What to do when your dive boat sinks?

[Steve_C]

On the day boats I usually dive which are 38-48 ft, open cockpit. Briefing includes fire extinguishers and if you see a fire put it out. For overboard you tell crew and watch the spot. They will do rescue. There is EPIRB and emergency raft on boat the self deploys. You have instructions for radio.

Boats have never sank. But there is stuff the captain worries about. These are twin props that counter rotate. If they happen to run over some floating rope, heavy line that gets in both props, it is a big problem. They did have one run where a below water seal sprung a leak. Did not sink but they had folks get ready while the assessed how bad it was and did what they could to slow it.

Priority for me, besides listening is PFD, then wetsuit. Putting wetsuit on at the start of the trip in summer is not a good idea for a 2 hour boat ride.

The jokes during briefing are the same as on Waterhorse and in the Keys.

 

[GreyhoundsAreFast]

Some friends rented a Boston Whaler a few weekends ago. Three divers went scuba diving while three stayed on board. The water was not entering the boat so much when they were skimming across it, but the boat must have sat lower in the choppy water once they were anchored.

It started taking on water. They several things simultaneously: called the harbor master; put out a net call for help from any nearby boats; activated the EPIRB; shifted all the weight to the front; and through it all they bailed water endlessly. They said the whole thing took ~20min until the boat had capsized (Boston Whalers rarely sink).

Once it capsized, they just sat on top the hull and waited.

They handled it pretty well, I think.

 

[Steve_C]

6 people and scuba tanks and gear is to my thinking a lot of weight in a Boston whaler.
They may not have had a long enough anchor line. Short line will tend to hold down the bow.
I gather the boat was not self bailing?

 

[cneal]

I gather the boat was not self bailing?

Wth that load the self bailing drains were probably underwater and filling the boat faster than they could bail.

Why would I think of that? But I did solve the problem before the boat swamped.

 

[Schwob]

Wth that load the self bailing drains were probably underwater and filling the boat faster than they could bail.

Why would I think of that? But I did solve the problem before the boat swamped.

Whom did you throw over board?

 

[cneal]

Whom did you throw over board?

I was about 10 and just happy to get the neighbor's boat back to the dock. His son was happy we got back before he got home. Stern waves will slowly add water until the flow is constant and then things happen quickly. Just putting down the fishing poles and getting the boat moving will solve the problem.

 

[GreyhoundsAreFast]

6 people and scuba tanks and gear is to my thinking a lot of weight in a Boston whaler.
They may not have had a long enough anchor line. Short line will tend to hold down the bow.
I gather the boat was not self bailing?

USCG rates the boat for ten people I don’t think load was part of the problem. We’ll see what the investigation determines.

 

[Steve_C]

USCG rates the boat for ten people I don’t think load was part of the problem. We’ll see what the investigation determines.

On smaller boats the calculation is 150 lbs per person for safe navigation in benign conditions. That includes equipment. ten people is 1500 pounds for people and equipment. Dividing by 6 we get 250 pounds per diver including tanks etc. If these were 6 adult male divers it would be very easy to be over capacity or right at it and that is only for nice conditions and from the description it was a bit rough. Sounds like it could well have been over loaded, or at least very heavily loaded, to me.

 

[Schwob]

Wow. That is good to know. 150 lbs per adult... Wow. Living in the Midwest, doing essentially an office job, looking around me, I would stipulate that average is either many, many decades old ... or was counting on a very hi influx of immigrants from "lighter parts of the world"...

 

[GreyhoundsAreFast]

On smaller boats the calculation is 150 lbs per person for safe navigation in benign conditions.

Source? USCG is normally very conservative, in my experience.

Sounds like it could well have been over loaded, or at least very heavily loaded, to me.

Thank you, Mr. Armchair General, sir.