What to do when "buzzed"?

[MASS-Diver]

You don't understand, flags are their targets!

With drunken buisnesmen out on Saturday I don't this is the case most of the time. But, yep, when lobsterman see you near there gear they will buzz you.

For those not from this area, there is gear EVERWHERE around here, it's really crazy. Big 15-20 pot trawls.

 

[miketsp]

Just make sure that if you're towing a buoy/flag it's not tied to your body or wrapped around your hand in case the boater snags it.

 

[scubastew]

Doc Intrepid & The Kracken (love the clash of the titans reference) seem to be right on target. Thanks very much for the information. I'd hate for anyone to be seriously hurt while enjoying their recreation time, diver or boater!!

Though to jokingly agree with yak, it can at times appear boaters are targeting our flags. And I second brianwl's idea of that hand torpedo, perhaps that flare-gun can be "launched" from underwater?

take care all and always be safe...not much of a chance to be sorry otherwise

 

[muldoonthief]

My dive instructor, who was an old Navy diver, had a pretty good plan to get back at jerk boaters. Take a good length (10 ft ?) of strong steel wire. Run it through a bunch of corks so it will float. Attach one end to flag. If a boat buzzes your flag, the wire will get tangled in the prop and he'll be paddling home.

Note - above provided for informational purposes only. Do not try this at home.

 

[Quarrior]

Note - above provided for informational purposes only. Do not try this at home.

You sure you didn't mean "entertainment purposes only"? Seems like it would be fun to watch from below.

 

[Soggy]

As Mass-Diver said, it is generally the lobstermen who are most interested in buzzing the flag. When I dive in a lobster-pot infested area (i.e. any shore dive), I tie the flag off to a nearby rock and navigate to and from it. Usually I drop it at the sand-line so I'm positive when/if I have gone past it, but dragging the flag is, more times than not, more dangerous than anchoring it. Dragging the flag often means repeated surfacing to detangle it from offending lobster lines. I don't like being anywhere near a lobster buoy on the surface....good way to get yourself shot.

 

[Clutchcargo]

What is the proper way to respond/act when you hear a boat motor overhead to save your hide and let the boater know to be more careful (if not report them to authorities)? Is there any accepted guidelines or procedures to follow?

Are we talking about high speed motoring or just a boat puttering around overhead following the 3mph rule?

 

[miketsp]

Take a good length (10 ft ?) of strong steel wire. Run it through a bunch of corks so it will float. Attach one end to flag. If a boat buzzes your flag, the wire will get tangled in the prop and he'll be paddling home.

That's a really cool idea I hadn't seen before & I thought I'd seen them all. Back in the 80s before the Internet really got going and people invented filters, there was a document circulating on the BBSs called "The Terrorist's Handbook" full of all sorts of similar ideas (and some a lot, lot more lethal).


(BBS = Bulletin Board System, for the more junior members. )

 

[Charlie99]

As Cancun Mark mentioned, freeflowing a reg to make a big bubble patch makes your bubble stream more obvious.

Sometimes I will also pull down the float down a bit, then let it pop back up a few times -- trying to make it obvious that there is someone at the other end of the line.

 

[MASS-Diver]

As Cancun Mark mentioned, freeflowing a reg to make a big bubble patch makes your bubble stream more obvious.

Sometimes I will also pull down the float down a bit, then let it pop back up a few times -- trying to make it obvious that there is someone at the other end of the line.

Dude,

What's up with the bubbles suggestion? This is dark water that is seldom calm - there's no way a boat going fast at all is going to see (or care about) some extra bubbles. Not to mention we dive in COLD WATER here - freeflowing is never a good idea. jeeezzzz