Boat diving.

[MaxBottomtime]

I have dived from a friend's Mastercraft ski boat. It bounces on the ocean, has very little room for gear and you have to gear up in the water.

My first dive boat was an Achilles 12' inflatable. I made hundreds of dives from it. With a 25HP outboard I was able to zip along with two divers, four tanks and a cooler. I could make a trip to Catalina Island and back, about 44 miles on about six gallons of gas.

I bought a 1968 Columbia sailboat. It was slow, rocked a lot while trying to climb the ladder, but didn't burn gas.

My first "real" dive boat was a Crestliner Eagle 22. It put me $50,000 in credit card debt and led to my second divorce.

After several years of scrimping and saving, Merry and I finally got a nice dive boat, a C-Dory Tomcat. It's very comfortable for 2-4 divers, although only two can gear up at a time.

 

[Guba]

As for diving the "johnboat" (which I define in my neck o the woods as a 14 foot aluminum, open boat with an outboard motor), getting back in was only a little tricky. Doff and hand up the bc and weights. Keep on the fins and mask. Grip the side of boat at the railing, dolphin kick with both feet and pull. The move rockets one right up the side, so be ready to catch and turn to sit on the side, preferably lined up with a seat. Oh, and have the other folks on the boat ready to lean opposite to prevent swamping...not likely, but it could happen, I guess. We actually dove THREE divers from that little craft.