simple scuba setup for emergency.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
magna 6882 said:
perhaps a beginner coarse just to get a feel for what i need and can store on board.I did a course 30 years ago and only did a couple. I found it boring.I need to be doing something not just looking around .I did dive in mexico once and the fish were interesting.I just want to be able to check the bottom and maybe cut a line or something.
I really appreciate this forum.
Click to expand...

so you're already certified then?
probably don't really need the class then as others suggest. Especially for your purposes....
Scuba schools do a skills refresher course. That would probably be a good idea.
but
I agree with others.... scuba not really necessary...just a good mask, a good light and some fins....and a line to keep you from drifting too far from the boat. Find a used wet suit for cold water
try that first...keep it simple
And if you were doing the full on scuba, I personally don't think a BC is necessary at all for your intended purpose...just a small pony tank (you certainly don't need a typical 80 cubic feet tank) on a harness
such as this https://www.diversdirect.com/p/basi...2wARE6TQmKKvZNPDf-lQcSP0zJ0drOvYaAhFzEALw_wcB

about finding diving boring....
I've done quite a bit of diving myself, although it has now been many years since... back in the day I really enjoyed more challenging dives that took technical planning, or that just simply involved depth &/or current. I was drawn to wreck dives for that reason. Some of the most fun I had was hanging on an anchor line doing my safety stop flapping horizontally in the current like a flag.
I'll admit to finding the run of the mill reef dive on the boring side often too. On a typical 2-tank charter boat here in Florida (and likely almost everywhere), the 2nd dive is nearly always a very shallow and easy dive on a reef...I got to the point I'd either skip the 2nd dive or just clown around near the boat.... sometimes I'd drop just under the boat, and find a small head of coral, and just hover over it the entire dive just looking really close at the fine details and tiny creatures just inches away from my mask....it was amazing what most divers would never see because they didn't stop moving!
 
I have used a 5mm wetsuit in the pacNW - cold after 30 min.
Dry suit is marvelous for staying warm, but complicated by buoyancy issues.

latest compromise is a semi-dry suit, basically a 7mm wetsuit with super tight wrist, ankle and neck cuffs - does not allow much water exchange, so you can stay warm for a very long time.

agree to sort our weighting in shallow water.
 
Free online hookah course here
Download The Air Line by J Sink's Hookah Training Home Study Course
Welcome to the SASS Surface Air Supply Systems hookah-diving, home study course! The below link is a download for an entry-level instructional vehicle for SASS diving to a maximum depth of 33 feet. This information will provide you with a high level understanding of what hookah diving is, the risks and benefits of and the equipment involved. Please enjoy this material and feel free to let us know if you have questions.

https://airlinebyjsink.com/pages/hookah-training
Click to expand...
 
Good afternoon
I’ll chime in.
I’ve done it this three times before fouling on lobster pots and fouling an anchor line in a crowded anchorage.
Be sure your boat is secure. Drop the hook if necessary.
Avoid doing this alone if at all possible. Have someone with eyes on you.
I keep a mask, snorkel, and 6lbs of weight if I’m using a wet suit. No weight if no wet suit.
I keep a light weight wetsuit jacket and a lightweight Farmer John style wetsuit on board. I rarely use both. Usually my trunks and jacket. You are only there for a moment. No need for air tanks. Keep a sharp serrated dive knife on board to cut any rope that fouls your prop.
 
I've cut off a 1/2" anchor line fouled in both props of a 40 foot Pacemaker. The moron owner ran over another boats anchor line in the middle of Delaware Bay in May. Maybe 60F water temp. Make sure you are tied off so you don't float away. Hold your breath and go under with a really sharp knife like a Dexter Russel Tiger blade. Cut the one end of the line as close to the shaft as possible by feel. The Tiger Blade will do it in one swipe. Get the other end up to the boat cockpit or swim platform with a long boat pole then get out of the water. Pull the cockpit end as tight as you can and tie it off to a sturdy cleat so the line is perpendicular to the shaft. Start the engine and give a fraction of a second bump into reverse then back to neutral. With any luck the line will slack a couple inches. Pull the line tight again, re-tie, and bump it forward this time. Again you are just trying to gain an inch at a time. After a few bumps it will come out. You will be amazed what you can do in just 30 seconds and being under 40 YO!
Now if to wrap up a plastic crab trap or its really cold, just call Sea Tow.
 
