Diving from 16 foot fishing boat

[FF / EMT]

Just make sure when you get in the water, you fall backwards from the boat…

 

[Still Kicking]

Totally agree with this..... there will always be "What IF's" .... rouge wave sinks the boat, boat tender dies of a heart attack, meteor strike sinks the boat, whale becomes entangled in the marker line and swims away, , locusts, etc.....

If you have the room and a qualified person to handle the boat while your down then live boat is the way to go for sure.... We have a couple of shallow wrecks up here (100ft or less) that we frequent often. Wife doesn't do cold water anymore so she handles the boat.... and I wouldn't trust anyone more than her. If surface conditions suck than we bag the dive and go elsewhere or back home.

We just have a 5 gal bucket with about 150 feet of WHITE ½ in braided anchor rode with a quick clip to a large orange mooring ball on one end and a quick clip to a 10lb downrigger ball on the other end. I also use that same large mooring ball as an anchor puller so I can pull up the anchor with boat power rather than hand power. So it's dual purpose.

Once I'm at my "numbers" and am tracking the structure on sonar I keep the bow into the current if any or into the wind and when I'm feeling confident that I'm hovering in the right spot I yell out "bombs away" to whoever is manning and deploying the marker line. The 10 lb DR ball goes pretty much straight down to the bottom and the mooring ball goes over the side. Now we "hopefully" have the site properly marked and a live boat.

I usually go down first to confirm the wreck. Wife drops me 25 or 30 yards up current or upwind if no obvious current. I descend with the line as a guide but not "pulling" on it. If the DR ball is in or on the wreck I'll move it out into the sand along side for easier retrieval later. Then clip on a strobe to the marker line about 5-10 feet up. Once I feel like we're good to go then I have a bright yellow rubber duck that's in my BC pocket and I'll let it go to the surface. The duck is about the size of a baseball on the surface and about the size of a golf ball at 100ft. Once wife sees the duck then she splashes any other divers uphill from the float and they come on down with the instructions to use the downline as a guide and not to pull up on it. Wife then goes and gets the duck with the net and then watches bubbles and protects the site from yahoos. I can say with certainty is that my wife at the helm protects her divers like a tiger mom protecting her cubs!

Some....but not all, other items that at least for me are important:

1) When moving the 10lb DR ball out into the sand, be smart about your buoyancy and don't let go of that 10lb'r until you are are fully prepared to suddenly be without those 10 lbs. Go way negative before the drop and then adjust after the drop.

2) Vis can be really crappy up here sometimes. If its less than 5 -10 feet on the bottom than it's probably best to just keep the duck and surface to let the others know it's just not a good day for this dive. If there is no duck or me on the surface within 10 minutes after my initial descent, then it is assumed that there may be an issue and depending who may be onboard they may descend to evaluate and assist. This is all discussed pre-dive.

3) If you get down to the DR ball and there is no wreck or structure in sight, just sand, and the vis is less than 10 ft, then there's a pretty good chance that it is close by... If that happens to me I pull out a strobe and clip it to the down line near the DR ball. Then I will take a North compass heading, do 10 fin kicks then a reciprocal for 10 kicks to bring me back to the DR ball.. If no joy then I will repeat that process..... E, S, W. If after all that there is still no joy, then there is no duck released and I still have the line to control my ascent and any stops.

4) Depending on depth, standard agreed max dive times apply…. Everyone carry's an SMB and audible surface device.... Wife and I use DiveAlerts but also have manual whistles.

5) For the wreck marker line I really like the WHITE ½ in braided line. It's easier to see, easier to hold onto and less likely to become a fouling issue than paracord or wreck reel line.

6) Even though I would never want to lose my anchor, and do have a float for it……I ALWAYS have an option for an emergency cut and run. A sheathed titanium dive knife lives on my bow rail and surprisingly has held up very with little rust at all. I do spray it down with WD a couple times a year. Never had to use it...but it's there.

7) Having a diver recall option is a good idea.... Ours is simply a hammer banged in successive sets of three on the offshore bracket of our aluminum boat. Never had to use it yet.....but that's the plan anyway and it's discussed pre-dive...

8) Timing is pretty much everything up here. Currents, vis and surface conditions can change rapidly and unexpectedly.

9) Once back at the boat I find it easiest to pull my weight pockets and set them on the bracket and then doff my gear and tie it off for retrieval after I'm back onboard. We use the pot puller lifting the kits up and then pivot over and onto the deck...

Sorry about the long post but I like thinking and talking about this stuff.... There's always going to be more "what-if's" advise and suggestions.... and that's why I like to follow threads like this.

I'm also excited about installing a new ladder system to my bracket and hope to pick that up from the welder next Friday!

Cheers!!!

Badass boat! I bet the second helm is really useful.

I follow a lot of the same procedures (minus the duck ...might have to borrow that one if you dont mind lol).

As far as cutting the line in a pinch, i would recommend following the advice above and throwing the whole line overboard attached to a float with your name and contact info so you can hope to retrieve later. I would rather risk losing the whole line than end up with two shorter lines that would have to be replaced anyway (splicing is far from ideal).

