Boat Diving ?

I am looking for a small diving boat for lake and river use only. Has anyone dove from a small aluminum boat, like a 14 foot semi v hull? Or a small row boat?

I wonder about stability of getting in and out of boat. I figure on putting gear on and off in water. I have been told with an add on ladder you can get in and out.

but my wife and I have rented little john boats before to dive some of the springs in Crystal River Florida. It was not that difficult, of course there was no current and no waves either. We just took off the gear before we got in the boat and pulled it in after us.

You do need a little bit of upper body strength to get over the side, but not that much. The trick is to half submerge then kick up and over the side.

Thats about the best I can do...maybe someone who does this all the time can offer more pointers.

The best small boat to dive from would be an inflatable. I had a 13 foot Zodiac and it was very seaworthy and easy to get back into. No hard or sharp edges when climbing over the side.

For their size small inflatables can handle rough water better than anything else.

Captain

... I would be better to enter at the transom. Especially with at 14' aluminum boat like you mentioned, climbing back in over the side can easilly lead to a capsize situation. It's been a long time since I did this, but I have been known to step up on the lower unit of the outboard moter to get back into a small boat (obviously, the motor was NOT running at the time). It's also easy to rig a ladder over the transom before leaving the boat and climb up that way. Entry to the water can be off the side of the boat, as long as both divers go at the same time with a backwards roll.

When diving in Barbados with Blue Reef Divers, that's what we did. The boat was a 20' island built wooden power boat with twin outboards. We paired up and did backroll entries, and then climbed a ladder placed by the boats captain when it was time to reboard. Easy!