A hookah is the way to go for someone that's not going to do other diving. Everything on the average boat should be within easy reach of the hose. I was a commercial diver but use a hookah for checking zincs, etc. I use a dry suit, but you could probably find a wet suit for a lot less money. Or a used one if you're average size. Dry suit is just more comfortable, just your head and hands get wet. And you can have more or less clothing for insulation.
 
There are really a lot of variables in this equation. Maybe the worst case, is a prop replacement offshore. Done that one, but it was warm water. You will be spending time upside down, feet on the hull. Pushing off with a large box wrench and keeping a wedge on the prop to hull gap. After about 10 minutes of that, you will acclimate entirely to being upside down, and can work effectively. No fins on, obviously. Upside down also puts your head further out of harms way from the u/w metal, and of course, the hull itself. A rogue wave isn't as dangerous. Tank inside the boat or strapped to the aft platform. Try very hard to not wear a tank for under hull work, when things get sloppy. Also goes for simple scraping jobs.
If its just a rope wrap, note that these don't always spin off, sometimes sharp things are necessary; and this is between the prop hub and the strut. Not much clearance usually there.
I'm on my second dry suit now, but since I'm a warm water diver, I can't talk to that one directly as far as boat work. My dry suit is for extended diving in 70 deg water. My new 7mm semi-dry with attached hood doesn't do it for me beyond an hour in 70 deg. I'm a woos. I got ice certified 20 years ago, but no more. I guess I could do 60 deg for 30 minutes in the semi dry. Gloves are usually an issue when dealing with tools; btw, what is the water temp of interest? I'm in FL now and am shocked at how cold my canal water is; sometimes just below 60, yikes

oh, one last thing. dry suits are FAR less reliable than wet suits. Thin seals, trick zippers, and more. But still, there is no way i'm jumping into sub 60 without one.
 
Last edited:
Lepke said:
A hookah is the way to go for someone that's not going to do other diving. Everything on the average boat should be within easy reach of the hose. I was a commercial diver but use a hookah for checking zincs, etc. I use a dry suit, but you could probably find a wet suit for a lot less money. Or a used one if you're average size. Dry suit is just more comfortable, just your head and hands get wet. And you can have more or less clothing for insulation.
Click to expand...

and when one pees in a dry suit, sort of makes life more complicated.
 
I have a pee valve

and no pictures avail of the complete assembly

and for completeness, both my wife and 20 y/o daugher have pee valves in their suits too.:whistling:
 
Greetings,
Mr. dd. Pee valves????? Whoa! Dude!


iu
 
Anyone that thinks cutting a tangled line free is the same from one situation or boat type to the next needs to do it a couple more dozen times.

Some can be done free diving by the average old guy, some probably not.
 
There is a whole other approach to dealing with lines in your props. Put cutters on the shafts. Don’t get wet.

I carried a mask and fins if I needed to take a look and had Spurs on my prop shaft. I know of at least one occasion when I hit a line and the Spurs cut it up.
 
HopCar said:
There is a whole other approach to dealing with lines in your props. Put cutters on the shafts. Don’t get wet.

I carried a mask and fins if I needed to take a look and had Spurs on my prop shaft. I know of at least one occasion when I hit a line and the Spurs cut it up.
Click to expand...

All good if you actually have any exposed shaft
 
yeah, I was thinking pony bottle but those little rescue things could work for that purpose well.... I have no experience with them.

The OP mentioned that he had been trained...so i'm assuming certified...just very rusty. Only needs a refresher, maybe...

Seems like for the stated purpose that few minutes would be enough. Personally though I think something a little bit bigger or even that surface supply would be better for general boat life...because that "never to be used emergency check" turns into an occasional bottom check...turns into let me clean a little bit....check the anchor..... I dropped something overboard lets try to find it.....etc....
 
What happens when your 5 to 10 minutes runs out and you're still not done?
With hookah I have another 5 to 10 minutes
And another 5 to 10 minutes
And another 5 to 10 minutes
And another 5 to 10 minutes
And and and

For the cost of that 5 to 10 minute device I have hours of bottom time.
 
Last edited:
skyhawk said:
those surface supply things sure do look interesting
about 40 ft depth....is that right?
Click to expand...
That is a typical limit for the recreational versions that are available for sale. You can, however, go much, much deeper with surface supplied air, depending on the equipment you have. After all, Navy divers routinely use surface supplied air to go hundreds of feet down.
 
skyhawk said:
...either way, I can imagine the long hose being a burden sometimes...getting tangled, etc...
Click to expand...

