What I would like to see on every dive boat

[jar546]

I wish that I could take all of the great things from each dive boat that I have been on and have them as standard on all dive boats. On my wish list for all dive boats. Yes, this is a wish list and I would like others to add.

* Separate buckets for cameras
* Enough water to drink so we don't run out after the 1st dive
* A dive flag to display while we are in the water
* HP tanks with more than 2200 or 2700 psi
* Enough weight for ALL of the divers
* A good system for accountability of divers vs no system at all
* A marine toilet
* Both engines working before we leave the dock

OK, that list is what was actually lacking during a recent trip I took. Here is more of an actual wish list.

* Fresh water rinse hose
* Snacks, such as fruit, cookies, crackers, etc. Cheap, simple stuff (when I am traveling, I don't store food to pack)
* Wide enough so that there can be 2 lines of divers going off the back at the same time
* Christmas tree ladder for fin use
* A dry place to store your dry gear

I don't think I am asking for much. This may be SOP for many dive boats out there but I only found 1 (other than a liveaboard) that had all of this (minus the snacks)

What's on your list?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

No CD player blasting obnoxious music at ear splitting decibels.
That's about it. Everything else you noted has been on every boat I've been on or would go on.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Your expectations are low, wear are you diving from? Most of the boats I frequent have all of your items except the ladder, but they have huge platforms so the need is less. From my list you will deduce I lean to using larger boats that run full day trips

1) Oxygen and the training to use it.
2) Fully stocked first aid kit
3) Crew trained in first aid / CPR
4) Camera Bench
5) Dual compressors (bigger boats) and dual gens
6) Hot/Warm fresh water if you are diving a wetsuit
7) Beer for the ride back
8) Bunks for the night before
9) Hot breakfast
10) Functioning radar
11) Good grub

 

[reefduffer]

I like your list. I'm there to dive, and I'll put up with a lot less, even in the safety category, but I will choose an operator based on amenities once I get familiar with what's available at a locale. I'm going to add a few, but thinking about them makes me realize how much I really like LCBR, which is the only place I've seen these:

- An AED.
- A large dry towel for each diver. Sometimes it was even warm from the dryer.

LCBR didn't have it, but I would wish for:
- Hot coffee. I've been on boats that had it.

- Tools and spare kit (mask, reg set, hoses) to save a dive.
- Not just enough weights, but enough small weights so I can distribute properly. I can't pack my own while traveling, and two
four-pounders is not the same as four 2-pounders.

- While I wait with the rest of the diver community for the Nautilus Lifeline to be generally available, and looking to when it is, I'd like the boat to have a marine radio I can use it with. One that's turned on, not one sitting in a drybox in the bow compartment in case the boat gets in trouble.

 

[lsorenson]

A good looking blond passing out beers and grilling burgers...!!!

Actually, the boat I go out on does do this... except the beers are after the last dive...!!!

I just expect the crew to be taking it serious and no horsing around when divers are still in the water... Oh, and Bean Bag chairs for the 3 hour beating we take getting out to the Meg ledges and the outer shipwrecks here in NC... I bring my own for now...!

lee

 

[Shasta_man]

bean bag chairs...hmmm....idea....

 

[lsorenson]

bean bag chairs...hmmm....idea....

Can't beat em'... Trust me on this one!!!

 

[Wookie]

You got anything tough, yet?

That Christmas tree ladder is a northeast thing, and with a very few exceptions mostly in Florida, not the standard anywhere else in the world. If you can't learn to take your fins off before boarding, you'll be very limited where you dive. The biggest reason I won't have them is that when the boat falls off the wind and lays in the trough, the ends of the rungs will "stab" the diver as he falls off the ladder. I almost acquiesced last year and built one, when the other liveaboard that operates in my area offered to give me a set for free. He built them for his boat, but after the second diver cracked their skull when they fell off the ladder and the ladder spanked them, he went back to the tried and true rung ladder.

 

[Wookie]

bean bag chairs...hmmm....idea....

I got mine from E-SEA Rider. They rock my world, are up on the sundeck all the time, haven't faded or cracked or anything that vinyl does when left in the sun all the time. They're affordable (less than 100 bucks), and look great. I added 4 more to the original 2 this year.

 

[DMDavid]

A good looking blond passing out beers and grilling burgers...!!!

I'm so sick and tired of so many ugly divemasters and boat captains.
I demand we have less hairy, beer-bellied, fart popping, booger flipping boat crews and start using the same hiring standards that some of my favorite buffalo wing restaurants use.





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