Can they fine you for this?

I somehow found the time to get out on the water twice in the last ten days. Nothing like a real sanity break of boating and snorkeling. I ran to St. John in Moby Dick, my 17 foot Twin Vee catamaran with a 60HP Johnson. On a flat day, it is pure luxury and joy.

So I grabbed my friends Paul and Vikki, owners of the Baltic 55 OUTLAW. They do charters, so anyone interested in a really nice sailboat charter, contact them at: www.sailoutlaw.com, there is also a link here on my website at: http://stthomasre.com/st-thomas-virgin-islands-links/boating/outlaw-sail...

We had been in the water for about an hour, maybe even a little more. I hadn't seen any lobster yet, and I was actually feeling pretty relieved that my streak of catching them may be broken. It is like I feel pressure to get lobsters everytime I go out, so I welcome the next time I get shut out. Maybe it will let me relax and enjoy the scenery even more, instead of focusing on the free diving aspect of the search.

Things changed rather quickly as I dove under a large coralhead to find two bugs staring over at me. I snared the larger of the two and dropped it off back at the boat. Returned for the other and a large dinner was captured. Once I had both of my treasures, I hopped in the boat to chill. As Paul and Vikki continued to snorkel, I moved the boat further down the shore, idling closeby to keep any other boats from coming close to them.

As I was doing this, a National Park Boat came by, turned around, and approached my vessel. We rafted up and I was given a lecture that I MUST fly a dive flag if swimmers are in the water. I didn't get a ticket, just a warning, but I was rather surprised to be told I could get a $100 ticket for not flying a flag.

Understand that I was purposely nearby watching the swimmers in the water. I was being extremely safe for all of us, watching for boat traffic.

If anyone knows whether you can actually be ticketed for not flying a flag, I would love to hear from you. I would especially love to know where this is printed in the law.