Sidemount from a boat?

[Me]

Has anybody, Mike McA maybe?, done sidemount from a boat? We're heading to Tobermory in a couple weeks and were toying with the idea.

How difficult to ditch & don? etc.

Lori

[atedeschi]

i did for the first time last weekend

i just suited up and rolled over, and as for comming up i just climbed the dive ladder and sat down and ungeared.

hope to try it again tommorow if the weather works for us

[Moonfuzzy]

If the boat has a ladder it is not that hard to deal with, if you have the space to gear up. Things get more interesting if you are in a row boat or something like that.

[atedeschi]

i was on a charter boat off NJ

[tj]

I've done a few hundred over the years and had lots of adventures... and mis-adventures... but a recurring problem I had with my sidemount, early one, was that the (older style) bungee would come off the top of the tank valve after the giant stride into the water. I resolved that by putting a clip on the tank valves that double secured it, but the past few years, I just hold them tight under my armpits and that's working fine.

85s work the best because they just fit fine in the tank holders on the boat. I once experimented with my LP120s on a wreck off Miami... too huge for me... :smt102

Regular divemasters will be totally confused with your rig, and you'll get lots of looks, but they will all be impressed after they see you in the water. They will expect you to get back on board with your tanks on, so if you can't, arrange for a plan a head of time. Actually it wouldn't be a bad idea to call ahead anyway...

http://www.scubadiver.cc/pictures/caysal72b.jpg
Me getting on or off a boat in 2004 that had a 10' high ladder to/from the water... That was a climb.. especially with 2 deco bottles on...

http://www.scubadiver.cc/pictures/caysal4b.jpg
Jay Wells on a reef a few years ago... when he was into diving not motorcycles....:yawinkle:

[Line Squirrel]

Has anybody, Mike McA maybe?, done sidemount from a boat? We're heading to Tobermory in a couple weeks and were toying with the idea.

How difficult to ditch & don? etc.

Lori

Hey Lori,

I haven't done it in the big water from a rocking boat, just from my little Jon boat in the rivers so I won't be much help.

If need be, I hang my tanks in the water on ropes and don/dof tanks in the water. Most of the time in the rivers around hear you can get next to shore to stand or kneel while getting into/out of your gear.

[hhansard]

I’ve got over 100 boat-based SM dives – have as yet to find the perfect system. I’ll tell you what I do, and you can go from there:

Canoe / Kayak: get to shore, unload and gear-up from shore. Sometimes it helps to mount a line with loops in it to help get back over the bank of the river. Basically, don/doff at the shore or if water is knee-deep, then in the shallows.

Zodiac: Entering fully geared-up is fine – just back-roll. Put a weighted gear-line in the water with decent bolt-snaps about every 20 inches. Clip you tanks and deco bottles to the line and hall them in later. If you have never boarded a zode over the gunnels in a drysuit in 36 degree water, after 2hrs of deco, then you in for a treat… Zode does make a cheesy rope ladder that attaches to the transom, but you end-up swinging like Tarzan – just pull everything off (including camera and BCD) take a swimming leap up and over the side. You’ll about 50% in, then grab for the are straps sawn into the flooring for you to catch and pull yourself in. Some have recomended hanging the talks in the water and donning them there. I yupically zode over the Empres of Ireland, so surface current makes in-water donning quite a trick.

Large NE Wreck Boat: I usually dump my deco bottles to an equipment line then just clime the Christmas tree later with the SB gear. – same as BM, but a few more stares.

There was a mention of attaching a bolt-snap to the neck of the bottle to avoid stretching the bungees… I used a 2” SS ring, 6” of 1” webbing and large SS bolts snaps. I had my local shoemaker sew the thing… Works great. The final distance from the loop of the ring to the loop of the bolt snap is 4 inches. It’s also nice when you have to detach and go single-file. Having your gas clipped to your harness in a when doing the “marching ants’ thing can be a comfort.

