Sailing with dive gear & Diving from a sailboat

[grouchyturtle]

I think what he meant about not getting caught in a storm was not being caught in a storm in a sailing yacht in close to a reef or something that would make it diffucult to manuver.

Difficult to maneuver because of being in a more confined area or because of shallow water.

If it's the latter, I'd think that would be another reason a cat may be a better choice for diving.

 

[OceanObsessed]

Difficult to maneuver because of being in a more confined area or because of shallow water.

If it's the latter, I'd think that would be another reason a cat may be a better choice for diving.

What I meant was difficult to manuever because of being in a confined area which increases risk of running aground since you are in shallow water.

It really depends on the geography of the area. I would not hesitate to dive out of a large sailboat in SE Florida near shallow water. If a storm popped up just head East to deep water. The inlets here are well marked and you could easily just head in during a bad storm, even at night. No big deal.

However, other locations may not be that simple. For example, in the Bahamas the squalls can pop up very quickly and they tend to be much more violent than the storms we get off SE Florida. When you are near the reef you need to keep a lookout for large coral heads near the surface that pose a threat to your boat. There are no channel markers in the remote islands marking deep water when cutting in between rocky islands. It is very risky to navigate a large sailboat through an area like this during a storm when you lost visibility and you can't do it after dark. If caught in a storm like this you would just typically head out to deep water and ride the storm out then come back into your anchorage/harbor when the weather clears. Hopefully the storm clears before dark or you may be out, and at the helm, all night . In places like this it is much less stressful to just keep the large sailboat anchored somewhere safe and dive from the dingy.

 

[OceanObsessed]

5. Would you do it again / do you do this often? If it is hard, what is the main difficulty? If it is easy, why don't I see / here about more people doing it?

I don't think I have ever used scuba from a big sailboat. I have done some freediving from them when at anchor though. IMO the main reason you don't see people diving from them is that they sit very high out of the water. I swear, some of those ladders on the back of sailboats are more for looks than practical use. Big sailboats can be easy to get out of but sometimes very difficult to climb back aboard. To climb back aboard you would have to take your gear off, tie it to the ladder (or a line thrown over the side), climb into the sailboat and then haul the gear back up. It can all be done its just cumbersome. Of course, my experience is limited to only mono hull saiboats over 40 feet. Perhaps it is easier climbing back onto a smaller sailboat that sits lower in the water.

Even if you were to dive off the sailboat at anchor it is much easier with the dingy in the water. We would climb back into the dingy & pass our freediving gear back up to someone in the sailboat. On many larger sailboats, it is easier to climb from dingy onto the side deck of the sailboat than it is to use the ladder on the stern of the sailboat.

You probably want to be very sure to plan your dive to return to the sailboat too. Larger sailboats have larger anchors and usually lots of chain which is heavy. They may require a windlass to pull the anchor up. In the event that there is a strong current and the divers missed the sailboat...is the person that stayed behind on the boat capable of pulling the anchor up and single handedly taking the sailboat over to pick up the divers afloat? Just stuff to think about...

 

[grouchyturtle]

I didn't have too much trouble getting back on board a 20 foot sailboat a few weeks ago, with all my gear on except for fins. Biggest problem was it was just really crowded.

 

[grouchyturtle]

What I meant was difficult to manuever because of being in a confined area which increases risk of running aground since you are in shallow water.

It really depends on the geography of the area. I would not hesitate to dive out of a large sailboat in SE Florida near shallow water. If a storm popped up just head East to deep water. The inlets here are well marked and you could easily just head in during a bad storm, even at night. No big deal.

However, other locations may not be that simple. For example, in the Bahamas the squalls can pop up very quickly and they tend to be much more violent than the storms we get off SE Florida. When you are near the reef you need to keep a lookout for large coral heads near the surface that pose a threat to your boat. There are no channel markers in the remote islands marking deep water when cutting in between rocky islands. It is very risky to navigate a large sailboat through an area like this during a storm when you lost visibility and you can't do it after dark. If caught in a storm like this you would just typically head out to deep water and ride the storm out then come back into your anchorage/harbor when the weather clears. Hopefully the storm clears before dark or you may be out, and at the helm, all night . In places like this it is much less stressful to just keep the large sailboat anchored somewhere safe and dive from the dingy.

You could always motor, until you're in a more open area.

That's why I was thinking cat. Some of them with the boards up have a very shallow draft.

