Would you be OK with this?

[Griffo]

Not a chance if I was paying for it. I might consider it on a personal boat on a large lake, but never offshore.

 

[Andrew Dawson]

For hire: no way.

Offshore: no way.

Inshore: yep, do it frequently with my own boat.

This. But, IMHO, only if no chance of current....or effect of current

 

[lexvil]

Don’t think I would have given it a second thought, ok in my book.

 

[2airishuman]

What I was scratching my head over was the mate and the captain both dove, leaving the boat completely unattended. Everything I have read has stated that this was a safety issue. When I raised my concern the captain stated that there isn't much current and it has never been an issue. All the diving magazines I have read has stated that when diving the boat should never be unattended.

I was not comfortable with the situation. My question to Scubaboard is; Would you be OK diving from a boat that was left completely unattended?

As others have alluded to, it depends.

You said you were a mile from shore. How far is a mile to you? Could you swim that far under the prevailing conditions? A mile is a long way to swim. I swim a 1/4 mile at the pool for exercise from time to time and would not be entirely confident that I could do a full mile in open water even without scuba gear. Is there some other rational contingency plan if you all surface and find that the boat is drifting (or worse)? How safe is the water to be in considering weather, water temperature, hazardous aquatic life, rocks, etc? What about navigation -- was there some landmark to swim for with all kinds of safe water exits, or was the bay surrounded by sheer rock?

How good is the captain at anchoring? What is the ground tackle like on the boat? There's a big difference between a mushroom on a rope and a properly sized, modern anchor (Rocna, Spade, Mantusi, Fortress) with an all-chain rode. How good is the holding in whatever bay or sound you found yourself in? What sort of repair was the boat in otherwise (aside from the engine problem?) Was there an automatic bilge pump? Was it working and turned on?

What about the other divers? Were they people who were going to be on the ball when TSHTF or would they have been part of the problem?

In general this sort of thing is a bad idea unless it's thought through.

 

[Mustard Dave]

No. Not only is it putting the boat in danger, it also leaves the divers with no surface cover.

 

[D_Fresh]

Outboards have a manual release to lower them by hand..

Most have manual, but some are strictly hydraulic. But either way, I find it strange the captain couldn't get it down....

I am more in the camp of "not ok" because it's a paid charter with no Surface Cover as @Mustard Dave mentioned. But, if I it was my buddy's boat and we're just out screwing around, I'm probably ok with it depending on how well I know the captain and his/her anchoring skills. (I worked on 69t Seiner in Southeast Alaska.)

 

[snowdog61]

A for hire dive charter should always have an operator on board to deal with any issue that may arise - especially during the dive ops. Negligent is the word that comes to mind here.

 

[Celt]

I do it all the time on my own boat with me in control. With someone else in control, don’t think so .

 

[mmerriman]

anchored, or tied up to a mooring?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

In the Hood Canal where I'm diving just offshore (as some sites, though just offshore, are not accessible except by boat), sure, as I'm right off shore. If I were diving in the middle of the Canal and had a long rope, then no.