Exiting the water ?

[NOVIZWHIZ]

As an old-timer, I keep running into the "new" way of doing this or that. I river dive, strong current, but no wave motion to speak of. I am in a serious discussion with a very good friend (dam young whippersnapper!)who insists on doing a full kit exit from the water. I find it easier to dump my weights onto the swim platform, clip my vest /tank off to a tag line, dump my gear and wearing only my masks and fins do a power kick over the gunwhale and into the boat. I use a small very stable boat (15ftr) and have a fairly low freeboard. He says that it's safer to take your fins off, put your wrists through the ankle straps and climb up the ladder....if you fall back in, you're still wearing gear and can slip your fins back on...that this is the way everyone is trained to exit.

Not only are you putting undue strain on a "swim platform" - not built to handle divers, but I don't care how good a shape you're in, physically you have to be a little tired after the dive. You're carrying a whole bunch of abnormal extra weight, tank, wetsuit that restricts your movement, etc. Climbing over the transom and getting your feet on the deck is awkward and you risk falling loaded down like that....if you do fall back in, the tank is probably low on air because you are finishing the dive, so what real good is it?......I dunno, just seems to me the risks are greater. If you fall back in sans gear, you still have your mask and fins and can easily swim back to the boat, or grab the tag line and pull yourself back. Any opinions?

 

[jkennedy]

From another old timer your are correct. Good advise for younger divers........

 

[jbd]

As an old-timer, I keep running into the "new" way of doing this or that. I river dive, strong current, but no wave motion to speak of. I am in a serious discussion with a very good friend (dam young whippersnapper!)who insists on doing a full kit exit from the water. I find it easier to dump my weights onto the swim platform, clip my vest /tank off to a tag line, dump my gear and wearing only my masks and fins do a power kick over the gunwhale and into the boat. I use a small very stable boat (15ftr) and have a fairly low freeboard. He says that it's safer to take your fins off, put your wrists through the ankle straps and climb up the ladder....if you fall back in, you're still wearing gear and can slip your fins back on...that this is the way everyone is trained to exit.

Not only are you putting undue strain on a "swim platform" - not built to handle divers, but I don't care how good a shape you're in, physically you have to be a little tired after the dive. You're carrying a whole bunch of abnormal extra weight, tank, wetsuit that restricts your movement, etc. Climbing over the transom and getting your feet on the deck is awkward and you risk falling loaded down like that....if you do fall back in, the tank is probably low on air because you are finishing the dive, so what real good is it?......I dunno, just seems to me the risks are greater. If you fall back in sans gear, you still have your mask and fins and can easily swim back to the boat, or grab the tag line and pull yourself back. Any opinions?

I teach my students to remove all gear except mask fins and snorkle when getting back into a small boat using the same technique you use.

Getting back onto a larger boat with a ladder I teach them to remove their fins and and either hand them up to the boat crew or to put them on their wrist as your buddy is suggesting and then climb the ladder while keeping the gear intact and regulator in their mouth until they are solidly back on the boat.

There is evidence now, from a DCI perspective, that indicates that this kind of exertion is best avoided after a dive especially when diving with some of the doubles rigs. (Do a search in the Dr. Deco section)

 

[Desa]

You got it! I have done it both ways many times, but I am getting to old (lazy) to climb in with my gear on.......

 

[GoBlue!]

Small boats, I take off gear except mask/fins & power kick up.

Larger boats, especially in higher seas, I hand up the weight belt (if I'm wearing one) but keep all the rest of my gear on, reg in mouth, and put my hands through the fin straps as your young Jedi practices. If I get thrown off a ladder in rolling seas with a surface current, I want to have fins with me & at least SOME gas to breathe. No need for a weight belt at that point, though, so I don't mind giving that up to the crew.

Jim

 

[dweeb]

As an old-timer, I keep running into the "new" way of doing this or that. I river dive, strong current, but no wave motion to speak of. I am in a serious discussion with a very good friend (dam young whippersnapper!)who insists on doing a full kit exit from the water. I find it easier to dump my weights onto the swim platform, clip my vest /tank off to a tag line, dump my gear and wearing only my masks and fins do a power kick over the gunwhale and into the boat. I use a small very stable boat (15ftr) and have a fairly low freeboard. He says that it's safer to take your fins off, put your wrists through the ankle straps and climb up the ladder....if you fall back in, you're still wearing gear and can slip your fins back on...that this is the way everyone is trained to exit.

Not only are you putting undue strain on a "swim platform" - not built to handle divers,

Depends on the boat. What's a 'small' boat? What's a 'big' boat. I've never dove off a boat whose swim platform couldn't handle it, but I've SEEN boats where the swim platform looked more like a cosmetic accessory.
Both ways are valid, and the choice depends on numerous attributes of the boat.

but I don't care how good a shape you're in, physically you have to be a little tired after the dive. You're carrying a whole bunch of abnormal extra weight, tank, wetsuit that restricts your movement, etc.

This takes it out of the realm of best practice and raises issues of minimum capability for diving. It's an issue of technique, not strength. I'm not particularly big, or strong, but I've climbed out onto the ICE and come to my feet unaided with double steel 95's on my back. At a motorcycle rally, I saw a 5'2", 110 lb. woman demonstrate a technique for righting a 600 lb. bike, and make it look easy. I see students in the pool who have trouble climbing a ladder with a tank on, and it's always because they are doing it wrong.

 

[JDostal]

I do both. On a small boat like you describe, I'd take off my weight belt and put it in the boat. Then I'd slip out of my backplate and with my fins on kick up into the boat.

On a boat designed for diving (charter boat or similar...) I take my fins off in the water and then slip my hand through the springs. Then, with fins in hand and gear on I climb up the ladder into the boat. I only wear 6lbs on my belt at the most, so taking off the weight belt doesn't make a big difference.

Whatever works though - the last charter I was on, they wanted (offered) to let us put ou feet up on the back platform of the boat and take our fins off for us. Then we could head up the ladder. I did that a few times, but found it was quicker and easier for me to just take my own fins off and head up myself.

 

[String]

Standard RIB entry technique taught here is weight belt off and pass up then BC off and pass up, you keep fins & mask on and fin/pull up over side.

If on the very rare occasion i dive off a boat with a ladder i either walk up the thing fully kitted or if a small ladder take fins off, pass those up then climb.

 

[NOVIZWHIZ]

We're pretty much all in agreement, I say do what works for you and the boat. Most "small" boats are 15 to 20 ftrs and the platforms are SWIM platforms, made to help swimmers get back in the boat, not divers.

 

[Kamala]

I learned the hard way that handing fins up first is not the way to go. Spent 15 minutes drifting in the current with BC, weight belt, and no fins till the anchor could be pulled up and the boat brought back around to get me. And you can get pretty damn far in 15 minutes. I'll have that lesson in my head for a long time.