Diving off of your own boat

[Tom Winters]

Geez, an AED? That sure seems like overkill for simple recreational diving. The O2 kit is a good idea but I've never owned one. Normally, my wife drops me and then I drop her. We never anchor until we stop off in Lake Boca. I normally don't go past 100' doing this. The diver down has to drag a flag and float - it's way easier to pop a DSMB, but when I drive, I don't want to have to watch for bubbles. I can hit the MOB button to mark the drop, but I like seeing the little flag just bobbing along out there. A lot of people we used to dive with complained about having to drag the float with them, so I solved that problem for them.
I have a sea anchor that I use sometimes to help hold my position. I might have to reposition myself three dives during a dive, but it's something to do.
Last time we went out, I realized that I got too bored sitting around topside so I'm going to look for a captain who wants lobsters or someone boatless who dives and has a topside driver. I drove commercial dive boats for almost 20 years in Hawaii so it's gotta be fun out there - when it starts getting like work, it stops being fun.

 

[ektess1]

I dive and drive and am boatless!

 

[pensacolaracer]

I actually have been on a private boat where the boat tender could not raise the anchor to pick up the divers. Apparently we only asked her about driving the boat, not operating the anchor. Ended up turning out ok, but was pretty stressful when we discovered this
Frank

One thing I do/brief all my live boat tenders about is:

I have a big orange ball on a rope with a carabinier tied to it. some of the boat owners will know this as a poor mans windlass for anchor retrieval... regardless, anything the floats will work. If the boat tender needs to come pick us up in a hurry, simply untie the anchor, let the wind/waves push you away from the site and when you get to the end of the anchor line, attach the big orange ball (or whatever you have that floats) to the end of the line, throw the whole damn thing overboard, ensure propeller is clear, and come pick us up.

We will go back to the big floating orange ball once we are onboard and pull the anchor. Never had to do this yet as the best practice is to have your wits about you enough on the wreck to always make it back to the anchor line... but the idea works just fine in theory!

 

[100days-a-year]

02 is nice but the key safety item is 1 standard issue brain with common sense option installed.
AED,never seen one on a commercial boat much less a rec boat.
VHF and a back up GPS and a back up nav system either compass and chart or GPS are mandatory.
Cel phone for close in communication.
A float plan filed with a responsible party,can be as simple as we will leave at x visit x and return to x at x
Vinegar,ammonia,benadryl for stings etc...
Sunscreen..we are in FL
First aid kit with tourniquet
Almost all my buddies either have a boat or have had one so that's not an issue.
As far as a divemaster,I feel safer without an one than with one,same can be said with 90% of the instructors I know.Find some very experienced and competent local divers,most of the one I know feel privileged to show someone new around.

 

[Rileybri]

As an diver and an EMT I will comment from that perspective. Although the comment about defibrillation and not CPR saving lives is true (meds and electricity are 80%+ more effective then CPR) it may not be practical on a dive boat for two reasons (that is not to say they are not there and used). One is the cost of AED's, in the hood of 1K for a non rechargeable on up to REALLY expensive for the rechargeable units). Second is electricity and water do not mix well. Before you go slapping them pads on the vic take a look at the big buddle of water you are kneeling in and decide if you want to do a 2fer. I am sure there is a liability factor to consider as well but I am not a lawyer. If you will never be far from definitive medical care (USCG and or EMS at dock) then CPR “should” CPR work for the CQ public. O2 is a GREAT idea on your boat. Nothing cures a morning hang over like 5 mins on 100% O2!

My recommendation before deciding to get a DAN O2 kit and an AED is to go out and take at a minimum a First Responder FA course or even an EMT course (over kill for many) and see what gear ya want verse "need" on your boat. You would be amazed at what you can do with duct tape, pocket knife and a drinking straw!

 

[Dsix36]

OK, you have heard about all the safe and sensible ways to go about diving from your own boat. Now it is time to tell a little story about my boat and solo diving.

I go out to my local ocean and find a wreck to dive on. I drop my anchor and go diving. When I am getting low on air, I come back up to my boat. I hang out and eat lunch and then go to a different wreck and do it all over again. Very simple and easy until someting goes wrong. I have only been picked up by another vessel and returned to mine once, obviously I lost track of my anchor line.

