Surface support from a private boat.

[FullThrottle]

It's not scary to dive from an unattended boat? I thought that was a no-no. I've never dived from a private boat before.

If your experience is all on commercial dive operations the idea of an unattended boat might seem risky, but on a private boat it's rare that someone is willing to sit out the dive. A prudent diver will follow the anchor line down and make sure the hook is going to hold first thing. Then you have to consider current, and only swim up current from the boat in order to have an easy swim back. And then you have to make sure you can stay oriented to the boat, so you can either return to the anchor or at least surface up current from the boat, which it fairly easy along linear ledges that are parallel to the current. If the current is too strong it may be a very bad idea to dive very far laterally, currentwise, from an unattended boat, lest you surface in a position where swimming to the boat against the current is impossible. So yeah, potentially scary. But it's done all the time. You just have to understand the potential issues.

 

[Storker]

on a private boat it's rare that someone is willing to sit out the dive.

Perhaps in your experience, not in mine.

Nobody has to sit out the dive if you do a minimum of planning.

 

[FullThrottle]

Perhaps in your experience, not in mine.

Nobody has to sit out the dive if you do a minimum of planning.

How would that work? With nobody missing out on a dive? Yet still having an attended boat...

 

[Storker]

How would that work? With nobody missing out on a dive? Yet still having an attended boat...

Either:
Bring along someone who isn't diving

Or:
Stagger the dives so that the last team is ready to splash as soon as the first team comes aboard

That's how it's always done around here on club outings

Disadvantages:

• Sometimes, a non-diving boat tender isn't available
• Taking turns diving means you need about one hour more to complete the outing

Advantages:

• Always someone to alert emergency services in case somebody has a problem
• Zero risk for the boat drifting off, triggering a SAR operation, tying up resources and pissing off the SAR personnel

 

[Searcaigh]

When I lived in Jeddah back in the 90s, solo diving from some friends' private unmanned boats was not uncommon.

Only once did I have a really bad scare and when I found myself far from the boat in poor weather. It's a long story, but in short, using a compass and swimming below the surface got me back quicker than attempting a surface swim with a heavy camera rig.

Where I regularly dive now, and when on trips to SE Asia, I often wonder how a deadweight body can be brought out of the water onto a boat. The tech group I dive with did the IANTD UW Recompression Course last year and we actually practiced this scenario. All I can say is if the victim is a really big heavy person and you're on your own, you're going to have issues.

A small cherry picker / winch type device to haul up twinsets and / or bodies might be worth fitting.

 

[Storker]

Where I regularly dive now, and when on trips to SE Asia, I often wonder how a deadweight body can be brought out of the water onto a boat.

At least in my 3* class, we discussed possible methods to bring an unconscious victim up in the boat. Apparently, tying two ropes to the gunwale, passing them under the body and up again and then having two persons aboard haul the victim up is supposed to work. Sometimes. If you're lucky. And any boat should have a few meters of sturdy rope stowed away somewhere.

A small cherry picker / winch type device to haul up twinsets and / or bodies might be worth fitting.

If the "body" isn't alive, all you need is a few meters of rope. Tie a bowline on one end, hitch to one of the aft cleats. Tie another bowline through one of the D-rings on the body's rig, make sure the rig is properly fastened and the BCD/wing bladder is properly inflated, and start towing.

This is of course both tongue in cheek and rather tasteless, but there are some scenarios that you won't be able to handle without outside assistance. Sometimes the only viable solution is to call emergency services, either on the phone or on channel 16 on the VHF and wait until they arrive to take over.

 

[Wingy]

@Storker - And this all takes how long?

Theoretically it's totally possible to get an unconscious or incapacitated person back on any boat. I've done MOB drills on everything from tall ships, bulk freighters and cruising yachts...time as you know is never your friend in retrieval of swimmer/diver. Particularly when urgent medical attention is needed. Which requires leaving patient and getting on the radio etc.
I'm guilty of going for a dive off a ship solo with no one onboard at the crack of dawn when doing night watch. It would be ridiculous to say I will never do that again because...I probably will if the opportunity arises.

Just sayin' - can be done, and I know this is now a worst case scenario discussion thanks mainly to me...people do do this all the time and get away with it 99.99% of the time....just want people to think it through carefully and have systems in place

 

[Storker]

this all takes how long?

Honestly, I have no idea. Never tried it, I guess I've been moderately lucky.

My point is, I believe that it's generally A Good Thing(tm) to think thoroughly through things Which May Happen(tm) and at least have an idea about what to try to do if SHTF. I guess that's one of the things they try to teach in Rescue class.

 

[jeffsky29]

I tend to dive more aware of my surroundings, the anchor location, and the current and wind direction when diving off my boat. I prefer to have someone on the boat, but unless the conditions are very calm, my wife can’t handle the rocking. When I do dive solo on my boat, I dive more conservatively. I hardly ever anchor, instead I use moorings. These tend to be shallower dives, but at least I breathing compressed air. I double check the mooring condition before swimming off put a strobe light on the mooring and go enjoy my dive, continually paying attention to landmarks and current to guide me back to the mooring and strobe light.

For me, the best part of diving off my boat is the creature comforts post dive. Hot shower on the transom, cold beer, good tunes, air conditioned cabin if its too hot, it just doesn’t get better. Well it would be better with a buddy, but sometimes thats not an option.

 

[Storker]

For me, the best part of diving off my boat is the creature comforts post dive. Hot shower on the transom, cold beer, good tunes, air conditioned cabin if its too hot, it just doesn’t get better.

You've got a bit more creature comforts in your boat than I have in mine. There's no way in heck I can install a shower in an 18-footer, air condition is something I only have in my car and when I'm steering a boat I'm not drinking anything stronger than 0.8 percent ABV. The blood alcohol limit at sea over here is 0.08 percent, but if I'm steering anything that goes faster than six knots I'm staying sober as a judge.

I'm making it up in the evening, though...