Hull Cleaning Information

[sterlingMarineService]

well i called a friend who said start big then ask what they want and if they say smaller than what u said you can write in the contract u chose this rap so im not liable

I was thinking at least a half inch if not more.... and then found a ball with a hundred pounds of lift where the chain goes through the ball so im not relying on the ball which is good...

 

[grouchyturtle]

Well like I said, it really depends on the size of the boat. That's why even some mooring fields actually have moorings for different size vessels.

You could also check WestMarine, Jamestown distributors, or even look at a copy of Chapman's Piloting or the Annapolis Book of Seamanship for recommended sizes.

MY friend, who I based my decision off of I think was only using 3/8" on a 44' cat (probably about a 20' beam). In the few years and thousands of miles he put on that boat, he had a few links stretched, but not broken, and that was in a hurricane after getting hit by a huge wave.

Go too big and it may be so heavy that the mooring won't stay on the surface.

 

[sterlingMarineService]

well i was thinking my minimum would be 3/8, but i need to call him again and see what the elements are and the boat and stuff.... the buoys can hold any chain size! if he has the pocket i could 1-1/2 inch chain and put it on a buoy and it would float haha

 

[grouchyturtle]

Well, based on this chart. Is this a mooring for a megayacht? I assume with that size you're going to use either a large red or green buoy with a bell on it, right?

 

[sterlingMarineService]

haha, u meen green can or red nun? im almost 100% sure the boat isn't more than 25 ft...

 

[grouchyturtle]

Yup, that's the one!

 

[Neptune1]

I'd say the drawbacks to using tanks are many; time to refill, effort to refill, cost to refill, dangerous to transport, take up a lot of space, they're heavy, they can damage a boat and they run out of air! You eliminate all of these drawbacks with a hookah.

Well it's a comfort thing..I've been diving with a tank on my back for over 10yrs..I've made many many dives up to 110ft in the gulf of Mexico spearfishing for grouper and big ajs..I guess I'm having a hard time converting from a tank to a hookah due to my comfort level ....I don't know your certification level or your experience with tanks but I've never had any bad experiences diving with a tank on my back..as far as them being dangerous to transport it's all in how you handle them we've been in 4-6ft seas many times bouncing around with tanks for many miles and have never had an incident...I also carry a tank from one side of the dock to the other and have no problems doing so...as far as running out of air you have to manage your air properly, that's part of being a diver,I've never been in a out of air situation and I regularly dive wrecks and rigs in deep water...one of my good friends has been in the dive business for 19yrs..and he only dives with tanks.....of course like I said I do plan to buy a hookah ,but with me being a greenhorn in this business I'll keep diving with a tank on my back until I get a little bit more experience under my belt...

 

[fstbttms]

One thing I have learned during my time in this biz is that there is more than one way to skin a cat and hull cleaners have figured them all out. So I guess whatever works for you is what works. But using a tank to do hull cleaning just makes no sense, IMHO. There are zero advantages. A hookah is small, safe, lightweight, portable, unlimited and above all, free, air. Why anybody would choose to do this work with anything else is beyond me.

 

[sterlingMarineService]

well, yeah, hookah is great in a lot of respects but tanks can come in handy if you have a deep job or an "off shore" job which in your case u have a genny. I think hookahs are awesome sounding and save money in the long run but tanks are a good back up in case ur hookah breaks or something...

 

[fstbttms]

I've been doing this gig for over 15 years and have personally performed over 20,000 service events and have never, not once, needed a tank to do my job.

Just sayin'