Scuba diving/snorkling, who here does it? Need advice.

[diver dave]

Diving on the prop. There are some tricks. One trick on twins is diving upside down. Feet on the hull , lots of air in bc. Have done a lot of dives on my boat in open ocean. Done prop R and R when at anchor in settled condx. Just takes a little practice.

 

[ProMaritime]

There is good advice here from several people who sound experienced. You sound untrained and inexperienced, which could be a fatal combination. I'm in Hawaii and we had a dive fatality yesterday. Now get this...a thirteen year-old boy from Mongolia visiting Hawaii for the first time, never dove in his life, no pool training, straight into the Pacific Ocean with a group of four plus and instructor. They "lost" him. He was found by rescue personal in 65 feet of water, dead already no doubt, but they attempted resuscitation and he was pronounced dead at a hospital. Which means that he was already dead but nobody at the scene was qualified to make that judgment.

Mongolia, how much ocean experience do you think you can get at age 13 in Mongolia. Poor kid. What a shame on the people who took his money and took him out.

 

[micheln]

That ... Says it all. Thanks for the sober reality check.

Poor kid, hard to accept , not a single level headed adult looking out for him.

 

[grandbanksbayfield]

Insecure Divers

I learned scuba in a swimming pool with an excellent instructor. Being a bit timid, I would agree with Ted (OC Diver), that you want to do a lot of drills to make sure you have your act together -- like how to deal with your mask flooding. Good diving instruction includes all of those things. As a matter of practicality, having a lot of gear, tanks, compressors, etc aboard is a big hassle. I have never used the system, but for simplicity I would investigate the little pump devices that provide continuous air for shallow diving. You are tethered to your air source, but you need less equipment. Usually, the average boat captain just needs to go down a few feet and clean off a prop, or something of that nature. In any case, learning to dive by doing a lot in shallow clear water until you have the fundamentals down to the point where you do not need to think about them is the way to go.

 

[ben2go]

Diving on the prop. There are some tricks. One trick on twins is diving upside down. Feet on the hull , lots of air in bc. Have done a lot of dives on my boat in open ocean. Done prop R and R when at anchor in settled condx. Just takes a little practice.

I would have never even come up with that as an option when diving.

There is good advice here from several people who sound experienced. You sound untrained and inexperienced, which could be a fatal combination. I'm in Hawaii and we had a dive fatality yesterday. Now get this...a thirteen year-old boy from Mongolia visiting Hawaii for the first time, never dove in his life, no pool training, straight into the Pacific Ocean with a group of four plus and instructor. They "lost" him. He was found by rescue personal in 65 feet of water, dead already no doubt, but they attempted resuscitation and he was pronounced dead at a hospital. Which means that he was already dead but nobody at the scene was qualified to make that judgment.

Mongolia, how much ocean experience do you think you can get at age 13 in Mongolia. Poor kid. What a shame on the people who took his money and took him out.

I agree and losing a kid is sad no matter the situation.


Does Mongolia even get warm enough to swim? I admit I'm pretty ignorant about that part of our world. I do like Mongolian food served at Chinese restaurants.

I learned scuba in a swimming pool with an excellent instructor. Being a bit timid, I would agree with Ted (OC Diver), that you want to do a lot of drills to make sure you have your act together -- like how to deal with your mask flooding. Good diving instruction includes all of those things. As a matter of practicality, having a lot of gear, tanks, compressors, etc aboard is a big hassle. I have never used the system, but for simplicity I would investigate the little pump devices that provide continuous air for shallow diving. You are tethered to your air source, but you need less equipment. Usually, the average boat captain just needs to go down a few feet and clean off a prop, or something of that nature. In any case, learning to dive by doing a lot in shallow clear water until you have the fundamentals down to the point where you do not need to think about them is the way to go.

I would have a small compressor aboard. I don't know if those can be used for diving or if there is a special set up. I know water and oil separators would have to be used on an air comp like mine.

 

[Beekeepergreg]

Not to sound rude,
Don't even think about using a standard air compressor.
Bad idea.
Greg

 

[SoWhat]

SoWhat,
Respectfully, I could argue that anxiety is NOT ok. It can be lethal! Is does not keep you cautious and often not controllable without help. You don't want anxiety when diving or even on a boat. Its a SERIOUS condition, don't under estimate it. Granted panic can be worse, however panic can be short term and anxiety can be much longer term. Been through a LOT of that with some dear friends.
And YES, you can predict sucking air from and empty tank and you know that if you're a diver. And if you can't predict the current, then stay in the boat.
Diving on the prop is not dangerous, if you're reasonably prepared. You're not going deep, you are close to the surface and you can snorkel it, if you wish.

Former member of fire dept underwater recovery team. Former pilot. Combat veteran. If you don't have a little anxiety now and then you are oblivious to risks.

Diving on a prop can be extremely dangerous. Or it can be like taking a bath. Try it in rough seas with a pot warp wrapped around your shaft like a piece of iron and the stern is crashing down from 10' over your head every few seconds. Not a place for beginners. I now carry a ski helmet on board. (and spurs are now on each shaft)

 

[ben2go]

Not to sound rude,
Don't even think about using a standard air compressor.
Bad idea.
Greg

Roger that.

Former member of fire dept underwater recovery team. Former pilot. Combat veteran. If you don't have a little anxiety now and then you are oblivious to risks.

Diving on a prop can be extremely dangerous. Or it can be like taking a bath. Try it in rough seas with a pot warp wrapped around your shaft like a piece of iron and the stern is crashing down from 10' over your head every few seconds. Not a place for beginners. I now carry a ski helmet on board. (and spurs are now on each shaft)

I can imagine that would get rough.