boat dive

[marpac]

looking forward to my first boat dive out in the catalina island area, never been diving from a boat, so a little nervous about what to expect. any pointers?
should I take a boat diving cert. class or just wing it and hopefully get what info I need from the boat crew and other experienced divers.
what are the major pitfalls, other than just being carefull approaching the boat post dive and being aware of the ambient currents and choppy waters.
thanks:

 

[Cyclops_Diver]

What boat are you going out on?

I skipped the boat diving cert...especially since my Open Water cert dives were from a boat. Kinda silly, from my experience. Anyhow. Be sure to have your motion sickness medicine, if you need it or think you need it! Other than that...

-Be careful approaching the ladder and take care to not get under it, since boats are heavy and dont work well as hats.
-Dont get near the ladder until the diver in front of you is completely on the boat. If they fall backwards, and onto you, you're not going to like getting intimate with their tank.
-Always swim into the current when you start your dive so that it can bring you back to the anchor line at the end. Getting downcurrent of the boat, if anchored, sucks.
-Try to keep your gear squared away. Not a lot of room on the boat. So get there early, set up your rig, and bunk if needed, then stow your bags neatly out of the way.

That's all I can think of at the moment. It's really not all that difficult at all. The Channel Islands boat dives are usually tucked up tight near the islands, so while you may get some surge and light current, it's not usually bad at all. Course, the sea is ever changing and what I just wrote may not be worth spit in 30 minutes. If the current and swell do get bad though, try to stay on the bottom and near the island. It's usually calmer there current wise near the island, and worse current the farther you get from the island. The reverse is typically true for surge.

Hope that helps...safe diving!

Semper

 

[MaxBottomtime]

The two most important details to remember on a dive boat are to work out of your gear bag, don't have fins, mask or wetsuit in someone's way, and listen carefully to the briefings. The Captain and DM will tell you about answering roll calls and what to expect under water.

 

[fisheater]

I see you're PADI certified. Read up on the Boat Diving section of the Adventures in Diving book. If you want the cert, then you can pay for the instruction and supervision. Otherwise, just read and dive.

Be sure to listen closely to the DM's briefing.

If you have ANY questions, ask the DM on the boat. Don't feel bad about asking, as it's their job to make sure you're safe and comfortable on their boat.

Oh. One more thing, brush up on your UW Nav skills. You want to make sure that you can find the boat at the end of your dive. If you want to take any certification on the trip, UW Nav would be a good one.

 

[Teamcasa]

You have been given great advice so far. Let me just add that typical SoCal boats do not provide a guide so be sure to buddy up with someone who can navigate or know the sites. Ask the DM, they will set you up.

I normally do my safety stops in open water, rarely on the anchor line. One reason is that when two or three divers are all holding on the anchor line at 15’-20’ the line can and will rise up, sometimes too quickly. If you end up on the line, just hold back and hover at depth, don’t hold the line.
If you end up doing a stop away from the boat, another common occurrence, find a nice kelp stalk and focus on your depth gauge and a spot on the kelp. This will help you hold the stop.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I have more tips for ya:
1. Arrive at the boat early. This will give you more time to set up your gear before the boat departs the calm waters of the bay. If possible, situate your gear next to your buddy's gear. It just makes gearing up and doing buddy checks at the dive site much easier.
2.When setting up your reg on your tank make sure that you're not trapping the securing bungee cord underneath the first stage. You should be able to unhook the tank from the bungee cord without depressurizing your rig.
3. Make sure that your air is turned on before you jump off the boat. (Sounds ridiculous, I know.)
4. Before you giant stride in, use one hand to hold both your mask and reg in place. These things tend to fly everywhere once you hit the waer.
5. With a stationary/anchored boat and no significant current, I would recommend planning to meet up with your buddy on the surface before descent. If this is your plan, make sure you add enough air to your BCD to be positively buoyant before jumping off into the water. This is especially important if you forgot to do #3.
6. BYOB if possible. That's Bring Your Own Buddy. Insta-buddies can be good, nightmarish, or anywhere in-between. If you do need an Insta-buddy, start the search even before the boat leaves the dock. Once you've been matched up with someone, remember to discuss important things like buddy separation procedures, how to do air-sharing, and underwater communication via hand signals (Abort the dive, Where's the boat?, Low on air, Out of air, Amount of air in psi, Share air, Danger, Stay closer, Turn around, Ascend/Descend, Problem equalizing, I'm cold, Cramp, Shark, Follow me, Stop, Level off at a certain depth, Where's the anchor line?, Safety Stop, Deco time). Familiarize yourself with his/her equipment (alternate air source, weight ditch mechanism, inflator button, etc.). Of course, set a reasonable dive plan with turnaround pressure, max depth, etc. Negotiate how fast you will be swimming along underwater, how far apart you'll be diving, who will lead/navigate, and what kinds of things you'll be looking for. If you want an attentive buddy, then pass on the guy with the $5,000 DSLR camera rig with fisheye lens and 2 big honkin' strobes. Photographers are notoriously poor dive buddies. I have an UW camera setup, and I know how much of a "distraction" it can be.
7. Once you get more experience, return to Catalina to dive Ship Rock. It's a great site - a pinnacle that extends underwater with a sandy bottom on one side at 120 fsw. Many divers simply spiral around it. Excellent stuff to see.

 

[kadleck]

3. Make sure that your air is turned on before you jump off the boat. (Sounds ridiculous, I know.)

Just to add a couple of points to number 3!

a) If you do turn your air off after setting up, get into the habit of releasing the pressure, so that the gauge reads zero.
b) Get into the habit of watching your SPG while you take your test breaths. If the gauge reading falls, you have forgotten to do (a), or the air is not turned on sufficiently. I always take test breaths from my alternate too. Many do not bother, but bear in mind it could be life support for buddy (or you!). The next piece of advice will sound obvious, but do the test breaths (while watching the gauge) before you jump in!. Not a complete disaster if you do forget (especially if you have taken the advice to inflate your BCD!), but I bet you won't forget ever again!