Possible to buddy dive from own boat?

My wife and I, both Advanced Divers with approx 100 dives, will be moving to the Keys for 6 months, and living on our sailboat. We have always been diving on vacations, and always with a company with a divemaster as leader of our group.

We wonder how, or if, we can both dive from our boat safely? That would leave no one on our boat or dingy which I know is not recommended. How do others do this, and would a long tether from the boat or dingy provide any benefit? Worried about currents separating us from our boat. Thanks in advance.

I won't bother telling you how dangerous it can be to not have someone on the surface. And in your situation, no one on land will likely have any dive information either. So, while not probable, it is possible that you both could literally just disappear off the face of the earth.

That said... I have done several dives where no one is topside. We always use two anchors to secure the boat to the wreck/reef. I'm not as concerned with me drifting away from the boat, as the boat drifting away from us. I always know where I am in relation to the boat (anchor line), but if said boat floats away... well... that's a bad day in the making.

Getting separated from the boat is the big issue. You getting blown away by current or the boat getting blown away by current or wind. Up here local knowledge and an ability to read tide tables and charts will allow you to do this moderately safely. I suspect in the Keys the currents are not as strong but anything stonger than you can swim will be a very serious problem. Err on the side of caution.

Remember a current going one direction can reverse and flow the other way in a very short time. A tag line gives you a slight margin of safety but very slight. If you can't swim to the boat making it to the tag line is not likely either. Having said that I would put one out with a float at the end and one or two in the middle depending on length. I use my dingy.

Re the boat getting blown away, the first task on entering the water is to go down the anchor line and check how well it is set. Reset it if there are any issues. More chain and a longer rode is safer.

I leave my boat unattended while diving if I can't get someone to come along for the ride. In the type of bottoms I anchor in, and checking to see that the anchor is properly set, I'm not concerned about the boat going away. I have called the dive in some locations if the current looks to strong, a rarity in my location (SoCal). Start and end your dive at the anchor line and you shouldn't have any problems with moderate current.

Very bad idea. Currents, broken lines, even theft/vandalism can all mean the boat isnt there and you're stuck.

Any diving emergency nobody is there to rescue or provide support.

If you insist on doing it i'd say its safer to take it in turns solo diving than both go at once leaving boat empty.

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Very bad idea. ...
If you insist on doing it i'd say its safer to take it in turns solo diving than both go at once leaving boat empty.

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I agree completely.

Hmmm, every time I've been to the NorCal coast I see people diving from Zodiacs and sea kayaks, leaving both unattended. Heck, we've even been diving from an unattended Zodiac. The dive locations though are usually where there are other divers and minimal currents, so maybe that has something to do with it.

A sailboat though can take you to some pretty isolated places. Would I dive? Yep, but check out the survival gear I carry in my profile. I wouldn't dive with any less if diving from an unattended boat.

Good lord, I can't count the number of times my entire boat's gone diving. Multiply that by a factor of ten for the number of other peoples' boats I've seen empty on the surface of popular dive sites. This is in Florida and the Caribbean, though. Diving there is cake.

Just post a dive flag, deploy your ladder, and follow your anchor down to check that it's secure. Some folks leave their marine radios on...

When i started diving around 30 years ago it was accepted practice in my local area to anchor the boat and everyone jump in, leaving the boat unattended. I would have to say these days it is a much less common practice. We got away with it most of the time but on 2 occasions we surfaced to find the boat gone! On one occasion the anchor rope broke, and on the other the anchor had dragged. It is not a nice feeling to come to the surface and see your boat drifting a long way away! This is enough to put me off the practice these days, and I rarely see others doing it.

Sometimes I go hookah (SSA) diving and I am reasonably comfortable leaving the boat unattended since we are attached securely attached to the boat by the air hoses. This makes navigation very easy since you can just follow the hoses back to the boat, or if need be the hoses are strong enough to pull your way back to the boat against a current. (Before anyone criticizes for leaving the compressor unattended I carry a pony bottle and water depth is generally less than 10m).

I understand your dilemma here and suggest that if you carefully choose your dive sites and conditions, and maybe consider using a reel attached to the boat or anchor then maybe you could dive with some degree of safety. A reel would quickly alert you to the fact that the boat is drifting long before you would otherwise realise, and will also allow you to navigate back without long surface swims. The solo diving option already mentioned is worth considering too. The choices are not ideal, but maybe if done carefully the risks are small (but never zero!)

Noboundaries:

Hmmm, every time I've been to the NorCal coast I see people diving from Zodiacs and sea kayaks, leaving both unattended. Heck, we've even been diving from an unattended Zodiac. The dive locations though are usually where there are other divers and minimal currents, so maybe that has something to do with it.

A sailboat though can take you to some pretty isolated places. Would I dive? Yep, but check out the survival gear I carry in my profile. I wouldn't dive with any less if diving from an unattended boat.

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The survival gear listed in your Profile is well worth posting (thank you!):
And worth repeating: weigh very carefully the risks of the specific situation before you dive from an unattended boat; and plan for possible adverse changes in that situation.

Avoid "rosy scenario" thinking....

"Worst case scenario" can happen easier than one thinks.....

In the ocean, I agree that diving solo and leaving the partner in the boat would be safer. That's generally what I've done.

Makes for a much more relaxing dive, too.....

Dave C