Scuba from a trawler

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Semi-Retired

Semi-Retired

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Messages
41
Location
USA
We are currently looking for our first trawler. We went and looked at a couple but while talking to the broker, we realized the ones we were looking at would be almost impossible to get tanks and gear back on the boat.

So the question is, if y'all dive, how do you deal with this issue
 
We keep a pair of 80s on board in a bracket behind the ladder to the bridge and 4 (yes, four - I know there's only two of us but mom it's DIVE gear!!) sets of dive gear aboard. we've had as many as 12 tanks lying around our cockpit on one trip (4 divers). I'm itching to cut a huge transom door. currently we have steps and hand-holds to get up and over onto the swim step. giant stride for ingress. big bad dive ladder for egress.

We've always had someone aboard while diving to hand gear up to at the end of the dive. On smaller boats, we've tied gear to a "down-line" with a bungee on it, climbed up, and the dive buddy in the water hands gear up.

I'll be interested to see what others do as this is something we really could improve.
 
If you can't get scuba equipment back on board then how would you get an injured man overboard back on board?

There are small davits that can lift a basket full of equipment back onboard...take it off in the water or swim platform, load up the basket, get onboard and haul away.
 
Most people that own boats aren't divers. So they're not built for diving. I'm old now, and rarely dive, but use to have an aluminum platform that attached to the swim platform and was just below waterline. Gear could be removed to the platform, and standing on the platform, one big step to the swim platform. I've had several. Most were 50-75 lbs. and could be put in place by one determined person or two with ease.
Aluminum fabricators in most port cities probably have standing designs. I have seen designs that fold over the swim platform.
 
psneeld said:
If you can't get scuba equipment back on board then how would you get an injured man overboard back on board?

There are small davits that can lift a basket full of equipment back onboard...take it off in the water or swim platform, load up the basket, get onboard and haul away.
Click to expand...
I agree with you there, but a man overboard and 2 wore out divers are 2 different things. Its only the wife and I, and if we are both tired I could see it being a big chore. We were considering a boat with a small open fear deck, kinda like a sportfish but not as big. Just to make it easier but still open for suggestions.
 
We also want to get a compressor so we can limit the number of tanks but that still doesn't fix the ability of 2 40+ yr olds trying the haul in tanks after a long dive
 
I did say injured MOB..... meaning not able to help themselves.

An idea to fix one may fix the other.

You can have a davit installed that will bring your wife and you both aboard at the same time fully tricked out in your rigs.

There are dozens of ways to do it....buy the boat you want and go from there.

If you are going to be constantly diving, then yes, buy the boat to fit the sport....but for all around trawlering, worry about that as one of the last things.
 
If I was planning to dive regularly, I'd look for:

1. A swimstep with a ladder

2. A cockpit

3. A transom gate.
 
Semi-Retired said:
We also want to get a compressor so we can limit the number of tanks but that still doesn't fix the ability of 2 40+ yr olds trying the haul in tanks after a long dive
Click to expand...


Divings doable off a trawler. I used to dive off mine.

But consider getting a hookah rig. I find that easier in the long run.
 
You can get aboard a boat with a swim platform if it has a fold down ladder from the platform and some hand grabs mounted on the back of the transom. But it is lots easier to hand your tanks up to a buddy so you don't have all of that weight on your back as you go up the ladder.

I like hookahs. That is all that I have used for the past few years for bottom maintenance. I use an oil free big box air compressor with 50' of hose and a low pressure regulator. Most regulators designed for scuba tanks won't work with a low pressure air supply. I can easily run the air compressor from the inverter.

David
 
Greetings,
Mr. SR. You may want to look at cockpit motor yachts....Just sayin'

5115690_20150605101826271_1_XLARGE.jpg
 
I have two tanks aboard and we have a open tread dive ladder that snaps into a bracket off the back of the swim platform. We can walk up the ladder with the BC on but we usually inflate the BC, slide out of it, get up on the swim platform and then lift the gear on board. We looked at adding a compressor aboard but I didn't want to deal with the space it takes up and another thing to maintain. It's usually not a problem to get a local shop to refill the tanks. In some areas like the Keys, the shops will deliver the tanks to you if they are diving in your direction anyway.

Look for Ted on OCDiver (he is on this site) - he dives a lot from his boat and might have helpful information.
 
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
Mr. SR. You may want to look at cockpit motor yachts....Just sayin'

5115690_20150605101826271_1_XLARGE.jpg
Click to expand...
Yes I love that style. Wife is just hard set on and aft cabin with a queen bed. So if I can find one likw that we/she will be happy. Lol
 
FlyWright said:
If I was planning to dive regularly, I'd look for:

1. A swimstep with a ladder

2. A cockpit

3. A transom gate.
Click to expand...


Also put "dive or scuba compressor" into you search criteria when searching yachtworld. It is far far cheaper to buy a boat already equipped to do what you wish rather than outfit from scratch. Also a boat so equipped will likely have all of the bugs/details sussed out for you.

RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
Mr. SR. You may want to look at cockpit motor yachts....Just sayin'

5115690_20150605101826271_1_XLARGE.jpg
Click to expand...



I second RT's excellent advice. Hint: most cockpit motor yachts have queen beds at the minimum and the overwhelming majority have aft cabins.
 
CPseudonym said:
Also put "dive or scuba compressor" into you search criteria when searching yachtworld. It is far far cheaper to buy a boat already equipped to do what you wish rather than outfit from scratch. Also a boat so equipped will likely have all of the bugs/details sussed out for you.





I second RT's excellent advice. Hint: most cockpit motor yachts have queen beds at the minimum and the overwhelming majority have aft cabins.
Click to expand...
Sounds good. Yes like I said in the original post. We are just starting our search and appreciate all help and info..
 
Semi-Retired said:
We also want to get a compressor so we can limit the number of tanks but that still doesn't fix the ability of 2 40+ yr olds trying the haul in tanks after a long dive
Click to expand...

These 2 tired 70 yr olds inflate the BCD and tie them off, sit on the ladder to remove fins, throw them onto the well deck, and clamber aboard the swim platform. Having transom door is a big help and adds a lot of safety to passing the equipment back and forth, especially in a chop.

Of course at our age we don't need as much air. We move slowly so a couple of 80's lasts all summer. :cool:
 
Semi-Retired said:
Yes I love that style. Wife is just hard set on and aft cabin with a queen bed. So if I can find one likw that we/she will be happy. Lol
Click to expand...

We have a Meridian 459 with a swim platform ladder, transom door and large cockpit. It's easy to access with scuba gear and has your aft cabin with walk around queen bed. We use her at mainly displacement speeds and she is very economical.
 
Note the ladder...

The swim grid retracts.
 

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Jetstream said:
We have a Meridian 459 with a swim platform ladder, transom door and large cockpit. It's easy to access with scuba gear and has your aft cabin with walk around queen bed. We use her at mainly displacement speeds and she is very economical.
Click to expand...
We like the idea of the door. Are they a lot of work to maintain with seals and all that or do they not have them. I've never been on a boat with a transom door
 
SoWhat said:
These 2 tired 70 yr olds inflate the BCD and tie them off, sit on the ladder to remove fins, throw them onto the well deck, and clamber aboard the swim platform. Having transom door is a big help and adds a lot of safety to passing the equipment back and forth, especially in a chop.

Of course at our age we don't need as much air. We move slowly so a couple of 80's lasts all summer. :cool:
Click to expand...
70s huh? Wow that's awesome. I hope we too are still able to dive then. Maybe diving is part of it, good exercise, great stress relief, and still able to get around like that. Great inspiration. Thanks.. [emoji106]
 
Ours is a Sedan. One level and a 6X12 cockpit. She also has a transom door to the swim deck:)
 
OP, interesting question and one we pondered as well.
I think our process considered a couple of the basic questions. One was, what is the distance between a boat that really rang our bells to cruise and hang out on, and a boat that was really designed to dive from. And two, will we be diving most of time we go boating or a low percentage of the time we are boating. For us the distance between the boats that really turned us on and a good dive boat was pretty significant. See photo...not exactly good access to the water, no swim step, and a straight vertical ladder hanging from the bulwarks to board. And in the end, we will likely boat a lot more than we dive. If you are going to dive most of the time, you would likely end up cussing a boat like this.
Here is our plan. We dive cold water so mostly in dry suit which just adds buoyancy to the situation. Because of that we are pretty heavily weighted such that even a ladder to a swim step with gear on is gonna be a bugger after an exhausting dive. Hell, we almost couldn't get up the cement steps at Redondo Beach near Tacoma a couple weeks back between the weight and the cold body parts. Our plan is like others above where we don and shed the BC/tank in the water, leave ropes with clevis hanging from the bulwarks to haul the gear. Just us and the fins up the ladder before we haul the gear up after.
No ideal but small sacrifice to have the boat we really like.
 

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I am not sure I understand your question. My admiral and I are quite experienced divers and if you have a swim step and a ladder I don't see why you should not be able to get the gear back??? Except if you are tech diver with 5 different tanks and even in that case one should be able to get onboard and grab the tanks to move them back onboard. Going back onboard an inflatable without a ladder is far more difficult than going back onboard a trawler with swim platform but never got any issue doing it
 
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