Boat Rental and Experienced Divers

[McLovinIt]

Pretty simple scenario, but not so simple answer. Myself and a buddy of mine, and our two girlfriends, are thinking about renting a boat and doing some reef dives in Key West.

My buddy and I are experienced Tech Divers with well over 2000 dives between us. But all have been in the central Florida cave systems, well below rec depths and at considerable linear penetrations. But...Never dived in saltwater. Also have been responsible as dive guides in pre-cave and cavern dives with limited depths and line-of-sight exits.

I grew up bass fishing in freshwater and know my way around a boat...In freshwater. My buddy as well. Not too worried about this part. Just have to consider surf, tide, and current (we would definitely wait for a calm day).

Looking for feedback on what we might be overlooking in taking a rental boat out and doing some relatively shallow reef dives or maybe a dive around the outside of the Vandenberg.

The girls would remain on the boat (with very little boating experience between them since it has nothing to do with shopping or mani/pedi days) and I'm guessing we'd be moored by a wreck and maybe drifting while at the reef.

I'm thinking we should be alright, but I'd like you guys to think about what I may be not seeing or considering, and help my thought process. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Russjstewart]

Just to be pedantic when you say surf I assume you mean waves and swell. A few random thoughts, and I have no knowledge of Florida diving conditions and boating regulations.
1. The thought of drift diving without a competent boat driver scares me, they need to be able to follow your bubbles/ float and be able to manoeuvre the boat to pick you up. Propellors can be fouled with floating line, leaving you stranded and they do serious damage to people in the water.
2 One of the girls getting seasick will not have a pretty ending to the day. Maybe organise a non diving day on a rental boat to see if anyone gets sick and to become familiar with the way the boat handles. Get the girls familiar with driving it. By the way one day of boating does not make anyone competent.
3. I would look at paying for a charter or two on a small boat and see how the skipper and crew do things. Think about how you are going to get back on a rental boat.
4. While diving where you want and when you want and not putting up with other divers is a great experience paying a charter operator to take you out has a lot going for it.
The skipper knows where rhe spots are
The boat should be set up for diving
The skipper and boat meet a standard.
They should have plans for when things go wrong.

 

[McLovinIt]

Points taken and appreciated! Thank you! Just commenting with a little informational rebuttal....

1. Maybe I oversimplified the girls' abilities. They can follow bubbles and/or markers. They can even moore up, but might take 10 mins instead of 2. I just wouldn't feel comfortable cutting them loose for a day on the water entirely alone. Unless everybody wants a Gilligan's Island remake!!

2. No sea sickness here. They are rock solid. Understood, and agreed, about the one day of boating. Would probably let the two of them take us out and to the site slowly, under our guidance. And they've both completed the Florida Boaters Safety course (not a requirement, but felt it a necessity for their comfort...and ours!!).

3. Good point. Been on many boats in the area and always paid attention to Captain's actions and doings, and reasonings. I usually ask about something I don't understand.

4. Good points! Other us than having a very good waters chart/map, and knowing what we want on a rental boat, all great points!! Kinda feedback I'm fishing for!!

Thanks so much for the effort and the input Russjstewart!! I appreciate it!

 

[RyanT]

Just book a charter....seriously.

 

[FullThrottle]

Pretty simple scenario, but not so simple answer. Myself and a buddy of mine, and our two girlfriends, are thinking about renting a boat and doing some reef dives in Key West.

My buddy and I are experienced Tech Divers with well over 2000 dives between us. But all have been in the central Florida cave systems, well below rec depths and at considerable linear penetrations. But...Never dived in saltwater. Also have been responsible as dive guides in pre-cave and cavern dives with limited depths and line-of-sight exits.

I grew up bass fishing in freshwater and know my way around a boat...In freshwater. My buddy as well. Not too worried about this part. Just have to consider surf, tide, and current (we would definitely wait for a calm day).

Looking for feedback on what we might be overlooking in taking a rental boat out and doing some relatively shallow reef dives or maybe a dive around the outside of the Vandenberg.

The girls would remain on the boat (with very little boating experience between them since it has nothing to do with shopping or mani/pedi days) and I'm guessing we'd be moored by a wreck and maybe drifting while at the reef.

I'm thinking we should be alright, but I'd like you guys to think about what I may be not seeing or considering, and help my thought process. Thanks in advance!!

