Northwest Dive Club

We saw something today at Redondo that scared the dickens out of both of us. A guy with a small power boat ran all the way up onto the beach on the north side of Salty's to do something . . . sat there, and then pushed off and left. All the while there were divers on the surface near the pilings, and who knows how many might have been underwater. Although there were classes present, there were no floats or flags, not that I'm sure it would have made any difference to this guy, but at least if there were an accident, you'd have a better claim if you had actually had a flag.

I think that, until the boating/fishing season is over, I'll take a float or flag with me to dive there. We do a lot of our diving in the shallows there, taking pictures. I like my haircuts to be planned.

Agreed Lynn. A couple times I have also seen fishermen waist deep on the north side, casting out while there are divers in the water; and no dive flag. The last time was just thursday evening. And while it may or not help, a dive flag is the prudent thing.

LCF wrote:We saw something today at Redondo that scared the dickens out of both of us. A guy with a small power boat ran all the way up onto the beach on the north side of Salty's to do something . . . sat there, and then pushed off and left. All the while there were divers on the surface near the pilings, and who knows how many might have been underwater. Although there were classes present, there were no floats or flags, not that I'm sure it would have made any difference to this guy, but at least if there were an accident, you'd have a better claim if you had actually had a flag.

I think that, until the boating/fishing season is over, I'll take a float or flag with me to dive there. We do a lot of our diving in the shallows there, taking pictures. I like my haircuts to be planned.

About what time was that? I was diving the north side today around three and kept hearing banging overhead.

At 3:00...there was a boat that pulled in with 3 guys fishing...directly over the 40' line...pretty much over the Beetle. They were there about 15 minutes, saw diver bubbles and decided the fish were probably all scared away.

The one Lynne mentioned was earlier...

I wonder if a flag like the one Jan posted a pic of at Keystone would help or just be ignored?

We have a couple of popular site that get crazy this time of year. Redondo and 3 tree. The big problem is that most people have no idea what a dive flag means anyway. This really needs to be a part of the boater safety program. I would bet that 70% of the boaters have no clue as to what the flag means. I wonder if there is a way we could somehow get a signage program going to post signs at those public ramps in the area that are close to dive areas. The one at Redondo is a case in point. It is really scary at Redondo this time of year.

Tom Nic wrote:I wonder if a flag like the one Jan posted a pic of at Keystone would help or just be ignored?

It certainly couldn't do any harm. I was thinking one at the south end of the mast pier and one on the north end of Salty's

Dusty2 wrote:...The big problem is that most people have no idea what a dive flag means anyway. This really needs to be a part of the boater safety program. I would bet that 70% of the boaters have no clue as to what the flag means. I wonder if there is a way we could somehow get a signage program going to post signs at those public ramps in the area that are close to dive areas.

It is part of the Washington State Boater Safety Course.. Which is now also a legal requirement for all boaters 50 years of age and under operating a boat or personal watercraft of 15 hp or greater.

http://www.boat-ed.com/washington/study ... _700061000

Its also a question in the exam I believe.

there's no requirement for stupid

Jeff Pack wrote:there's no requirement for stupid

But there is a certification. :-P

Same thing is happening up north. I saw at least a dozen boats zip through the T-Dock dive site over the weekend. Caught two of them Saturday in the photo below. As I surfaced from one dive, a guy was actually lauching an outboard inflatable 20-ft from an OW class as they were finning-up. There were two other dive flags in the water at the time, in addition to the permanent one, and a couple of classes going at the time. There really seems to be a lack of awareness of dive flags out there.

Excellent photo!

Lack of knowledge or careless disrespect?
I have seen jet skis actually using a dive flag for a turn buoy! At least they don't have props.

There are a number of problems with the regulation. First it is never enforced, second anyone over 50 doesn't have to take the course.

Boats topside don't scare me near as much as the as those down riggers attached to boats via steel cable down at our depths

A month or so ago there were 3 crab pots within 20' of the flag at mukilteo. I don't really think it's that people don't know, it's that they don't care.

