Will this boat work? And additional questions.

[SkipperJohn]

Beachjunkie, you got some pretty good advice here. My own advice would be for you to get a friend with a bigger boat. My boat is 31 foot and 18,000 pounds. There are days I feel so insignificant sloshing around between 14 foot waves. The ocean requires careful planning and capability. The weather will change on you. The weatherman will be wrong. Stuff happens. If you plan on diving in protected waters, bays and the like, then this should serve you well. If you plan on using it on only a few days here and there, when the weather will be good, then you MAY be ok.
When I told my first LG instructor what my boat plans were and where I planned on using it, he told me "Put your name on your life jackets and gear". I asked why (thinking theft prevention) he said: "it makes it easier for us to identify the bodies".

 

[Nemrod]

I agree - jet drives are very inefficient - have to get a lot more horsepower for the power you want. I dive out of a 15 ft Scout w/ 50hp 4 stroke Yamaha and a 21 ft pontoon boat w/ 50 hp Evinrude - don't like Mercs, know people who swear by them...know people who swear at them.....never had any luck with them myself, personal thing. never dove out of an inflatable...but then there are people who dive out of kayaks.....

Kayaks are a blast, so are rubber boats to dive from. All the doom and gloom, poor fellow just wants a little toy to play with.

N

 

[no excuses]

A 15' inflatable will be fine to dive out of with 4 divers and have done it many times, put the biggest motor that the boat is rated for on it. You do not need to use it all the time but when u need it for climbing waves ond packing a load its nice to have. Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it lol. Stick with tiller steer to save room in the boat. For some good info on SIB's and RIB's check out RIB.NET . Lots of good info over there and most of the people on it are from where they know what good boats infalatables are .

 

[zodiac_hunter]

beachjunkie, first off, afghanistan sucks. i was in kabul for awhile and fled to baghram for diversion. (dont buy the "old" US coins, they're worthless. yes, i fell for it.)
id recommend, and own, a zodiac futura commando f470. im looking to replace it and am considering 3; another zodiac, an archilles sg or su series AND the very 15ft sd470 you're asking about. ive wondered about the 8 myself but it is possible on the f470 if everyone lays on the tubes and dont mind the resulting CQB. its great boat for ocean here in GA and we got alot of marshes, rivers along the barrier islands for play. i think itd be great for the keys. it can handle 4 divers fine.

 

[BeachJunkie]

Thanks for the info. I'm still evaluating my options. I'm going to wait till I get down there and see if I can't come across a good used boat. If not, I'll probably end up giving one of these a try.

 

[longliner]

check out tecinnovations.net absolutely the best inflatable dive boat on the market.

 

[jeffchandler1]

Nemrod, thanks for the post. It just reminded me that I need to up the liability insurance on my own boat. I didn't happen to notice the red and green lights warning lights on the vessel, not to mention the dive flag. Does rubber show up on the sonar?

Someday, I'm going to accidentally run over one of these idiots and they are going to sue me.

You know, when Carnival Cruise Lines runs over a raft full of Cuban immigrants, nobody really notices. It would be just my luck for one of these college boys to file a float plan, have them disappear, then some lawyer cross references their locale with mine. I get sued for $1M and get thrown in jail for manslaughter. And this, because the kid didn't want to pay $80 to a charter company. ($80 bucks doesn't even cover the pump station fees for my head).

 

[Nemrod]

Nemrod, thanks for the post. It just reminded me that I need to up the liability insurance on my own boat. I didn't happen to notice the red and green lights warning lights on the vessel, not to mention the dive flag. Does rubber show up on the sonar?

Someday, I'm going to accidentally run over one of these idiots and they are going to sue me.

You know, when Carnival Cruise Lines runs over a raft full of Cuban immigrants, nobody really notices. It would be just my luck for one of these college boys to file a float plan, have them disappear, then some lawyer cross references their locale with mine. I get sued for $1M and get thrown in jail for manslaughter. And this, because the kid didn't want to pay $80 to a charter company. ($80 bucks doesn't even cover the pump station fees for my head).

LOL, wink, if you are trying to see small craft in your path, you will want to look for those rubber boats and kayaks and "college boys" with radar, not sonar. Wrong dial bud. Better yet, eyeballs work better and are a lot cheaper.

N

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Even fiberglass boats don't show up well on radar. I don't have radar on my
whaler, but I've spent a fair amount of time in the pilot house of the
Monterey charter boats and they often don't show up at all.

Radar is hard to install on a small boat. No place to put the radome.
There's one guy in Monterey with the radome on the bow rail. It's nuking
his gonads every time it sweeps.

Funny radar story: A number of years ago I was hanging out in the pilot
house of the Cypress Sea, coming back from Carmel in light fog. The
radar is showing a BIG target dead ahead, and Capt. Phil has everybody
keeping a sharp lookout ahead. Finally the ceiling went up a bit, and:
Goodyear blimp!

 

[Joanna329]

I have a Zodiac F470 Aztec I will sell you for a good deal. It has never been used, so obviously it is in excellent condition.