http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090625/local/diver-hit-by-boat-off-mellieha
Does anyone know this guy ? Is he a member over here ?
yes he is a member d dulli
Seriously Nemo???????????
iwa ghadu kemm cempili siehbi m zurrieq gieli mar jghum mieghu l isptar qieghed ghandu xi ferita fonda f siequ
U z*bb di sena x sahta geja istra fuqna!!! Nispera li mhux gravi !!!
Hudu hsib guys ghax vera ta periklu sar l bahar , fi ftit gimghat ga 2 min nies korrew!!!!
nahseb ahjar jaghmlu zoni protteti ghad dghajes milli ghamlu zoni protteti ghas sajd bil harpoon
Translation:
I think it was better if they did protected zones for boats instead of protected zones for spearfishing. (fishfinder)
translate please, ??? ??? ???
Sorry to hear this, D was last online 5 days ago http://maltafishingforum.com/talk/index.php?action=profile;u=460 when readin the article in the times I wasnt sure if he was a spearo or a scuba diver let alone a forum member.
Let's be far more careful at sea and wish D a speedy recovery whilst hoping that the injuries sustained are not too bad.
very bad guys.... at this time of the year it is impossible to swim in that area
Quote from: Granitu on June 26, 2009, 08:23:56 CET
very bad guys.... at this time of the year it is impossible to swim in that area
When are the authorites going to begin enforcing speed limits along the coasts? What are they waiting for? Its the same every summer, with nearly all our most frequented areas becoming a No-go zone because some boat/jetski owners don't give a damn who's in the sea. Qawra, Mellieha, Marsalforn and Bahar ic-caghak are the first that come into my mind.
Get well soon D...
Shit guys............
I will try to send letters to all whom i think are responsible for promoting this issue of safety awareness.
I beleive you all beter do same as me, if you wish........
We moan and moan and moan, but that's all........
Come on wake up guys..................
Wish D a full recovery soon. I could have been with him yesterday, since that he sent me a mail telling me he had a couple of days off. I will go to visit him in few hours, and let you know how he is guys.
Last weekend at gozo, a couple of stupid jetski drivers, noticed a bouy, and what they did is a race around this bouy????????Can you beleive??
Oh my god .... what a shock >:( ..... just called Clint D. Visiting him later on.
true sea hunter, but the problem lies in abusive renting of jet skies and boats to people who don't know a heck about sea rules or a diver buoy.
so, even if you impose them, it would be in vain since they would still surpass them and come over the zone, especially in the ne winds where a little out would be rough and near shore would be acceptable
When I read 26 and from zurrieq in the times, he was the person who immidieately came to mind. Hope he has a speedy recovery.
I swore that at this time of year I will never swim the North Coast (At a distance) as I always had very close encounters, especially with tourist carriers such as YellowFun, Sun N Fun etc. It would be interesting if we organise ourselfs and get a camera and go to these hot spots. We anchor a buoy at the required distance for boats to stay off shore and film any perpatrators. Then we can actually see if the authorities will do something about it.
Get well soon D.
I am of the opinion, that as a Forum, we should do something about this. I'll speak to Skip about it, and we'll definitely have a meeting on this subject. We need to raise the level of comfort to ensure that when our buddies, the speareos, are practicing their favourite sport, they can do this without worry of loosing life or limb. At the sametime, we also need to lobby with the authorities to clamp down irrisponsibile individuals or groups who are creating havoc on our seas and close to shore.
yeah mate, get well soon.
good idea Gaffer....
dear members, thanks 4 ur support.
believe me, the sight of your foot (gharqub) cut in half is not pleasurable at all. hopefully will recover in 6 weeks time.
DON'T REPEAT MY MISTAKE, ALWAYS SWIM WITH A BUDDY.
BAGHIRA, hadt jumej off spiccajt mater dei, damn the yellow boats...
What a relief to see read your post. Such spirit is commendable. Probably we never me, but we are brothers in arms!. Thanks to the forum...
Quote from: D on June 26, 2009, 10:23:50 CET
dear members, thanks 4 ur support.
believe me, the sight of your foot (gharqub) cut in half is not pleasurable at all. hopefully will recover in 6 weeks time.
DON'T REPEAT MY MISTAKE, ALWAYS SWIM WITH A BUDDY.
BAGHIRA, hadt jumej off spiccajt mater dei, damn the yellow boats...
