solo dive from a boat?

[DennisS]

If you're tied to the boat, why anchor it?

Take it with you.

The boat is anchored to the bottom, I am not tied to anything.

I tow my kayak when I'm kayak diving, but towing a 25' dual inboard might be a bit much.

 

[idocsteve]

The boat is anchored to the bottom, I am not tied to anything.

I tow my kayak when I'm kayak diving, but towing a 25' dual inboard might be a bit much.

I know it's anchored to the bottom and you aren't tied to it, that's why I suggested not anchoring the boat and tying yourself off to it so it goes where you go, or vice versa depending on the size of the boat.

If it's a large boat, you could rig a series of ropes...say one for throttle and 2 for the rudder and steer it from the bottom.

 

[kanonfodr]

I know it's anchored to the bottom and you aren't tied to it, that's why I suggested not anchoring the boat and tying yourself off to it so it goes where you go, or vice versa depending on the size of the boat.

If it's a large boat, you could rig a series of ropes...say one for throttle and 2 for the rudder and steer it from the bottom.

Wow, that's a neat idea but the actual implementation of it would not only be an engineering challenge but also dangerous IMO because what would happen if a sudden movement jammed the throttle open (with you attached)??

What would be cool is something similar to what the Army is testing: a small ATV that would follow troops on patrol and carry their bags for them. I believe it uses a simple transmitter that is carried on a soldier's gear and follows that signal. Make something like that waterborne and attach the transmitter to your dive flag. It would follow your flag and only be 20 feet away when you surfaced.

Peace,
Greg

 

[DennisS]

If it's a large boat, you could rig a series of ropes...say one for throttle and 2 for the rudder and steer it from the bottom.

Let me know how that works out

 

[Peter_C]

if you had your own boat and wanted to solo dive, would you take your boat out and tie it off and take a plunge?

When you are ready to solo dive you will feel confident about doing so. For safety reasons I would recommend having more than 24 dives. Plus having a buddy along gives you someone to chat without about the dive, and the crazy stuff you will see.

Would I do it? Sure our local lakes are about the same as yours and the biggest fears should be getting run over (Carry an SMB on a pre-rigged spool and know how to launch it from depth) along with getting caught up in fishing line. Otherwise there is pretty much no current or big waves. Bad vis yes! Staying away from the dam is just common sense.

i have a 19ft champion bass boat. i want to dive some spots at local lakes and want to take my boat.

Wow, some the answers above are ridiculous. Towing a bass boat is not going to work, as they are heavy, unlike a kayak. Giant storms, and any relation to Kawika, just do not fit, he is not talking in an ocean with super strong current, and AZ has fairly benign conditions. I lived in AZ for a year, so I can speak from experience. There are not a lot of places in the local lakes where shore is going to be more than a few minute swim. A bass boat is mostly a flat water boat, and would only be taken out on calmer days to begin with. Bilge pumps and the like should be functioning no matter what your plans are. Most of those boats are unsinkable. They have enough foam to float them at water level. Although often they will turtle...at least inboards can.

A tag line on a lake is a hazard. In CA you have to have a "rope in water flag up" if there is a rope running across the waters surface on a lake or river (Seems to be a very grey area though). I can not remember what AZ's rules are on that. We use a tag line if the current is running on the Pacific Ocean. No current in a smaller lake so no need for one. I would rather surface to find someone didn't suck my line up into the prop and rip the transom off my boat. FWIW I set up a 150' tag line then decided to use one of the other sections that is 100' with a yellow buoy on the end. Because there is no current and you are not going to go far enough away from your boat there is no reason to tie a reel off, unless you want to practice. For that I would recommend more experience and training. Learn to use the SMB first. SMB Deployment

If you want to make sure your boat is going to be there, get a good anchor and a foot of chain for every foot of your boat. Toss overboard and back it downwind. If the anchor is holding the boat will not move. (Depending on the bottom many people swear by a Box Anchor) Since it is a bass boat it probably has a fish finder, so that should let you see the bottom contour and depth before choosing a site to explore.

Be safe and bring a buddy until you are confident enough to go it alone. Go do some lake diving! :cool2:

Here is a dive report from one of our lake trips.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/norcal/313691-treasure-hunting-lake-berryessa-black-friday.html

 

[RYCO]

yeah thanks guys for the info. im not ready to do it yet and i get that. but i was talking to a dive buddy about going out in my boat and we dive together, leaving the boat unattended. they thought it was a bad idea and that we would need surface support. then i thought what about WHEN IM READY to solo dive, i wonder if its a bad idea to do it form my boat. so i posed the question.

 

[Peter_C]

You are diving in a lake, there is no reason you can't leave your boat unattended. Do put a dive flag up so at least the Sheriff knows what is going on. Get your buddy and go diving!

If you hear a boat approaching as you are surfacing make sure to use an SMB. The smaller Halcyon ones work great from launching at depth and are easier to stow. I carry the DAN SMB for bigger swell conditions and when diving in heavy currents typically in places like Mexico.

The reason for leaving someone on the boat is in case the current comes up or big swells form up to where you might not be able to return to the boat, then someone on the boat could then drive over and pick you up. Neither of which are going to happen on a smaller lake. I do recommend you carry a cell phone onboard just in case you have an emergency.

FWIW we leave our boats unattended on the Pacific Ocean. We always dive down the anchor line to make sure it is set correctly, and choose the calmer days for diving.

 

[idocsteve]

Wow, that's a neat idea but the actual implementation of it would not only be an engineering challenge but also dangerous IMO because what would happen if a sudden movement jammed the throttle open (with you attached)??

Oh that's simple. You have another line that runs to the ignition key. If the throttle sticks, just pull the key out.

Yeah you might need another line to "turn" the key but that's no problem.

 

[kanonfodr]

Oh that's simple. You have another line that runs to the ignition key. If the throttle sticks, just pull the key out.

Yeah you might need another line to "turn" the key but that's no problem.

Lol, with all these lines running to a diver he would look like a fullsize marionette (sp?) and be an entanglement hazard from the bowels of the pit. Where do I sign up??

Peace,
Greg

 

[captain]

If it's a large boat, you could rig a series of ropes...say one for throttle and 2 for the rudder and steer it from the bottom.

I dearly hope this was said tongue in cheek and not seriously.