Hawaii Skin Diver The Breath of Freedivers

yea I meant I was down for a dive but not on your boat.

I was going to say, the boat isn't even registered or at least it doesn’t have the required numbering. . .

DON’T”S GO OUT TOMRROW!

Lots to think about first. . . Stay tuned. . .

I really like the "one is none, two is one" saying. Sooooo true

Alec, give it a little time bro. Make sure you have everything, make it's all in working order, AND make sure you know how to use everything. The boat, water, and fish will be there. Like others have said, you don't want a trail by fire. Fins and a few others have shown an intrest in making sure you your safe and things go smooth when you take it out (smn). Trust me, it's not fun swimming up current to a boat nor is it fun to be suck out there in a broken down boat.
But if you do go out on your own, just be careful not to push yourself or the boat.

Don't forget to have a bilge pump (or bucket) and an engine flush (for after).

All the proper paper work was done today it is all registered and I have the have the stickers for boat and trailer I went out today with the skipper of the trilogy and am also going out with him again tomorrow morning(sorry jahroots guess im not spearfishing tomorrow :/ but saturday I will be going) yes I got paddles

thank you fins for your patience and contribution. We don't own any water craft, i hear it said the second happiest day in your life is the day you buy the boat and the first happiest day in your life is the day you sell the boat. Good luck chewymilk, stay safe, the current is crazy out there

thanks waji for the contribution maybe ill be lucky enough to dive with you one day!

ahhh ok but saturday is a no go for me.

I dont exactly understand why I need 2/3rd more line then what the depth is is it just for the current thing? or would it be a bad idea to use it in 35-45 feet of water?

Anchor pulling at an upward angle won't hold the bottom. As mentioned before 3 to one is good, but 5 to one is even better. When you do get a chance to take it out, cut the engine and try those paddles. That will give you an idea of how much work it takes to move it by paddles alone. Try do this in even 10 kts of wind and you'll see how quickly you could get in trouble. Make sure you got some means of communication when you're out there, depending on how far out you take it. Cell phone in a dry bag, handheld VHF, or both.

Happy to hear you went out with an experienced captain. Learn all you can! Did you go out with him on your boat or on one of his?

Slow down a bit and check lots of things first. This could be the start of something really fun if you do lots of due diligence and make sure things are right prior to jumping in. I’m very happy for you and I don’t mean to be discouraging in any way by listing all these things below. Just trying to point out that there is lots of thinking that needs to be done so you can have great, safe fun out there on the water.

DISCLAIMER: this in not intended to be an all inclusive, exhaustive list of everything you need to think about or do to be absolutely safe. I am not an expert and am only offering this as possible information that may or may not help.

When was the impeller replaced, is the motor “peeing” really well or is it down to a slower stream like us older men?

Old spark plugs?

How’s the gear oil look and if it looks OK, is it topped off?

How does the pull rope look, do you have a back-up plan for starting the motor if the pull rope breaks?

Does the “dead man” switch work, do you have an extra clip for it if it breaks or gets lost somehow? (keep one in your dry box)

The motor looks like a power trim or at least an assist so do you know how to manually lower the engine if the hydraulics get stuck in the up position? Do you have the tool necessary to lower the unit manually? A basic tool kit is a really good idea to have on any boat (put some various sizes of zip-ties in there). How’s the Hydraulic fluid level? If it’s low, they are typically designed to get stuck in the up position so you are able to access the screw that allows you to lower the motor.

How tight is the “auto pilot” set? If you let go of the tiller arm will it go in the direction you want it to go or will it just flop around with the chop.

Got a grease gun? Lube up all dem nipples! (Trailer bearings too, it’s a lot easier than changing them out.)

Check the cotter pin on the propeller. Replace if it’s buss up.

How’s the transom? Make sure it’s really solid and don’t pound that thing through heavy chop. Some models of 14-foot zodiacs are not rated for over 30 hp. You should check the model # so you know the max HP rating. Always make darn sure you are wearing the “dead man” kill switch and that it works, especially if you are ever piloting that thing alone. Mark my words, that thing can fly with 40 hp.

Start with fresh gas and fresh fuel lines. I wouldn’t trust the gas that’s in the tank or the old fuel lines.

Have a good solid dry box for the registration, cell phones etc. Make sure it is secured to the boat.

For your anchor, many people would consider even a 3:1 ratio of rode to depth insufficient. I’m sorry to say it but I don’t think 4 feet of chain is enough either. If you are anchoring in sand or mud, there should be enough anchor line to allow most of the chain to remain parallel with the topography of the bottom if not almost completely laying on the bottom. If it’s not, as the boat bobs up and down with the swell the anchor can’t keep itself set down into the sand. The typical (Danforth) Anchor is designed to dig in when the pull on it is roughly parallel to the sea floor. If you set it on rock, put it in a crack or something and make sure only the chain will be touching the rock not the rode. Anchor line can chafe through really quickly on coral or rock.

When you do anchor, the first thing you should when you hop in the water is check, then double check that it is really securely set. Dive a little then check it again in 10 minutes before you really start to dive.

Like fins mentioned it’s really important to know as much about your boat as possible before its maiden voyage. Prolly a really good idea to take that first voyage on a day with onshore winds. That way, if anything does mess up you’ll just be blown back to shore instead of heading to Tahiti. Even of you are only ¼ mile away from shore and the winds are blowing even moderately offshore your paddles will not do you any good. At that point you will have to just start praying that there is cell phone reception or that your flares are not wet and somebody sees them if they do fire (I’m assuming you don’t have a marine radio). . .

Tell people you want a small back-up motor and an EPIRB for Christmas.

Redundant systems are so important on boats i.e. “one is none, two is one”.

I’m sure you know a lot of this already. Writing this all down was actually a really good exercise for me to remind myself of all the things I need to do too.

Thanks for the topic!

went out this morning for like 2 hours was so much fun no diving but learned alot about it now I gota learn how to put it in and take it out of the water myself.... It is electric start so if that goes out then I got the string thing to pull and Im not sure where you put the motor down if electric stops working Should probably figure that out and what is the best way to attach the "Dead man switch" to my arm Im going to assume a body board leash would work max rating on this boat is 50 hp but 40hp was plenty today got it up on a plane and went flying got from the harbor to big beach super fast and the fish finder works I stopped the boat and said fish was under me and saw choke it was pretty awesome

Take a coast guard class to increase your knowledge in addition to all the advice here.

X2 great idea biologist. I know an old timer who took the coast guard class 3 times because he liked it so much.

went out today again with me and 3 friends early morning one of them had knowlage of boats since he owns a radon 24ft anyway we dove at 4 different spots and got like 10 fish and couple tako was so much fun stayed close to shore most of the time and I cant wait till the next time I go out on the boat ( also I found out what it means to flood the engine good thing I was still at the boat launch and my father explain how I did that)

Chewy

I can't tell you how great it is to see somebody your age asking for help. It is so easy to expect all young folks to be over confident and not have any respect for lessons learned by folks that are older.

Keep enjoying the boat and keep your good spirit. You seem to live pono and ought to be around for a long time. To be sure of that do take that coast guard class- it is a great piece of advice. Have lost too many friends already to impatiance and ignorance.