Art, 

As you know the ladder on the R/V Wahoo was designed to take the load. It
is a custom built stainless steel ladder that attaches to the swim
platforms (more like a loading dock) on pivot brackets. It is a large
U-shape almost 8 feet in length top to bottom, with hand rails that come
out wide and high. Down the center is a very strong t-ladder for fins-on
climbing. The ladder bottom is 6.5 feet into the water. All one does is
swim up to it take hold of the hand rails and slide feet in.  It will
accommodate a diver with full gear and stages. Four steps up and you are at
the transom where the diver turns around and the crew strips your gear off.
 Very little stress at all. No finger pinching, over reaching, etc. The
pivot on the ladder lets 2 feet of hand rail be above the swim platform so
as the boat rocks in the water you are suspended.  I'm a big guy and I have
climbed up the ladder with full gear, two bottles no problem. Nothing like
landing on the Wahoo ladder. Best ladder in the world. 

As to gear lines on the boat. Divers are always welcome to put lines over
the sides of the boat as long as they do not interfere with the anchor
line. Make sure you ask where the line can be put BEFORE you place it --
this is VERY important. 

One line (Ricky's) is usually trailing from the stern port side which many
people use (the blue one). The only rule for gear lines is that once you
get back on the boat pick up your stuff -- don't leave it dangling out
there.  If you need help, ask the crew, they will be happy to help. If you
are unsure how to rig a gear line ask -- Make sure the line will not foul
in any of the boat rigging. 

Making a line --- Go to the marine supply store -- buy 20-30 feet of 5/8ths
dock line -- they come in packages for about 10 bucks --- the line has the
loop on one end the other clean.  Splice in an nice big brass or stainless
ring (2-4 inches). This will allow you to clip off the bottles --- Be
careful in rough seas that your stage clips are strong enough to survive a
bounce --- I have two rings on my line so i can clip both the top and
bottom stage clips to it.  I also have another line for the scooter. 

Most people will let you use their line if you don't have one --- but just
make sure you clear that line within moments of getting back on board.
Nothing worse then showing up to your line to find some goober left his
tanks on it. 

BTW -- if you leave artifacts,tanks, scooters, lobsters or scallop bags, on
my gear line they immediately transfer to my ownership, unless its real
crap. :-) 

Coordination.. If you will be doing a long deco and want to get rid of your
intermediate bottle --- You can make an arrangement with someone topside to
check your line at XXX time -- clip it off they will pull it up, that gets
it off you and out of the water. 

Each boat has their own procedures ... check before setting any lines off a
boat. 

Regards, 

Joel Silverstein
http://www.nitroxdiver.com

At 10:47 AM 10/25/1999 -0400, Art Greenberg wrote:
>On Mon, 25 Oct 1999, Dave Sutton wrote:
>
>> >Only meant the line as a means of shedding stages.
>> 
>> That works. How does it work when 8 guys are hanging
>> off at the same stop? And who do you rely on to set your
>> line? Those dreaded "Boat Monkeys"?? ;-)
>> 
>> If you set your own gear line, and 5 other guys do too,
>> how many lines are hanging off?
>
>I'm still pretty new at this, and using boats that cater to "recreational"
>divers as our objectives are not very deep, so most of the time it's just
>me and my teammate doing dives requiring stages. The few times there has
>been more than one such team, we have usually worked out a way to share
>one equipment line. Typically that involves staggering the dives or having
>one team deco on the anchor line while the other uses the equipment line.
>There have been times I've seen 2 or 3 lines on a 40-ish foot or larger
>boat. Its not awful.
>
>On the boats we use, the mates are happy to help set the line and haul it
>in. They also don't mind if we do it.
>
>-- 
>Art Greenberg
>artg@ec*.ne*
>
>--
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