Best Boat for Diving

[Skull]

This is the rig I would buy if I were looking for a new dive platform ...I'm sure Nemrod would concur!!!

www.boatandmotormart.com/database/d...&so=ascend&view_records=View+Boats&nh=17&mh=1

I'm just finishing a contract at the USN Amphibious base here in San Diego were I have been working around several of these bad boys. One came towed into the Seabees yard with what appeared to be several large holes punched (the size of a football) into the hull. The Chief told me that the SeALs were training on San Clemente Island and missed the sandy beach ...obviously. Any other craft would have been salvaged...these boat mechanics repaired the damaged fiberglass ...refinished the gelcoat and stuck two brand new (still in the box) Yamaha 225's on it ...back out the gate to the docks and BUD's jockeys ...just like brand new!!


I'm big on recycling used boats .... and CCs are by far the best personal dive boats out there(lots of deck space)...however I own a ProLine Cuddy (couldn't pass on the price) which has limited deck space but diving here in San Diego over the next 4 months it will keep me warm and very dry.

Point is know your local conditions and buy the boat which keep you comfortable while diving ... and try to buy used ...keeps them out of the scrape yard (saves landfill space)

 

[Nemrod]

Oh, yeah, some day mine will look like a mini version of that though I am not big on T tops for general purpose use. People poke fun at Boston Whalers and their prices but long before the current fleet of unsinkables numerous agencies including the Seals used them because of their ruggedness and unsinkability even when shot full of holes. As technology marches on they are beginning to use various metal or inflaible rigids instead of the venerable Whaler. It is kinda funny because they are also often used by police and other agencies. When we pull in people start behaving nice, jet skis stop, slow down and act like we are cops until they realize we are not-lol. I am not sure of it entirely, Chuck is the Whaler historian but Boston Whaler either first introduced the center conole concept on small skiffs or they at least popularized it.

Those are nice the way you can remove the side to step aboard. That was a factory option. It would be a challenge to do that to an already built boat. We flip over the side and climb back in on the right side which has a small platform. I have to work on a removable dive ladder there instead of the swimladder. N

 

[Skull]

The T-Tops are excelent platforms for christmas lights while on parade in a christmas floatilla ...just a thought!!!

 

[cobaltblue]

Two things to address:

1. The Great Lakes are not "worse" than the oceans. What we have here in the GL is a much shorter wave period. What that means is that we see on average about twice as many waves as you would running in the ocean. (avg. period here, 4-8 seconds, avg. ocean period, usually ten seconds or more) What this does to boats is shakes and rattles them apart. I'm in the marine biz and we see tons of mid to low end boats that still look OK but are falling and cracking apart. What it really means, our ride in three footers is less comfortable than that in the ocean, not really less safe. The only other thing we see a little more of in the GL is choppy confused seas. We don't run into regular wave patterns very often.

2. For personal towing, there is no big deal to getting permits for wide loads. Either using a service or doing it online, the permits from Michigan to Florida would cost less than $250. About half of that if you don't use a service. It gets a little tougher if you get over 11' but anything under 10' is just really a formality.

 

[nice-diver]

usia.com has some pretty nice dive boats

 

[matt_unique]

The best would depend somewhat on your climate and your dive season. In any environment with cold temps the best design would be an inboard allowing a full swim platform, a long/open stern and mid-section, and a hard-top cabin. Never buy a boat with one stitch of canvas. Canvas lasts 5 years if moored or slipped and it leaks, etc. You would want a boat with a fiberglass or metal deck and good scuppers. Then of course there is the functional accessories like radar, windshield wipers, cabin heat, etc., etc.

An outboard engine would be the best in terms of corrosion resistance, but you sacrifice a full diving swim platform.

--Matt

 

[oly5050user]

What would you consider the best boat for Scuba diving?
http://www.powerboatexpo.com/diveboats.htm

Dan; you have it on the site you listed..My Privateer 21' with 200hp yamaha hpdi engine..my own private 6 pack..use in on LI Sound and has gone out to south shore wrecks via East river to VZ bridge..

 

[AB219]

usia.com has some pretty nice dive boats

I bought a USIA boat in 2005....great boat. They are not pretty, but they are very stout boats. My boat is 22 feet long with a beam of 8'-6". 6 water tight air chambers, 6 on deck scuppers with checkvalves and hose socks. 5 Bilge pumps(3 in the bilge, 2 on deck). 7 electric panels for all the electronic gizmo's you can dream of. I will have a 250HP fourstroke motor on order in the near future, 2 below deck fuel tanks will feed the motor. They ride great in the rough water and are very stable to dive off of.

 

[jchaplain]

Never buy a boat with one stitch of canvas. Canvas lasts 5 years if moored or slipped and it leaks, etc. --Matt

What boat is best also depends upon many other factors. Are you diving close to shore or are you going further ( say offshore to Catalina?)
What other uses of the boat would you likely do? How big is your budget? How much time do you have to actually use the boat? Do you want to have the many benefits ( and headaches) of a trailerable boat?

For me, my 24 foot cabin cruiser works out really well. It has a swim platform with a walkthru to the platform that makes entry/exit nice and easy.
I also like to live aboard and contrary to Matts suggestion I love my big full camper canvas that I put up when I'm living on the boat for weeks at a time. It turns the boat into a big cozy room on cool days and at night but folds away when I want to be out in the open sunshine.

There are boats for every need, canoes, inflateables, walk-arounds, cabin cruisers, sailbaots, etc...you have to decide for yourself what you want to do with a boat based on all the factors.

John C.

 

[SwimJim]

Somehow I don't think that zodiac would sink.-even in the Great Ponds to the north. That is one heck of a cool boat--I vote that one for best boat!

Given all the Lunds and stuff like that I see on the Lakes it cannot be as bad as you say. Like I told another fellow, when the Lakes get bad a ship goes down, when the Gulf of Mexico throws a fuss entire cities and hundreds of miles of coast line get wiped out, your gonna have to excuse me but I am not awed by the big lake any more than the ocean, either can kill you if your not prepared. Oh, and there is stuff in the ocean that might decide to eat you. N

Boats going down all over Lake Michigan is news to me and I've literally lived on it most of my days. The people whom the rescue boat goes after are typically the ones who believe maintance is a wash and wax once a year. Calls for things like dead batteries and engines that won't run on three year old gas are much more common then anything else.
The question of what the best dive boat is kind of like saying, how high is up. There are many good ones out there. Knowing how to operate one, rules of the road and having proper saftey gear are as important or more important. I own a 1964 18ft SeaRay runabout. Its a sweet old boat and although it forces me to be somewhat of a fair weather skipper, it does the job. Personally I'd love to have one of the boats mentioned here. Well, I guess I'm six numbers away from one at any given time.

jim