turt1e
Registered
I finally got a chance to try sidemount from a boat while on vacation in Cancun, and I'll admit it wasn't one of my finer moments.
Getting the gear setup on the boat wasn't a problem like I thought it might be, but getting the tanks back in the tank holders was a PITA. Seems my tank cam bands where at the same height as the boat's tank holders, which made the tanks difficult to get snapped in.
Found out I can't hear air leaks worth a damn! My wife on the other end of the boat tells me she can hear a leak coming from my gear. Of course I'm already in line and ready to jump in. So have to futz with my gear to try and find out where the leak is coming from. Even with my ear right up to the 1st stage I can't hear any leak. Our dive guide finally finds it and it's the o-ring on my long hose that has torn. Of course it's already stowed and coiled on my tank, but he tries anyway to unscrew it without pulling all the hose out which just creates a huge coiled mess. Next time I need to learn to just pull the whole damn thing out of the tank bungees to make that easier. Actually no, scratch that. Next time I need to make sure all my o-rings are good before I get on the boat!
This particular boat had no swim platform, so the giant strides where done by climbing on the side rails of the boat while holding on to the ladder that goes up to the flybridge. Of course you can't do this with your fins on. Dive guide did this by holding on to his fins and giant striding off the side rails and then donning the fins in the water. So I followed suit which actually worked out pretty well, until I tried to don the fins in the water. Tanks just seemed to get in the way of trying to buckle the fins. Felt like a contortionist trying to get them buckled. I was going to try a back roll in on the second dive, but forgot to put my fins on before getting the tanks all snapped in. No way in hell was I going to hold up the line again!
It wasn't all bad though.
The boat crew didn't know what to make of us in our sidemount rigs, so they didn't try to help with any of our gear setup. Which I count as a plus.
Getting back on board the boat was the part I was dreading most, but it actually turned out to be a non issue. Just grabbed the ladder and climbed up with both tanks on. Pretty easy actually, even with the 3 to 4 foot swells. Even the wife didn't have an issue climbing back up in her sidemount rig with both tanks.
And of course the dives themselves where great in sidemount!
Paul
Getting the gear setup on the boat wasn't a problem like I thought it might be, but getting the tanks back in the tank holders was a PITA. Seems my tank cam bands where at the same height as the boat's tank holders, which made the tanks difficult to get snapped in.
Found out I can't hear air leaks worth a damn! My wife on the other end of the boat tells me she can hear a leak coming from my gear. Of course I'm already in line and ready to jump in. So have to futz with my gear to try and find out where the leak is coming from. Even with my ear right up to the 1st stage I can't hear any leak. Our dive guide finally finds it and it's the o-ring on my long hose that has torn. Of course it's already stowed and coiled on my tank, but he tries anyway to unscrew it without pulling all the hose out which just creates a huge coiled mess. Next time I need to learn to just pull the whole damn thing out of the tank bungees to make that easier. Actually no, scratch that. Next time I need to make sure all my o-rings are good before I get on the boat!
This particular boat had no swim platform, so the giant strides where done by climbing on the side rails of the boat while holding on to the ladder that goes up to the flybridge. Of course you can't do this with your fins on. Dive guide did this by holding on to his fins and giant striding off the side rails and then donning the fins in the water. So I followed suit which actually worked out pretty well, until I tried to don the fins in the water. Tanks just seemed to get in the way of trying to buckle the fins. Felt like a contortionist trying to get them buckled. I was going to try a back roll in on the second dive, but forgot to put my fins on before getting the tanks all snapped in. No way in hell was I going to hold up the line again!
It wasn't all bad though.
The boat crew didn't know what to make of us in our sidemount rigs, so they didn't try to help with any of our gear setup. Which I count as a plus.
Getting back on board the boat was the part I was dreading most, but it actually turned out to be a non issue. Just grabbed the ladder and climbed up with both tanks on. Pretty easy actually, even with the 3 to 4 foot swells. Even the wife didn't have an issue climbing back up in her sidemount rig with both tanks.
And of course the dives themselves where great in sidemount!
Paul