Best way to carry gear onto boat for 6 hour charter

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rfwoodvt

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Have the opportunity to take a 3 tank charter in Feb. We'll be on the water for 6 hours.

All of my dives so far have been shore based and I usually carry my gear in laundry baskets, making several trips from the car to the shore. Understandably that probably won't work for diving from a boat.

Charter is providing tanks and weights but I need to provide everything else. What are some of the better ways to pack my gear for ease of getting it onto the boat as well as access and stowage once on board?

Thanks!
 
Mesh duffel or backpack. Any soft sided bag is good. The huge hard sided/rigid framed bag you might use for air travel is not appropriate for the boat. Takes up too much room.
 
I've seen plenty of people use milk crates for that purpose. I use a mesh backpack myself "mares cruise mesh deluxe." I paid around $40 for mine, I'm sure they've gone up in the past year like everything else.

I'd say use your head, if it's small enough to fit under the bench where you will be sitting it'll probably work fine. If it won't fit under the bench or is wider than you are, it might be an issue.

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p.s. If this is your first boat dive, you would probably be better off with a 1 or 2 tank trip. Some people have a very hard time with seasickness, and being seasick for 6 hours would be absolutely awful.

Also, if a laundry basket won't fit all your gear you might want to consider paring it down some. Bring what will go underwater with you, and maybe a wrench, o-ring kit, tip money, and maybe one or two small things. I can easily fit everything for a dive (including dry clothes) for both my wife and I into that mares bag. The only exception is the tank its-self.
 
You can typically make multiple trips between the car and the boat. Do it all the time.

My latest gear hauler is a collapsing or folding wagon. Many times the boat will have a locker on the dock and will store it for you, if not walk it back to the car.

For the most part a mesh dive bag (duffle, side loading. Not end loading) works great for keeping your pile of stuff as your pile of stuff. Typical loading for me would be fins on bottom, wetsuit with regs and mask in the middle, BC on top.

Some boats will use laundry baskets or milk crates. Not sure what your reginal preferences are. And every boat can be different. Best to ask ahead.
 
Multi trips aren't a problem as mentioned, but you do need to keep everything organized.
I typically take my own takes and will have my rig fully assembled and ready to go before I get on the boat which keeps the reg/bc/etc sorted out. All of the wet stuff goes in a mesh bag that can go under the bench and the save a dive kit/dry clothes/misc stuff goes in a dry bag.
 
I like to also carry on a (small) dry bag for personal belongings such as a towel, shirt, warm up pants if it's cold.
 
I'd reach out to the charter and ask what they like as what's normal in Massachusetts is different than what's normal in Jersey or Florida.

Locally, most people bring their rig setup and keep their gear in a rubbermaid tote that gets stored under the bench. Anything dry usually gets kept in a duffel bag or backpack in the cabin. When traveling, I usually take a mesh bag if I'm flying or use a milk crate if I'm driving.
 
Can you ask the boat captain or charter organizer? It would be helpful to know, for example, if you are expected to transfer your stuff to under-the-bench-crates already on board, provided for you. (If this is the case, you really don't want to bring your own crate.)

rx7diver
 
Second on checking with the operator. Couple of the boats I've done on use their own bins so that everything fits nicely on the boat. They won't like BYOB (bin)
 
My normal is a milk crate for wet gear under my tank and two ikea bags, one with a drysuit, one with undergarments. Cheap and easy.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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