Divers Propulsion Vehicles on Liveaboards

[TheDolphin]

Hi,

Curious to see if anyone has taken Divers Propulsion Vehicles (DPV or Underwater Scooters) onboard liveaboards?

Even in sub-tropical (26C or 79F) waters, recreational diving depths I am pretty spent by 4 or 5 dives at the end of the day. Was thinking one way to lessen the swimming work load is by letting a DPV take the majority of the propulsion load.

I have dived using a friend's Dive-Extras BlackTip Tech and it was fantastic on our local reefs. I am looking at getting formal DPV diving certification for recreational diving.

Obviously, there are some logistical and procedural considerations:

1. What happens to my DPV-less dive buddy?
This bothers me the most, as I have never seen a DPV being use on these kinds of trips and it is very unlikely I will be matched with someone who would use one.
I could offer to tow another diver behind me, but depending on the person this may not be an ideal.
I could offer to solo dive, but think this would be unlikely from the liveaboard's point of view.

2. Plan accordingly for DPV-failure and swimming range
In the event of DPV failure, the swimming team would need to be able to make it back to the boat. I would propose to construct and communicate a dive plan within swimming range to the liveaboard and within the allotted dive duration (typically 60-80 mins for a standard recreational dive).

3. Air transport and battery-charging onboard
Permission would have to be obtained from liveboards for charging large lithium-ion batteries.

I have been looking mainly at the Seacraft Go (582Wh battery capacity) and the Logic Dive Gear Genesis 3.1 (850Wh battery capacity). These two DPVs can have batteries removed, or electrically separated and remain in the DPV for airline travel. Both of these units will allow for external battery charging without opening the unit up. Assuming these can be brought onboard, they will need to be charged daily (or topped up in-between dives).

I am interested in hearing from people who have taken DPVs on liveaboards, I would think this would become more popular as the technology is now fairly mature and for people who simply want a more physically relaxing dive to see more reef area.

 

[Alekseolsen]

I've rented DPV onboard liveaboards before. My impression (from 2 liveaboards..) was that all liveaboards had then available, but guess check with the operator ahead of the trip.

The Litium models are at best trick to bring on an airplane.

 

[TheDolphin]

I've rented DPV onboard liveaboards before. My impression (from 2 liveaboards..) was that all liveaboards had then available, but guess check with the operator ahead of the trip.

The Litium models are at best trick to bring on an airplane.

Thanks.

Which liveaboards had DPVs available?

 

[lermontov]

just got back from a live on board -we were a group of 7 and all had scooters and all preplanned to bring them so non scooter partners wasn't an issue - it was a tech trip so more space than on a crowed boat - this probably only worked because we had preplanned it -
batteries through airport is tricky - I had pre approval from the airline to circumvent any over zealous CA monkeys- you have to do you own research and bring al the paperwork you can to stop them taking you stuff - there are pdfs that will give you all the data regarding batteries on planes - if you're asked you need to supply them with written information

scooters are great in current and doing deep dives to reduce effort - your can get all your camera gear rigged up on the scooter too

we had tenders available but chose to step off the back of the lare boat and scooter to the down line- a lot less hassle double handling all you stuff in an out of tenders

 

[Alekseolsen]

Thanks.

Which liveaboards had DPVs available?

MV Nouran and MV Tala with Red Sea Explorers. The smiles on brand new OW divers after a session on the scooter were magic to see!

 

[OTF]

batteries through airport is tricky I had pre approval from the airline to circumvent any over zealous CA monkeys-

Can you explain in more detail how that pre-approval process works, what you had to do, who you had to talk to?

 

[lermontov]

Can you explain in more detail how that pre-approval process works, what you had to do, who you had to talk to?

I have a black tip with dewalt batteries- the red battery travel cap with dewalt batteries has the effect of splitting the cells into 3 smaller cells - i sent the dewalt info to qantas (you ll need to send to the relevant airline you use) and asked i they were acceptable and they sent me an email confirming they would be ok and gave me permission to use th email when transiting through security - ive attached the email and the dewalt cap info