Is this the safe and responsible way? Hell No! It worked very well for many years and I got a lot of good diving in this way. When I started to do deeper than 130' dives and getting into a lot of deco, I found it necessary for my own sanity to stop diving like this.

 

[idive2]

If the boat tender needs to come pick us up in a hurry, simply untie the anchor, let the wind/waves push you away from the site and when you get to the end of the anchor line, attach the big orange ball (or whatever you have that floats) to the end of the line, throw the whole damn thing overboard, ensure propeller is clear, and come pick us up.

This is where having two on board would really help in an emergency. Having a reference as to the other
divers location would be nice as well if time permits attaching a buoy.

 

[cloudswinger]

When we had our boat, we would invite a couple of diver friends. No one did solo dives, or solo boat drives. It's more fun to wait if there's someone there to talk to. We don't have a boat anymore, but if anyone needs another driver/diver, ping me.

 

[fdarden]

Thanks for all these great suggestions. I am feeling much more confident, as several board members have offered to go diving with me on the boat, and help me get to know the ropes. I don't have very many friends that dive yet, but we are working on that Pensacolaracer helped me last night put together a kit that is on par with DAN's O2 unit. I am about 160 dollars into it and now have an O2 "D" cylinder on its way, along with a O2 regulator and a handful of non re breather bag valve masks to keep on the boat. If I needed to get fancy I could have added a 300 dollar demand valve, but that would only be useful on a conscious diver, and so would the mask. Now as several have pointed out, I need to go take a first responder or at a minimum a "lifeguard" style safety class to learn some proper lifesaving techniques.

 

[fl-diver]

Before this became a diving first aid/ worst case scenario discussion I think the original question was how do I dive off my own boat. I think we left out a lot of the basics.
If you don't push your limits and stay together you can hopefully avoid most problems that would require first aid etc...

Let's go back to the basics of a drift dive. (I have been diving Palm Beach area off my own or friends/dad's boats since I was 12 years old, now 35 years old.)

Typical dive around my area is 60-100' along reef or wrecks oriented N-S with lite to ripping current.

This is how I do it.

2 up and 2 down has been discussed and is a great system. We usually only have 1 in the boat and 2 or 3 down depending on number of people and number of dives for the day. (All very experienced boats/divers.) 1 in the boat does get a little lonely at times.

Start by locating the spot you want to dive. As you approach the dive site raise you boat mounted dive flag. (20"x24" min. size mounted at the highest point on the boat)

Stop on the site and active divers make final preparations. Captain will be watching the GPS to check the drift direction and approx speed during this time. (only a few minutes) I know currents vary top to bottom but it is a good start.

Once divers are ready captain motors back up current to the site and beyond. Going beyond the dive site will allow the divers to get to the bottom with the current. This is very important on wrecks for obvious reasons.

Divers typically tell the captain the approx. dive time to expect. Captain will note the time the dive started and when to expect divers back. Divers are deployed with engines in neutral on the captains command. In my boat divers tip off both sides of the boat and meet in the back and descend together.

One diver will carry a dive flag on a float. Our setup is on a reel with several hundred feet of line tied to a standard float and then another smaller bullet shaped buoy tethered 20 feet back. There is a reef hook attached to the reel that we will hook off the a rock while lobstering. In the case of extreme currents both flag and buoy will go under water. The boat driver must hold position when this happens.

Important note: Do not turn the engines off with divers in the water. A dead battery could leave your divers stranded.

Follow the flag close enough to stay in clear site, closer in rough seas. Keep the sun at your back to lessen glare. Move closer to your flag if other boats approach.

As divers ascend move closer to the float. Once the divers begin surface give and receive the "OK" sign to each diver and wait for all to surface.

To retrieve divers, pull up along side them in such a way that the current and wind pushes you back toward the divers. Do not "back down" on divers. Let the wind or current move the boat. Divers should not need to swim more than a few feet to the boat. Boat should be in neutral or engines off as divers board.

Help the divers with any loose gear and stow gear as it is handed to he boat. Help divers board.

The whole thing take a little practice but it will be your favorite way to dive in no time.

Have fun and be safe.