New and almost ready...

[riplipper]

Just pulled the trigger on two tanks, gun, stringer, dive flag and mesh bag...Man oh man am I fired up :thumps: ....however the wife is not quite so excited :eek: :mad: ......now just need to rig my boat for tanks...Its a 22WA with swim platform and ladder ...will need to take fins off to come up ladder however....
I fish up to 40 miles out with really good weather and out to 20 with 2-3's..So my days are limited by seas but the boat should be a reasonable good dive platform for maybe 3 divers, maybe 4...

Any suggestions on tank placement would be welcome....I was thinking inside cabin to put weight foreward... It's a small cabin with bunks on each side and I was thinking of letting tanks lay down on each bunk and use PVC pipe and rope to prevent rolling.....Yes... I am cheap....need to save my money for F@#$ing gas :mad: :mad: ...
thanks in advance....

[inletsurf]

Just pulled the trigger on two tanks, gun, stringer, dive flag and mesh bag...Man oh man am I fired up :thumps: ....however the wife is not quite so excited :eek: :mad: ......now just need to rig my boat for tanks...Its a 22WA with swim platform and ladder ...will need to take fins off to come up ladder however....
I fish up to 40 miles out with really good weather and out to 20 with 2-3's..So my days are limited by seas but the boat should be a reasonable good dive platform for maybe 3 divers, maybe 4...

Any suggestions on tank placement would be welcome....I was thinking inside cabin to put weight foreward... It's a small cabin with bunks on each side and I was thinking of letting tanks lay down on each bunk and use PVC pipe and rope to prevent rolling.....Yes... I am cheap....need to save my money for F@#$ing gas :mad: :mad: ...
thanks in advance....

Spearchucker puts his on each side of his W/A cabin on his 260 Mako with the roll control system. Works like a charm. I would not put them inside the cabin because it will become a cluster**** when you have 2 divers taking off gear and 2 divers putting on gear, etc... and it all bottlenecks at the cabin door of a 22ft boat. Also, I'd not lay them down on the bunks. Hit some heavy seas and they'll become unstable.

If you want my opinion, stand them up on both sides of your cabin (if you have room, you may not w/ a 22' boat) and on both sides of the deck as forward as you can. I have found that too far forward, seas will work the tanks loose, and too far back the weight distribution is killing the fuel economy b/c you'll have to use a lot of trim tabs to get a good plane. Besides, who wants to step over tanks mounted on the transom when boarding from a dive? Get the tanks near center mass. The roll control system is what I'd get, but if you're saving money, consider making some brackets along the gunnels that have a loop of bunji cord centered on a semi-circle cutout in the bracket, slightly oversized of the tank diameter. Stand the tanks up in the cutout and pull bunji cord over them. The cord should come over a couple inches under where the neck section ends and the full section begins.

Personally, I'd rather spend the money for the roll control and be done with it rather than spend my time and materials for the other option. You have to replace bunji cords, too. Its one of those 'investments' where you could have saved money by making something, but the ease and simplicity pays off in the long run.

[riplipper]

Thanks for the info...the roll control looks good.....I was thinking of just traveling with tanks under cabin to save room and for fuel economy... then when ready one man can hand a couple of tanks out for getting ready on deck.....limited space is the issue on deck....a coupe of roll controls would be very nice to hold tanks while preping gear for dive....thanks again

[Big T]

Thanks for the info...the roll control looks good.....I was thinking of just traveling with tanks under cabin to save room and for fuel economy... then when ready one man can hand a couple of tanks out for getting ready on deck.....limited space is the issue on deck....a coupe of roll controls would be very nice to hold tanks while preping gear for dive....thanks again

Riplipper,

I have a 28 Carolina Classic, and as I am somewhat underpowered I too am going to stow tanks in the cabin. I am using a wire 6 tank crate, bolted to plywood cut to fit my V-berth footprint. Still finalizing where/ how to strap the cage in position.

I have plenty of space; would just like to get up on plane faster when diving max tanks and ice.

Big T

[DanK]

Riplipper,
I run a 25 Cat with a cuddy. Tanks in the cabin don't work, too much of a pain to get them in and out. I went to a 120 quart cooler, can stand 4-5 tanks upright, I also use cut pool noodles to stop them from banging into each other. I finish it all off with a ratchet strap. It's crude but it works out fine.

Dan

[Gradyman]

I have a 22ft CC grady...I use truck bed brackets mounted in the back corners (which are rounded and snug) on each side of the engine and rachetting tie downs. We are usually haulling 8 tanks ( 4 each side) with at least four being steal 120's and 131's . I do have trim tabs and once we're on a plan it does fine...not looking to race just get there efficiantly and we usually can get 2MPG on 2-3 ft days. The sides of the grady are high enough that the tanks don't "stick" up that far to block entry from the ladder...we do hand up wieghts and gear & remove our BC w/tanks along side the boat before getting back in. If no ones on the boat we set up a rope that we can secure our stuff to before getting back in. We do have the advantage of no cabin so our dressing space is on the deck up front...meanwhile the guys returning have the back of the boat to organize after the dive. Hope this helps some! :rolleyes:

[riplipper]

thanks for more ideas guys....still not sure what I want to do yet...