Diving from Sailboat

[kevinphw]

we just purchased a sailboat and want to dive from it. Does anyone have any tips for getting the dive gear and people into the water? we have a small ladder. the boat is 28 ft.

mahalo

 

[Stirling]

we just purchased a sailboat and want to dive from it. Does anyone have any tips for getting the dive gear and people into the water? we have a small ladder. the boat is 28 ft.

mahalo

I dove from a smaller boat, and getting in the water was never a problem.

I don't think a small ladder is likely to work for people wearing their gear, getting in *or* out of the water. If you have a small ladder, and don't have the room or inclination to replace it with something really substantial, getting out with your gear on is especially a problem. You can put a lot of strain and hurt on a boat with a little ladder heavily weighted and twisting and pushing and pulling on the points where it touches the boat, and that's not even considering whether the ladder itself can handle the load without getting bent out of shape.

I got in by rolling into the water, because it generally isn't safe to stand up in a small boat carrying a lot of weight.

To get out, I trailed a line with a carabiner over the side, clipped my stuff into the carabiner and took it off, climbed into the boat with a little rope ladder, and then pulled my stuff in behind me. You can use a mesh bag or a padded milk crate hanging over the side for your weights (on a separate line from your BC) if you can't get your weights out and into the boat from the water (which generally depends on amount of freeboard). You want to watch out for arrangements that have heavy things hanging off the side of the boat and banging into the hull while you're trying to get out of the water, so a line that hangs the weights down below the hull or putting them in a container that won't damage the hull, or that is held away from the hull is best. You can also use fenders to keep your gear from banging into the hull. Of course, even worse is an arrangement that allows your stuff to sink or float away while you're trying to get back into the boat.

Once you've stripped off most of the heavy stuff, a decent ladder should be fine. Practice taking off the stuff that you will need to remove to climb the ladder, so you don't drop it, or use more lines with clips or clipped bags hanging over the side to put things like fins or cameras or whatever so they're held safe while you get out of the water. And then don't be whacking everything against the side of the boat when you pull it up. (You may use a pulley hanging from the boom to lift heavy things from the water and swing them in if you can't lift them straight out of the water.)

 

[saildiver]

we just purchased a sailboat and want to dive from it. Does anyone have any tips for getting the dive gear and people into the water? we have a small ladder. the boat is 28 ft.

mahalo

Hey Kevin -Welcome to saildiving.....My wife and I do it all the time-the best combo for a dive experience IMHO...We do most of our diving from our 23 ft trailerable sailboat in the sea of Cortez,Bahamas and regrettably,at times the Keys(the worst diving and least adventurous).We usually backroll in-but if thats too much of a drop just tie a long line with loops off a rear cleat and fasten each tank with a carabineer to the loops(partilly fill BC so it floats)-our BCs have integrated wts-so we also tie them of on the same line before getting back on board and then pull them up after climbing back up on the ladder(have at least 8 ft between loops so your'e only pulling up 1 tank at a time)-occassionally I will come straight up the ladder with all my gear on but its not easy on a rocking sailboat.The long line also acts as a safety line in case the current makes it hard to get back to your boat.The one thing you never want to have happen-is to let the current keep you from getting back to your boat-sogo down the anchor line first,make sure its set and won't be snagged when you try to pull it up- keep a good eye onlandmarks re: where your anchor is, and come back to it if there is much current(after going upcurrent first) before you ascend. In really bad currents ,we tie a line from the anchor line trailing back to where we do our back roll entries-then we pull ourselves to the anchor line and go down without trying to swim against the current. We also carry Oxygen (in case of DICS) with us since we are usually in remote ares-and shaving cream(scraped off with the back side of a butter knife after applied to the injured area for few minutes- followed by a vinegar rinse -is great to have in case you accidentally run into portugese man o war tentacles). We carry 4 tanks,1 pony bottle for each of us and our only other gear is a hand held gps and vhf,solar panal to charge the battery,for CD player, alcohol stove and propane BBQ,4hp Nisson OB and inflatable heavy duty Sevlor sea kayak for getting to shore ,marinas,or towing while diving in really tricky areas where we need to be away from the boat and be absolutely positive we get back to her. Where are you guys going to be doing your sailing and diving?We wish you safe and happy adventures...Aloha....Saildiver.

 

[chrisch]

I echo the above - de-kit in the water. Tanks & weights are the best thing ever invented for chipping the gelcoat.

28 foot sounds OK. Our old boat was 24. Our current Beneteau (First 18) is too small.

Chris

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
We usually backroll in-but if thats too much of a drop ..
..snip..

I don't think there is such a thing as too much of a drop for a backroll if you do it right.

Some years ago we were on a dive trip and both boats allocated to our group broke down and we had to dive off a large "saveiro" schooner which was not rigged for diving. So the only way to get into the water was a backroll off the rail which was at least 3m (10ft) above the water line. The first time I did this I was really apprehensive, I had visions of my 1st stage punching a hole in the back of my head, but the DMs said it was OK.
I was really surprised when I did the first drop and found that there was no impact whatsoever - the tank just opened a path into the water and I slid in behind it.
It was really enjoyable.
The trick is to make sure you just drop cleanly backwards and don't get too much rotational speed.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The older I get, the less hard I like to work. Sailboats, at least moderate sized sailboats, are often well equipped to get very heavy scuba gear back aboard. With very little modification you can use the boom to winch the gear out of the water and swing it aboard with very little effort reagrdless of the amount of freeboard invovled and no risk to the gel coat on the hull etc.

A suitable ladder however is a good investment as it is normally easier to just wear the gear out of the water, particularly in rough conditions that are not condusive to winching or lifting scuba gear aboard.

 

[mike_s]

In addition to the other above suggestions, we would take our gear off in the water and put it into the inflatable dingy and then use the ladder to board. We could then hand the gear up from the dingy.

 

[pipedope]

Unless the sailboat has the sugar scoop stern and sometimes even then I think that far and away the best system is to use an inflatable alongside. This way you are going in and out over an inflatable tube.

You can take your gear off in the inflatable and there is less chance of anything getting lost.

This is also very helpful if the weather kicks up while you are down. It is a lot easier to get into a bouncing inflatable than up a ladder on a big boat.

Now if my main sailboat is a big catamaran with a moon pool the stroy is different.

 

[MSilvia]

When sailboat diving, I've always (all 4 times) used an inflatable as a dive platform/chaseboat. It's worked very well.

 

[ChrisA]

we just purchased a sailboat and want to dive from it. Does anyone have any tips for getting the dive gear and people into the water? we have a small ladder. the boat is 28 ft.
mahalo

I have a 36ft sailboat. Getting into the water is easy. Open the gate on the lifelline and do the "giant stride" and in you go. Walking around a sailboat with fins on is not easy so if you like do the giant stride with fins in you hand and put them on in the water. If peole say that you can't stand on the side of a small boat they have not been on a sailboat. Eight people could stand on the side of a 28ft sailboat with zero chance of tipping it. I'd guess you have about 4,000 pounds of lead in the keel. My boat has over 6,000 pounds

Getting back aboard is harder. Take off the BC and tank in the water and tie the gear to a line. Climb up the ladder. You can bring the gear back aboard using the line. Use a halyard and winch if need be. One person cranks the winch while another guids the load up over the lifelines. I bring my dinghy aboard the same way, 70 pounds of scuba gear is triveal if you use the winch a larger person could simply go to the mast and "jump" the halyard

If you are in god shape you can just take off the fins and climb the ladder in full gear. I can do this but it is not easy with a steel tank and 22 pounds weight most would preferto leave the gear in the water. Make more space on the boat if the gear is left in the water when not in use.