Scuba, Hookah, Brownie Alternatives?

[teneicm]

These pony bottles are great for quick trips under the boat. Probably enough air to free a prop but not enough to scrub the hull. They come with a system that allows you fill them off of a standard scuba tank- which is nice if you already have a filled tank nearby, but could pose problems if you don't.

Submersible Systems - Spare Air Models

[Seeratlas]

Carl, did you build a hookah using the Thomas? if so which one?

seer

[DWT]

Greg B,

A simple and safe way is to leave a dive tank in you boat with the 1st. stage, a 50' or longer hose used for a hooka rig, a 2nd. stage stapped to your back used with a hooka rig. I got one and it works fine for 30 to 35 feet and to clean the boat bottom. These part to make all this up are found at my local dive shop.

David
69 Morgan 30'
CarolAnn

[Cowboy Sailer]

We are to learn from the experiences of others, right? That is why we are literate, so that we don’t have to make all the mistakes in the world ourselves, but can indeed, read about other people’s fool mistakes. In that spirit I relate the following story. Not even the names have been changed to protect the innocent! My big brother’s name is Austin Reid and he is now 72 years old and he wasn’t innocent, but I digress. This happened 57 years ago but I haven’t forgotten.
As a boy I was very interested in stories of divers who worked underwater. They harvested sponges, they found Spanish treasure, they rescued trapped submariners and they battled giant sea creatures. My older brother agreed to help me construct and test my underwater breathing machine. He was always interesting in experiments, particularly experiments in which his little brother was the test subject.
We cut the bottom out of a two gallon gas can with a wood chisel and smoothed the raw edges a little bit with a flat file. The can had been used to hold gasoline and what my South African friends call paraffin but we called kerosene and my mother called “coal oil”. It had a spout on the top that a garden hose could be attached to, well kind of securely. I knew that we had to provide weights to overcome the buoyancy of the air filled “diving helmet”. We punched holes around the bottom circumference of the former gas can and used bailing wire to tie on various pieces of heavy iron farming equipment that we found here and there around the place. We hung them down at random distances.
In those days everybody had bicycle pumps. We wrapped lots of tape around the bicycle pump hose and used more bailing wire as hose clamps until we had a good air tight seal (more or less) at each hose joint. Austin was to pump and I was to walk across the river. I could only look down as we had installed no window in the side of the gas can.
It turned that the leather in the bicycle pump was dry and we had a lot of leakage. This meant that Austin had to work way too hard to supply his little brother sufficient air to breathe. Well every farm boy knows that you can oil up the leather with oil off of the dipstick on daddy’s tractor. We used plenty because he didn’t want to pump that hard.
When you can only see down it is very hard to walk in a straight line. Apparently I wandered in circles on the bottom of the river. Austin got tired of pumping and just quit. The water in my helmet rose alarmingly and I had a terrible time getting unstrapped from my underwater diver’s helmet and escaping to the service.
At eleven years old I learned that you can get really, really drunk from breathing air mixed with oil and gasoline fumes! It is a good thing that God sees after idiots and little boys! One of these days I am going to get back at my brother.

[GordMay]

HOOKAH (surface supply) diving systems produce compressed air on the surface, and pump it down to the divers; whereas with SCUBA tanks, the air is compressed on the surface while the tank is being filled.
Regardless of where or when the air is compressed, it is still compressed air and it is still being breathed at depth. Accordingly, the same risks and gas laws that apply to SCUBA diving, also apply to HOOKAH diving.
Only qualified divers, that follow decompression tables and understand the risks involved, should be doing any kind of diving.
If you are not certified, or are unclear about some aspects of diving, please contact your local dive shop, and sign up for an open water SCUBA class or a refresher course.

[wmclibby]

The mantra about necessary scuba and Hookah diving training follows common sense advice especially if there is liability and non-adults involved. Cleaning your hull with 50’ of hose and limiting your depth to draft is an acceptable risk I take. Several of my cruising friends do the same and we share equipment. My local dive shop and I get along fine but getting qualified by them so I clean my hull is out of the question. I will say that if I intended to do any SCUBA I would pay my bucks for the training and dive card for tank fills, however I have no interest in that.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by wmclibby

... Cleaning your hull with 50’ of hose and limiting your depth to draft is an acceptable risk I take...

What's an acceptably limited depth (to you)?

[wmclibby]

In my case the draft is 4.6' therefore hull cleaning is less than less than 10 foot. Normal prop cleaning and hull checks are accomplished with mask/snorkle. Being in the water is no problem however am more concerned about stray current therefore Galvanic Isolator is installed and try not to clean at visiting docks.

[Dane]

Does anyone know this Hookah make?

H5F2

Much cheaper than the big brands...

[SilentOption]

Never heard of it but it looks like nothing more than an oil free paint compressor to supply the diver. The electric version of this is a very popular arrangement for hull cleaning. Someone just added a gas motor and an inner tube.

The DEMA Diving Equipment Manufacturers Association show is going on right now in Las Vegas.

If you have specific questions to ask I can get the answers right from the horses mouth, so to speak.


Ok They aren't on the exhibitors list for DEMA. Maybe there's one in someones booth. We are exhibiting there. I'll have someone look for the Octopump.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Dane

Does anyone know this Hookah make?

H5F2

Much cheaper than the big brands...

The pictures just make me think it is a little too top heavy and easily inverted.

[Dane]

SilentOption,

It is a complete 2 person hookah, if one reads the text. It's a small 3 person operation with low operating cost (phoned the company). I don't necessarily think you will see them on the show.

Therapy,

I had the exact same reaction.. the frame can be strapped to a larger tube though.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Dane

SilentOption,


Therapy,

I had the exact same reaction.. the frame can be strapped to a larger tube though.

Something I think they will do after a little testing or the first "blub blub blub".

[windshadow]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Chuck,
I am a hull cleaner and use a hookah system every day. Drop me a line if you still have any questions about the gear, safety considerations etc.

Matt Peterson- FastBottoms Hull Diving
matt@fastbottoms.com

what do you think about the unit for 695.00 from discount divers?

[anjou]

Im dismayed and astounded that some people regard their lives so cheaply.Thank god here in the EU, we have laws and attitudes to make life safer.Sometimes, some people need protecting from themselves, for their own good.