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Jay Adams

Contributor
Messages
298
Reaction score
175
Location
Charlestown, New Hampshire
# of dives
100 - 199
I am new to owning a boat, I will be using my boat to dive. What things as experienced boat owners have you found you wish you had that on your boat for your next dive? I purchased a good fish finder with gps and scanning to help me find wrecks in the lakes here. They're marked but not well. I believe that I can set waypoints in my fish finder once I have found the dive location. That's the one thing I could think of I might wish I had.
 
- A good ladder to make re-boarding as easy and safe as possible. Preferably the christmas tree type you can climb with fins. Makes the whole process so much nicer, and an easy ladder reduces post-dive physical strain that exacerbates DCS.
- A buoy or fender ready to use for marking your anchor if you have to untie from it and go pick someone up.
- Some rope to run whatever sort of tag line / granny line / down line setup you prefer
- Emergency oxygen kit and first aid.
- A spare tank and regulator if you have the storage/budget for it.
- A window weight on a neat coil of line with a buoy for rapidly marking sonar targets.

What kind of boat is it?
 
A good ladder is number one.
A good tank rack system is very helpful.

The other suggestions are good ones.
 
Also, a good anchor, not those with the sliding ring. Plenty of chain for the anchor. Good nylon lines, no polypro for mooring. A good VHF radio and flares. Commercial type 1 life jackets. The normal safety stuff.
 
A good ladder is number one.
A good tank rack system is very helpful.

The other suggestions are good ones.

Tank rack is essential. you may also consider adding a "Dri-Dek" to your boat (see below), depending on the flooring you have. makes is much nicer if a tank falls on the deck

At least 2, if not 3 anchors, for the boat with dedicated line for each, depending on the size of your boat. Also a good sized marker buoy in case you need to detach from the anchor quickly to pick up a diver, that way you can go get the person then come back to your anchor and tie back in.

And the float can double as a tag line when at anchor

19616648_1500.14052019083025.jpg
 
Besides the electronics for navigation, a good VHS radio. If your typical destination is outside of cell coverage you may want redundancy for communications, maybe sat/Iridium? Prices have come down considerably, maybe not to chat hours on end but definitely affordable for emergencies.

Another thing I would suggest is patience. Try to do temporary set ups as much as possible, things that "seem" like are needed and belong at certain location may turn out to belong on the other side or maybe not needed at all. The more you dive off the boat the more you'll find out what YOU need/want in what location.

A way to access the boat is a big must-have but I wouldn't tell you what type of ladder is good for you. Some people are perfectly fine climbing up the outboard, others like different types of ladders.
 
- A good ladder to make re-boarding as easy and safe as possible. Preferably the christmas tree type you can climb with fins. Makes the whole process so much nicer, and an easy ladder reduces post-dive physical strain that exacerbates DCS.
- A buoy or fender ready to use for marking your anchor if you have to untie from it and go pick someone up.
- Some rope to run whatever sort of tag line / granny line / down line setup you prefer
- Emergency oxygen kit and first aid.
- A spare tank and regulator if you have the storage/budget for it.
- A window weight on a neat coil of line with a buoy for rapidly marking sonar targets.

What kind of boat is it?
an older center console. it's originally set up for fishing, however the fiberglass bottom makes it appealing for diving. 19' with a 90 horse outboard. we use marker buoys with the rescue team. wouldn't be hard to make one of those for marking dive sites. they call them a datum
 
A marker buoy, windlass or anchor ball, and of course some way to manage gear are all essential in my book.

When your fish finder indicates you are over the spot, toss the buoy. This will give you a reference when setting the anchor. If you miss, just retrieve the anchor via the windlass and try again.

If you don’t have a windlass, an anchor ball will definitely be helpful. Anchor ball is a float with a ring. Anchor rode goes through the ring and the ball is tossed overboard. Then you drive the boat past the ball. Ball will travel down the rode until the ring reaches the anchor, then the anchor will come up to the surface. Not as nice as a windlass, but it sure beats manually pulling the anchor.

Oh and a big dive flag would probably be a good idea as well.
 
I am new to owning a boat, I will be using my boat to dive. What things as experienced boat owners have you found you wish you had that on your boat for your next dive? I purchased a good fish finder with gps and scanning to help me find wrecks in the lakes here. They're marked but not well. I believe that I can set waypoints in my fish finder once I have found the dive location. That's the one thing I could think of I might wish I had.
After being in the Maritime industry for a long time, i can say the best kind of dive boat is a power catamaran, but your 19ft cc will be adequate for a small group. As the others said a quality ladder and anchor is a must, but considerations for comfort will make your trips more enjoyable... such as extra bimini tops(or anything else bc the Sun KILLS). Dont forget extra safety/medical items for divers such as a 100% o2 kit, ointments for stings and cuts, among the usual items.

oh and creating a large access hatch for the bilge is a good idea because as an owner/operator most of my maintenance hours go down there and it can be a hassle, fair winds!(means good luck in sailor slang)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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