Sailing with dive gear & Diving from a sailboat

[Nemrod]

A 14 foot inflatable, not a RIB, equipped with a 25 horse engine can easily cruise two people and gear just on plane at about 16 MPH for many miles even in rough conditions. The kind I mean are the Bombard Commando, Zodiac Grande Raid, Zodiac Futura, our Novurania Cancuro 420 (listed now as a rescue boat). Top speed over 30, plenty of range, seaworthy, light, can carry a bunch of weight. Ours had (has) electric start, steering wheel etc.

A Zoidac Futura Mk III with a 25 horse two stroke Yamaha would be a potent exploration unit.

Zodiac Marine USA - The Zodiac range - Diaporama Futura

http://www.novurania.com/models/solas/solast.htm

N

 

[OceanObsessed]

When people say a "dingy" do they mean one of those rubber donuts with a 3 horse or something like a 14 foot Zodiac Futura with 25 to 35 horsepower? Just curious.

It can be any smaller boat that you carry with you on the larger boat. At least that is my definition . We have used zodiacs and small hard bottom boats.

 

[Nemrod]

I ask because it is my observation that many blow boaters or either purist or cheap or broke. I saw one guy and his wife, both were rather hefty, sitting on their crowded deck inflating a pool toy with a donkey head on it. Later I saw them using it as a "dingy" paddling with what appeared to be a broken shovel. So, I figure, they might be typical.

Not two hundred yards away was a mega power yacht with what appeared to be a BW as big or bigger than ours covered and stowed on a rack on the upper deck behind the heli platform, I suppose that was his "dingy," anyways, I did not see them in a pool toy with a Nixon head and a broken shovel for a paddle.

So, when you blow boaters say "dingy" I was just suspect'n that it might be a blow up pool toy and thus the universal issue of how to get from the anchored sail boat to the dive location.

N

 

[dpbishop]

Personally, I'd rather be in a sailboat in a storm then a small powerboat. The engine goes on a stinkpot and your dead in the water, with a sailboat you can ride out a squall easy if you know what you're doing. Of course, I'm on the left coast, and squalls are a rarity; most of my experience with them is mid Pacific on the way back from Hawaii; you can see them coming and there's nothing to run into.

I have an 8 ft Zodiac with a 6 hp outboard, the sailboat motors faster than that and is more comfortable, so I like to anchor as close as I can to a dive spot, then dingy over if I have to, surface swim if I can. When I chartered in the BVI's we just dove off the sail boat. It was set up for it with a big swim platform that lowered down on a winch to about 2" above the water with a hot shower built into the stern.

Dingys are like any other boat, there's always one that's bigger and faster than yours. They just cost more.

 

[OceanObsessed]

We used numerous zodiacs and other inflatables for years. They are great for the first couple of years. After 5 years of moderate use we had alot of problems with them tearing at the seams, along the floorboards, etc. We had one get accidentally puctured while diving at a pretty remote location. This was around the 80's thru late 90's. Zodiacs seemed to have a 5 year limit until the glue desintegrated and then the boat was practically worthless. We used at least 3 different zodiacs and they all fell apart at the seams after 5 years. Hopefully they are constructed of better quality these days. We eventually got fed up with the inflatables and upgraded to a small boston whaler that we kept upside down on the deck. Personally, I'd go with a hard bottom boat like a whaler over any inflatable if you have the option. The problem is storage. The inflatables are convenient because you can store them down below. You need a descent amount of room on the forward deck or some davits on the back of the boat for a hard bottom boat. If you store any boat on the forward deck you can use the main halyard to which it up and down into the water, like someone else mentioned above.

 

[Nemrod]

Your right about the Zodiacs especially those from the 90s. Their bonding processes are much improved now but it did give them a black eye. Zodiacs are not hypalon boats, they use a synthetic plastic material. I believe they are as good as hypalon now but they did have a spell there for sure. A good boat should last at least ten years but again your right, a good 30 year old Boston Whaler 13 foot skiff will still outlast most inflatables even with a 30 year head start. That is why brand W has high resale and the blow up boats don't. But, a good inflatable has it's place and I was just curious if you guys were using high speed top quality boats as auxillaries and dive mission boats rather than trying to get in close on a reef with a 40 foot sailing yacht and if so how you do it and store it.

Using the main halyard, how much weight can you typically lift with a 30 to 40 foot sailing yacht? How much is to much hung off the back on davits?

N

 

[dpbishop]

The halyard itself should be good for at least 3,000 lbs, maybe more. Dingy davits usually lift 300-450 lbs per davit, but they can custom make anything. You might have to but braces under the deck to transfer the load to the hull if your lifting too much weight.

One nice thing about inflatables is you can tow them without sinking them; if they have a drain plug in the stern they stay pretty light and you should only lose 1/4 - 1/2 knot of boat speed. We usually store it inflated on the bow for the crossing, then tow it from anchorage to anchorage at the island.

 

[JackConnick]

My old West Marine PVC boat finally disintegrated and I found an older 10' late 80's orange Zodiac for $100 that had the thwarts fall out of it. I'm pretty good with PVC glue and over the course of a few nights, put it back together as new. So for $150 it'll go a couple of years anyway.

I have towed a 14' Zodiac with an air floor, loaded with 4 guys cold water gear and it only slowed my 28' boat by 1/2-3/4 knots.

A bridle can be easily rigged out of some webbing to 3 or 4 points and then a halyard can be used to hoist it on deck. I usually then blow it and roll it up into thirds and lash it under the boom. If I'm going out into the Straits and it looks rough I roll it and put it below.

One point on inflatables (not hard bottom ones), although they are fairly safe, and can go long instances with a decent engine, they are not all that comfortable a ride. A few miles with gear and divers aboard is plenty, IMHO.

Ditto for me, I'd much rather be in a blow in a sailboat, I can get myself out of most nay situation and I like having lots of ballast. powerboats float upside down about as well as right side up ;-)

Jack

 

[Nemrod]

I think what he meant about not getting caught in a storm was not being caught in a storm in a sailing yacht in close to a reef or something that would make it diffucult to manuver. It was I think about 85 when a squall line cut through Houston and the sailing regatta being held on the bay and Clear Lake. Some boats broke for the more open bay but some stayed in Clear Lake. Many of those wound up washed across the perimeter road. The lake is shallow and they grounded and fell over so to speak. No room to manuver. Sailboats by nature of their self righting capabilities make them very seaworthy. As long as they don't sink. One good thing about towing a Whaler or inflatable is they make a great marker bouy to the sunken wreck--lol.

Yes, inflatables are bouncy but the larger ones can do fairly well as long as the water is not rough. Not much protection from the elements either. The larger boats with 25 to 60 horses ride different from the plastic dingys with a 10 horse. At least some better, like the Futura has optional seats and console and steering which greatly increases the comfort. Once we installed the remote steeering, electric start and seating pedistal in ours it was easy to run many miles, especially during the time we had the 35 Merc installed. Sitting on the side tubes you get bounced much more than sitting on the seating pedistal. Many people who purchase "jet skies" would be better served by an inflatable, not to side track.

This:

Or this:

Not this:

Thanks for the many valuable and knowledgeable insights to my question, I return the thread now to limbo.

N

edit to note that your not going to "row" the 50 horse Zodiac, you will just call SeaTow on the VHF if the engine fails

 

[dpbishop]

One downside to soft bottom inflatables to keep in mind is that they are difficult, if not impossible, to row against a stiff headwind. If your outboard dies on you it can be exhausting to try and get back to your base, so try and plan your trip so the return is downwind. The newer ones with the inflatable keels row easier than the older flat bottom models.