Boat Briefing

Initial boarding

• Take seasickness meds the night before your dive. Take them again in the morning prior. Even if you don’t get seasick, it happens, and nobody enjoys it.
• Build your dive unit at home the night before, have everything assembled, tested, and ready to dive. If there are issues, you can address them at home where you have access to tools and spare parts. 
• Gear assembly should be handled prior to boarding the vessel.
• Pack in soft bags that can be folded up for storage once you are dressed. No hard pelican style cases or roller bags will be brought onto the vessel. A typical method is a dry bag, a wet bag, and a small accessories bag.
• Board the vessel without gear and select the correct rack height for your gear. They are adjustable up and down for your height.
• Clip off small items to bungees under your stand.
• Spare tanks stand vertically under your station and secure with the seatbelt.
• Fins stand vertically between stations secured by bungee.
• Place your unit on the rack and secure with a seatbelt. Insure your bc is deflated before tightening the seatbelt.
• Hoods and gloves can be stowed overhead between the canopy and frame.
• Soft gear bags go the bench behind you for a secure backrest.
• Things that need to be dry or protected can stow in the forward v-berth.
• There is a port a potty in the forward berth for emergency use, standard facilities are located to the aft of the vessel.
• There is a cooler full of cold water behind the bench on the port side of the vessel.  They are for you, so drink up. It gets hot in the sun. There are between dive snacks on the dashboard.

Safety Briefing

• Vessel is equipped with emergency oxygen, first aid kit, and an AED. These are stored in the forward V-berth area.
• Lifejackets are behind your seats under the covers you are leaning against. The covers are velcroed in place and can be torn off for emergency access.
• There is a strobe and distress flag located under the starboard stairs at midship.
• There is a foam expanding bung plug under the starboard stairs at midship in case of a hull breach.
• Vessel is equipped with two redundant fixed VHF radios. They are registered to the vessel and wired into live GPS. In the event of an emergency, lift the red door and hold down the distress button. The coast guard and surrounding vessels will be alerted to our location and that we are having an emergency. There is also a battery handheld radio by the helm. Coast Guard can be hailed on channel 16.
• Everything on the boat is hard and will hurt you. Use the handles and straps provided. Waves happen without notice and falling down hurts.

Gearing up

• Fins go on first. Back into your station and unclip the belt while steadying your gear.
• Put on your gear and tighten everything down. Items clipped below you can be reached while you are standing in your station.
• The captain or crew will assist with deco or bailout cylinders.
• One at a time, walk to the back door and giant stride straight backwards from the platform.
• Signal the captain that you are ok.
• Swim to the granny line and pull yourself to the front of the boat and the mooring line.
• For those wanting to use it during decompression or safety stops, there will be a fixed deco bar hanging at 20 feet on the starboard side of the vessel.

Re-boarding

• Hold onto the granny line until it is your time to re-board.
• Swim to the elevator between the engines. 
• Grab the two upright handles and get your feet under you so that you are standing upright. 
• Signal the captain or crew that you are ready to board.
• Be sure your heels are at the back of the platform and hold on. Walk straight forward into the vessel and back to your station. 
• Captain or crew will assist with gear removal if needed.
• Secure your unit to the rack with the seatbelt, ensure the BCD is deflated.
• Remove your fins, secure them to the wall, pet the Hippopotamus, and take your seat.