One topic in general. Talk to the Mates and Divemaster early in the trip. No mate that I ever encounter has seen sm gear. They want to help – they are also interested so expect answer lots of questions --- but they typically do get it wrong. To help, I have used an industrial Sharpe and written R and L tanks, regs, harness, etc. That has helped them immensely.

Good Luck,

H

[Major Restriction]

I’ve got over 100 boat-based SM dives – have as yet to find the perfect system. I’ll tell you what I do, and you can go from there:

Canoe / Kayak: get to shore, unload and gear-up from shore. Sometimes it helps to mount a line with loops in it to help get back over the bank of the river. Basically, don/doff at the shore or if water is knee-deep, then in the shallows.

Zodiac: Entering fully geared-up is fine – just back-roll. Put a weighted gear-line in the water with decent bolt-snaps about every 20 inches. Clip you tanks and deco bottles to the line and hall them in later. If you have never boarded a zode over the gunnels in a drysuit in 36 degree water, after 2hrs of deco, then you in for a treat… Zode does make a cheesy rope ladder that attaches to the transom, but you end-up swinging like Tarzan – just pull everything off (including camera and BCD) take a swimming leap up and over the side. You’ll about 50% in, then grab for the are straps sawn into the flooring for you to catch and pull yourself in. Some have recomended hanging the talks in the water and donning them there. I yupically zode over the Empres of Ireland, so surface current makes in-water donning quite a trick.

Large NE Wreck Boat: I usually dump my deco bottles to an equipment line then just clime the Christmas tree later with the SB gear. – same as BM, but a few more stares.

There was a mention of attaching a bolt-snap to the neck of the bottle to avoid stretching the bungees… I used a 2” SS ring, 6” of 1” webbing and large SS bolts snaps. I had my local shoemaker sew the thing… Works great. The final distance from the loop of the ring to the loop of the bolt snap is 4 inches. It’s also nice when you have to detach and go single-file. Having your gas clipped to your harness in a when doing the “marching ants’ thing can be a comfort.

One topic in general. Talk to the Mates and Divemaster early in the trip. No mate that I ever encounter has seen sm gear. They want to help – they are also interested so expect answer lots of questions --- but they typically do get it wrong. To help, I have used an industrial Sharpe and written R and L tanks, regs, harness, etc. That has helped them immensely.

Good Luck,

H

GREAT post.I've been sidemounting in caves a couple of months now but would like to expand that to boat dives in the future. Thanks for taking some of the trial and error out of it.

Philip

[jimdiverman]

Nice thread! I am diving on the Independence II off New Jersey starting Sunday, and I will be diving with my SM rig for the first time off a boat, and many of the things I was wondering about have been discussed here. I will be diving with my Nomad and steel 100s.

Thanks.

[Jay]

Me getting on or off a boat in 2004 that had a 10' high ladder to/from the water... That was a climb.. especially with 2 deco bottles on...



That climb did suck.

[Chunky]

I usually just clip my tanks to a rope off the side of the boat (a small boat) and then get in and gear up in the water. I also attach a snap bolt at the neck so that I can have the tanks loose on me while I route the hoses and not have to worry about losing anything. Then I slip them into the bungies, clip off my stages/deco tanks and off I go.

On larger boats I just giant stride in or use a submerge platform in the rare chances one is available on the boat.

Martin.

[Wizard]

On a cattle boat I just giant stride in to the amazement of people that think the tank MUST be on your back. Getting up a short ladder isn't a biggie. If carrying deco bottles I clip them off to a rope instead of jumping in with 4 cylinders. Drop deco bottles before climbing ladder.

While using a small boat or off a dock I carry a two foot long loop of rope and tie it onto something or loop it around a cleat. Then clip the tanks off to it and get in and tank up. Reverse procedure to exit water. It much easier than climbing out geared up.

[JDostal]

Did a week in Coz, sidemount only.

I geared up in the boat - got everything on but the tansk & fins, let the other get their tanks on. Then I'd quick snap my tanks into place and back roll off the boat.

Climbing in was easy - I'd undo the chest strap around the tank neck on each tank so they were hanging from my butt plate. That way I could quick unclip when I got to the boat and hand 'em up.