Surface support from a private boat.

[laikabear]

I don't like to hand up my fins on a ladder where you must take fins off. I prefer to just put them over my wrists. If I fall back in, in doubles and a drysuit I would not be able to swim well without fins. And I've heard from boats "Oh we'll throw your fins to you if that happens." Yeah I have Hollis F1s, if I missed catching them (likely) they would sink.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

We put ours on the swimstep after we're already on the ladder, then pick them up before climbing aboard. The one thing I wish we had is a walk-through transom.

 

[Ana]

A walk-through transom would be great, but don't think it'd work on our boat.
I've seen Parkers that have it but seem very narrow, designed for fish more than a person walking in.

We dive single steel tanks, full foot long fins. As far as thermal protection we range from lycra - shorts these days, to 3mil with a hood-vest around December - January.

The boat came with a Christmas ladder that can be used without removing the fins, but I always find them to be too vertical for my taste, plus our long fins are akward on them. Great when everything is ok but we didn't think we could bring each other up in case something went wrong.
Here in Pompano Beach unless we go out for blue waters, the response time when calling the Coast Guard is couple of minutes. Off our Panama City Beach dive sites response could be 20-30 minutes. That was the thought behind the wide ladder with handles and a friendlier slope that lets you time a wave to push you up each rung.

For the line on the side, we are implementing that right away, @Johnoly comment reminded us using that line on the side when we anchored. We made a point of keeping it just short of the prop, in case we forget to bring it back. There was no reason to stop that practice we don't carry cameras and keep the gear on but why not have the line out. If is needed is there with minimal effort.

 

[Storker]

The boat came with a Christmas ladder that can be used without removing the fins, but I always find them to be too vertical for my taste

Depends on the design. I had one custom made for my boat, and it's far from vertical. And it swings freely up, so if it becomes necessary to move the boat a little, the drag is almost negligible.

EDIT: In fact, it's pretty similar to @MaxBottomtime 's ladder, except the steps are made from the same Al tube as the "spine".

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Ours is an Armstrong ladder welded to a custom swing bracket and pole to keep the ladder from going under the swimstep. The ladder floats enough that if we move the boat, the ladder would be horizontal on the surface. Fortunately, we remember to pull it in before moving.

 

[Ana]

View attachment 531512

View attachment 531513
Ours is an Armstrong ladder welded to a custom swing bracket and pole to keep the ladder from going under the swimstep. The ladder floats enough that if we move the boat, the ladder would be horizontal on the surface. Fortunately, we remember to pull it in before moving.

That certainly doesn't look like the ladders I've seen on that style , thanks for taking the time to showing it.

Depends on the design. I had one custom made for my boat, and it's far from vertical. And it swings freely up, so if it becomes necessary to move the boat a little, the drag is almost negligible.

I still love ours but part of me wishes I considered that style. Modify it accordingly on paper and then compare it to the design we used.
Thanks for the explanation.

 

[jeffsky29]

Maybe I missed this fact in one of these threads, but I think the issue was that he did not inflate his BC to be positively buoyant, or he had way too much weight on. Whether or not he had a medical issue, or just fell back off the ladder, had he been positively buoyant, he would have stayed on the surface and been brought back to the boat.

For me the primary lesson is, always be positively buoyant before going up the ladder. The second lesson is, always have your regulator in your mouth until you are safely on the boat (assuming he didn’t causing him to panic and drown before he had time to dump his weights, bringing him back to the surface). I think most of us already do these two things, but maybe the one positive thing that comes from this terrible accident is, these two rules are further ingrained in our brain!

Whatever we find out, my heart felt condolences go out to his family and his friends on the boat.

 

[rjack321]

On my personal boat (a RIB) divers need to ditch their gear before swimming over the tube. That can be a bit of a challenge for some since you usually need to deflate your wing to slip out of it. Then reinflate to keep it afloat. Lastly depending on your lead situation you can be quite heavy without the BCD on. This is one reason I don't really like the weight & trim harness systems. They can be hard to remove without "ditching" them. On the plus side fins are never removed until you're back in the boat and the gear is clipped off to tag lines.

With people new to my boat always end up ditching my gear and helping them either in the water or from the boat side.

If your boat is >16ft long you are required to have a throwable floatation device. I'd recommend putting a 30ft line on that and storing it in a very accessible spot near the stern of the boat.

 

[rsingler]

Whether or not he had a medical issue,...had he been positively buoyant, he would have stayed on the surface and been brought back to the boat.

This.
Diving 101. EVERY OW course, I must spend the first two confined water sessions repeating over and over, "Diver! Inflate your BC!" The first time, they're startled, then remember. The fourth time, the other students are grinning at the one who forgot. By CW#3, no one forgets.

It's great that we are discussing how to be better rescuers from private platforms. But to me, this case (initially discussed in another thread) is just one more example of sadly deficient BASIC scuba skills. Medical or not, this didn't have to happen. Handing up fins while negative? Uh, no.

 

[2airishuman]

Things to do to stay safe when diving from a smaller boat.

1. Put out a swim line before anyone gets in the water. Use polypropylene rope or some other kind of rope that floats. Longer is better, put a monkey's fist or at least a big knot at the end. Do this for swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving.
   
2. Have plan B if the anchor drags or the mooring line parts, you can't outswim a boat if the wind comes up. Someone qualified staying on board is best. Or a shore you can swim to, or another boat that agrees to wait nearby. If you've never had an anchor drag or think it can't happen to you, you're new to this whole boat thing.
3. Take off your weights and hand them up or clip them off when you get to the boat. Do this before you get out of your BC or take off your fins. Cattle boats don't do this because they're in a hurry to get everyone aboard, and it works for them because they have an open transom, big ladders, and a divemaster. You're not them.
   
4. In most cases it is safest overall to take off your BC in the water. Doing so is a basic skill that you had to demonstrate in order to get your first C card. If you can't do it anymore maybe you should be thinking in terms of some pool time with an instructor unless you want to stick to the cattle boats.
5. If there is any doubt whatsoever about your ability to swim to the boat without fins then put the swim line under your arm while you take them off.
6. If you pencil-whipped the swim test when you got your C card this might be a good time to start hitting the lap lanes every morning at the YMCA and maybe get a swim instructor to help you if you never really learned the strokes.