Ideas for lifting doubles over the side

[matt_unique]

The usual drill on my boat is to roll out of your gear, tie to a trail line, then climb out on my gunwale ladder. I then lift the rig onto my swim platform, then hoist up over the transom. With singles this is no problem but with doubles on a rough day you bust a nut getting it over. Anyone have any ideas as to something I can rig to get the doubles into the boat? I should also say I remove weights, deco bottles, etc. prior to this lift.

Maybe it's as simple as a sturdy board I place on the swim platform then drag my doubles over into the boat....???

--Matt

 

[Uncle Pug]

Depends on the size of the boat Matt. On Uncle Pug the boat before we added the swim grid and ladder we had to take our rigs off in the water too. A few times we used the hydraulic winch to pull the doubles aboard but found it actually easier for two divers to just hoist them over the gunwhale by hand.

I still haven't taken the doubles out in the 17' Whaler but when I do we will be hoisting them over the side. I plan on hanging a heavy duty rubber mat over the gunwhale to protect it and the side of the boat but because of room it will be a one man job pulling them up and over.

So from easiest to hardest...
Strong boarding ladder and just climb aboard with the rig on.
Two divers lift rig over the side ~or~ hydraulic puller.
One diver drags over the side on a rubber mat.

 

[The Kraken]

There are some guys who dive off my pontoon boat with doubles.
I ended up making a Rube Goldberg hoist/crane with a wench from a boat trailer on it.
Looks very much like a davit for launching a lifeboat.

 

[FredT]

The usual drill on my boat is to roll out of your gear, tie to a trail line, then climb out on my gunwale ladder. I then lift the rig onto my swim platform, then hoist up over the transom. With singles this is no problem but with doubles on a rough day you bust a nut getting it over. Anyone have any ideas as to something I can rig to get the doubles into the boat? I should also say I remove weights, deco bottles, etc. prior to this lift.

Maybe it's as simple as a sturdy board I place on the swim platform then drag my doubles over into the boat....???

--Matt

The answer to lifting heavy but positive buoyant objects over a gunwhale is to "bounce it" by pushing it down into the water and getting a help from the objects buoyancy. It's a lot easier to guide and assist something already coming up than it is to start it from scratch. This is the same system used by the USCG to recover victims from water accidents.

For awkward objects on boats with a low freeboard a clip line to maintain the top in a "near gunwhale" position while using another line to pull the back/lower end up over the unit, thus rolling the unit into the boat. The clip line takes about half the load until you have it inboard where it's easier to grab.

FT

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Two divers, one on the boat pulls, the other in the water
pushes. Get's doubles over the gunwale of my Boston
Whaler Montauk 167 just fine.

Fred T's bouncing technique helps, but doubles (and
integrated weight singles) are a nuisance, not a problem.

 

[zboss]

The usual drill on my boat is to roll out of your gear, tie to a trail line, then climb out on my gunwale ladder. I then lift the rig onto my swim platform, then hoist up over the transom. With singles this is no problem but with doubles on a rough day you bust a nut getting it over. Anyone have any ideas as to something I can rig to get the doubles into the boat? I should also say I remove weights, deco bottles, etc. prior to this lift.

Maybe it's as simple as a sturdy board I place on the swim platform then drag my doubles over into the boat....???

--Matt

After completing a safety stop, drop your weights, inflate your BCD as far as you can and start kicking as hard! Then when you POP up out of the water you make a dive for the boat and flop down on the deck!

In all seriousness... I have tried all the same things mentioned on this thread; one that worked well but was cumbersome was to put a board halfway down into the water and use it as a cantelever against the gunwale. Either slide the gear up the board after lifting it partially out or simply lift the board so it's flat with the gear hanging off, then slide the board towards you. Yes... it works but I only tried it once. The board needs to be too long.

I figured it would help if you had a couple of blocks to keep the board from slide back and foroward and maybe a hole or some other method to attach the BCD... but again - it was too complictaed and I gave up.

 

[captain]

Why not the simple way. Leave them on and climb in. The legs are much stronger than the arms. I am not Arnold. I am 150 pounds soaking wet and have no problem. I can see a need to remove them if you are diving from an inflatable but a proper ladder on a hard hull would make climbing in with doubles only slightly harder than a single.

Captain