Diving from your own boat?

I am almost done with my PADI cert, pending a injury and I am thinking about using my boat to dive off with a couple of people. It is a 19ft Cuddy w/ a swim platform. Other than using safe boating practices, I know I will need todo the following:

1) Leave someone capaible and comfortable to operate the boat (me or someone I now)
2) Make sure a Dive Flag is displayed properly.
3) Make sure tanks are properly stowed.

With all the dive gear, how many divers could I bring? I was hoping a max of 4 divers and 1 boat operator. Weight limit is 8people/1100lbs (1200 inc. gear). Also is this something that would beat up my boat?

I live in Rochester, NY and I hear there are a lot of cool places dive.

Thanks in advance,

Hostage

Give it a try with two divers and a driver. It's amazing how fast divers fill up a boat. Climbing all over divers and gear takes some of the fun out of it.

Make sure you have a good ladder, or tie offs and a so so ladder.

I do have 2 step ladder that is attached to the swim platform

Something that some divers down here do is if 4 people are on the boat, 2 dive while the other 2 are topside. Then the other two do their dip while doing their surface interval. Also saves room in that you only have 2 divers gearing up instead of 4.

Probably not going to like this suggestion, but here goes...

Might I suggest you make a couple of excursions using a charter dive boat first? My reasoning is this...it's a good way to see some "tried and true" practices that have been developed over time but may not be that apparent to a new diver or boat operator. For example, what is the best way to get into and out of the water? (I'm not looking for the answer "the ladder"...do you want to keep gear on while climbing, or do you want to shed fins and/or BC in the water and then climb?) Do you want to arrange tag lines? A down-current line? Do you want to make provisions for freshwater rinse, if only for your cameras? There are a lot of things to watch and observe in order to see what might work best for you.

BVickery:

Something that some divers down here do is if 4 people are on the boat, 2 dive while the other 2 are topside. Then the other two do their dip while doing their surface interval. Also saves room in that you only have 2 divers gearing up instead of 4.

Click to expand...

That is a great idea, didn't consider swapping during the surface interval.

Gupa - Point well taken. I do like to know how others do it before I find out the hard way. I was planning on doing anyway, though want to use my boat for more flexability in the near future.

Hostage is almost done with my PADI cert.
As Guba stated use a charter dive boat first, too continue that thread, going with a local operation for the first few dives, once you are certified will better prepare you to your local diving.

Your boat looks like it's in pretty nice shape. Just be aware that heavy dive gear can easily break stuff, tear upholstery, etc and take precautions for that. It's best to find a buddy with a boat and dive from that one Also, I know from experience that the ladders from the factory on those types of boats are not very long and are not designed for climbing up with dive gear on.

It would be my guess, looking at the photos, that you would have a hard time getting the gear for four divers stowed in a reasonable fashion on that boat. Ours is a 21 footer and an outboard, so we have a lot more open space than you do, and four divers is still a lot.

If your sole is fiberglass, I would highly recommend some kind of matting for it. Ours began to crack from the tanks, I think just from the bouncing they do as the boat moves through choppy water. However, black rubber mats WILL stain the fiberglass, and getting the stains out is a lot of work. Tanks will mark fiberglass, too. Invest in a lot of black spot remover, and it's not a bad idea to get some mats to throw over the rail, if you are going to load and unload gear from the side.

We have sometimes had trouble getting our boat up on step with four diver's worth of gear on it (depending on the gear). Our max payload, IIRC, is about 2000 lbs, including fuel, and it's awfully easy to get up that far with dive stuff.

I second the recommendation to dive off a charter a couple of times first -- let somebody who knows the ropes figure out the sites and the timing, and you can just concentrate on the diving to begin with.

I recommend a good first aid kit. Also if you are diving a wreck, make sure you take down a piece of line to tie the achor to the wreck to make sure it doesn't let go.