Thoughts on a new dive boat

[JamesBahn]

Hi Guys/Gals.

I am planning on partnering with a guy for a dive operation here in Costa Rica. When we study our competition, we find the biggest complaint against them is generally always regarding the quality of their boats. The main operator in the area uses an old gutted trawler that has seen better years and I am pretty sure I could swim faster than the piece of junk.

Anyways, we are at the point of choose and purchasing a boat. Prices are much more expensive in CR than in the US, but our budget for a boat here would roughly translate into a $40k boat in the US.

The things I need are the ability to carry 3 crew and 10 divers, a head (no one in the area has a boat with a head), and I would prefer a boat that is quick without sacrificing too much fuel efficiency. Our furthest site is approximately 40 miles up the coast.

Above all, I would just love to hear any and all opinions you may have.

Thanks in advance.

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

$40k sounds too cheap to me. We built our own boats for diving in Honduras. 40ft hull + new engine, etc. Had them built to our spec. cost was about $70k. Spent many hours evaluating and changing props to get best speed/efficiency balance. They are very reliable boats. Traveling 40m for a dive site sounds like your boat has to be very reliable. You have customers on board and a long way from home. You better make sure you can get back every time. Reliability & safety is (almost) everything. If you are considering something with outboards they usually suck fuel. We ran a 115hp outboard on a skiff taking 8 divers, inc crew, approx 7m to dive site and 7m back again. That cost us the same in fuel as the new 40ft dive boat to run to the same dive site. Except now we go with a 3 groups of divers - 18 people max instead of 8.

 

[JamesBahn]

Rob - Thank you very much for your reply. That was exactly the kind of insight I was hoping for.

However, you contradicted something I have always thought to be true. HP for HP, I have always been told outboards are MUCH more. Am I wrong in that?

My max is $100k USD but that is for a boat already here in CR. Import tax and registration will be roughly 100% of the boat value if purchases outside of Costa Rica. Boats that are customized for diving are far and few in between here, so we are still in the very beginning stages of looking for a boat.

Thanks again for your insight!

 

[rob@diveinutila.com]

I'm no expert but I know that the cost of gas is more than cost of diesel and with our 40ft dive boat we installed a 370Hp turbo Yanmar engine. With the prop experimentation I spoke about we now have a prop that is great for the boat and we cruise at around 2400 rpm - below the rpm that would kick in the turbo meaning we are running relatively fuel efficient plus we still make around 16 to 18 knots. Comparing the costs on the 7m trip I was talking about we use about 15 to 20 gallons of diesel on the 40footer (about $50 of fuel at today's local prices). With the 115Hp we were burning almost exactly the same but in gasoline (about $78 at today's local prices).

I can't really comment much wider than that - you'll need to find more of an expert than me!

 

[The Chairman]

Here in the Keys, the Corinthian Catamarans do GREAT. They are stable enough for moderate seas and they are SOOOOO stinking open that they are almost like a party barge. Also, they hold a ton of passengers if needed. They use a pair of outboards for power, so there is very little engineering, and if an engine fails, you're still getting home. The only draw back is that it's a long drop into the suds and an even longer climb back up the ladder. Super boat for reef diving but I think the cost is over $80K. http://www.corinthiancatamarans.com/