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This did not work. We quickly learned that tank fills were not easy to come by--either in location or in cost. And we found that it just wasn't worth the hassle for us in a sporting application. We got just as much enjoyment out of snorkeling. So we sold one tank and attendant equipment, but kept one full set for use in emergencies--anchor and prop problems essentially. Have also used it to clean the hull if tank fills are available.
In twenty-six years of cruising with SUNFLOWER we have used our SCUBA gear only twice for said emergencies. Once we anchored in Kieta (Papua New Guinea) in about 90 feet of water. When it was time to leave we couldn't get the anchor up. No matter what we tried--backing, cranking (had a manual windless then), driving to and fro, cranking, circling--NOTHING worked. After an hour's frustration, Al donned the gear, did a bounce dive, and freed the anchor. It was hooked underneath a massive mooring chain. We would never have gotten it loose without diving.
Another time we were on passage between the Azores and Ireland. The wind went away one night; we continued under power--until we hit a large section of floating fish net! Stopped the engine. Stopped the boat. In the morning Al put on the tank, as free diving in the lumpy sea under the hull could have been more dangerous. He also put on long underwear and one of my wool sweaters! Once in the water he was able to quickly cut away the net using my bread knife. He was back on board in about 5 minutes. We were very glad to have had the SCUBA gear for doing that. We also bought a used wetsuit at next opportunity!
We have seen others use a 12V oil-less compressor (the type used for fish tank aeration) set up for snorkeling applications--primarily to do hull and prop cleaning. It looks interesting.
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