May you have an ultra fast recovery. I really got shocked about the news. Dulli is really an amazing person and a great friend. I'll be coming to see you soon my friend. God bless.
D hope you have a speedy recovery :)
get well soon mate
D, get well soon!
get well soon mate!
Quote from: baghira on June 26, 2009, 08:57:35 CET
Shit guys............
I will try to send letters to all whom i think are responsible for promoting this issue of safety awareness.
I beleive you all beter do same as me, if you wish........
We moan and moan and moan, but that's all........
Come on wake up guys..................
I think we should write 1 letter signed by as much people as possibble and sent to the authorities.
get well soon d
Hi friends.
I have just been for a visit to our friend Clint (D)
I know that this is weird to say, but he has been really lucky in terms of the risk that he was subject to. And also he found help from other people. Things could have gone much worse.
He has a deep incision cut in the flesh, at the bottom of his foot, but he did not touch any ligament, tendon or any other serious organ. So fortunately he will recover.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh good news.
Guys as he said, dive with a buddy and use your marker buoys. Be as safe as much as you can, especially during summer period, and in critic areas, most subject to boat traffic.
As markam said. I am ready whenever, to film both from the surface, and from underneath. I proposed this earlier, and this time will will definitely have to do this. We can put a buoy, and see how boats react. We then have to show this video, and we need also someone good in writing to help us promoting some kind of campaign r: safety issues. We also need to send some letter to the authorities.... Aby idea to whom...................
Thanks gaffer for providing help from the forum side... It would be a step ahead.....
get well soon D.
guys, remember to have the 'diver's down flag/alpha flag (the blue and white one!!! the dan flag(red with a diagonal white line) is NOT sufficient and in a court hearing, the accused can walk off scott free if the above mentioned flag(alpha flag) is not up.
i am up to any help guys including writing a report or filming
Get well soon mate................as for the spereos..........always play safe and watch out for the machos we have driving powerfull boats close to the shore. I had tha scare of my life last week when a 30 foot 'boat' drove past me at high speed. We wer on an 11ft boat just outside the breakwater enjoying fishing..................may his boat sink at berth.............................
Get well soon d jien dak li nghum ma daniel
speedy recovery and an unfortunate accident which happens every summer! I wonder where the police patrol are during the summer???
I know this area quite well and unfortunately the two caves overthere pose a series proble to us fisherman.
Guys as you may know I am now into spearfishing but following all these events I now have to take remedies. I will only dive if I have a support boat and a buddy.
From what was written over here our friend was very lucky. May God help all people in the water.
Get well soon bob u take care ;)
gws
Quote from: D on June 26, 2009, 10:23:50 CET
dear members, thanks 4 ur support.
believe me, the sight of your foot (gharqub) cut in half is not pleasurable at all. hopefully will recover in 6 weeks time.
DON'T REPEAT MY MISTAKE, ALWAYS SWIM WITH A BUDDY.
BAGHIRA, hadt jumej off spiccajt mater dei, damn the yellow boats...
Glad to hear you're okay and using the technology at the spiffing new Mater Dei Hospital....Internet Access and all :)
I wish you a speedy recovery, deep injuries especially to the legs and feet take a while to recover from.....if you need anything shout/post and I'm sure between us all we'll arrange :)
get well soon mate........
to other spearos i was with visa today and there was a guy near the sikka l' bajda we were coming from Gozo so the sun was behind us if we were going up to gozo it would have been hard to see a small float in the water with the sun in your eyes. One doesnt expect to see a diver out there. A bigger float with a higher flag would have been more noticeable.
Gws buddy and speedy recovery !!!
Chris 8)
get well soon D. You wrote some very good words
with this topic lets do something good. Just reading from both sides (spearos and fisherman) one can see some mistakes that can save our lives.
baghira: we can do it on the day of the alungi competition. We can both go in the morning and film them and put them on youtube.
gaffer: yes I believe that with this forum we can raise awerness at least with who log on here.
shanook: your right. I believe that the best way to go diving is to have 2 floats at a minimum, a torpedo one and a round one. Me and Giovanni we use to be either with 1 torpedo and 2 round ones, or with a surf board and 2 round ones. The board is good cos some times seeing a boat coming towers us, we just stand it vertically and one can see you better
robby017: last month I was buying a Divers Down flag (blue/white) and a guy told me the same words you just said
Hello guys its my first real post in this forum so first of all get well soon Clint.
