How's your boat set up?

[TheQuintessentialMan]

Here's the chance to show off your dive boat rig. Serious SCUBA divers are generally an innovative group of people and I'm curious how you guys have things set up. I've seen some interesting dive rigs over the years solving all sorts of different problems. Lately I've been looking at boats; types, styles, configuration, etc. (started over from scratch a couple of times already) and started wondering how some of you guys have things set up. Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[CanadaDan]

I’ve got a vision/dream of a pontoon boat with a flip down dive ladder at the very front (engine weight offsets divers climbing), bench with 4 tank pockets and a camera table. Then a nice padded bench, ice chest, sound system and a BBQ. Top it all off with a flag pole for the Diver Below flag.

As soon as my lottery numbers hit it’s happening

 

[rhwestfall]

@MaxBottomtime

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

Apparently I don't have a veey good photo of our boat but here are several shots that show parts of it. 19' Nautica RHIB with 135hp Merc outboard. Fibreglass hull. Does 35 mph on flat seas. We put extra fuel bladders in for trips to Catalina. We also installed a side-imaging sonar for locating reefs and wrecks. Other than that, not much modification for diving needed to be done. Re-boarding is easy. We just step on the rock-solid anti-cavitation plate on the motor and walk on board over a folded down seat on the transom. We pile our gear onboard and figure out what we need when we get to the dive site. I'm sure others are much more organized.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

From a similar thread;
Our C-Dory Tomcat is the perfect boat for the type of diving we do. Sometimes we go offshore to the backside of Catalina Island, about a 70 mile run. We also have seven other islands within 115 miles of our slip. Most of the time we dive reefs and wrecks that are within 20 miles of home. We also have wrecks and reefs less than a mile from the harbor.

We have a pilot house so we can get out of the weather. Wind, sun, hot, cold, rain, or just splashing saltwater takes its toll on you after a day on the water. If it's hot, we have two fans or we can open windows. If it's cold, we have a diesel stove/heater. The Tomcat has a queen size V-berth in case anyone needs to sleep on the way to or from a dive site. We also have a refrigerator, sink, marine head, and hot/cold freshwater shower. I added a longer hose so we can shower and rinse our gear out on the deck after diving. We don't go inside the pilot house with wet gear. We also have an air dryer and two dehumidifiers to keep the musty smell common to many boats away. We've owned the boat for ten years and it still smells fresh.

The boat is powered by twin Honda 150 HP outboards with hydraulic steering. We had a custom swing dive ladder installed to make climbing back aboard in full gear easier. I installed racks for up to eight single tanks or sets of doubles. A stainless Bruce type anchor and 400 feet of chain holds the boat in any conditions we have been out in. The shiny anchor is very visible underwater, making it easier to find our way back at the end of a dive. Chain markers let me know how much chain I have let out. I have different color markers a fifty feet intervals. Caribiners with bolt snaps are attached to the railings along either side of the boat so we can clip off our cameras rather than trying to carry them up the ladder. Our camera rigs are the size of many small cars. A thirty gallon rinse tank keeps our cameras, computers, and compasses salt-free.

Inside we have a VHF radio mounted as well as a handheld backup. A GPS/RADAR/Fishfinder multifunction display allows me to anchor within five feet of my coordinates every time. I have a drop camera so I can check the visibility and conditions on the reef before we gear up. It has saved us from a lot of aborted dives. I have a large dive flag on a long PVC pole that can be seen a couple of miles away.

The catamaran hull provides stability. There is nothing worse than having sore muscles after a day of holding onto rails on a monohull. It's great to be able to gear up on a 25 foot boat that isn't rocking.

It is fast enough to get us there and back, comfortable enough without having to treat it like a yacht, functional enough to get us on the dive sites accurately and safely, and it keeps Merry happy, which is the most important function.

 

[azstinger11]

From a similar thread;
Our C-Dory Tomcat is the perfect boat for the type of diving we do. Sometimes we go offshore to the backside of Catalina Island, about a 70 mile run. We also have seven other islands within 115 miles of our slip. Most of the time we dive reefs and wrecks that are within 20 miles of home. We also have wrecks and reefs less than a mile from the harbor.

We have a pilot house so we can get out of the weather. Wind, sun, hot, cold, rain, or just splashing saltwater takes its toll on you after a day on the water. If it's hot, we have two fans or we can open windows. If it's cold, we have a diesel stove/heater. The Tomcat has a queen size V-berth in case anyone needs to sleep on the way to or from a dive site. We also have a refrigerator, sink, marine head, and hot/cold freshwater shower. I added a longer hose so we can shower and rinse our gear out on the deck after diving. We don't go inside the pilot house with wet gear. We also have an air dryer and two dehumidifiers to keep the musty smell common to many boats away. We've owned the boat for ten years and it still smells fresh.

The boat is powered by twin Honda 150 HP outboards with hydraulic steering. We had a custom swing dive ladder installed to make climbing back aboard in full gear easier. I installed racks for up to eight single tanks or sets of doubles. A stainless Bruce type anchor and 400 feet of chain holds the boat in any conditions we have been out in. The shiny anchor is very visible underwater, making it easier to find our way back at the end of a dive. Chain markers let me know how much chain I have let out. I have different color markers a fifty feet intervals. Caribiners with bolt snaps are attached to the railings along either side of the boat so we can clip off our cameras rather than trying to carry them up the ladder. Our camera rigs are the size of many small cars. A thirty gallon rinse tank keeps our cameras, computers, and compasses salt-free.

Inside we have a VHF radio mounted as well as a handheld backup. A GPS/RADAR/Fishfinder multifunction display allows me to anchor within five feet of my coordinates every time. I have a drop camera so I can check the visibility and conditions on the reef before we gear up. It has saved us from a lot of aborted dives. I have a large dive flag on a long PVC pole that can be seen a couple of miles away.

The catamaran hull provides stability. There is nothing worse than having so muscles after a day of holding onto rails on a monohull. It's great to be able to gear up on a 25 foot boat that isn't rocking.

It is fast enough to get us there and back, comfortable enough without having to treat it like a yacht, functional enough to get us on the dive sites accurately and safely, and it keeps Merry happy, which is the most important function.

View attachment 603123

View attachment 603124

View attachment 603125

View attachment 603126

View attachment 603127

View attachment 603128

View attachment 603129

View attachment 603130

View attachment 603131

View attachment 603132

View attachment 603133

View attachment 603134

View attachment 603135

View attachment 603136

That is one slick setup!

 

[Hank49]

Nothing fancy. Was a bit of a fishing/cargo boat. The former owner might have hauled some questionable cargo as he was murdered in his house last year. Named after my daughter. Alene.

 

[Cthippo]

First launch last year.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Recent upgrades include a new drop camera with 330' cable. I can check out deep wrecks without going into deco.

I also added an air gun for drying our camera housings plus a really bright 30,000 lumen light for blackwater diving with a second house battery to give it plenty of burn time.

 

[Cthippo]

Did you get a good price on the drop cam? I want to build a 100m rig, but what they charge for cables that long is painful, especially since that is the only difference!