Diving requirements to insect and possibly clean hull and prop

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pcatterall

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Fouling of props and hull is quite an issue here in Cagliari. I guess that generally fouling is more of a problem in the warmer Med waters?

One advantage here is that water is a tad warmer so that even a softy like me may be tempted to have a go at this underwater malarky.
So starting from scratch can you help point me in the right direction regarding gear and training. This is just so we can inspect the under water bits but also to do some cleaning of weed and ( where we are, mussells).

It may be worth mentioning that in terms of clothing we have boat partners and it would be nice to cater for diferent sizes ( would a dry suit be an advantage here!!)
I guess some issues may be just snorkle gear or some sort of cylinders when I guess training becomes important.
Some general pointers will be appreciated.
　
 
You don't need scuba gear. Work from the surface in snorkel gear. Use an 8 inch scraper mounted on a pole, mine is 8 ft long. It is 82f sea temp where I am so shorts are fine but some of the guys do use thin wet suits. Try and find somewhere the water is clear and the current zero. I anchor off a billionaires island [Calivigny] to do mine.

I can do my 44 ft mono in about an hour even if it is badly fouled. A smaller stiffer scraper would be better for the prop but the big one works.

Once you are finished you need to shower right away paying careful attention to all your important little places as all sorts of marine life will have taken up residence on your person.
 
For diving under the boat an entry level diving qualification is all you need (and that's from a simple, practical need to show you what to do, rather than any legal requirement). There's a PADI dive centre in Cagliari, Ocean Blue which can provide training. The PADI qualification I'd suggest is their Scuba Diver course, which requires two pool sessions and two open water dives. It doesn't aim to do much more than deliver the basics and if you wanted to do more diving, then you'd need to do some more training and take the Open Water course. However, that basic course would teach you how to assemble the kit and use it safely.
As to kit, you'd need mask, snorkel, fins and possibly a shorty wet suit (covers the body but no sleeves or legs) in 3mm thickness. Scuba gear required would be a regulator complete with pressure gauge and depth gauge, cylinder (10 litre) and a buoyancy control device (or BCD). The BCD will fit a fairly large range of body sizes if you buy the right kit but the wet suit tends to be a bit more individual.
 
You should be warned that this underwater malarkey can become addictive. I have no doubt that others will have different views but I am a supporter of the British Sub Aqua Club training scheme. I've been a member of BSAC for more than 25 years.

Under water is a hostile environment so it's wise to stack the cards in your favour. That means following a structured training scheme, developing skills and experience progressively, using good quality kit, regularly serviced and maintained.

It is not rocket science but there are a few things to learn. Depth, pressure and volume can harm you. It's quite straightforward to avoid barotrauma (of the eyes, ears, lungs) and this is covered by understanding a bit of theory, classroom stuff. Everyone has heard of "the bends" and a bit more learning will easily demystify its causes and how to avoid it.

I've been lucky enough to have dived in many locations but my preference is cold water / dry suit diving. I'm a wimp and, for example, don't like donning a cold, wet, salty, sandy wet suit two to three times per day during a holiday week of diving. A dry suit should be a snug fit and have neck and wrist seals to suit the owner. It's unlikely that one dry suit can be used by different sized people.

I inspect my hull, keel and prop and attack them with a yard brush at least once per season. It is surprisingly hard work (often measured by consumption of air).

Diving compliments sailing perfectly. I don't have a view on "learning to dive to only inspect the under water bits" Learn to do it properly and a whole new world awaits. Join the privileged few who have enjoyed the absolute pleasure of witnessing underwater flora and fauna in their natural habitat.
 
I have always cleaned my own boat in waters perhaps similar to what you describe. I have SCUBA gear but don't bother using that I just use mask and snorkel.
Assuming you can swim confidently the first thing to do is become familiar with mask and snorkel. This is perhaps best done in water where you can stand on the bottom. It just takes a bit of practice and confidence especially to be able to dive down with snorkel under water holding your breath then blow water out on resurface so you can continue breathing through the snorkel. You will find that swimming on the surface is far easier with a snorkel than without. You may like to use swim fins but I don't.
Once you are comfortable with the mask and snorkel, approach the boat. You can start by wiping the water line. I am fortunate in my little boat that i can reach up and hang off the gunwhale. With a bigger boat a rope from bow to stern each side hanging a bit above the water will give you something to hang onto when resting and when scrubbing the bottom near the water line. Gloves can help if there are barnacles as they cut fingers so easily.
Gloves also mean that you can dive under and grab prop or rudder to hold yourself down so you don't expend energy swimming to stay down.
Actually diving down is like a duck dive . Push you head down and feet up into the air so you are propelled down. I tend to use breast stroke to get deeper but if you use fins then just fin patter kick will do. Scrubbing can be hard work so you will have to surface after a short bit of work. The bottom of the keel is a bit of a challenge. If you wear a wet suit you will need lead weight belt to counteract buoyancy so you can get down easily. With practice and fitness you can stay down longer. The trick is to not try to do too much but rather do a bit each day. Hence if it is not too cold much easier without wet suit.
I like to race my little boat so need a very clean hull. Thus after 6 weeks from new a/f it has slime which I wipe off. from there I wipe over as gently as possible but after 3 months the a/f is getting this and scrubbing is more necessary. Indeed by the end of the season I have mostly scrubbed off the a.f I end up using wet and dry sand paper so on haul out she is ready for repaint. By not trying to do too much under water at any one time I can enjoy the exercise and maybe keep a little bit fitter than other wise. good luck and enjoy olewill
 
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We clean our hull using scuba gear for the keel and deeper bits, snorkel and mast from the bits easily reached from the surface. Our 44 yacht is 2.2m draft. Believe me it is very hard to do the keel and even the lower hull sections without scuba gear. if you are shallow draft it may be possible. We found that a suction handle a great benifit when cleaning as you have something to hold on to, otherwise you tend to push yourself away as you clean which means you have to kick hard to stay at the hull.
we dont use a scraper as we never let the hull get that bad! regularly cleaning of our coppercoat with a scotch pad keeps it prestine. A 12 litre diving tank will last for two cleans if we are both cleaning the hull. We tend to clean the hull an everage of about every 6 weeks depending onwhere we are and how much we are moving. The boat id in the Caribbean.
 
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