I would like to address all the spearo`s beginners, amateurs and pro never risk you life for a fish. I understand that seeing everyday boats at full speed coming direct on us it`s make us be very angry and wishing in that time to have a swat rifle to destroy those who where going to pass on us out there but lets be serous.Are we taking enough precautions while diving.. are we going diving in a safe place with less traffic possible.. are we using at all times the buoys and buddy at all times in shallow water and more and more in deep diving??
Another thing is did you ever tried to understand how good and how open is a forum, maybe sometimes too much i tell you why... some time ago i was reading a post in here from a member trying to teach most of the beginners what he learned from a book. He sad to to be prepared to dive you need to take tree or four deep breathes and go down!!! guess what no one stopped him and correct his stupid words. Obviously the book is made by professional instructors but saying it like that it`s very danger and this can cause very easily a samba (I guess not many people know what it is) ...or worst a blackout. So please before you write and giving advises be careful as you are being watched at all times! This was sad by Chris Borg Cardona before me in another post a master more than anyone else.
Another thing is i always wished to make something really helpful for all diver I mean going on a TV program and explain our difficulties and teaching the few dangerous boat drivers how in danger we feel while they are passing close to us. I know some people who can help me, But one think always stopped me. How can i answer if I will be asked if we spear fishermans are obeying the rules? or the issue of the buoys or fishing in reserved marine areas or scuba spearfishing or night spearfishing or under sized fishing like in some pictures showed in the forum ehhhhhhh how difficult will be to reply.....
My post was direct to all us including me because we have to do something very shortly and that's why we need to be professional at all times because we reflect our sports and that is the only way than we can go a step forward.
I never wanted to be harsh or posted to offend someone! this was just my opinion with some experience and with a lot of thinking.
Congrats for the great forum and with the good people in it.
Wishing you a lot of fishing with less catching as possible ;D ;D
Regards
Dunstan
Great post Dunstan Haqek proset ta veru!!!!
Get well soon D
Perhaps my accident took place just in time to warn beginners which during summer start spearfishing for the first time.
I used to think that one would always have time re emerge once you listen to the engine noise, at my expense I learnt that this is not the case. Boats which are powerful and drive close to shore pose a threat to divers and swimmers alike. I was hit some 15 mtrs off the shore and I sincerely thought it was safe.
Now I m stuck here in hospital and cannot explain the sadness I feel when I remember that will have to stay away from sea for months.
ehh what to say, an accident which could have been avoided had both parties took more precautions....but its only ME who is suffering the consequences.
guys, our lives are at stake...
Hope you get well soon D.
As from my part (and other sport fishermen) the only times I drive near shore is in the early morning and evening. In the morning I am always very carefull but in the evening I must confess that the concentration is much less after a day on the sea. So I do suggest to have a bouy as big as possible (2 are better) and with a high flag so we avoid such incidents.
Another thing- during the boat licence course I dont think there was enough enphasis about diver bouys although this was 4 years ago so dont know about the current one.
I do also suggest that all boat drivers (even jetskis) should have a license.
I have contacted Emi Farrugia from X' Qala l-Bahar with some high level ideas I have because I think we need to create a production that really emphasises safety at sea from all aspects, boaters, spearos, divers, the authorities (AFM/MMA), the diving shops, the guys selling boats....hekk even the banks providing the finance.
If we could actively promote and get corporate sponsorship for such a production we could go as far as trying to convince authorities to make it mandatory for each person renting a boat from operators to watch a safety briefing, give out a DVD with the sale of a new boat, spearfishing/diving equipment, would be nice with the registration or renewal of each boat etc
It would be a big challenge but I believe it should be done.
DUNSTAN i dont think you were right that you dont go on a programm to promote spearos saftey because there are some who break the law. the authorities should take care of these. because there are a few egoist and stupid people the others shouldn t be made to suffer
Get well soon D. May you be out of there in a jiffy and go on practising apnea. Don't let this incident kill your passion.
This topic was raised time and time again in the forum. If I'm not mistaken Emic once send us a link to Youtube which shows the same problem spearos and divers have in Italy. More than 95% of the boat handlers interviewed did'nt even know what a red flag with a white diagonal strip means, let alone knowing the distance you have to keep form such flag!
