on my experience of being there other days with similar conditions. There was a large cloud of stirred up muck for a long way off shore.
OP
scubafool
Contributor
What day was this?
Winds are out of the west. Vis will be shot.
Ahh.. TODAY 
I went to Venice for the shark tooth festival and thought to bring my gear - ya never know! The waves were rolling, the water was emerald green with murky brown undertones, the wind was enough to make even big flags stand straight up and point eastward - No dive flags anywhere, not even a boat out over the bone yard. It was a good day to look around the festival and gawk at the 7.5" meg teeth some of these folks have found out off the coast here! And the great whites, and mako's and extinct sand tiger...... and smiledon fangs... and much more I've identified some of my bones now
I went to Venice for the shark tooth festival and thought to bring my gear - ya never know! The waves were rolling, the water was emerald green with murky brown undertones, the wind was enough to make even big flags stand straight up and point eastward - No dive flags anywhere, not even a boat out over the bone yard. It was a good day to look around the festival and gawk at the 7.5" meg teeth some of these folks have found out off the coast here! And the great whites, and mako's and extinct sand tiger...... and smiledon fangs... and much more I've identified some of my bones now
OP
scubafool
Contributor
Well, Cathryn is definitely asleep by now. Have to figure out an alternate plan for tomorrow's dives in the morning. Thanks for saving us the drive! 3 hours on the road for a nice stroll along the beach would kinda suck. See ya!
Scuba Duba Do
Registered
My wife and I went to Venice yesterday, Friday, and the wind was blowing out of the west and the waves were rolling in at a pretty good clip - 3' to 4' high or so. We are used to diving in similar conditions having lived in NJ and done plenty of shore and inlet diving there, even in February. Well anyway, my wife put on some extra neoprene and weight, figuring she'd be cold (she's always cold, even in a 7mil semidry wetsuit). We got out into the breakers and past the sandbar where the waves calmed down, but the wind was still blowing us southwest much faster than we wanted, so it was time to descend. Unfortunately my wife turned out to be underweighted for the conditions and we had to abort. I went down to see what I would be missing and I had a hard time getting down, it was like being in a blender. I couldn't see the bottom until I ran into it. Visibility was maybe 4" of pea soup and sand.
We went back today to see the shark tooth festival, and I almost put our gear in the car, but with the wind still blowing out of the west I figured it wouldn't be much better than yesterday. We had a good time at the festival and after seeing the really "BIG" teeth I can't wait until I can get wet again. I guess I have the Miocene bug in a bad way.
We went back today to see the shark tooth festival, and I almost put our gear in the car, but with the wind still blowing out of the west I figured it wouldn't be much better than yesterday. We had a good time at the festival and after seeing the really "BIG" teeth I can't wait until I can get wet again. I guess I have the Miocene bug in a bad way.
I am right there with you Scuba Duba Do... those bigger ones are found a little farther out than we want to swim though... well, unless we could hve a good escort of law enforcement floatilla to help keep wayward boaters back. I had a good chat with the Coast Guard Aux guys and they are going to spread the word around to the other local agencies and to their full time counter parts about the idiots who buzz dive flags... they dont want to have to respond to a call where one of us has been hit by a boat any more than we want to be a victim, and when I told them how frequent the events occured that seemed to spark the unit commanders attention to. Lets hope! 
Lets hope! Scuba Duba Do
Registered
Both my cousin and her husband are divers and in the Coast Guard. They are living in Sarasota while they wait for their house to be built here in North Port. I'm going to talk to them tomorrow to confirm this, but I read that there are more regulations that apply to the diver who is using a dive flag than there are for the boaters who are supposed to be avoiding it.
Doesn't do much good for us law abiding divers to follow the letter of the law only to be driven over by an uninformed boater, so anything they do to help enforce and encourage our safety will be appreciated. I actually had a boater drive up less than 10' from me, and a group of my dive buddies, to me to ask me what the flag meant.
You need a license to fish from your boat but you don't need one to drive your boat. But don't get me started on fishermen, I still have the 3" hook that got stuck in my bc inflator hose from a fisherman who intentionally tried to hook a group of us divers one day. They weren't there when we entered the water but came as we were swimming past the jetties. Thankfully, I was able to grab my bc mounted knife and cut myself loose before he set the hook and burst a hole in my hose. I guess I was the "really big one that got away that day". Good thing I didn't have a spear gun with me - lol oh well
I've been looking into dive kayaks, it looks like they might be just what we need in order to avoid that long surface swim out and back to the good spots, assuming we don't get run over that is.
Doesn't do much good for us law abiding divers to follow the letter of the law only to be driven over by an uninformed boater, so anything they do to help enforce and encourage our safety will be appreciated. I actually had a boater drive up less than 10' from me, and a group of my dive buddies, to me to ask me what the flag meant.
You need a license to fish from your boat but you don't need one to drive your boat. But don't get me started on fishermen, I still have the 3" hook that got stuck in my bc inflator hose from a fisherman who intentionally tried to hook a group of us divers one day. They weren't there when we entered the water but came as we were swimming past the jetties. Thankfully, I was able to grab my bc mounted knife and cut myself loose before he set the hook and burst a hole in my hose. I guess I was the "really big one that got away that day". Good thing I didn't have a spear gun with me - lol oh well
I've been looking into dive kayaks, it looks like they might be just what we need in order to avoid that long surface swim out and back to the good spots, assuming we don't get run over that is.
CBulla:I am right there with you Scuba Duba Do... those bigger ones are found a little farther out than we want to swim though... well, unless we could hve a good escort of law enforcement floatilla to help keep wayward boaters back. I had a good chat with the Coast Guard Aux guys and they are going to spread the word around to the other local agencies and to their full time counter parts about the idiots who buzz dive flags... they dont want to have to respond to a call where one of us has been hit by a boat any more than we want to be a victim, and when I told them how frequent the events occured that seemed to spark the unit commanders attention to.
DEEPSEAWOLF
Contributor
Mmmmm steel cable strung between two buoys... might do the trick if released under the prop... Is it illegal to use a speargun in self defense? Considering it's a thousand dollar fine to buzz a flag, plus jail time... and it could be considered attempted vehicular homicide, knowing that a diver is there and PROPPING them. I imagine the first time one goes to prison and the victim's family wins a horrendous lawsuit against him and the state for not enforcing it, somebody will open their eyes to the problem.
Mmmm... tourist season! What's my bag limit again?
Is it illegal to use a speargun in self defense? Considering it's a thousand dollar fine to buzz a flag, plus jail time... and it could be considered attempted vehicular homicide, knowing that a diver is there and PROPPING them. I imagine the first time one goes to prison and the victim's family wins a horrendous lawsuit against him and the state for not enforcing it, somebody will open their eyes to the problem.Mmmm... tourist season! What's my bag limit again?
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