DIVEMASTER 17

[gchilcott]

This is a 1986 [DIVEMASTER] 17. I'm new to Whalers but had admired them since I was a kid. I bought this one last year, at which point it needed a lot of work. The E-TEC 90 was in good shape, but all the wiring, electronics, Evinrude wiring harness needed to be replaced. I refinished all the stainless, rebuilt the console, and had new steering, new throttle controls, and all new fuel plumbing installed. The project was a lot of fun, and the boat has performed extremely well since I finished it. Mostly I use it for diving in the Monterey, California area. The photo is from Lake Tahoe, which is another great place for boating.

The [DIVEMASTER] is great for diving. The railings and grab handles are from Boston Whaler; the ladder was added by me. The console is forward, leaving a larger area aft for preparing gear. The only downside I've noticed is the extra weight of the hull and railings, which reduces the amount of other gear that can be carried. Diving gear is so heavy that this can be a concern. But so far I am very pleased with how it all worked out.

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[Maverick]

Wow nice looking [DIVEMASTER 17]. First one like that I've ever seen. The 17 hull is already great. I've had several regular 17-foot [Boston Whaler boats] and enjoyed them very much. I have the 18 Guardian pictured in the "Show Us Your Whaler] thread and fully appreciate your 17. admirable boat, you did nice restoration work on her. What kind of speed do you get out of her? Thanx, Mav in South Carolina

[gchilcott]

I'll post something with more details in a few weeks. I don't have accurate speed data, so I can't help much there. I'm usually running with a lot of heavy gear and running in wind and chop; or alternatively in smooth conditions where I hit the RPM limit well below full throttle using 13.25 x 15 Stiletto propeller.

I saw Maverick's Guardian 18 -- beautiful. I picked the 17 because my favorite dive spot has a 17-foot limit on the launch ramp; the ramp is so small and tricky that I think I would have a hard time launching a bigger boat there, anyway. But anything smaller than a 17 would be very limiting for diving. A diver in cold-water gear with double tanks can weigh in at more than 350-lbs.

[Jeff]

Actually " gchilcott " that is a 17 Divemaster and not a Guardian. The Divemaster is a much rarer boat.

[Jeff]

Here is another 17 Divemaster that has lived on a lift down from our family friends house on the Detroit River / Grosse Isle.

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[gchilcott]

Jeff--thanks for the input. I'd be curious to learn more about the Divemaster model. My hull has the red dot that I associated with a Guardian, and its gray color like most Guardians. But I admit that I'm new to Whalers and just starting to learn what to look for. Is it possible that the Divemaster is a version of the Guardian? I found the attached image online, but I don't know for sure where it came from.

- Gavin

[jimh]

I separated this topic from the Show Us Your Whaler thread.

I have to ask: what is on the tall mast just forward of the center console?

[Jeff]

gchilcott

All DIVEMASTERS were built on a "Guardian" Commercial Products Hull. The DIVEMASTER designation was given to a Guardian with the Console mounted all the way forward to provide a large open cockpit. They also all included hull-side boarding ladders and the 19' and up hulls were equipped with removable hull-side boarding doors. The forward mounted console is the give-away to a DIVEMASTER though.

[gchilcott]

I have to ask: what is on the tall mast just forward of the center console?

I think the mast is part of the "dive" package that also included the aft railings and forward console (see Jeff's comments about this).

The mast has a white nav light on top, and two flood lights facing forward (Hella LED deck lights). I have it set up to also use the white nav light individually as an anchor light. Ordinarily an anchor light wouldn't be important for a small open boat, but the extra height is useful for seeing the boat more easily at the end of a night dive. When in the water looking from about water level it doesn't take much chop to reduce your field of view substantially.

I do not know if the flood lights were installed originally, but they were there when I got the boat so I just refurbished them with the rest of the electrical. I also use the mast to fly an alpha or dive flag from the mast when diving, especially when the boat is at anchor with nobody on board. The cylindrical device on the top front of the mast is a radar reflector.

The design of the mast and bracket is ingenious. The lower end of the mast is cut at an angle, which sits in a complementary seat in the bracket. That maintains the direction of the mast with no fasteners or pins. I have the wiring set up with waterproof plugs, so the mast can be lifted out and stowed in the cockpit during towing or when parking with low overhead clearance. Stowing only takes a few seconds, so dealing with the mast adds almost nothing to boat prep prior to launching.

[jimh]

Thanks for the explanation of all the gear contained on the mast and its ingenious mounting method.

I also noted the radio antenna on the stern railing. It seems like it is longer than the usual 8-feet of most antennas. If you ever need to replace it and you want to continue using a fiberglass-encased antenna, perhaps get one with a black finish to match the rest of the black gear.

