Anchor your dive boat

Many dive sites in popular diving areas have mooring balls available for use by dive boats. These mooring balls provide quick and easy access to dive sites and prevent anchor damage to sometimes sensitive habitats like coral reefs. However, they require maintenance and are expensive to install, so not all areas that divers go to will have mooring systems available. There are several other ways to secure a dive boat over a site depending on the type of dive site, weather conditions, and the type of dive. Traditional anchoring, mooring, and live sailing are the three different types of ways dive boats stay on station while divers are below.

Many new boaters greatly underestimate the importance of the correct amount of good 5/16″ chain between the line and the anchor and the proper amount of line in the anchor locker. The general rule of thumb is that there should be 1′ of chain for every foot of the boat’s length overall (LOA) The chain essentially keeps the anchor more inclined to drag along the sea floor rather than being lifted at an angle, dramatically increasing holding power and decreasing the reach needed to hold without Nylon line has a certain amount of stretch that can act as a kind of shock absorber from wave action in rough seas. “Carolina Anchor Point” which starts at the stern of the dive boat descends to at least 10′ and then moves towards the anchor line, fishing deeper and deeper until it joins the around 20′. immediately upon entering the water and provides a line to propel yourself forward should the surface current prove too challenging or demanding. It also allows divers to spread out as they surface and decompress or complete safety stops. One last trouble saving system is the “anchor ball” recovery system. Essentially, a large diameter buoy is attached to a steel ring that is placed around the anchor line. When it comes time to retrieve the anchor, the boat simply pulls forward 30* or so relative to the anchor and the steel ring pulls the anchor vertically towards the surface as the line passes through it, until the anchor is on the surface and their flukes are outside the ring. Now a crew member can simply pull the floating anchor instead of pulling it out of the bottom. This is a great system if the dive boat doesn’t have a windlass to do the heavy lifting. The only downside to this retrieval system is that it should not be used if the site is a wreck or high relief reef, as the lifting anchor could snag.

Dive boats may want to be anchored so that the boat is directly over the site or the anchor is very close to the site. Anchoring over the site requires a vessel to approach from the direction of the wind/current (generally the same direction in the Gulf of Mexico). When the boat has arrived at the site, the Captain should mark the site with a jar or orient himself via the GPS Chartplotter and then proceed 100′ to 150′ into the wind/current and drop anchor once the engines are off. gear and forward momentum has been stopped. As the ship moves backwards, the buoy line must be slowly released and some tension applied to prevent the anchor “rigging” from wrapping around itself. Once the anchor has set, more line can be released to get closer to the buoy as needed. Divers can now simply jump off the back of the boat and drop down through the line of buoys. This method is ideal for large sites that lack updating. The biggest drawback to this style is that divers will lack a strong line to hold on to while making a safety stop and will have to use buoyancy control skills while using the line for visual reference only.

Dropping anchor close to the site allows divers to use the anchor line as a strong descent line to the site and back to the dive boat. Adding Carolina gear is ideal for combating surface current fatigue and reducing diver anxiety by placing divers below the wave action and keeping them away from the bow of the dive boat which may be rocking dangerously (for a surface diver) in significant wave action. To deploy the anchor close to the site, it is easiest to move the motor upwind/current until the desired site is clearly displayed on the lower machine and then remove the gear from the boat. As the current pushes the ship backwards, away from the site, the anchor must be dropped soon after the site is no longer displayed on the lower machine. Now, as the divers descend to the site, it will appear in front of them, and if it is not immediately at anchor, it will be a short swim in the same direction forward. This anchoring system is preferred if you must anchor in difficult conditions or strong currents, as divers may not find the anchor before they have to ascend. They should surface in front of the boat and the current will simply carry them to the rear of the boat. The downside to anchoring with either system is that conditions can change, such as currents or wind, changing direction and thus moving the anchor line and boat relative to the site. Worse yet, sometimes anchors simply drag due to loose sediment or insufficient sediment and the diver may return to where the anchor was only to see a drag line in the sand!

The solution to anchor dragging is a “connection” system where the site becomes the anchor. To “moor” a dive boat requires an experienced diver, 10-15′ of chain, and an anchor line at least twice the depth of the site with a buoy at the end opposite the chain. The boat is brought into position over the wreck (again into the wind/current) or artificial reef where the chain can be wrapped around a strong point and tied into a binding knot. The diver goes down, finds the correct mooring point and secures the line to the site. At this point, a tug system can be used to tell the auxiliary line that the knot is tied or that the entire line has already been jettisoned from the dive boat while remaining at a safe distance awaiting the diver’s return to the surface nearby. of the buoy While this system requires an experienced diver who may have to spend some dive time working (someone will also have to untie) it is the surest way to provide an absolute line to the wreck that will not creep. In strong currents, a Carolina kit can also be applied to this system. Less range is needed for this method of staying over a dive site and multiple boats can be linked to the same wreck at the same time as long as they have properly communicated with each other, whereas you cannot drop anchor at a dive site if divers already they are in the water. This is the method North Gulf dive charters use on popular wrecks to maximize safety and share the sites with others.

A final method of putting divers on a site is not to anchor at all, but rather “live ship”. Live navigation is preferred for large sites, drift dives and coral reefs without mooring systems. Essentially, the boat simply stops over the site or upstream of the site and the divers enter with negative buoyancy and descend in a rapid but controlled manner. A marker buoy can be used as a visual aid for the boat and divers as long as the site is not in danger of being damaged by its heavy weight. Divers may tow a surface flag or carry inflatable surface marker buoys and audible signals such as a storm whistle or dive alert. Divers are free to swim where they want under this anchorless system, without having to follow the load of a line. Live navigation is preferred where divers will need to cover a large amount of ground or may have limited bottom time. Diving operations off the SE coast of Florida commonly employ this method due to the high current there. Divers will need to be more proficient in this method and carry more equipment, but they will enjoy more freedom during the dive. The dive boat will need to carefully follow the bubbles and watch carefully for emerging divers.

In short, there are numerous ways to get divers from a dive boat to a site and back. Conditions, the nature of the dive site and the skill of the divers will ultimately dictate how the vessel is maintained on station.

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