Brownie Hookah from a Yacht

[Skating101]

We are a middle aged couple who have been diving since 2010. We have our open water and advanced open water certifications. We are currently investigating buying a medium sized sailboat (35-40') and have determined that installing a compressor for filling of tanks would be quire restrictive given the space allowances.

We have researched hookah systems and have agreed that the Brownie F390X floating gas powered hookah system with additional 6 cu ft pony tanks is the most suitable option (http://www.browniesmarinegroup.com/third-lung-diving/gasoline-powered-diving-systems/)

Our intention would be to dive to a max of 90ft with independent dive computers.

Has anyone used a system similar to this and do they have any drawbacks/opinions? Any advice on hookah systems is appreciated.

 

[2airishuman]

Space is always at a premium on a sailboat but consider... is there that much difference between a portable compressor and the F390X?

Brownie F390X 24" x 18" x 20"
Bauer OCEANUS-G 32" x 18" x 23"

If you do proceed with a Brownie, you may find that an electric unit is less hassle and more suited to a sailboat environment.

I've never dived with a hookah system. Questions I would have that are not answered on the Brownie web site would include: The actual amount of air delivered, and useful product life between rebuilds.

I don't think the floating systems would be suitable for the 3-4' seas that are common at some dive sites.

 

[Bob DBF]

I've used a hookah, but not to 90'. I stayed with SCUBA because it was less limiting than hookah, but I'm not living on a boat.

My biggest concern would be gasoline on a sailboat, I'm not a fan. If you already have an adequate generator, you could possibly mount and plumb an electric compressor in less space than needed to stow and remove the Brownie on a regular basis, not to mention the hassle.

Max Air 35 Electric Compressor - 110V / 115V

28x13x15" and that includes the carrying handles which are not needed if you permemantly mount it, making it take up less room, say in your machinery space.


Good Luck

Bob
--------------------
Let us know what you decide, if you get a chance.

 

[Skating101]

Thanks for the reply.

I've used a hookah, but not to 90'. I stayed with SCUBA because it was less limiting than hookah, but I'm not living on a boat.

My biggest concern would be gasoline on a sailboat, I'm not a fan. If you already have an adequate generator, you could possibly mount and plumb an electric compressor in less space than needed to stow and remove the Brownie on a regular basis, not to mention the hassle.

Max Air 35 Electric Compressor - 110V / 115V

28x13x15" and that includes the carrying handles which are not needed if you permemantly mount it, making it take up less room, say in your machinery space.


Good Luck

Bob
--------------------
Let us know what you decide, if you get a chance.

What about hookah did you find limiting?

I agree that gasoline on a boat is not ideal but unfortunately installing a generator and an electric compressor is not really viable in the boat sizes im investigating.

Space is always at a premium on a sailboat but consider... is there that much difference between a portable compressor and the F390X?

Brownie F390X 24" x 18" x 20"
Bauer OCEANUS-G 32" x 18" x 23"

If you do proceed with a Brownie, you may find that an electric unit is less hassle and more suited to a sailboat environment.

I've never dived with a hookah system. Questions I would have that are not answered on the Brownie web site would include: The actual amount of air delivered, and useful product life between rebuilds.

I don't think the floating systems would be suitable for the 3-4' seas that are common at some dive sites.

The electric Brownie unit seems interesting however the depth ratings are less obvious.

I trust that the air delivered by these systems is sufficient to meet their rated depths. Brownies seems to be respectable units with decent product life but I did not find any information regarding this.

The roughness of seas is definitely a consideration however the majority of our diving has been done on swells less than that.

 

[Bob DBF]

What about hookah did you find limiting?

Depth is the big one. Also, carrying a tank to some places I dive is way easier than the hookah unit.

I agree that gasoline on a boat is not ideal but unfortunately installing a generator and an electric compressor is not really viable in the boat sizes im investigating

I just assumed a generator, thinking it was a bigger boat as I once lived on a 36' Chris Craft, but I now remember how smaller a 36' sailboat is in comparison.


Bob

 

[Bert van den Berg]

Hi,

We sailed the S. Pacific (USA to New Zealand via many places) for 2 years 3 months aboard a 44 foot ketch and a Brownie's Third Lung hookah rig. It was fantastic. The unit we bought claimed two divers to 60 feet but found 45 feet to be about the limit with two divers. We loved the hookah so much that we bought another when the first one started to look a bit ragged. Used the hookah almost daily when not sailing. Great for places like Minerva reef where you are 250 miles from an air fill.

We've now been diving with a hookah for 23 years and currently using a direct drive Airline unit. The hookah still gets used for scallop diving but the wife and I use Scuba 95% of the time since we can now get air fills easily.

Cannot urge you strongly enough to get certified if not already. Oops, I see that you are!

Also consider using a BCD and 13 cubic foot pony as an alternative air source. We've had the hookah quit suddenly and you only get about 2 more breaths when it does.

 

[Skating101]

Thanks for the replies guys, Bert, the Brownie system we were looking at has a stated capacity of three divers to 90' so we expect that we should at least get both of us to a depth of 80'.

We would utilize our existing BCD and have not yet investigated connecting this unit to one, also as we stated in the original post we would use 6 cu ponies which should be sufficient as to have a hookah unit fail could have fatal consequences.

 

[ZzzKing]

You may want to do the math on getting back to the surface from 80'. An AL19 would be a much better choice as a pony. The minimum I would go with is a 13. Remember, you will both be out of air at that point so the ponies have to serve more than just getting you to your buddy's octo. 6 cu ft ain't much air at 80 feet.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

We use the 13 cubic foot pony to also control the BCD and a 6 cubic foot pony would not provide much air for that function. You could manually inflate the BCD but that's a bit of a pain.

Another consideration is that many(most?) countries will not fill your pony bottle unless your bottle has a local approval. Rent a locally legal bottle and bring a high pressure hose with appropriate fittings and relief valve to fill your pony bottles from the rental bottle. ZzzKing is right, take it from experience, in hindsight I wish we had purchased the larger 19 cubic foot pony. 6 cubic foot just isn't going to cut it in my opinion.

Here is a link to a video on YouTube of my son and wife diving on the Hookah at the Poor Knight Islands, New Zealand. I'm the one on scuba: