Breathing Under Water to Clean Hull

[Dave100456]

Any forumites made a breathing apparatus for use down to 2 metres to enable hull cleaning?
Looking to either buy then adapt the stage1/2 regulator and pressure hose so I can leave the air cylinder on deck or have children work a home-made bellows system. Any thoughts? Happy to receive suggestions from all, but reassuring to know only those who've tried it and were successful will reply!

 

[wooslehunter]

[ QUOTE ]
or have children work a home-made bellows system. Any thoughts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, you're crazy or perhaps a troll.

And why anyway? Under water, the cylinder weighs very little. If you've ever dived, you'd know this. If you haven't then you should train first. Scraping the bottom of a boat is not as simple as it sounds.

A diving second stage needs around 8-10 bar to work properly. That's around 150psi. Kid operated bellows won't work.

Anyone operating surface demand will always have a bail out bottle in case the surface supply has a problem. If you're caught up 6cm under water or 60m without supply, you're just as dead.

So, dry out somewhere, get someone else to dive it or learn to dive properly first, then do it using the proper gear.

 

[sailorman]

Real men can breath through their ears /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[savageseadog]

I have dive experience and it can be more dangerous than you can imagine. It is possible to dive with all sorts of lash ups and DIY gear but it's only for the totally experienced, confident diver.

 

[Anonymous]

You're looking for a hookah system. Popular in the USA and many other parts of the world but are hisssssssssssssss! from the Brits. I bought one last year and it has been great. Several firms sell them...I bought mine direct from the States from http://www.airlinebyjsink.com/ though the GBP/USD was in my favour then! There are real safety issues and you ought to read the BSAC manual to understand what's what but at 2m it isn't rocket science as long as you do take it seriously. I would def. not consider two people sharing on a hookah...too easy to get tangled. I stay under for up to an hour at a time, changing anodes, cleaning, etc. Also good for checking the anchor.

I think you need to be a good swimmer, and why not take a couple of lessons anyway? But ignore the folks who tell you that hookahs are bad per se; most of the world uses, them including many pros. It's just a Brit aversion.

 

[Dave100456]

Where's your sense of adventure and invention?
For information; I have cleaned the hulls of my boat for many seasons with only mask and snorkel but feel I'd like to stay underwater for longer.
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"If you're caught up 6cm under water or 60m without supply, you're just as dead."
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Do you snorkel with a "bail out bottle"? At 2 metres, if my invention fails I'd surface.

Thanks for your input I think I'll ignore it and continue to trawl (or should that be troll) for more constructive suggestions!

 

[Dave100456]

Thanks for the info - can't wait to tell my wife I'm considering a Hookah!
I saw these used on holiday in Antigua and wondered what they were called.
For info -my dad, when alive was a search diver for UK police and instructed me but I felt it was too slow a hobby.
I'm pleased your system works for you and sure I'll find what's right (and safe) for me. Its a pity some people prejudge and try to impose their narrow understanding/horizons on others.

 

[dt4134]

Is it really that expensive to get an experienced diver to do it for you? I could check with the owners of some of the boats I've raced on, but I think they tend to pay something like £50 or £60 to have the hull cleaned before a regatta.

 

[misterg]

[ QUOTE ]
I have dive experience and it can be more dangerous than you can imagine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why?

If only going down 2m (which I do in the swimming pool without dying), and recognising the need to breathe out as you surface.

If it's OK for 'Experienced' divers, what is it that the 'Inexperienced' fall foul of?

The possibility of getting caught-up is a red-herring, as this is a risk you'd run whether free diving, snokelling, or diving with scuba.

Genuine question.

Andy

 

[fishermantwo]

Hookahs are widely used by professional scallop divers here. Versions for amateur use as you describe are freely available and from reports from friends are excellent, I have not tried one myself. Plenty of web sites dedicated to Hookahs and kits and plans are available. Check carefully on compressors as this is the air you breath. Years ago I was talking to one of the original scallop divers in Australia. He was telling me about his original home made compressor which was lubricated with peanut oil, can't stand peanuts now!

 

[Dave100456]

Not a cash thing. I wash my own car and like to maintain my boat. Also believe it's handy to have underwater capability during extended cruising. At present this is limited to mask & snorkel, hence the original post.

 

[Pete7]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you snorkel with a "bail out bottle"? At 2 metres, if my invention fails I'd surface.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hopefully breathing out on the way up regardless of what the problem is. Lungs can and do burst even from shallow depths, not a problem for a snorkeller but can be for anyone breathing air under water which would need to be under pressure. Using excessively long tubes to the surface without pressure can also cause problems.

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for your input I think I'll ignore it and continue to trawl (or should that be troll) for more constructive suggestions!

[/ QUOTE ]
Lemain lives in sunny climes without tides, David are you UK based? An hour in the water will probably need a wetsuit and therefore lead weights and as already suggested by Wooslehunter and I fully agree with, some training and the right kit.

As a diver I sometimes clean our hull in water (but prefer the YC scrubbing grid). One advantage with proper diving kit is the ability to adjust your bouyancy so you can inflate the wing or stab jacket and pin yourself the the underside of the hull and therefore scrub away. As you have probably experienced whilst snorkelling if you push against the hull you move away. The solution is a small cylinder say 5 - 7 litres, stab jacket and thin wetsuit will be cheap enough second hand and far superior to a garden hose and the Mrs standing on a dinghy foot pump.

Pete

 

[SAWDOC]

The great French sailor Bernard Moitessier in his book "Sailing to the Reefs" described with drawings how he hooked up a home made device for working underwater at shallow depths. As far as I recall, it took two to operate - one working below and one on deck keeping the supply of air going.

 

[Dave100456]

Pete
Thanks for suggestions. I do have wetsuit but don't use it due to extra bouyancy. Have spent up to an hour cleaning boat in warm shallow South coast waters (I'm used to N Sea swimming races).
The draft of my cat including stub keels is only 1.1metres so I was allowing extra at the 2metre depth I quoted. The narrow & shallow underwater profile of cat hulls means I can use one hand to keep myself in position during scouring. I just get sick of having to surface frequently.

 

[Anonymous]

I wear a partial wet suit, always, and a good-sized weight belt to be just negatively buoyant.

Cylinders would be impossible for me. I live on my boat and I have no car. How would I fill the cylinders? People say that you can fill them almost everywhere but that is based on the false assumption that you have a car. If you have to take taxis both ways the economics fail. Furthermore, the cylinder takes up far more space than my hookah compressor and is a serious risk (high pressure). As an inexperienced diver doing hard work (chipping barnacles, scrubbing, changing anodes) I use loads of air....a small cylinder wouldn't last me five minutes.

Yes, I could pay a professional diver. I could also pay for a professional maid and cook/housekeeper. I, like so many others who can't scrub between tides, find that a hookah is the best solution.

A hookah is really a tool, not a piece of sports equipment. I'd soon get bored 'tethered' to 50' of airline though it is enjoyable enough in clear water, at times.

To compare a professionally made hookah to "..a garden hose and the Mrs standing on a dinghy foot pump" suggests that you have no understanding of modern hookah equipment. The benefit of cylinders is freedom. The benefit of a hookah is long duration and independence from shore based compressors. Few yachties have the space, finance or skills to fill their own cylinders on board....that is a different ball park.

 

[damo]

You've got a catamaran! Problem solved then - dry out somewhere /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Pete7]

Lemain, yes I know you live on board and understand the practical problems of charging cylinders along with different countries testing standards. I took a guess that David was UK based which is somewhat different. A fill in this counry is £3 for air.

I do plan to keep a small cylinder on board as a just in case rather than the main kit but will wait until the Winter with lower prices.

Pete

 

[jonjo]

[ QUOTE ]
I think they tend to pay something like £50 or £60 to have the hull cleaned before a regatta.

[/ QUOTE ]
Not in the UK where health and safety regs require a full pro diving team to be present even to scrub a 30' yacht hull. I got my hull scrubbed by a solo pro diver in the UK for £90, he got around the H&S regs by free diving.

 

[Dave100456]

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You've got a catamaran! Problem solved then - dry out somewhere


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Have you not experienced how easy fouling is removed underwater ie when wet, compared to when it dries out?

With the correct flow of tide the weed is also carried away exposing areas to be cleaned. On land, it would be like washing the hull but with someone using a hose at the same time only you'd get splashed!! And you can't get splashed if you're underwater!

 

[Robin]

[ QUOTE ]
Not in the UK where health and safety regs require a full pro diving team to be present even to scrub a 30' yacht hull. I got my hull scrubbed by a solo pro diver in the UK for £90, he got around the H&S regs by free diving.

[/ QUOTE ]

We have a pro diver do our 41ft boat for £35 and he usually does several in a visit to our club - all on his own. Are you being fed bullshit?