 

[OceanObsessed]

You could always motor, until you're in a more open area.

That's why I was thinking cat. Some of them with the boards up have a very shallow draft.

I was implying motoring with the sails down . I probably should have stated that since we are talking about sailboats. I don't have any experience on large cats but from what I have seen of the cats I am pretty sure they would be better than a monohull for both manueverability & speed under motor power. I've seen some with twin ouboards too. They are popular for Bahamas cruising becuse of their shallow draft. I've talked to cat owners before and they all swear by them. Even the ones that were formerly monohull owners.

 

[islandjim]

I caught this thread 6 months after it started, but will add some of my experience.
I sail and dive from my 22' O'day. It is setup with two tanks kept under the companian way and BC, Fins, etc. kept under the port cockpit. I am also a frequent visitor to the caribbean where I dive as well. It is different if it is your boat and you have it setup for diving versus a bareboat rental where it is not. Though the bareboat rental usually will have a small platform on the back of the boat making it easier to get in and out of the water. In my situation I only have a swim ladder on the back of the boat which does not lend itself to a diver getting in and out with all gear in place. We usually darn our gear in the water. After getting into the water the BC and tank are lowered over the side. Once you have your BC on, the rest of your gear is passed over the side. The weight belt was always a possible problem, but the new BC with intergrated weights has solved that problem. When you return to the boat after your dive it is done in reverse. It is really very simple and makes it easy on such a small boat. Having a spot to store everything safely is the key to this type of diving.

I am in the process of looking for a small compressor to bring onboard for recharging tanks and snuba (dive with air line).

We have been using this setup in our dives off of Long Island, NY for a couple years now. We are limited to one dive each due to only owning two tanks.

Yes it can be done.

IslandJim

 

[WetDawg]

Surprised nobody mentioned the most common method for diving from a sailboat around here, that is a hookah rig. The advantages are you don't need tanks nor a compressor, (nor generator to run it). For most inshore island diving a 50' hose is all you need. Some of the rigs will support up to 4 divers at a time. Storage is a snap, strap it down on the bow.
Brownie's Third Lung is very popular.

 

[grouchyturtle]

I caught this thread 6 months after it started, but will add some of my experience.
I sail and dive from my 22' O'day. It is setup with two tanks kept under the companian way and BC, Fins, etc. kept under the port cockpit. I am also a frequent visitor to the caribbean where I dive as well. It is different if it is your boat and you have it setup for diving versus a bareboat rental where it is not. Though the bareboat rental usually will have a small platform on the back of the boat making it easier to get in and out of the water. In my situation I only have a swim ladder on the back of the boat which does not lend itself to a diver getting in and out with all gear in place. We usually darn our gear in the water. After getting into the water the BC and tank are lowered over the side. Once you have your BC on, the rest of your gear is passed over the side. The weight belt was always a possible problem, but the new BC with intergrated weights has solved that problem. When you return to the boat after your dive it is done in reverse. It is really very simple and makes it easy on such a small boat. Having a spot to store everything safely is the key to this type of diving.

I am in the process of looking for a small compressor to bring onboard for recharging tanks and snuba (dive with air line).

We have been using this setup in our dives off of Long Island, NY for a couple years now. We are limited to one dive each due to only owning two tanks.

Yes it can be done.

IslandJim

I'm in the process of buying a Gemini 105. I'm pretty sure the aft lockers are tall enough to store tanks standing up, although I'll have to relocate some gear. Also since I dive a BP/wing, I'm thinking there may even be enough room to keep one of the tanks rigged up.

Should be plenty of room to step out of the cockpit in full gear, and jump in from the aft port side, if I undo the lifelines. Actually the transom is short enough that you could probably even clear the steps with a giant stride. Then for getting back on board in full gear, high on my to do list is removing the swim ladder on the starboard transom and replacing it with one of these.

May also rig up some way to bungie a rig or two in the cockpit.

Do you hit any of the wrecks out there, with your boat?

 

[grouchyturtle]

Surprised nobody mentioned the most common method for diving from a sailboat around here, that is a hookah rig. The advantages are you don't need tanks nor a compressor, (nor generator to run it). For most inshore island diving a 50' hose is all you need. Some of the rigs will support up to 4 divers at a time. Storage is a snap, strap it down on the bow.
Brownie's Third Lung is very popular.

Yeah, but I just really hate the idea of being on a leash.