[miles]

Hiya

What i'm getting at is that in open water, the float is simply more visible. The fact that many boaters don't know what a float represents or even a dive flag, is the problem. Diving in open water with-out a float is EXTREMELY dangerous. Other boats can't see you, neither can YOUR boat-man. We normally spear 4 guys. Three dive, whilst one operates the boat. We spear in very strong currents, so all of us drift down together, with the boat close by for protection from, other boats, sharks, etc. We've encountered some problems when the swell picks up and you're spearing big yellowtail (BIG for SA standards!!) 10-15kg class fish, which have no qualms in dragging a diver up-current. Losing a diver in a lumpy sea, with a strong current is a DISASTER!!

The main reason we use reel guns is because of our type of diving. We do drifts over wrecks, in very strong current. You jump into the boat every 15-20 minutes, if that long, and rolling and unrolling a floatline becomes tedious. How-ever, the greatest advantage is that a reelgun doesn't tangle the props, immobilising the boat. I've had to pick up spearo's when their boats props was tangled with one of the guys floatlines and a large GWS was paying them some attention. NOT FUN!!

Regards
miles