Hey SD fans, welcome back, in this video we are talking about diving from a hard boat,
and I’ll be giving you five handy hints that will make your boat diving a much more
enjoyable experience, as well as one surefire way to endear yourself with the crew.
For those here for the first time, my name’s Mark, I am the editor-in-chief of the Scuba
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Right, on with the video!
Following on from last week’s focus on RIB diving, in this video I turn my attention
to hard boats. Stable, more spacious and with some creature comforts - toilet, galley for
those essential teas, coffees and tasty snacks, and in some cases diver lifts - hard boats
can deliver you to dive sites that are out of reach of smaller vessels.
Then there is the ultimate hard boat diving - on a liveaboard, where you stay and dine
on board, and dive three, four or even five times a day, but I’ll talk about them another
day.
Be on time As we said with a RIB charter, make sure you
arrive in plenty of time. The skipper sets a time for ropes off for a reason – be that
time constraints, tidal conditions or whatever – so don’t be that diver that delays everyone
heading off for a dive. I like to get to the dock a good 30 minutes or so before we are
due to depart. This allows me to gather my kit, get it all stowed on board, and be nice
and relaxed before the ropes are off. There is nothing worse than cutting it fine and
rushing to board – this is when you forget important items of kit, or worse, gear gets
damaged. So, arrive in good time – start your day off properly.
Keep your dive station tidy There is usually more storage space on a hardboat,
so you don’t have to be quite so cut-throat when it comes to taking things on board with
you, but that doesn’t mean the skipper and other divers want you hauling monster dive
bags and the like along for the day. I have seen people rock up to a hardboat pulling
their travel roller bag with them. Yes, it is one way of getting your kit to the boat,
but then we spent the day manouvering around the empty bags all day. Let’s just say in
each case, they were not very popular. There is a way of hauling your gear that is
far more sensible. I always travel with a large mesh bag that is capable of holding
my entire dive kit – mask, snorkel, fins, BCD, regulator, wetsuit, boots, DSMB and spool,
etc. These are lightweight, can live in the bottom of your main dive bag and don’t take
up any of your luggage weight allowance. When I get to my dive destination, the first thing
I do is decant all of my dive kit out of my main dive bag into the mesh bag, so that it
is ready for me to just pick up and go when it is time for diving.
The benefits of this are twofold. One, as you step on board, you know you have got all
of your kit to go diving in one place. Two, once you have got all of your core gear set
up, the mesh bag can just stash away and not take up any precious space onboard. On some
dayboats, you might just have a space under your bench, in which case I leave my mask
– in its box – and fins inside the mesh bag until it is time to actually go diving.
It keeps my dive station tidy, but also prevents any accidental damage to my kit as it is safely
out of the way. On other boats, you might be issued with a plastic box. In this instance,
I will put my mask and fins into the box, along with the empty mesh bag. The main thing
is that a mesh bag, even a relatively large one, will fold up to next to nothing, so you’ll
never be the one taking up valuable deck space. If you remember from my RIB video, I said
to only take what you need to go diving with you, apart from maybe sunglasses and some
form of headgear, be that a sunhat for if you are in the tropics, or a warm woolly hat
for if it is cold. You don’t have to be quite so brutal when you are on a hardboat
as there is more room, but equally, that doesn’t mean you need to bring all and sundry with
you. I tend to take a small backpack, or a 10-litre drybag, on board with me. This is
more than big enough to hold my dive computer, a towel, maybe spare batteries for my camera
and strobes, and then when it comes to dive time, it will also take my dry clothes. Again,
being tidy is key – don’t be that diver that slings their stuff all over the boat.
Listen to the skipper Even if you are an experienced diver, make
sure you listen to the skipper give a boat briefing, safety briefing and dive briefing.
You may be on hardboats all the time, but there could be differences with this particular
vessel, plus it is just the polite thing to do, so don’t be that diver who is talking
to their buddies or faffing with their kit while the skipper is doing his briefing!
Equally, if you are new to hardboat diving, and are feeling a little unsure or nervous,
talk to the crew and ask questions. That is what they are there for, and believe me, they
much prefer to know as much about each diver on board as possible. They want to make your
day as fun and enjoyable as possible, and knowing any concerns you have will assist
them with this goal.
Entry and exit Hardboats, by their very nature, have more
room on the dive deck area than a RIB, so getting into your BCD is not such a chore.
You can usually sit on a comfy bench and take your time getting ready. Many hardboats see
you giant stride into the water off the stern, but depending on the design, there might be
exits to port and starboard as well. I’ve even been on catamarans where you can jump
off the bow as well. The crew will tell you which exit to use, and generally, they will
‘walk’ you to the edge of the boat, holding your pillar valve to stabilise you as you
shuffle along. If in the safety briefing the skipper says they don’t want you moving
around fully kitted on your own, don’t. Wait until a crew member has hold of you and
then head to the exit. One a dead-calm day, this might seem overkill, but if it is rough,
you might well be glad of the assistance. I have seen divers ignore the advice, get
up on their own accord and then slip or fall over. You might only hurt your pride, but
you could also hurt someone else by falling on them, or actually injure yourself. On a
boat out of Fort Lauderdale, a guy fell over in choppy conditions and badly broke his wrist,
which not only ruled out any diving for him for a while, but also curtailed our activities
for the day as we needed to return to the dock. Even if you are on a boat that doesn’t
specify for a crew member to assist, always try and hold on to something solid with at
least one hand as you make your way to the exit. It is just better to be safe than sorry.
As I said, you will generally giant stride off a hardboat. You’ve all done this in
your basic training, so I am not going to tell you how to suck eggs, but just remember
to do a decent stride out into the water. I see far too many people barely step forward
as they go off a boat, and believe me, if the bottom of your tank hits the side of the
deck as you go down, it is going to hurt. Getting back on to a hardboat is much easier
than getting back on to a RIB. Most have sturdy ladders mounted either on the stern, or on
port or starboard. These tend to either be a normal ladder, or what I refer to as ‘aerial’
ladders, as they look like a TV aerial, with a central post and steps coming out on either
side. With the former, you will need to remove your fins before you head up the ladder, and
will do this either on a tagline floating off the boat – so you hold on the line,
remove your fins and then haul yourself along the line to the ladder - or while you actually
hold on to the ladder itself. Beware – make sure you hold on to a step or safety railing
on the ladder. In rough conditions, the ladder can swing up and down on its hinge, and I
have seen far too many near-misses where peoples’ fingers have nearly been crushed, or worse,
when they held on to the side of the ladder. So watch out for that.
With an aerial ladder, or a fin ladder, as they are known, you don’t have to remove
your fins. You can simply swim straight to the ladder and climb up, bringing your finned
feet up and around each step. I much prefer these, especially when it is rough, as I can
just get to the ladder, get up it and be back on the boat with the minimum of fuss.
Stern ladders won’t tend to move around too much, even in choppier conditions, but
ladders on the side of a vessel can be a little more interesting in rough weather. Up in Scapa
Flow, many of the boats are converted fishing boats, which can roll somewhat when it gets
lumpy. I can remember the fin ladder on one that was completely clearing the water as
it rolled one way, and then almost submerging completely when it rolled the other. In those
conditions, you just have to be patient and get your timing right – you do not want
to be under that ladder when it comes down, that’s for certain. I hovered just away
from where the ladder was smashing in and out of the water, and as it went into the
water, I made my move. In this case, just get a solid grip and hold on! As the boat
reared back and the ladder came out of the water, I got my knees on to the steps, and
before it went back down into the water, I was able to get my feet on a step. After being
submerged again, I could climb back on to the deck. Certainly an exhilarating way to
end a dive, that’s for sure! Many hardboats are coming equipped with diver
lifts these days, and this piece of technology is simply amazing. Originally conceived to
assist fully laden tech divers back on to a boat at the end of a long decompression
dive, they have soon been adopted by recreational divers who also appreciate not having to clamber
up a ladder after a dive. Diver lifts vary in design and function, but basically, they
are a platform that can be lowered into the water. The diver then swims in and stands
on the platform, holding on to grab handles either side as it is raised up to deck level.
It is then a case of just shuffling back to your bench. Some diver lifts are operated
by a crew member stood right next to it, others can be remotely operated by the skipper in
the bridge. Most are designed for a single diver, but I have been on a catamaran off
the South Coast of England that could take a buddy pair at the same time. I cannot say
enough good things about diver lifts – if you have never tried one, wait till you do,
and you will see what I mean.
Creature comforts One major benefit of a hard boat is all of
the creature comforts. Most will be equipped with a marine head, and many have a basic
galley for rustling up coffees and teas, or even snacks. Some UK dive boats have become
famous for their hot chocolates and warm pasties at the end of a dive – it cannot be overstated
just how welcome the sight of a steaming hot cup of tea, coffee or chocolate can be when
you have been in chilly waters for an hour or so. In the tropics, hardboats have a plentiful
supply of freshwater to keep yourself hydrated, and can also knock together teas and coffees.
Snacks can range from the aforementioned pasties and cakes to crisps, nuts and pretzels, and
all will be quickly consumed by hungry divers! And that brings me nicely on to my final piece
of advice, and a surefire way to endear yourself with your skipper and crew. Bring food! Nothing
brings a smile to the face of a hard-working crew quicker than the sight of a bag of chocolates,
or packets of chocolate biscuits. Well, maybe a cold pint when the day is done, but you’ll
have to wait till you get back to the pub for that one.
Depending on where you are in the world, your crew will also appreciate a tip at the end
of the day. It is worth researching beforehand what the going rate is for a daily tip where
you are diving, but I always say, give what you think people deserve – if you feel someone
has gone above and beyond, why not slip them a bit extra to the norm?
So that’s our handy hints that will make your hardboat diving a much more enjoyable
experience. What are some of your tips for diving from a hardboat? Leave your comments
below, and if you have a question, fire away – if we can’t answer, maybe someone in
our community will be able to. Remember, if you enjoyed this video, be sure to subscribe
to our YouTube Channel, and don’t forget you can grab a free digital magazine subscription
in the description below. As always, if you are going diving in the
coming days, enjoy - and stay safe.