Dusty2 wrote:
Boats topside don't scare me near as much as the as those down riggers attached to boats via steel cable down at our depths

+1

Had a close call at Three Tree a couple summers back. Downrigger ball missed my melon by a few feet. I quickly realized that there was a pointy-thingy following it, likely rotating in a wide circle. I dumped air and went deep as quickly as possible, and was able to get out of way just before the flasher and hook went by.

There's no enforcement in this state. Years back I was witness to a 40+ foot boat plowing over a dive flag at the Alki Junkyard. The flag was in about 20 feet of water. There was an OW class including an instructor and six students underneath it. The mother of one of the students actually took a video of the boat running over the flag. You could positively identify the boat, clearly see the dive flag disappear underneath the hull of the boat, and clearly see the driver on the flying bridge. We contacted Seattle PD to report it, and they told us that unless someone was injured there was nothing they could do about it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yep, That's the way it is! I am not even sure if it actually is a law rather than a "Rules of the road" type thing. There is definitely no enforcement. About the only water enforcement at all is the coast guard safe checks and fish and game checking for catch limits. They are now patrolling for drunks at big events but even that isn't very well enforced.

mpenders wrote:

Dusty2 wrote:
Boats topside don't scare me near as much as the as those down riggers attached to boats via steel cable down at our depths

+1

Had a close call at Three Tree a couple summers back. Downrigger ball missed my melon by a few feet. I quickly realized that there was a pointy-thingy following it, likely rotating in a wide circle. I dumped air and went deep as quickly as possible, and was able to get out of way just before the flasher and hook went by.

Mike, you shoulda grabbed the ball and made him think he'd hooked a big one :-)

Jim

Dusty2 wrote:Yep, That's the way it is! I am not even sure if it actually is a law rather than a "Rules of the road" type thing. There is definitely no enforcement. About the only water enforcement at all is the coast guard safe checks and fish and game checking for catch limits. They are now patrolling for drunks at big events but even that isn't very well enforced.

Yup, its essentially a "no blood, no foul" kind of situation.

what are these down rigger balls referred to above? thats kinda spooky.

It's really spooky when your dive "buddy" finds one at TTN and then swims above you and drops it right in front of your face.....

Jeff Pack wrote:what are these down rigger balls referred to above? thats kinda spooky.

You'll see them go bouncing by the I beams with hooks somewhere behind at Cove2 during inner Elliott bay salmon season.

Jeff Pack wrote:what are these down rigger balls referred to above? thats kinda spooky.

10-15lbs of lead that eerily resemble a cannon ball...hung under a fishing boat using stainless wire....generally moving somewhere around 1-3 knots...with one or more hooks being drug behind it.

As I have also been crabbing off the pier at Redondo for the past month I have seen alot of things. I have seen a few shouting matches boater/boater at the launch point. I asked the attendant if there is such a thing as boat etiquette and he said there is but no one uses it. There use to be those white breakers off the pier but they are not there this year. I seen several times boaters back out in front of the pier while people had lines cast and yes they yelled at them, but it does not seem they care. I have also watched everything from small bayliners to kayaks all around the MAST pier just a fishing away. I also seen some rebreather divers come very close to the north side of fishing pier and when they surfaced one said " not bad navigation" for which I said you almost got hooked. I personally will not dive three tree during the day until the salmon season ends. There is just to much of a chance of getting hooked and ruining a good dry suit. OH and even the lady in the blue house has called the cops on fishermen but once a group leaves more come and they dont care. She has even posted a new sign on her property stating unless you have permission you are trespassing. It is disturbing to know unless a diver get HIT or KILLED by a boat that it really is not an issue. Yet I remember the police lecturing a group at Les Davis they should be using a dive flag or they would get a $500 fine or something like that amount.

Three years ago we were diving The Mukilteo Oil Dock during crab season. We could hear several boats buzzing around so, in an effort to be a bit safer, we decided to shoot a bag and use it for our ascent. My buddy and I were on our safety stop when all of the sudden my spool and line got yanked up out of the water. When we got to the surface there was a boat about 20 feet away from us with my SMB sitting on it's swim step. Noticing our heads bobbing the water the boat driver yelled over to us "hey, is this yours?, we saw it floating on the surface and thought someone lost it". I could understand the mistake if it wasn't for the fact that my SMB is 6 foot tall and has "DIVER BELOW" printed on it in big bold lettering.