Posted by Eric S on July 12, 2004 at 20:58:16:
In Reply to: Re: A DIR version? posted by stephen clark on July 11, 2004 at 20:59:16:
I figured the DIR thing was a joke but in this little dive community you can't be too careful. Of course I could just duck down in my steel hull and avoid the flaming. Steel is fireproof you know.
If you want to see what kind of boats I have in mind at the top end go to www.bruceroberts.com and look up the coastworker 25 and 30 planing versions. These would make kick ass dive boats, diesel powered, tons of deck space.
The other ones would be smaller all open frameless hulls with welded in internal air tight boxes that would provide floatation and make them unsinkable. They would be center console or could even be tiller steered and would be trailerable. I would build 2 versions, a flat bottom dory style that can carry a lot of weight and get up on plane easily but will beat you to death in choppy seas. This boat is for short rides close to shore, handles large swell very well, and is the most stable when at anchor.
The other version would be similar to first boat but with a slight v to the bottom. This would enable the boat to handle wind chop much nicer but would require more power to plane it and would be rockier when at anchor. I don't know about you but when you're getting geared up and looking down getting everything ready the last thing you want is to turn green.
Both boats would be 7 1/2' to the full 8 1/2' feet wide and range from 18 to 24 feet LOA.