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

[Hickdive]

In the UK I have only ever been on one dive boat without a proper dive ladder (what you'd call a t-ladder or christmas tree ladder) and it was a bloody nightmare to get back on. I really cannot understand the mentality of accepting anything that requires removal of any kit before ascending.

Mind you, in the UK we generally operate with 'live' boats and skippers who drive the ladder up to each pair in turn. Really good skippers can pick you up without you finning at all and, with a little practice you can catch the ladder with you knee as the skipper takes the way off and be half way up before (s)he is down from the wheelhouse to help you.

My tips;

Keep mask on and reg in until back on deck.

Stay clear of the ladder until it is your time to climb.

Don't get underneath another diver who is climbing.

Use the roll of the boat and timing to keep effort to a minimum.

At least three points of contact on the ladder at all times.

Keep loose kit clipped in close to your body, danglies catch in rungs. If you can't keep it clipped, hand it into the boat before climbing.

Best of all, dive from a boat with a lift

 

[diver 85]

In the UK I have only ever been on one dive boat without a proper dive ladder (what you'd call a t-ladder or christmas tree ladder) and it was a bloody nightmare to get back on. I really cannot understand the mentality of accepting anything that requires removal of any kit before ascending.

Mind you, in the UK we generally operate with 'live' boats and skippers who drive the ladder up to each pair in turn. Really good skippers can pick you up without you finning at all and, with a little practice you can catch the ladder with you knee as the skipper takes the way off and be half way up before (s)he is down from the wheelhouse to help you.

My tips;

Keep mask on and reg in until back on deck.

Stay clear of the ladder until it is your time to climb.

Don't get underneath another diver who is climbing.

Use the roll of the boat and timing to keep effort to a minimum.

At least three points of contact on the ladder at all times.

Keep loose kit clipped in close to your body, danglies catch in rungs. If you can't keep it clipped, hand it into the boat before climbing.

Best of all, dive from a boat with a lift

What wave heights are you speaking of ie 6-8 ft.???...

 

[Scubakevdm]

I really cannot understand the mentality of accepting anything that requires removal of any kit before ascending.

I think it's alot easier to walk around without fins on, especially if what I'm walking around on is slippery and moving in every direction while the g-forces change.

 

[String]

Trying to exit having first removed kit is in my view dangerous. A diver should remain fully kitted until fully back on board if its a hard boat.
THEN you remove fins and walk to the seat.
Most sane hard boats have ropes about head height to use as grab support as well.

Pretty essential in rough weather.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Trying to exit having first removed kit is in my view dangerous. A diver should remain fully kitted until fully back on board if its a hard boat.
THEN you remove fins and walk to the seat.
Most sane hard boats have ropes about head height to use as grab support as well.

Pretty essential in rough weather.

I don't follow the logic here. Why is is more dangerous to take your fins off in the water than on the swim platform in rough seas?

 

[String]

Because you'll be in the water with your fins off, no means of swimming or getting out of the way of a boat and or ladder hitting you in the head or even getting to the ladder safely.

Once on the ladder you need all the points of contact you can get to avoid being hurled back off it and once on you need to climb it quickly to avoid being repeatedly dunked under, pulled off and so on. If you do come off it with no fins you cant swim back to it or swim out of the way of a crashing boat or ladder.

Fins ideally come off once sat back down, or IF the boat has sensible overhead grab ropes and you insist you can do it at the stern before moving across the deck.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Because you'll be in the water with your fins off, no means of swimming or getting out of the way of a boat and or ladder hitting you in the head or even getting to the ladder safely.

Once on the ladder you need all the points of contact you can get to avoid being hurled back off it and once on you need to climb it quickly to avoid being repeatedly dunked under, pulled off and so on. If you do come off it with no fins you cant swim back to it or swim out of the way of a crashing boat or ladder.

Fins ideally come off once sat back down, or IF the boat has sensible overhead grab ropes and you insist you can do it at the stern before moving across the deck.

Hmm. We have a way of doing this that could be a little more clever. What we do is pick up divers in rough conditions with following seas. This means that the wind will be constantly blowing the boat away from the diver, so there's no chance of them being crushed by the boat, swim platform, or ladder. We attach a couple of tag lines to the ladder and swim platform so that they have something to hold onto while they doff their fins, and so that they can get to the ladder with their fins off.

I personally would be a bit nervous about having divers trying to take their fins off on the swim platform, especially if there were other divers in the water waiting to come up right below them.

 

[String]

100% of boats here are what america seems to call "live boating" in that the boat comes to the divers. This negates the problem of current to a large extent.

However no matter where you position the boat you cant just make it stop rolling.

Swell doesnt always follow wind direction as well as that you often get it coming in several directions at once. Add in strong tidal currents to twist the boat and the chances of keeping a hard boat lined up perfectly with the oncoming sea is virtually nil.

Wind and current operating in different directions will always twist a boat. Its a rare day when you get wind and current to line up.

Blowing the boat away from the diver does nothing to prevent them being hit by it or the ladder when they make their approach.

Divers are not to approach the ladder until the platform is clear. This is regardless of taking fins on or off - people can and do fall from them.

 

[diver 85]

100% of boats here are what america seems to call "live boating" in that the boat comes to the divers. This negates the problem of current to a large extent.

However no matter where you position the boat you cant just make it stop rolling.

Swell doesnt always follow wind direction as well as that you often get it coming in several directions at once. Add in strong tidal currents to twist the boat and the chances of keeping a hard boat lined up perfectly with the oncoming sea is virtually nil.

Wind and current operating in different directions will always twist a boat. Its a rare day when you get wind and current to line up.

Blowing the boat away from the diver does nothing to prevent them being hit by it or the ladder when they make their approach.

Divers are not to approach the ladder until the platform is clear. This is regardless of taking fins on or off - people can and do fall from them.

In all of my posts, I'm always referring to a moored boat either to an oil rig or a stationary sea buoy......IF NOT( in other words if they've had to untie the boat due to a change in current or winds) you are given orders to pop your SS & be ready for a 45+ minute surface drift till we can get to you.......

 

[String]

Moored boat is even worse in rough seas where its at the mercy of a twist motion off current/tides, a different twisting motion from the wind and this can often mean its head into the wind but side on to the swell.

I'd be monumentally pissed off if left to drift more than 5 minutes after surfacing from a dive but then again procedures are different here - mooring doesn't work for a number of reasons so the standard way to end every dive is to send up a delayed SMB and expect the boat there waiting when you surface (or only a few mins away picking up others).