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Florida East Coast Spearfishing Let's talk here about spearing on Florida's Atlantic coast. Reports and other issues about this region belong here.

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Old 09-25-2007, 04:25 PM   #16
Bas Rouge
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Re: Nikki's Gun found this morning

We went up on Monday afternoon out of Melbourne and flew between Melbourne and Canaveral for a 20 x 5 mile grid. It was definitely difficult to spot as it was late in the day.. Any kind of bright colors would have made the difference. The one caveat is that anything white is difficult as yesterday we were dealing with lots of white caps as we scanned. I think a bright orange or yellow item would be invaluable regardless of the surface conditions.
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Old 09-25-2007, 05:04 PM   #17
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Spoke with FishSniper today and actually discussed getting the OMS gear for safety. I really like the idea of having a waterproof canister for flares and the dye slick aerial visibility. Also, having a mirror is good for signaling. Of course, the trash bag idea is good too. I wonder how often the bags should be swapped out? We all know they will eventually rot from heat.
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Old 09-25-2007, 05:21 PM   #18
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Myself and a few of my dive buddies all carry a small one man life raft rolled up in a mesh bag under my transpac.... it's never in the way and it gives me as much peace of mind as my second regulator.
I also have a small inflator attached to the raft, 150 ft of nylon twine and a foil rescue blanket (double-Gun also carries a waterproof smoke flare).
Here's my plan in the event of a drift....deploy the raft..... drop my weight belt on the twine and tie the foil blanket to my speargun..... I'm out of the water, won't drift as much and any radar will spot the foil blanket.
Understandably some of my diving buds give me lots of chit about my raft...but I was drifitng for a while once and know how scary it can be... I intend to never be in that position again.
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Old 09-25-2007, 05:28 PM   #19
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Signal mirror 3"x5" would make things much easier for aerial rescuers
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Old 09-25-2007, 05:33 PM   #20
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

If you are really worried about something like this happening, it's easily remedied with this

http://shop.sailnet.com/product_info...ducts_id/26691

Costs less than a shark shield...
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Old 09-25-2007, 06:10 PM   #21
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

I would not drop my spear gun for the same reason I would not drop my rifle when lost in the wilderness. Floating on the surface attracts attention of fish (eg. remoras) and fish is a source of food and also fresh water. You can suck on chunks of fish meat to get water. I would try to collect water from the rain and I would make water collection device from my lobster bag. I might get out of my BC and use it as a raft for the reasons just mentioned - it takes a lot of energy to keep in proper position. I might consider dropping my tank if it's steel and negative to get more buoyancy.
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Old 09-25-2007, 06:26 PM   #22
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

I spotted today for about 5 hours in very good conditions (good light, small seas) I was seeing baby flying fish at 500 feet. I feel that the best thing to have is something different and big. I really like those big yellow trash bags I think that we could of seen one of those from miles away. 2 Safety sausages and an dive alert with a couple of yellow trash bags in the pocket is how I am gonna ride, from this day on. 1 thing you realize when you stare at a water dessert for 5 hours is just how big she really is.
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Old 09-25-2007, 06:51 PM   #23
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by ARK View Post
I might consider dropping my tank if it's steel and negative to get more buoyancy.
Yes, we dropped our weights right away and then the tanks. I don't remember what happened to the regulators or anything else.

We needed the ropes from the spear guns right away to keep us tethered together. The ocean was trying to pull us apart and it was too hard to hold onto each other, we were eventually going to get separated. After we cut the ropes off we kept clinging to the frames from the guns and the spears for a long time because we had the same kinds of ideas about using them for something. We finally just couldn't justify the hassle of holding onto the stuff so we ditched it.

Hatts dive shop in Melbourne saw our story in the newspaper and gave us brand new spear guns, and I think they replaced our tanks and everything else that we ditched.

I'm amazed at how active and well-organized this forum is. Great work, guys.
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Old 09-25-2007, 07:20 PM   #24
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

My brother is one the CG Auxillary pilots in this area, although he wasn't involved in Nikki's search since his plane had an encounter with three canadian geese.

I had this same discussion with him today and he says smoke and dye markers are a waste of time. Their visual signature is too small and the plane would have to be right on top of a person to see it. He said a signal mirror flash is visible from MILES away.
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Old 09-25-2007, 07:21 PM   #25
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by D Wreck View Post
I spotted today for about 5 hours in very good conditions (good light, small seas) I was seeing baby flying fish at 500 feet. I feel that the best thing to have is something different and big. I really like those big yellow trash bags I think that we could of seen one of those from miles away. 2 Safety sausages and an dive alert with a couple of yellow trash bags in the pocket is how I am gonna ride, from this day on. 1 thing you realize when you stare at a water dessert for 5 hours is just how big she really is.
I cannot agree more, I spotted yesterday for 4 hours and I feel 2 white red yellow orange whatever would get your attention. the key is more than one hell build a f'ing raft out there make yourself as big as possible. I will be getting some bags in my rig for all dives and bundle them up in a ziplock. if I were to pick a color those yellow bags are probably the best choice. my eyes were shot out after 4 hours 5 would be enough to make my head ill. the crazy plane manuvers our plane did when we saw the red thing floating also made me green in the gills too.
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Old 09-25-2007, 07:27 PM   #26
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by WonderBoy View Post
If you are really worried about something like this happening, it's easily remedied with this

http://shop.sailnet.com/product_info...ducts_id/26691

Costs less than a shark shield...
are these submersible and if so to what depth? if not what would you put it in?
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Old 09-25-2007, 07:31 PM   #27
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

i've heard of divers carrying a waterproof canister, containing a handheld VHF and GPS.......get away from the boat and just radio with coordinates.......
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Old 09-25-2007, 07:33 PM   #28
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Quote:
Originally Posted by WonderBoy View Post
If you are really worried about something like this happening, it's easily remedied with this

http://shop.sailnet.com/product_info...ducts_id/26691

Costs less than a shark shield...
I've thought about one of these but would need a pressure resistant cannister large enough to store it in so that it could be submerged. I think I saw a post where Tony carries some type of cannister that seemed large enough. The cannister I carry is slightly too small. It's about 1/8" too small to hold my cell phone.

It seems that most safety sausages and smb's are orange. Our crew has found that the bright yellow ones are easier to see in choppy seas.
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Old 09-25-2007, 07:35 PM   #29
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

Maybe Spearmax will jump in or post at at a later date his canister he carries with him. or repost the thread.
Ironhead and all the others involved in the search...Congradulations on the herculien effort
Dave
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Old 09-25-2007, 07:41 PM   #30
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Re: Lost at Sea...survival equipment discussion

http://www.halcyon.net/mc/dlr.shtml you can have one for $269. It is nice because it says it will fit in the space behind the pad on the backplate. Good for collecting rainwater, etc...
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