On a related note, i always carry a second anchor, chain and line. Murphy dictates that ithe day i have to leave a fouled anchor is the day i lose power as i approach the breakwall with a breeze at my back.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Thanks for the great comments on the boat... It's been great for us up here in the PAC NW...

And CTD......yep I have also have a back-up anchor also......and actually think it's pretty flipp'n stupid that an anchor is not a standard CG requirement.... And yes... the cockpit helm is super convienient

Well this thread has been an enlightening and a fun journey. As the OP, I just wanted to thank all of you folks who responded. Even some of the typical blowhards who think it's their role in life to tell everyone to do things their way only...... provided some valuable food for thought!

In the end, I've made my decisions and already ordered some of the items I want on my boat...

1) AL80, brushed finish with convertible valve, pre-O2 cleaned for 100% O2.
2) DGX Gears Adapter: DIN to CGA-870 Pin Index POST.
3) Lightning X O2 Mini Oxygen Regulator CGA-870 Gauge Flow Rate 0-15 lpm w/Wrench...
4) 2 each - Ausilium Oxygen Therapy Mask - With Tubes
5) 2 Each - OXYGEN 100% tank stickers from DRIS
6) Sea Elite Rubber LP Regulator Hose 30 Ft 3/8 in bright Yellow. Actual 2nd stage depth will be 20ft.
7) RescuEAN - (TBone) I very much enjoy reading all of your threads and very much appreciate your balanced approach to providing solid advise.

I already have everything else I need to complete my plan to have BOTH in water and on deck options ....... as long as we're all agreed that my Mares brand new in the box Abyss 22 is good to go for 100% O2.

So that's it.... Thanks again. PS..... Stay tuned for another thread dedicated to emergency O2 delivery training...

Cheers...

 

[Still Kicking]

[QUOTE="Scubadog, post: 9652298, member: 54786]it's pretty flipp'n stupid that an anchor is not a standard CG requirement....
[/QUOTE]
Sinxe you mention it, what about making a VHF radio mandatory now that they can be had for less than $100. A VHF is worth 10 cases of flares in an emergency ....but i digress

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

[QUOTE="Scubadog, post: 9652298, member: 54786]it's pretty flipp'n stupid that an anchor is not a standard CG requirement....

Sinxe you mention it, what about making a VHF radio mandatory now that they can be had for less than $100. A VHF is worth 10 cases of flares in an emergency ....but i digress
[/QUOTE]

Totally agree!!!! And since it's my thread I get to segway off topic! On my boat I have a dedicated VHF with AIS and registered MMSI. I also have a back-up hand-held unit that's floatable, waterproof to a few meters and has GPS coordinates. On top of that I have 6 ea Class V PFD's with incorporated lifting harnesses... and a 10 year batt Global EPIRB. Also a very cool unit called a "Throwraft" that is a CG approved throwable device and auto inflates once it hits the water. I can throw that unit 50ft with accuracy. I also have a very cool FELL MOB system with wireless wrist FOB's so that when I am out alone working the back deck.... if I go overboard for any reason while running or trolling on either the kicker or main..... the unit will cut off power to both engines and at least give me a fighting chance to get back to the boat instead of watching it troll of into the sunset. The handheld VHF is always attached to my PFD if I am alone... I also have two full emersion arctic survival suits onboard complete with strobes, lifting harness and PLB's. I have a Frique waterproof case for my Iphone and that lives in my pocket anytime on the boat... I also have a badd-ass batt booster that will start my boat or anyone elses boat in case of a depleted battery scenario.

Maybe all of this is overkill but I'm a boy scout so I just have that "Be Prepared" mentality engraved into my DNA... That's me on the left.... I don't mean this to be a "resume" or brag in any way.... Just wanted to point out to all those reading this thread is that my honest and sincere intention on the whole O2 delivery issue is to just be as prepared as I can for any unexpected events...

Last but not least, I just found and scanned this pic of my mom and dad from 1956 who taught me to swim when I was 3 and had me on SCUBA in our pool when I was 7. Not including free diving for Ab's in Nor Cal, I had a couple hundred SCUBA dives under my belt before I finally got certified in the 80's.......

Cheers!

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Whoops..... DOH! This wasn't my thread....LOL... Sorry about that. I thought I was responding to my thread regarding emergency IWR at 20ft on 100% O2..... Sorry bout that....

Cheers....

 

[Gone for diving]

When you showed a picture of your boat, it became your thread

 

[gamon]

ROTFL...

Yet another thing that hadn't occurred to me... the one failure could be the boat sinks. Imagine being on a dive. As you swim around you see a boat sinking to the bottom. First, it takes you a moment to process what you are seeing. Then you realize, ****, that is my boat.

That would be creepy to say the least.. and not that it hasn't occurred to me on virtually every solo dive off my unattended boat. There's always a bit of relief when I see the underside of the hull bobbing on the surface as I ascend within visibility range.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Reminded me of this Far Side.....

 

[billgraham]

Never dive from an unattended boat, if it has to be there when you ascend. That's the rule I try to follow anyway.

So here's a story told to me by one of the Atlantic Wreck Divers: Two guys went out to dive the San Diego (off Long Island, NY) in a little boat. When they returned to where they were tied in, the boat was on the bottom. They then floated around on coolers for several hours until they were rescued, I think by fisherman.