I rented a boat for the first time in the keys when I was probably just 18. I'd been diving in the keys with the parents and their friends many times but had literally never operated a powerboat before. Consider that this was before there was GPS and the rental boat had no compass, but they did give me a "chart" printed on a paper placemat describing the bouys and towers marking the nearby reefs. Also there were no mooring bouys over reef sites back then. I survived.
Renting a boat and diving is really not that big a deal as long as you know where you're going and how you'll get there, and the weather is nice and you keep your expectations reasonable. You should probably not expect a drift dive to work out well with your girlfriends driving the boat. But there are many dive sites with mooring bouys you can tie up to directly over the dive sites including big, deep wrecks. Winter is the season of higher winds and bigger waves so be prepared with plan B and don't hesitate to postpone/cancel your boat rental if the weather exceeds the comfort level your boat can provide and your party can tolerate. Also, consider viewing these videos. This guy says he's had many experienced fresh water divers who were caught off guard by ocean conditions.
The ride out can be uncomfortable and the visibility can be crappy when the wind and waves are high, and sitting on a heaving boat while you're comfortable on the bottom won't make the ladies happy at all. And if you ascend down current from your boat and find the current exceeds your ability to swim against it...

 

[MrChen]

Just book a charter....seriously.

You can pay for the girls to be bubble watchers and just chill/enjoy the day on the water relaxing on the bow of the boat, rather than worried about mooring and driving.

 

[Jersey1971]

I've never dove the Keys, but last month I did a similar thing off West Palm. I rented a little skiff off of Boatsetter for a very reasonable price and took my sons around where they could freedive and spearfish.
It was a lot of fun, and I had no problem staying on the boat keeping an eye on them.

We particularly enjoyed studying the charts and looking for likely areas. It was a lot more satisfying than just being blindly dropped off.

Scuba would be different, as the water would be deeper and people out of sight longer. But it still sounds doable (to someone who had never done it)

 

[Russjstewart]

Points taken and appreciated! Thank you! Just commenting with a little informational rebuttal....

1. Maybe I oversimplified the girls' abilities. They can follow bubbles and/or markers. They can even moore up, but might take 10 mins instead of 2. I just wouldn't feel comfortable cutting them loose for a day on the water entirely alone. Unless everybody wants a Gilligan's Island remake!!

2. No sea sickness here. They are rock solid. Understood, and agreed, about the one day of boating. Would probably let the two of them take us out and to the site slowly, under our guidance. And they've both completed the Florida Boaters Safety course (not a requirement, but felt it a necessity for their comfort...and ours!!).

3. Good point. Been on many boats in the area and always paid attention to Captain's actions and doings, and reasonings. I usually ask about something I don't understand.

4. Good points! Other us than having a very good waters chart/map, and knowing what we want on a rental boat, all great points!! Kinda feedback I'm fishing for!!

Thanks so much for the effort and the input Russjstewart!! I appreciate it!

Have fun, hope it all goes well

 

[Scraps]

I'm thinking we should be alright

I’m guessing your risk management of your technical dives relies on a higher standard than, “I’m thinking we should be all right.”

In your cave dives, you have very a specific understanding of almost everything that might go wrong, how you’lll prevent it from going wrong, and what you and your buddies will do if it goes wrong despite your best efforts to keep it from going wrong.

Compare that level of preparation to this proposed outing. Nobody knows the boat, nobody knows the local area, nobody knows the dive sites. Instead of knowing what might go wrong and having prevention and mitigation plans in place as you usually do when you dive, you’re just now starting to identify the new variables you’re taking on by adding responsibility for safe boat operation to the task of planning a new kind of dive.

You probably will be okay because you couldn’t have done the diving you’ve done without being able to figure stuff out and you’re asking the questions that will help you develop a plan.

But there’s another factor you might be overlooking: fun.

When I’m responsible for a boat, it’s hard for me to enjoy dives as much as when I’m just a passenger because responsibility for the voyage is always on my mind.

If you’re just doing shallow reef dives, you might have more fun letting a charter operator worry about all the boat stuff.

Best wishes,

 

[johndiver999]

Never. ever dove in saltwater and having a hard time imagining what could go wrong with leaving two women on the boat and diving. LOL. As others have said find a charter, some might allow bubble watchers.. and everyone will have more fun.