That would be my concern, too. I'm much more comfortable with a BC and a bottle, but to each his own.
 
The OP was for an "emergency" ..............long hose under a boat or freeing an anchor is a bit different than deep wreck or cave diving.
 
Soo-Valley said:
well I suppose if you cannot reach your ankles on dry land it may not be a good idea even if they are quick release
Click to expand...

Lol! Sorry way to many visions popped into my head of all our body shapes on here. Or ever one standing up after reading this and trying to touch there toes. Lol everyone did it I bet?
 
skyhawk said:
those surface supply things sure do look interesting
about 40 ft depth....is that right?
Click to expand...

Most limit it to 30'. At 33 feet in salt water you are at two atmospheres of pressure due to the "weight" of the water. There are dive tables and more modern dive computers, that have been produced for decades. Based on max depths and bottom time at depths etc, they calculate gas absorption in tissue and tell divers how long they can stay down base on depths/times achieved during the dive. At shallow depths the bottom time is nearly unlimited (very little gas absorption due to low pressure) but bottom time decreases the deeper one goes, as your body absorbs more gasses (as pressure increases gasses are compressed, making them more easily absorbed by tissues).

Surfacing too quickly or what's called an "un-controlled ascent" allows those gasses to expand too quickly in your tissue (before it can be "off-gassed") which is no bueno. It can cause pain, paralysis or even death. This is decompression sickness or aerobullosis.

Should that happen you are put into a pressurized hyperbaric chamber (air pressure) so your body can off-gas the gasses that have been compressed/absorbed in your tissues. Depth and time is why these amateur rigs limit the depth; so people don't kill/injure themselves by having fun.

The only issue I see in these would be people that don't exhale properly upon heading to the surface or surface too quickly, which can cause a lung embolism, which is also no bueno. Caveat: I'm not a doctor but have been certified and diving for decades.

Getting lessons is an excellent idea, even if one is only diving down 5' under one's keel. Best to know and understand all the possibilities and how to mitigate them prior to playing Jacques Cousteau.
 
As you move from the more routine dockside dives under the boat, to the in-situ situations, the risks do change a bit. Wave action. Close proximity to moving sharp things (prop edges and barnacles), or even blunt moving objects (hull). The proposed emergency could be as well in the ocean as in the AICW. They do make inexpensive bump caps that might be considered. This is why I rather do this work with my legs up high, and my head down low. You will hear boat traffic nearby and perhaps surface for the roll duration, but offshore has clearly got its own challenges. Getting knocked out u/w on solo dives is usually not survivable. But at least you can remove the stray electrical current risk. Last month I saw a scooter diver that ran into a chuck of the earth; he was fine, wore a helmet, but the rock caught him just below the helmet and just above the eye.
 
Greetings,
Mr. O. " Lol everyone did it I bet?" Nope. Not me. I know I have toes down there...somewhere...


iu
 
skyhawk said:
]

either way, I can imagine the long hose being a burden sometimes...getting tangled, etc...
Click to expand...

Rig the hose through the back of your weight belt
Hose has air in it so floats on the surface
 
My entire air system is oiless on our vessel. we have air fittings all over. I have a 100ft hose mated to another hose that supplies me with hot water for my wetsuit to keep me warm. I also have quick connects on the regulator so i can either use a regular regulator or my full face mask. I also agree you should have some scuba training before attempting any of this.
 
sailormike said:
My entire air system is oiless on our vessel. we have air fittings all over. I have a 100ft hose mated to another hose that supplies me with hot water for my wetsuit to keep me warm. I also have quick connects on the regulator so i can either use a regular regulator or my full face mask. I also agree you should have some scuba training before attempting any of this.
Click to expand...



That sounds super handy for drilling, sanding, air hammer etc. even u/w.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
For All You 5200 Fans
Replies
20
Views
3K
ronobrien
R
W
Elling E4 Sea-trial thoughts
2
Replies
44
Views
5K
Wartowne
W
T
Sailor thinking of going to a a trawler
Replies
11
Views
1K
mvweebles
mvweebles
Sabre602
37' Diesel Trawler, Former Commercial Fisher - Bellingham, Washington
Replies
4
Views
3K
delirious duo
D
magna 6882
help identifing prop zinc nut
Replies
2
Views
353
jimdavi
jimdavi

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom