anybody jet ski dive

[montereydivemas]

I have 3 wave runners and am in the process of setting them up for a quick run out to the reef, park it with an anchor and do my dive. i was just wondering if anybody else has tried this and i am considering pulling a little raft with my gear in it of just wearing my backpack out to the reef

and input appreciated

[jrg]

I'm not sure but maybe James Bond might have done that once. But at least you will have more room to get your gear on than you would on the average charter dive boat!

[Seasquatch]

that is a pretty sweet deal there. might have to consider something like that in the far far future.

[goldhunter_2]

they make gear bags to hang on teh front of the skis and saddle or cooler bags for the rear of the skis only problem would be you would need to wear your BC and tank on the ride out

[Wendy]

How are you going to keep someone from stealing your jet ski while you are on your dive? I had a friend that would dive from the dingy of his sailboat and he surfaced to find some yahoo in his boat pulling up the anchor.

[blackice]

holy ..... man that sounds wicked, so so cool. Good luck with that let us know how it works for you.

[zeN||]

I've been wondering about this for some time, seems like a great way to go, gear on your back, seems like a jet ski would handle rough surf pretty well with the right pilot, let us know how it goes for you! zeN

[BIGSAGE136]

I have been thinking of a number of ways to make this work. Just havnt tried them. Let us know how you make out.

[Moke]

I am wanting to do the same thing. Have you come up with any ideas for transport of equipment to and from dive site?

[Hemlon]

I would love to hear how this works.

Great idea, BTW!

[Dan Watkins]

How are you going to keep someone from stealing your jet ski while you are on your dive? I had a friend that would dive from the dingy of his sailboat and he surfaced to find some yahoo in his boat pulling up the anchor.

Most Personal Watercraft ("PWC") have a a safty lanyard with a security chip. You cannot start the watercraft without this. So unless they try to tow his PWC away they can't really steal it if the lanyard is with him.

A sail boat on the other hand, just raise the sail and away we go!

[aminear]

I did use my jet ski to dive, sort of, it was on a lake.
We unloaded the jet ski at the dock, put all 3 of our gear in a large tube that you pull behind a boat, got on the jet ski drove to our site near some cliffs pulling the tube, parked the jet ski on shore and suited up there.

I wouldn't see a problem doing it in the middle of the lake if you put everything together first.

We found booty this dive, people jumping off the cliffs lose a lot of stuff.
cell phone, 3 pair of sunglasses, 2 lawn chairs - one with a long dog leash attached - thank goodness no dog on the other end.

Arnie

[Codyjp]

i have seen board type things that are towed directly behind the ski to carry people etc. That would be faster and it would plane out once you got to a decent speed...

now if you were cool you would waterski behind a jet ski with your stuff on and then drop the rope and sink to the bottom of the sea where you would convert your skis to fins and the go off to steal the enemy yacht, reminds me when i was special forces...

[amadus98]

YES YES and YES..... I do it quite often.. Heres what ive found so far. The back of my PWC has a pretty big back deck. I made a tank holder that i can attach to the rear of the PWC. I put together my gear and then attach it to the tank holder on the back of my PWC just like youd do on a dive boat. I dawn my wet suit and ride to my dive site. I tie off or anchor depending where im diving. then i stow my PWC key in a w/p bag and slide it in my wetsuit, flip the secret kill switch ( just in case) put on my fins and mask and jump in. Then i swim to the back of the PWC inflate the BC just a bit. Release it from the tank rack and roll it into the water. The PWC being low to the water makes this very simple and returning it is a snap too. Next I put on my BC ,quick safty check, raise my dive flag and down i go.. I have a 3 person seadoo which is great for one person. When my dive partner dosent have there own PWC i can load them up on mine . All i do is switch out the single rack for the dubble. Only prob Ive found with 2 divers is that in rough water the PWC gets pretty tippy with all that weight and I aint no small fella either.All in all its a fun adventure. Ill post some pics of the back of my PWC and rack as soon as I get my patent. lolol j/k pic's will be posted soon. Any questions please feel free to ask of email me directly.

[Ashely]

I am Scared of it .......so never tried !!!!




Ashely
http://thepinholeglasses.eslblogs.org/

[budgy]

I was looking at these plans (http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=MechanixIllustrated/Aquarail)a little while ago and wondering would it be okay to dive from. A zapcat (http://www.zapcat-racing.com/la/2881) might be better.

[McKee Boykin]

Have you watched this--http://www.saltwatersportsman.com/saltwater/jetski_video.


Political Correctness: A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end!

[budgy]

Good movie and a great looking jet ski. If your a solo diver a jet ski might be ideal. I live in Ayrshire Scotland its Firth of Clyde area. The jet sky format appealed to me because a small trailable craft could give me easy access to the Kintyre coast and for that matter just about anywhere within the Firth of Clyde and the lochs in 2 hours or less. Jet ski's are a bit more expensive in the U.K. Comparing the cost of a new jet ski in the USA (http://www.kawasaki.com/Products/Detail.aspx?id=197) and the same model in the U.K. (http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/OFS051/) we exchange $2 : £1 in the UK most things cost more, in this case around 70%. We also have higher running costs as its the equivalent of $80 U.S. to fill the tank of a Ford Escort. We are often obliged to select smaller engines.
Living in the UK with the same average disposable income, the options are not the same. The Zapcat has greater stablity and is more suitable for kitting up and storing dive gear. With a top speed of around 40mph a zapcat is some 30% slower but with an engine with less than half the power, I expect its a lot more fuel efficient. If I was running a zapcat here or the jet ski in the USA I shouldn't be suprised if the costs didn't work out about the same.

[Hoosier]

YES YES and YES..... I do it quite often.. Heres what ive found so far. The back of my PWC has a pretty big back deck. I made a tank holder that i can attach to the rear of the PWC. I put together my gear and then attach it to the tank holder on the back of my PWC just like youd do on a dive boat. I dawn my wet suit and ride to my dive site. I tie off or anchor depending where im diving. then i stow my PWC key in a w/p bag and slide it in my wetsuit, flip the secret kill switch ( just in case) put on my fins and mask and jump in. Then i swim to the back of the PWC inflate the BC just a bit. Release it from the tank rack and roll it into the water. The PWC being low to the water makes this very simple and returning it is a snap too. Next I put on my BC ,quick safty check, raise my dive flag and down i go.. I have a 3 person seadoo which is great for one person. When my dive partner dosent have there own PWC i can load them up on mine . All i do is switch out the single rack for the dubble. Only prob Ive found with 2 divers is that in rough water the PWC gets pretty tippy with all that weight and I aint no small fella either.All in all its a fun adventure. Ill post some pics of the back of my PWC and rack as soon as I get my patent. lolol j/k pic's will be posted soon. Any questions please feel free to ask of email me directly.





:useless:

[mdpetty78]

Hey all,
There is quite a bit of info on one of the spearfishing forums. I'm not sure if scubaboard will allow me to say that the site is "spearboard". Search for PWC, waverunner or seadoo. Some guys on there run them out to the Channel Islands and work the kelp paddies out in the channels. Trips of more than 100 miles. Pretty impressive. These craft are basically unsinkable and capable of navigating tougher water than most people would ever encounter. Rescue sleds made specifically for carrying victims and busted-up tow surfers serve as a gear platform and spread the weight around so that the boat handles properly. Freediving spearfisherman use the sleds to carry 40-50 lbs of ice, so i'm sure you could substitute your scuba gear. The new four-stroke versions are also very eco friendly despite their bad image carried over from the earlier two-stroke engine powered skis. A guy reported $20 per day gas costs. You could tow one with a passenger car which was setup properly. Also, I would imagine that these skis are made to the same impeccable standards as the manufacturer's motorcycles. That's some of what I've gathered and I'd love to own one.

Matt

[Hoosier]

Jet ski diving has been covered a long time ago as I recall..

The ideal configuration was to haul small inflatable or Zodiac boat due to the equipment. However, we were told that it isn't stable, specially in the ocean. It might work great if there is calm and no wave in the ocean though. The hauled boat is more likely to be turn over when you come back to shore...

[mdpetty78]

Hello again,
As far as towing a zodiac goes, sounds like way overkill. Remember, most of these skis are designed for 2-3 people, so a good amount of gear can be lashed to the ski itself. Check out videos of people tow surfing (towsurfer.com) and you'll see the type of rescue sleds I mentioned and links to their manufacturers. It appears that they are attached so that if the ski is upright the sled will be upright. Limited articulation in the twisting direction. If you watch some of these surfers, and their mishaps, you'll see how stable these purpose-made rescue sleds can be. You could put the majority of your gear on one, like a little sea-goin' trailer.

Matt

[DaFireMedic]

For rigging and such, try Kayak diving websites. Obviously the layout and such will be different, and you will probably need to tow your gear behind you, but you should be able to glean some good info off these sites and others.

http://www.kayakdiving.com/

http://kayakdiver.com/kayakdiving/topics.htm