We finally have a Dive Boat!

[rfwoodvt]

Had a few weeks of decent weather for working outside so I pulled out our 16 Starcraft, tiller-outboard, fishing boat and looked at how we could put it to use as a dive boat.

Started by mounting a stick ladder to the front figuring that would be closest to the anchor line, least cluttered place to get in the boat, and least likely to roll the boat from side to side.

Placed a couple of tank holders amidships on each side and mounted the flag in the stern.

Upgraded the anchor and added sliding seat mounts make room for getting kitted up.

Also left space on the floor amidships to accommodate my Brownie third lung for those days we want to dive with that.

Have a bungee clip on the forward end of each tank rack to hang over the side in case we decide to doff our BC before climbing in.

All considered I surprised myself on how it turned out.

 

[GDHLEWIS]

Nice one getting the boat sorted. Cant bring myself to buy a boat here in the Middle East, just too damn pricey and buggered if Im towing a boat with the lunatic drivers in this part of the world lol. One day though. Happy dives on the boat

 

[rfwoodvt]

At Last we had an opportunity to Put her in the water!!

Worked very well. Just a few minor tweaks left but she is otherwise diveworthy!

The two things left really to fix are the tank racks and adding a small davit for lifting BCs with doubles back on board.

The tank racks had 3 cut curved sections of wood to use instead of keepers. Thought having 3 tank spaces on each side of the boat would be really convenient, but in reality we only had room for two. Also found that the between tank spacing on the rack was such that we couldn't set up our BC with doubles or a pony tank until we arrived at the dive site. Not a big deal, but difficult in rolling waves. Will replace these holders with just two positions and spacing to accomodate an assembled BC and tanks.

Getting out of the boat was easy and boarding was pretty smooth too. However the angle and dangle of the boarding ladder made it clear we shouldn't attempt boarding with the BCs on so we worked a procedure to take them off in the water and haul them over the gunwale after boarding. Worked OK with the single tank but not so much with doubles or with pony bottle. Have plans to make a little davit lift to get them on.

 

[happy-diver]

Magnificent!

 

[Double_D]

Intriguing and resourceful - I like it.

 

[Stoo]

I suspect I know the answer to this, but it's generally ill-advised to leave a boat un-tended while diving. If the person taking the pic is with you in a second boat, ignore me! That's often how we dive... Two couples, two boats and we take turns diving and tending.