As I said, D get well soon, coming from all my family.
Guys.
As I have said previously, I also shared skip's taught, that of creating a TV programme with the help of someone, for an awareness campaign. Previously I have also contacted emi. Hope that this time, with the help of the forum we do manage. I am ready whenever for it, all the help I can give will be given, and I encourage others to help also. I know that there are many enthusiasts, but many of them stay always in the shade, waiting for others to react, and that is shameful. As Dunstan said, there are also those persons that stay in the shade for a reason, being it due to the fact that they fish illegally, but these should not stop us, (I know how cautious dunstan is) from promoting our sport and creating awarness. There are law enforcers to enforce this breaching in law. What i do not agree with Dunstan is the fact that you read the post you mentioned, and you did not react to it......What if someone followed what this person what writing, and had an accident.....so never step back, and act.
First of all, get well soon D.
Guys as you all know I have been out of action for quite a while - so I dont want to seem as if i'm butting in or something but this issue is one which cropped up many many times and causes me great concern. I think that raising awareness is crucial at this point. I agree with all that has been said, especially with what dunstan wrote in his third para, but at this point I suggest one quick action - a protest like the spearfishermen in Sardinia had done a couple of years ago. We should just get a permit from the police, contact as many people as possible, meet up in Valletta or somewhere, everyone get as many buoys as possible, contact the press, and make sure that it would be over all the news papers the next day. Just a peaceful march down the street with a banner and buoys.
For the videoing as Marcam said just let me know and I'l be there. For writing or contacting authorities etc, let me know how i can be of any help and just email me or call me. Re regulations, i will try check out with a lawyer, but if anyone has access to police force/MMA lets try and be certain in order to raise awareness that something should be done.
Always keep safe, and if any action is going to be taken and any help is needed let me know.
First of all get well soon D
What about the marinas authorities install bill boards at the marinas and remind boat owners that red and white stripe buoys means stay away because there is a diver in action, and driveing close to shore with high speeds means a high posibility of hitting a sweamer or a diver.
Quote from: skip on June 27, 2009, 08:40:38 CET
If we could actively promote and get corporate sponsorship for such a production we could go as far as trying to convince authorities to make it mandatory for each person renting a boat from operators to watch a safety briefing, give out a DVD with the sale of a new boat, spearfishing/diving equipment, would be nice with the registration or renewal of each boat etc
This would be the best solution for this summer (and maybe next) but ultimately I think there must be a driving license for any type of sea craft.
well, he have car driving licenses but still accidents occur and people get run over still.....
common sense and less selfishness when having fun is the way. you have to know a basic and be responsible not only for you but for others too, simple
Common sense must prevail at all times and spearos must be aware of their actions when they are on the water travelling to their spot. Some of you are equally bad at respecting the laws of the sea in terms of maxiumum speeds near the shore including passing in between St. Pauls island.
well said skip. fortunately my boat can barely ever reach extremely high speeds
7 Knots full speed :) But still you can kill someone at that speed so id doesnt mean if your driving slow you should ignore whats ahead of you ;)
no surely not but it is not a killer speed. leaves a lot of thinking time lapsi that's why...
powerful boats leave none or very little in the nearby lol
true
Quote from: Granitu on June 27, 2009, 19:37:35 CET
well, he have car driving licenses but still accidents occur and people get run over still.....
common sense and less selfishness when having fun is the way. you have to know a basic and be responsible not only for you but for others too, simple
Ofcourse that accidents still happen but how about if there was no driving license?
Anyway I believe skip has some good ideas that will help be less accidents for sure.
moonwaker, there are people with nautical licenses and don't know what a diver down flag means.... it is up for nothing for his instance.
in my opinion the course is childish and a rip off. there is too few on risk management, and i haven't heard of first aid practice which is essential to have someone knowledgeable at sea
Everyone is saying things that make sense , but there is another thing i want to add, NOTHING CAN BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED AT SEA , just because there is no roundabouts , central strips , zebras , etc etc everyone has to stay on the lookout
Quote from: Granitu on June 28, 2009, 17:27:52 CET
moonwaker, there are people with nautical licenses and don't know what a diver down flag means.... it is up for nothing for his instance.
@granitu - I agree with you on this and I already said that there was not enough enphasis on diver flags during the course. However I cannot say that the course is a rip off since I learned some good things there. And we had one lesson dedicated to first aid too.
one lesson is not enough, if an injury happens an immediate treatment can save a person's life or more important reduce the risk of disability
they should do 5-6 lectures and do it properly not a crash course. i disagree with 1 lecture, you can't learn much, it helps but not enough especially at sea
Actually even 5-6 lectures are not enough without practical experience. I think course should be divided into more sub courses and depending on type of boat you have you do the courses related.
I think that in my opinion certain places should be avoided by us spearos during summer time for our own safety.I am saying this cause if someone gets hit accidentaly or not its always the spearo or diver that will feel the consequences of the incident.
GET WELL SOON D HOPE TO YOU A FULL RECOVERY IN SHORT TIME
that's hard to say that charlie. Yes its true what you said but this happen to a guy that goes all year round where we can easy say that there we do not go, but even like that there will be other people diving over there like those who go for a weekends on sea.
I believe that if doing more awerness, like signs and stickers and even something on TV programs will help us for sure.
Why we do not make our MFF stickers and put them in marinas, pontoons, patrol stations. Personally I m ready to let say give 10 euro and those money goes to someone that can make these. I m saying this cos I know that in here there are more people of same idea.
Like diving schools, they had made those signs in bays saying that Spearfishing Is Illegal In Maltese Waters when using .... ... .. So why we don t make ours???
if you do 5-6 lectures of 3 hrs each it can be acceptable, not the prime, but acceptable
In Italy they have already made it they attached signs in harbours and near slipways and Marinas . I dont think its a Bad idea . But before starting to affix signs we ll need permits from mepa and fom marinas ecc ecc ;)
That s why I said we do them with collaboration of the MFF. We should have a name. I had sent emails locally time ago regards "boe" and "safety" but still till today didn t received noting. So this is why I think we should start to do something new. This forum is the only means that we can communicate with each other so lets arrange to have these permits.
I'm available and whose alse lets put down their names
Let's have the alongi competition get past, and then afterwards speak with skip which is damn busy at the moment), and see what we can do.
We can have a conversation at the barbeque
a little off topic, but i want to attend, when is the next barbeque?
10x skip got your reply
18th July, venue to be confirmed shortly
YESTERDAY me and my buddy were diving to the west side of malta and we were about 100m of shore we had the bouay and flag ecc every thing in order but we still were going to be hit not from a normal boat but from a police dinghy they passed very close to our head unbilvable we were shooting to them and they were going to keep driving but they turned we were very angry because they were passing more then 30 knots and they were very close to land less then 100m and we had evrything inorder and he told us that we soppose to stay close to land as possible because the law say so. does any body knows any thing about this that we soppose to stay close to land as possible.beacuse i don't know anything about this law.
from what i searched this sounds relatively new,
and it can't be that it exists, there are wrecks at xlendi, xatt l ahmar, ect 150-200m if i reckon correctly away from shore and they must carry buoys according to law although normally they have assistance from a boatman. And they are meant to be accessed from shore with similar buoys to ours(same flag).
diver down is not necessarily for apnea, but also to divers in conjunction with aqualungs.
probably it is just an excuse for their negligence. there is no law for that, let alone that there is very little about diving buoys. sometimes i got the same reply from some boat owners too so probably they don't want to risk, but you have to make the sacrifice....
and 100m is not alot
Quote from: freediver on July 01, 2009, 23:22:47 CET
YESTERDAY me and my buddy were diving to the west side of malta and we were about 100m of shore we had the bouay and flag ecc every thing in order but we still were going to be hit not from a normal boat but from a police dinghy they passed very close to our head unbelievable we were shooting to them and they were going to keep driving but they turned we were very angry because they were passing more then 30 knots and they were very close to land less then 100m and we had everything in order and he told us that we suppose to stay close to land as possible because the law say so. does any body knows any thing about this that we suppose to stay close to land as possible.because i don't know anything about this law.
http://maltafishingforum.com/talk/index.php?topic=441.msg13292#msg13292
it happened the same to us. They came full speed on us and instead of of saying that they did not cared, after nearly passing up-on us (two floats) they told us why we where out there and who told us regards certain distance from the boe. I respect them a lot but this means that something is wrong. I believe that there is no awerness regards the diver flag. The important thing is not just talking but need to react about this before it will be too late.
Also every day we see people swimming with an olive can instead of a boe, so we need to show these people too that they are doing a mistake