Multi-Day Dive Boat Buying Suggestions

[MrBlenny]

With Covid wrecking havoc of my destination dives trips I'm seriously looking into getting a boat that can let me do more local dive vacations instead. I'm located in Washington State, so I have the whole Salish Sea and Vancouver B.C. to explore. I'm also doing MOD 1 a year from now, so I will be bringing the pros and cons of a CCR with me at that point.

At the moment I am trying to keep my boat options open, but have the following constraints:

1. Must be trailerable, i.e. less than 10ft wide (ideally legal 8.5ft) and less than 12,000lbs. so my truck doesn't cry.
2. Keeps three adults comfortable for a weeks at a time to prevent murder/mutiny.
3. Hot Shower (see number 2)
4. Good in crappy weather (see number 2 again.)
5. Less then $100,000 USD (I know this puts me in used territory.)
6. Easy diver ingress/egress.

I realize there are many additional considerations, but nobody wants to read an exhaustive wishlist Also, length is open to be determined by other constraints, but 35' seems like a good soft upper-bound. Gas vs. Diesel, Fiberglass vs. Aluminum are things I am still learning about.

So far SeaSport and EagleCraft look like solid performers (EagleCraft loses on price, though), but with so many options out there, I'm curious what you all are using/coveting.

Cheers,

-Michael

 

[swimlikethefish]

A lot of sacrifice with wanting to trailer. If you take the leap to just keeping it docked, you will find a LOT more options. Just food for thought.

 

[Johnoly]

Radon Signature boats - LOTS of divers have them.
Hits every one of your requirements
Just ask for picts from @MaxBottomtime

 

[MrBlenny]

A lot of sacrifice with wanting to trailer. If you take the leap to just keeping it docked, you will find a LOT more options. Just food for thought.

I've been wrestling with that trade-off already, but am not quite ready to give up the travel range that a trailer brings to the table; if I was retired, I'd say moor it and enjoy chugging from A to B. As it is, I may still go that route, but the time-cost is real.

Do you have a moored boat, and if so, what is it? Likes and dislikes?

 

[MrBlenny]

Radon Signature boats - LOTS of divers have them.
Hits every one of your requirements
Just ask for picts from @MaxBottomtime

That's not a brand I've come across yet, so thanks for the pointer. Their website doesn't seem to list the layout options, but I bet they can email something to me. Twin outboards is a nice option, too.

 

[swimlikethefish]

Boat is at a marina tied up to a fixed dock. 41' Rampage. Used mostly for offshore angling. We do dive from it though. Twin diesels with a generator and ac. 1200 gallon tank allows for a long range. Also comfortable enough for the wives when they want to go out.

 

[wgw04024]

If you want to trailer it, you are going to sacrifice EVERYTHING else on your list.

When you say 'keep 3 adults' Does that mean 'living' on the boat? 3 people on a boat for a week (and not murdering someone) is not a trailable boat in my mind what so ever.

From your needs, if you aren't sleeping on it, a 27-30' boat would be good. If you are sleeping on it, probably more. A wide (heavier) beam boat will add ALOT of extra space feel as well.

 

[Darnold9999]

I doubt you will find a boat you can trailer that will come even close to your requirements. I spend weeks on mine in the summer and dive only occasionally from it. It is a cruising boat (1965 wooden 37 foot Shepherd) and has no compressor on board so you have to get to a fill station between dives - they are not located conveniently near places you will want to visit. And at roughly one gallon of fuel per mile at 8 mph trips to the full station are not regular events when we cruise to more remote locations. If you plan to be out for extended trips you will need extra large fresh water tanks for showers and rinsing gear. Some way to heat large quantities of water. Some way to heat the inner cabin in winter. Don’t forget to make sure getting in and out of the water is doable.
If you just want to dive and occasionally be out for a day or two a trailerable boat will work and be WAY less expensive on an annual basis but you will be giving up most of the things on your list.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Our C-Dory Tomcat is the perfect boat for the type of diving we do. At eight feet wide and 25.5 feet long, it is trailerable, but we keep ours in a slip. Sometimes we go offshore to the backside of Catalina Island, about a 70 mile run. We also have seven other islands within 115 miles of our slip. Most of the time we dive reefs and wrecks that are within 20 miles of home. We also have wrecks and reefs less than a mile from the harbor.

We have a pilot house so we can get out of the weather. Wind, sun, hot, cold, rain, or just splashing saltwater takes its toll on you after a day on the water. If it's hot, we have two fans or we can open windows. If it's cold, we have a diesel stove/heater. The Tomcat has a queen size V-berth in case anyone needs to sleep on the way to or from a dive site. The table also folds down into a single bed. We also have a refrigerator, sink, marine head, and hot/cold freshwater shower. I added a longer hose so we can shower and rinse our gear out on the deck after diving. The water heater only holds six gallons so you would need shore power to heat more. We don't go inside the pilot house with wet gear. We also have an air dryer and two dehumidifiers to keep the musty smell common to many boats away. We've owned the boat for ten years and it still smells fresh.

The boat is powered by twin Honda 150 HP outboards with hydraulic steering. We had a custom swing dive ladder installed to make climbing back aboard in full gear easier. I installed racks for up to eight single tanks or sets of doubles. A stainless Bruce type anchor and 400 feet of chain holds the boat in any conditions we have been out in. The shiny anchor is very visible underwater, making it easier to find our way back at the end of a dive. Chain markers let me know how much chain I have let out. I have different color markers a fifty feet intervals. Caribiners with bolt snaps are attached to the railings along either side of the boat so we can clip off our cameras rather than trying to carry them up the ladder. Our camera rigs are the size of many small cars. A thirty gallon rinse tank keeps our cameras, computers, and compasses salt-free.

Inside we have a VHF radio mounted as well as a handheld backup. A GPS/RADAR/Fishfinder multifunction display allows me to anchor within five feet of my coordinates every time. I have a drop camera so I can check the visibility and conditions on the reef before we gear up. It has saved us from a lot of aborted dives. I have a large dive flag on a long PVC pole that can be seen a couple of miles away.

The catamaran hull provides stability. There is nothing worse than having so muscles after a day of holding onto rails on a monohull. It's great to be able to gear up on a 25 foot boat that isn't rocking.

It is fast enough to get us there and back, comfortable enough without having to treat it like a yacht, functional enough to get us on the dive sites accurately and safely, and it keeps Merry happy, which is the most important function.

 

[MrBlenny]

Thanks for all the candid insights and suggestions so far; it sounds like I may have started with a null set and need to revise. Correct me here, but it seems I either need to ditch the trailer, or trip duration. If I ditch the trailer, what length range would be recommended? Regardless of cost, I have to think there is an upper threshold that isn't dive site friendly, and too small has obvious issues. If I opt to keep the trailer, what would be a reasonable trip duration be on something like a SeaSport 28 Commander? In high school my family did a three week trip in Desolation Sound on a 26ft sailboat, so I know it 'can' be done, but when I recall the nook that served as my berth I remember that I'm not as flexible as I was then...not to mention the overhead that goes with storing scuba gear.

I should also clarify on my initial post that most trips would be a week or so, with port calls every couple of days, although having the option to go longer would be a plus.

Again, thanks for the help.