[gnr]

Very nice. I like the black rails. Powder coat?

I have the same rig. It is a 1987, haze grey, red dot hull that the original documentation describes as a Guardian-17 with no reference to the Divemaster name. Chuck Bennett made no mention of Divemaster when he responded to my email seeking information on the hull. I was under the impression that a Divemaster had a cutout in the hull for boarding, even in the 17' version. I'm certainly not claiming that to be a fact, just something I thought I read.

Mine is set up for fishing, trolling specifically. The extra space is great. The tank racks make a great platform for mounting downriggers etc. The mast bracket on the console made it easy to modify a planner board mast to slide right in.

[FlyAU98]

Your next project should be to set that mast up to display proper night lighting for diving. That would be pretty cool--and unusual in the civilian world.

[Dutchman]

Ordinarily an anchor light wouldn't be important for a small open boat,

Great looking boat you have, but in regard to your comment above, no matter what the size of the powerboat you are required to have navigation light which include your anchor light as you have and all are very important . Yes I know the rule says you are less than 7 or 12 meters (23ft or 40ft) and don't require anchor lights when not near other boat traffic, but it would be prudent, hence they give you these installed operating lights on boats that size.
You mentioned maybe diving at night so the setup as shown by FlyAU98 is a must for safety.
You have a great "small" boat but don't assume because it is only 17 feet you don't need these lights. You don't want to find out in court that you interpreted the law of the sea in correctly. Like; hey my 11ft sailboat has the right away over that 150 foot freighter, yes it does but you won't like the result when it hits you and when it happens at night they always get to "you didn't have appropriate lookout".
i.e. Always use an anchor light from sundown to sunrise and a white over red over white over red when anchored and diving at night. (Anchor light and Dive light combination below that)
Better safe than sorry.
Great boat, enjoy.

[gchilcott]

Your next project should be to set that mast up to display proper night lighting for diving. That would be pretty cool--and unusual in the civilian world.

Any idea where to get a light like this?

It does seem to be required by Rule 27a for boats "engaged in diving operations", though I don't remember ever seeing lights like this even on commercial dive charter boats, or the corresponding shapes during the day for that matter (on the boats big enough for them to be required). The definition of "diving operations" might be relevant, which I suspect has been interpreted to describe a boat with tethered divers and surface-supplied breathing gas. Having untethered divers underwater does not necessarily restrict a vessel's ability to maneuver, which is what Rule 27 is mostly about. In practical terms, however, a dive boat would typically want to stay near people diving from it.

I agree that it is important to be properly illuminated. Common sense would say that a prudent boater would want to be seen by other vessels, and for the other vessels to know the status of the boat.

I'll put the question out to some charter boat operators and see what they say.

[porthole]

Your next project should be to set that mast up to display proper night lighting for diving. That would be pretty cool--and unusual in the civilian world.

Any idea where to get a light like this...I'll put the question out to some charter boat operators and see what they say.

You have to make it. I made mine using Perko lamps, 1-inch stainless tubing, stainless wire rope, and starboard for the individual lamp bases. Although I had a separate anchor light, I wired the lights so they could be two reds, or one white, or red-white-red.

I ran dive charters for over 20 years, and many many night dives. I actually prefer the night dives over day. Most all the dives were in the New Jersey and New York area where you are dealing with three traffic separation schemes.

On day dives we flew the Rule 27 blue-and-white Alpha flag and the Diver Down flag. On night dives we burned an anchor light and the red-white-red lights--and sometimes two to five 500-watt floodlights.

Many states have individual regulations regarding what type of flag, shape or lights are required for diving. The red with white stripe flag has no federal meaning. There are no requirements outside the three-mile line for dive flags, although, if you are going to dive, you may as well let the world know.

Both the red-white-red lights and the alpha flag are Rule 27 "restricted in maneuverability".

A commercial dive operation that may or may not be physically anchored or using dynamic anchoring and engaged in umbilical diving would be considered "restricted in maneuverability", when they had divers in the water.

A recreational boat doing a SCUBA dive is really not considered restricted, even though I would not leave station unless absolutely necessary--which I have had to do.

The red-white-red lights are also supposed to be set at 1-meter apart. If you are going to make up a light like that you may as well give the lights some space. If you have a small boat and make those lights 12-inches apart they will not be visible for their intended purpose at a distance that is necessary for another vessel to take action.

As I recall, these are Perko 108 series, 2-nautical mile visible, for vessels up to 20-meters in length. The flag is 3 x 5.

[jimh]

The nemonic to remember the light pattern for a vessel encumbered in her ability to maneuver due to the nature of her work: RED-WHITE-RED, doing the work I dread.