Buying a boat and looking for help on sites!

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ashtonmthomas

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Hey guys, so I am moving to Beaumont Texas for 2 years for work and decided before I leave this weekend, I would like to purchase this beauty down the road from my house. It has a HUGE 10-15" Monitor/GPS/ Everything in it type of deal. Well I am wondering, how in the world do I find dive sites around beaumont? Like wrecks. I would like to type the fix location in GPS like coordinates. I can read the manual for that, that isnt the problem.

Does anybody know how I can find wrecks or how I search for them? I want something to do on my off days and diving would be so great!

Thanks for your reply! If I confused anyone, just ask me.

---------- Post added June 18th, 2014 at 04:24 AM ----------

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Solid work Ash... Can't help you out, but I am starting to wish we were neighbors right about now.
 
If I pick her up and you're ever around Beaumont while I am there, feel free to give me a shout and we can go out one weekend!
 
Either buy a dive guide book which usually have GPS coordinates or buy a towed sonar imager, obviously the cost of such a thing is not a huge issue for you.
Not the type I would recommend for you, but I had the original Humminbird 987c SI the year after it first came out when a sponsored fishing pro sold me last years unit for $750. Personally I think a hull mounted unit like that wouldn't work on the much rougher ocean very well and it was pretty well useless past a certain depth (bout 100 feet as I recall) because the bottom was off the screen, but its ability to find anything and everything down there was truly amazing. The new units are worlds better and have a bigger screen for more coverage. There are a lot of things out there that people don't know about because they are in places that the people with the right equipment don't bother to look.
I ended up selling the whole boat, shoulda kept the damn imager, it had gps too so you could save waypoints and load maps and keep track of your course when "mowing the lawn".
You would use your GPS/radar navigation system to control the course and watch your track so your lines of scanning don't overlap by too much and use a separate screen to monitor the sonar imager.

That looks like it has the typical ocean boat problem of being a little pig with a massive freeboard. I would start by rigging it so a scuba diver can get in and out easily. I have seen both the ladder and gear hoist system, or some rather unusual systems of rigged up platforms. Tank holders would be good too, an all fiberglass interior gets slightly destroyed when the tanks start leaping around with the waves.
 
Thanks for the advice buddy. This will be my first boat owned. Yet, I know this boat has a few things that needs repaired and I know this isn't a boat forum, so I will not go into that. Now this boat does come equipped with this nice monitor and had a big round GPS thing on top of the canapy. Also the guy who owns it, did diving out of it. It does have some weird platform in the back.
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What is the model number on that Raymarine system? (C120 or something chartplotter head unit it looks like)
Either that's the largest GPS puck in history or a Raymarine radar dome (4kw 18" maybe) though it likely has GPS navigation and mapping and even weather maps if its new enough. You aren't just joking with me at this point are you? I would assume you would know what it all came with when you bought it.
I also see a Lowrance X96 depth/fishfinder and a marine radio with big enough antenna's to contact Paraguay (not for real).
I assume those Suzuki 225's are fuel injected and not older carbureted four strokes (I forget if Suzuki ever did 4 stroke carbs). It actually looks like one is counter rotating (reverse prop direction so they counter each others sideways push). Very expensive motors.
That platform was probably his dive platform then assuming its strong enough (looks kinda thin).
I used to fix boats though we didn't get many of the saltwater boats up here even on the river except for the sheriff's boat.
 
Look for local sites, many times they will have published #'s. Your DNR might have some published as well. 360tuna.com has a lot of guys from Texas area so you could probably ask there. As for your bottom machine, don't skimp out on it. Get a 1kw transducer as that is more important in some ways than the bottom finder alone but get a good bottom finder as well. This will allow you to find things while you're cruising around at 30knots that other bottom machines would miss and you will find lots of things while going from one spot to another.

I also suggest you get any boat sureveyed before buying it. Check the compression of the motors as his will make or break any boat purchase and the integrity of the hull. This is a major investment. Accronym B.O.A.T. stands for break out another thousand because nothing is cheap and most repairs will run at least that much. IMO it is best to buy an older boat that has been recently re-powered and already has everything you want. You can get a good deal that wy and have a lot of life left in the motors and electronics. Take a look at thehulltruth.com, they have a ton of boats for sale and you can even post a WTB add if you have a ball park idea of what you want. Don't let any of this scare you. Don't be afraid to travel a couple states to get your bot for the right deal. Don't buy one out of convience! Buying a boat is like buying a house, do it right the first time and you will be glad you did it. Do it wrong and you'll be in misery till you sell it. Last but not least you can check the value of the boat just like a car or truck. Don't get stuck overpaying. Hope this helps.
 
For most of Texas gulf diving all you need are your eyes and and a chart. There are a few diveable wrecks, the VA Fog and sunken Liberty ships comes to mind. Most offshore diving is on the oil rigs. There are the Flower Gardens reefs but they are 100 miles offshore. Do you have any offshore small boat experience. Texas waters are not like Florida, near shore is generally muddy with very limited visibility, you generally have to get 20 + miles offshore to encounter clear water. We here in Louisiana have the same conditions, also most all of our diving is at the oil rigs. Where are you moving from? Once you get to Beaumont check with the local dive shop. I wouldn't dump a ton of money into a boat before you know what is what. Couv here on scubaboard is in the Beaumont- Galveston area give him a PM and he can tell you what to expect.

Texas Gulf Diving VA FOGG Shipwreck Artificial Reef Program PADI Marine Life Marine Biology Fish Identification Course, Marine Life Taxonomy, Fish, Sharks, Turtle, Reef Fish, Coral, Ocean Life, Coral Reef, Marine Conservation, Reef Conservation, Ocea
 
I'm originally from Beaumont and have dove offshore there. You'll get decent viz at 20 miles on a good day. You're looking at more like 30-40 miles realistically. The Gulf is an unpredictable animal. I've been in glass smooth conditions that deteriorated to 5-7' seas with water spouts in less than 30 minutes.

There are currently no dive shops in the Beaumont area.

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It's called oil rigs you'll wind up diving mostly in the GoM...They are so easy to find...:)....

EDIT:.& you'll be a lot like us-- head out basically South(180 degrees) & head back North---till you hit land..

EDIT 2:...you might get more responses & move this post(or make a new one) in the subforum TEXAS listed under 'United States'......
 

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