Question for DM's & anyone who works on a boat....

[ReefHound]

I've seen a few ladder injuries. When the boat is rockin' and the ladder is swingin' is where you separate the experienced boat divers from the newbies. Getting out in calm water is easy for anyone. Getting out in rough water requires being comfortable enough to add additional task loading without getting flustered.

The boat crew will tell you how to exit, i.e. fins on or off. Keep your reg in your mouth so you have a reliable air supply. Get your timing down and when you move in do so quickly and firmly. If you lose your grip push away and get outa there immediately. You do NOT want to be under the ladder.

 

[diver 85]

Or leave them on until you're back on the boat, depending on the type of ladder and the direction of the crew.

Our boat has a "fins on" t-ladder, and you'll want to keep your fins on because if you should fall back in while climbing up, you WILL need your fins.

Not on the Fling----their specific orders are to remove fins once you hit the tag& run them up your arm to your elbows....In a 5 knot current fins aren't going to help, you won't have time to ditch them once you get to the ladders.....

 

[diver 85]

That's not true up here in NJ. It's not uncommon to do a giant stride into a dead calm "Lake Atlantic" only to surface an hour later in 3-5's. (Though it can go the other way as well.)

Same in the Gulf here...can also enter with no current & 30 minutes later be in a 3-5 knot one.....current added to the rough seas makes it much harder to make an exit........

 

[String]

I've seen a fair number of injuries of various severity from boat ladders. The diving suited "christmas tree" ladder is easy to walk up but like any other ladder, if its rough and its moving around a lot it doesnt stop you getting hit by it, falling of it or getting the entire boat coming down on your head if not careful.

All boat ladders here are full kit including fins. Its just lunacy to have a diver in rough weather to try to remove their fins before climbing back onboard. Firstly you may get hit by the boat or ladder doing it, secondly if you fall you have no method of swimming. "Fins off" ladders are unsafe in rough waters.

Hard boats with electric lifts are a nice new invention. Take all the effort out of getting on board.

I MUCH prefer RIBs in rough water - they cut through swell so a better ride and climbing on is a hell of a lot safer and easier.

 

[djanni]

Not on the Fling----their specific orders are to remove fins once you hit the tag& run them up your arm to your elbows....In a 5 knot current fins aren't going to help, you won't have time to ditch them once you get to the ladders.....

Seems like "running them up to the elbows" would be hard to do with Spring Straps???

 

[Warren_L]

I've found the best way to get back up a ladder in high waves is always feet first. If they can tie off a tag line to the ladder, float on the surface (fins on for fins on ladder or fins off for a fins off ladder) with your feet towards the ladder, pull yourself in with the tag line, and set your feet on the ladder rungs on a downswing and then quickly pull on the tagline to get yourself on the ladder. Once you're on, get a good grip as the upswing is about to begin, but at this point, your weight is on your feet standing on the rung, so it should be no big deal. It's a lot less consequential if the ladder comes down and hits your feet than if you go arms and head first to the ladder. I always use my feet first.

The nice thing about this method is that if you have your feet on the ladder while lying on the surface, you can wait for the right wave before pulling yourself up and on the ladder. And if you aren't able to pull yourself up in time, all that happens is you fall back and away from the ladder.

 

[shoredivr]

Warren, that's the best tip I've seen IF they have a tag line. Thanks!

I don't understand why all dive boats don't have t-ladders or X-mas tree ladders. It's so much easier to just walk up a ladder in a current or waves, rather than fumbling around with removing fins.

 

[diver 85]

Warren, that's the best tip I've seen IF they have a tag line. Thanks!

I don't understand why all dive boats don't have t-ladders or X-mas tree ladders. It's so much easier to just walk up a ladder in a current or waves, rather than fumbling around with removing fins.

very true, but we as divers have no control of what kind of ladders are on the boat, you play with the cards you are dealt.....I figure these guys had alot more experience in boarding 'their' boats than I did as I had never boarded it in the conditions we were in(ie bad ones)......

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

A truly challenging part of diving..exiting in rough seas. What I think takes most people by surprise who don't dive everyweek is once they get their feet on the first rung, they are in the water. Then as the ladder rises up out of the water, now the full weight of the equipment in upon them. As soon as they think they got it, the boat comes down and they have to try to go up one rung of the ladder. Then the ladder suddenly flies upward again leaving them high and dry with the full weight of the equipment. This is where being in good physical shape helps tremendously. I have seen many near accidents and a few real accidents. One that comes to mind happened about 4 years ago when a diver of near 300lbs fell off the ladder onto a diver below. It clean knocked him unconscious.:11: I immediately pulled him into the boat, laid him out with his head in my DM's lap while I got the oxygen. Women were panicking and crying, people were still trying to get in the boat, the captain was yelling to get everything inside the boat, I was directing the victim to lay flat and be quiet as well as telling everybody everything was fine and could they all just calm down and let us work. And they did. All in all, the diver was fine, but he don't dive when its rough surface conditions now. Both of these guys live here in Playa del Carmen and are experienced divers. So to me, this just confrms that accidents can happen even to the best of us, :14:so be prepared.

 

[highlandfarmwv]

I fell off the t-laddder 3 times the first time I tried to go up one! (Of course, I had cracked a rib earlier that day and could only grab will with one hand). anyway... they have a line hanging from the bottom run of the ladder, and you han onto it, instead of the tag line which is off to the side, then, when you are ready to go up and the ladder is down, pull yourself straight toward the ladder and craw your hands up. feet pull ito the bottom rung, then you are settled. I have always wondered if having one fin one would make he t-ladder easier than both fins on??