What is your definition of a Cattle Boat

[johndiver999]

This is NOT a cattle boat... now would you please moooove over a little bit.

 

[mi000ke]

Too many divers for the size of the boat. Divers being rushed to do their dives on a tight schedule. Lack of flexibility by DMs to let the clients do their own dives and profiles. Being herded underwater in a follow the leader fashion.

This pretty much sums it up for me as well. The vision I get with "cattle boat" is that everyone is herded together and has to dive the same profile, time, etc. - that is, it all comes down to flexibility. Cattle boat = low or no flexibility.

I also dive a lot on Grand Cayman and mostly go with a dive op that runs pretty large boats, but they usually are never more than half filled and I find I have more room than the smaller boat operators I've gone with. They give divers the option to follow the leader - which I like, as I am often a single and I find it more comforting than diving with an instabuddy - or buddy teams can chose to do their own thing. They know me and let me dive my profile and air, and are OK with my descending whenever I'm ready and tooling around under the boat waiting for the rest of the folks, so I usually get more than 60 minutes per dive. They also always ask if there are any preferences for dive sites among the divers.

 

[happy-diver]

Never seen one, and never see anything (like my paying no attention to peripheral
advertisements) nor pay any heed to posters that use that ignorant derogatory title

 

[nolatom]

A subset (?) of this discussion, at least for US-flag, is whether the boat has a Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection. More than six paying passengers? Then a COI is required, meaning the boat itself is built to Coast Guard standards (has a collision bulkhead for example, and certain firefighting and lifesaving fixtures). So while it may lack the "intimacy" of the usually smaller "six-pack" uninspected passenger boats, it has more redundancy of design, and requires a captain with a "bigger" license, in both tonnage and sea-time, than the license required for "uninspected passenger vessels".

If it's rough weather or a dicey prediction, I might just opt for that "cattle boat".

 

[TMHeimer]

A charter taking more than six divers on a single day trip.

I'd go with that. Don't think I've been on a boat with more than 6. Maybe 8 once.

 

[scubadada]

I feel like it is a cattle boat when I feel herded. It is not necessarily the size of the boat or the number of divers. If I have enough room to move around. reasonably, am able to jump comfortably, pursue my own dive for a reasonable amount of time, I am happy. In Boynton Beach, FL, my favorite boat is a six pack, but I'm completely fine on a boat that takes up to 20.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Some old threads on the subject that may be of interest:

Cattle Boat, what does that mean to you?

What is a cattle boat?

What exactly is a "cattle boat" in your definition?

 

[Lorenzoid]

A subset (?) of this discussion, at least for US-flag, is whether the boat has a Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection. More than six paying passengers? Then a COI is required, meaning the boat itself is built to Coast Guard standards (has a collision bulkhead for example, and certain firefighting and lifesaving fixtures). So while it may lack the "intimacy" of the usually smaller "six-pack" uninspected passenger boats, it has more redundancy of design, and requires a captain with a "bigger" license, in both tonnage and sea-time, than the license required for "uninspected passenger vessels".

To put it in my own words, under the applicable regulations in the US a dive boat will either be classified as a "six pack" or "something bigger"--these are the only two possibilities. And if it's bigger than a six-pack, it's probably considerably bigger--12 or more passengers. So, for convenience/brevity, I think divers may sometimes refer to any "something bigger" boat as a "cattle boat."

"Cattle boat"does have a negative connotation, though. Many larger boats do NOT leave customers feeling like herded cattle.

But if you have a need for brevity in the conversation, then "cattle boat" is a reasonable way to convey "bigger than a six pack."

 

[Scubagolf]

Been diving many locations for 20 years. For me, it is an over-crowded large boat with a lot of lesser experienced divers—catering to cruise ships, usually. OTOH, I have been on dozens of dives on large boats with a dozen divers, sometimes more, that were more comfortable gearing up than most 6 packs I have been on. I really liked the larger boats at Scuba Club Coz. Plenty of room and smooth rides.

 

[divad]

Anyway I was just wondering how you personally would define a Cattle Boat, what characteristics do they have?
Thx

Cattle....on a boat.