Boat Diving rules/hints

[RJP]

Some things to keep in mind:

1.) Don't be a d**k
2.) Don't let your stuff scatter all over the boat
3.) Set your gear up - and test it - while the boat is at the dock
4.) Get to the boat no later than 30min prior to departure time
5.) If you clog the head on the boat, you may become an honorary crew member and be given a wrench
6.) If you are uncertain about anything or have any questions... ASK
7.) Understand which is the mask bucket and which is the camera bucket
8.) Don't be a d**k

Also, bananas are perfect for seasickness. (They don't actually do anything to prevent it, but they are the only food that tastes the same coming UP as it did going DOWN.)

 

[chillyinCanada]

Nonmedicinal seasickness assists: ginger cookies, ginger candies. Try them out on land first not everyone likes ginger.

Watch the horizon.

 

[highdesert]

Apart from doing the exact opposite of the hilarious post by Hickdive, Please do not flush the marine head while I'm doing deco.....That will result in a crappy day for all involved

This extends to dive boat crew!

NOTE TO CREW: Do not leave a deposit in the head about 55 minutes after divers have splashed. Been there, at a safety stop near the boat, and don't want to do that again ... ever.

 

[Dhboner]

Be ready to splash LONG before it is time. If you expect to have trouble on the ladder (age, flexibility) wait until the other divers are safely back on board. Bring a drybag and use it (you will thank me). Stow all your gear in as small a space as you can manage. Make sure to bring spare o-rings.

 

[Steve_C]

Many good points.

I want to restress a previous one. This is not a class. You are not talking to your instructor between skills at the surface. Mask stays on and reg stays in until you are on the boat and walking toward your seat. Only exception is if there is a problem in the water that needs to be communicated to crew on board immediately.

Also:

Before stepping into water take a long puff on your reg watching your SPG. It should not move. If everybody did this there would be several less dead divers.

When coming to the ladder in any sort of water other than calm. It is like landing a plane. You want to be firmly on the ground ASAP. That means that when you make the move to the ladder, your priority is getting a firm hold of the ladder. Then worry about handing up fins or placing them on ladder if it is a fins on ladder. All the time keeping a firm hold on the ladder. You do not get hurt if you move with the ladder. Slipping off can create real problems.

If you dive with a camera like I do, I swim up close to the platform but not at ladder, pass up the camera to crew watching the boat the whole time, then drop back and board at the ladder.

When rigging up your tank it gives everybody more room if you do not rig the one next to the one being rigged by the diver next to you. That way you and they will have more room on both dives. This assumes two tanks for each and tanks next to each other.

 

[diver 85]

Can you better describe where diving/what kind of boat(how big--location of ladder/what kind of entry ?) etc you'll be on/making??........Sometimes that makes a difference in replies....-otherwise----just good ole common sense is what you'll need.......

 

[Incident]

Put on your fins AT the gate, not before. Walking around the deck of a rolling dive boat in fins is just a nuisance to everyone.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Apart from doing the exact opposite of the hilarious post by Hickdive, Please do not flush the marine head while I'm doing deco.....That will result in a crappy day for all involved

Only an issue for boats more than three miles offshore (assuming they're following US rules).

 

[Akimbo]

I suggest looking over this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/485101-diving-seamanship.html

Always have a plan if you are swimming along and discover a new wreck... like the boat you came out on.

 

[Donnah]

The important thing about getting back into the boat is to listen to the dive briefing and know what the crew wants you to do. As far as I am concerned, getting back on the boat can be the most dangerous part of the dive for many people. If it's rough, there is usually a line to hang on to. Take fins off while you are on the line, loop them on your wrists, wait your turn for the ladder, when it's free watch for the diver ahead of you to be totally on the boat (people do fall backwards off the ladder), watch the ladder/boat move, catch the ladder when it goes down and grab it as high up as you can. Then go for it. You do not want to be on the ladder going up and down and up and down 10 feet! I have bad knees, so usually ask the crew to give me a little tug.

I am usually one of the last people back on the boat. (1) I don't want to end the dive and (2) I want to stay clear of all the fools rushing to get back on the boat and getting in each other's way.