Knife...Knife! Quick a Knife! CG Aux Misssion

Know what Ghost? I really don't want you to leave, particularly mad. You're probably feeling like you did nothing wrong, but people are ganging up on you for no reason. Well, that's exactly how you made the auxiliarists here feel by painting us as the same as the ones you had a bad experience with. We're not all the bumbling idiots that you seem to think we are. I mean, damn, I don't know exactly how long I've been here, but is that how you've felt about me the whole time? A bungling idiot putting the boating public in danger every time I go on a boat?!

Ouch.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Philyteach

Ghost? I really don't want you to leave, particularly mad. You're probably feeling like you did nothing wrong, but people are ganging up on you for no reason.
Ouch.

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+1 I agree. Do not leave this site.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Ghost

I take it you have aspirations of joining the cga?

To answer your question directly, they were within 50 foot of a kill shot, had divers been surfacing. There were two boats circling and I had a real problem keeping them both at bay as if I'm having to chase one boat away, that pulls me away from my center and allows the other boat to come in too close and at least once went within a boat length of my fixed down line marked with a red buoy. I think they actually thought that maintaining a perimeter was somehow helpful. In open water, 100 foot would be a very dangerous limit for somebody to patrol around as a perimeter. In fact, it's the blind following of some imaginary distance that is a problem. For a passing vessel that enters and leaves quickly, it's less of a risk, but for a circling vessel that is not aware of a dive plan, it's extremely dangerous. While flag distances are often written differently in different states, often 300 foot is used in open water.

I'll take the bait from your response that by citing a number that is sometimes used in some states for rivers and passageways, but not open water you think your being smart. I'll tell you that is you ever come within 99 foot of me, you will wish you did not. If you are within 500 foot, you better be letting me know you are well aware of my operation. If within 300, you better have been in contact. Less than that, I'm actively engaged at putting my boat between you and my divers, and I have no reservations of physically keeping you off my divers.

When I was diving we were in the habit of putting divers down in over 300 feet of water in shipping lanes as active participants in vessel traffic and routinely carried letters of deviation from the CG, and often had traffic broadcasting advisories on our behalf. I say this as your baiting apparently reveals you think I was just playing dive boat. I assure you, I never play at this game. I wrote the boat safety protocols for our non-profit at the time. While I always felt there was room for improvement and we never missed the opportunity to debrief every encounter, I'll confidently state that I knew what I was doing at the time as well as could be reasonably expected. In all our encounters, nothing compared to the issues with the cgaux. Had I wound up in a situation where a team was split, the extra task loading of having to fight tweeds dee and tweedle dum off the site might have been enough to either miss the fact that a team was separated, or delayed getting a safety diver in the water immediately.

So honestly, even if the cgaux had kept an incorrect textbook distance of 100 feet, that would still not be acceptable in my eyes, and exactly why they had no business trying to "help" while failing to coordinate communications. The first thing in my experience any CG crew would do is in fact to establish comms. That's the link to establish ground rules, not your little safety guide. Always loved having the professionals nearby, those guys knew how to help and not endanger others.

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Wow, another very angry reply. I don't know you, but it seems based on these few posts that some sort of anger management tools would add allot to ypur life, and possibly save you from further health issues.

No, I am not joining the cgc, I don't have the time, or the expertise.

i posted because I am a diver, and I wondered what they did to get you so obviously upset. I deal with people coming in close to the flag all the time, including LEO's to check for soearfishing, but never the CG or the auxiliary.

Sorry if you took it personally, it was honest curiosity.

And seriously, life is to short to be that unhappy and angry over a simple post in an online forum.

Oh and I would hate to see you go away, angry or otherwise. BE needs as many contributors as it can get.
 
What is a kill shot?

Personally I avoid dive boats like the plague. Particularly the majority which are marked exceptionally poorly.
 
I'm a USCG Auxiliarist. I'm a certified and enthusiastic SCUBA diver. I fly my own airplane over open water, sometimes with self-inflating equipment aboard. Talk about your triple-dumb-bunny threat! I joined the CG Auxiliary --and the U.S. Power Squadron(AP),--because I wanted to learn a lot more about boat handling from people who had already made and learned from mistakes. Exceedingly able volunteers in both organizations have shared their vast knowledge as I attended training sessions, volunteered at safety events and served aboard patrol missions. As a result, I have met some wonderful, generous, careful, and exceptionally competent Auxiliarists, and active-duty Coasties. Number of blithering idiots? Zero,so far, if we can leave me out. (I wish I could say the same about the divers of my acquaintance, bless their little hearts.)
 
Amelia - there are quite a few Aux's on this board. And glad to hear that you've not had the pleasure of meeting any 'blithering idiots' . . . wish my experience were as yours. The problem is, as in any volunteer organization, there will always be the less-than-professional (for whatever reason) person. As most patrols (in my experience) don't include a SAR - only a small percentage do - only a small percentage of boaters are exposed to the positives provided by Aux's like Philyteach in rescue services . . . far more boaters would be exposed to the ongoing idiot, and just remember those in "the orange vests" that passed too closely, ignored my Code Alpha pennant, nearly cut my anchor line . . . you get the idea. Let's face it - a professional crew on patrol goes mostly unnoticed, while the Ship of Fools would leave a lasting impression . . . they did for me (and apparently, for Ghost as well)!
 
Right, Gene... give some people a little (perceived) authority, and it can tend to go to their heads. I have been impressed, though, at the adherence to rules, almost to a fault. Aww, c'mon. It's a beautiful day, glassy water, the sound all to ourselves, a great boat, and three healthy people. Do we HAVE to go through the whole lengthy risk assessment protocol? Yep. We do. I'm sure there must be self-important dimwits who aren't paying attention to diver-down flags, but so far, they don't seem to be coxwains in my squadron. The biggest obstacle I've faced is learning what the heck all those acronyms and code words mean. Hard not to roll eyes at the stuffy militarism, but it's part of the game. And I still have much to learn about handling a boat, but getting there, at a very deliberate pace.
 
Momentarily getting back to a subject related to the original post, the life raft incidents should also serve as a strong reminder to never wear an inflatable PFD under a slicker or other clothing. That could be very, very risky for the wearer.
 
quote:
Originally posted by amelia

I'm a USCG Auxiliarist. I'm a certified and enthusiastic SCUBA diver. I fly my own airplane over open water, sometimes with self-inflating equipment aboard. Talk about your triple-dumb-bunny threat! I joined the CG Auxiliary --and the U.S. Power Squadron(AP),--because I wanted to learn a lot more about boat handling from people who had already made and learned from mistakes. Exceedingly able volunteers in both organizations have shared their vast knowledge as I attended training sessions, volunteered at safety events and served aboard patrol missions. As a result, I have met some wonderful, generous, careful, and exceptionally competent Auxiliarists, and active-duty Coasties. Number of blithering idiots? Zero,so far, if we can leave me out. (I wish I could say the same about the divers of my acquaintance, bless their little hearts.)

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Be very careful mixing aviating and SCUBA.
 
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