First Boat Dive Coming Up....Newbie Question inside!

[sphyrnidus]

Anonther solution at Ikea they sell thes blue bags for next to nothing. Use two of those. They last for ever and take up no room when empty. We have been using those for years.


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[Basking Ridge Diver]

We went out on the Sea Lion my son took lessons at Lakeland - and one of these days we are going get out with you all (Gypsy Blood) - I have been buying some equipment at The Scuba Connection but have not taken classes or booked a trip through them yet.

I wanted to get his feet wet this year with a boat trip - so that is now checked off. I will be pushing him on the training and a few more shore dives this year. Next year I hope we make a bigger splash...

 

[cocoajoe]

So I am scheduled for my first boat dive the end of this month in Clearwater, FL. I'm bringing all my own gear (wet suit, BC, Reg etc) except tanks and weights obviously. I currently move my gear with an LLBean Large Rolling Duffel. Dimensions are 15h x 30w x13d. Is it ok to bring that on board the charter or is it going to be in the way? I have a mesh bag, but with wetsuit and BC - not everything is going to fit.

I guess I'm asking about basic boat etiquette, what is acceptable to bring and what is not. I don't want to be in anyone's way. I'm also thinking I need to bring a sweatshirt for the SI. So then there's that too.

Confused about your dimensions...'15h' is height? That's not much. '30d' is probably L or length, correct? 13d is either width or depth. In any case dimensions are OK for boat but the problem with roller bags is they don't fold up/bunch up very well to stowe under bench. Know a buddy who uses one who puts it down in the head tho.
Clearwater? Why? Go to the Eastcoast Jupiter down to the Keys....best diving by far

 

[freewillie]

It will depend on the size of the boat you are on. For larger boats it doesn't really matter, but on smaller boats they will usually ask that you try to keep the amount of gear and the larger bags to a minimum. Either way in my experience you board the boat with your bag, get all of your gear out, then when the bag is empty you put your bag up top in a storage area. I almost always take a dry bag to keep a towel and change of clothes handy. I also use a small Pelican case to keep my iPhone from getting smashed along with wallet and car keys. If the boat ride is under 30 minutes from dock then I change into my wetsuit in the parking lot. If the boat ride is longer then I just keep the dive bag packed. Check with the crew to see if they have room for your roller bag. I have a smaller Stahlsac duffel I use when I want to keep the gear and bag size to a minimum.

As for tips, I use 15-20% cost of the trip. But, I do like to tip well so generally tip $20-$40 depending on service.

 

[FaithC]

Those are the dimensions from llbean's website. They are a bit odd, but nevertheless, that's where I got them from.

I'm actually visiting my father who lives in Largo, hence, I am diving one of the days out of Clearwater on Tanks-a-lot Dive Charter. http://www.tanksalotdivecharter.com/Home_Page.php

So far it looks like there's 6 divers and 4 open spots.

Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[lmorin]

Another reason not to take a rolling bag onto a standard dive boat is that the wheels are very likely to pick up water which will get into the bearings. The bearings are likely to rust and create an undesirable state of affairs that will only show up months later when one or both wheels are locked because of it. Happened to us because we had to wheel our luggage through a winter puddle kept liquid by road salt at a below freezing northern airport.

By the way, one of our dive travel bags is also the LLBean large rolling duffel and we like it a lot because it is so lightweight, yet strong.

 

[robb3369]

Just got back from a 7 day cruise via San Juan, PR. Both me and my wife each have the Stahlsac Bonaire Mesh Wet/Dry Bag (mine is blue, hers is pink)... It holds all my gear, Ranger BC, fins, farmer john and shortie, boots, gloves, lights, cameras, wreck reel and more in the mesh side and phone, shorts, shirt, towel, dive log, etc in the dry bag. It's great to throw this on back and carry two tanks down to the boat. Everything moved in one trip. Only thing is to get a few extra carabiners to either secure bag to rail or seat back so you can try to keep bag from getting lost or too soaked.

http://www.scuba.com/scuba-gear-76/...re-Deluxe-Mesh-Wet-Dry-Backpack-Dive-Bag.html

http://youtu.be/_nKkTqsG8es

 

[Frosty]

Faith. the amount of space -therefore your setup room is going to vary from boat to boat. On a recent trip with bottle cages in the boat side and bench under tanks I'd go on board in the AM with my bag full of dive gear and setup regs/bc/weights on a tank then stow the tank. Mask was slung from a BC strap.Wetsuit draped over the setup,fins under the seat. all neat n tidy. Then the dive bag was back up and into storage. -But I would be oin the boat all day

 

[spc751]

Lots of good tips. On thing I like on a boat is a waterproof windbreaker.

 

[mruseless]

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