Safe Boat Handling Practices for Diving Trips

To reach the best dive sites divers you will generally need to travel by boat – unless there is a choice of shore diving. A boat transfer can be a fun and relaxing part of a diving day trip when performed in safe manner. Safe manner covers many things – the qualifications of the boat crew, equipment on board, readiness for emergencies and general boat handing practices.

At Borneo Dream we adopt safe boat handling practices - always. Use the information provided below on what to look for to ensure your chosen Dive Operator adopts safe boat handling practices - meaning you can be confident of safe, enjoyable boat trip to your dive site destination.

Remember – a boat driven by unqualified Skippers with lack of proper safety equipment on board puts your personal safety at risk.

Boat Safety with Borneo Dream

At Borneo Dream we make diver safety our first priority. This includes only adopting Internationally recognised safety practices for all boat trips to dive sites and whilst crew / passengers are onboard our boat. We have listed below some of the safety standards and practices we apply to ensure this:

• At Borneo Dream our Skippers have Internationally recognised qualifications – both our Captains have commercially endorsed RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Advanced Powerboat qualifications.
• In Sabah, you cannot get a Boat license without meeting defined minimum criteria for safety equipment on board. At Borneo Dream we have chosen to carry more safety equipment on board our boat than our license requires.
• Our captains follow a passage planning checklist for every boat trip we make – ask to see it.
• Our Skippers use a Boat Equipment Checklist as part of the boat check before every trip to ensure essential equipment is on board and working. Ask to see ours, we would be pleased to show anybody.
• We always provide a boat safety briefing shortly after you have boarded our boat.
• We have a defined set of Boat Procedures (which reflect the rules of the road) and include recommended safe boating practices by both the RYA (Royal Yachting Association, UK) and RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute, UK). Our Captains and Crew apply these for every boat trip we make.
• At Borneo Dream we put a lot of effort in to being fully prepared if an emergency happens:
  • We cover the location of our first aid kit and emergency oxygen kit on our boat during the boat safety briefing.
  • All of our Captains and crew are qualified PADI Emergency First Responders.
  • All of our Skippers are also qualified VHF Radio Operators
  • We also have an aide memoire / guide on our boat outlining how to make a distress call.

If you choose to go diving with another Dive Operator during your holiday in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah then please use the information provided below on what to look for to ensure your chosen Dive Operator adopts safe boat handling practices - meaning you can be confident of safe, enjoyable boat trip to your dive site destination.

Safe Boat Practices - Boat Crew

A boat should always be driven by a qualified Captain / Skipper, supported by boat crew. Ideally the Skipper should be qualified by an Internationally recognized Boating Association. These Associations define the standards qualified skippers should apply when using their boat.

The Skipper plays a crucial role in any boat based diving trip. They are responsible for overall boat safety, and passengers safety while on board. So it is in a divers interest to check that they are suitably qualified, and experienced, to take the boat to the chosen dive site(s).

Remember – A Skipper of a boat should always be introduced to you when you go on board. They will be very pleased to confirm their boating qualifications with you – so don’t be afraid to ask.

Safe Boat Practices - Boat Equipment

As with professional diving associations, International boating associations define standards qualified skippers should apply when using their boat. These standards include recommended minimum equipment to have on board their boat for any boat trip, and extra considerations if they are using their boat for diving. The standard minimum equipment for small dive boats includes:

• Personal buoyancy aids
• Kill cord
• Alternative propulsion
• Anchor and line
• Spare fuel
• VHF radio
• Navigational aids e.g. compass, GPS plotter, maps
• Lights
• Emergency Repair Kit

Remember – the boat you go on must have enough working equipment on board to safely get you to your destination and back.

Borneo Dream Captains always drive safely and responsibly to dive destinations. Meaning you have a pleasant, enjoyable boat transfer! At Borneo Dream we adopt safe practices when dropping divers off at dive sites. At certain sites, or during dive courses, this also includes dropping a shot line or dropping anchor so divers can use this to safely get to the dive site. This is Borneo Dream 3 - our spacious and highly equipped catamaran we use for our diving trips. We have on board a full range of safety equipment including full first aid kit, emergency oxygen kit, emergency boat repair kit, GPS Plotter & compass and a VHF radio.

Safe Boat Practices - Boat Handling Practices

The Captain on duty is responsible for ensuring a safe boat trip – for the boat and the passengers. This involves good preparation before a boat trip, providing a safety briefing to all passengers and driving the boat in a safe manner during boat transfers to dive sites.

Planning a Safe Journey - good preparation starts before the planned boat trip. It includes checking weather forecasts and tidal flow forecasts to understand how this will impact the sea state for the planned journey. This allows the Captain to decide if it is safe for the planned boat trip or if the route needs to be amended.

Boat Safety Briefing - the next consideration is ensuring all passengers on the boat (both crew and customers) understand and apply safe boat practices. This is normally achieved through providing boat safety briefing to passengers at the start of the boat journey. The safety briefing should cover use of personal buoyancy aids, communicating a distress call, medical equipment on board and safe boat practices that need to followed whilst onboard.

Remember – if you do not get a boat safety briefing on a boat then the crew on board is not fully preparing you to stay safe onboard.

Safe & Responsible Driving - the Captain is also responsible for ensuring a safe and enjoyable passage on the boat. This includes using a safe speed for the sea conditions – whilst it may be fun for some to go fast in a boat, it may not always be safe to do so.

Safe passage on board a boat also includes the Skipper knowing and following the ‘rules of the road’ (these are Internationally recognised rules that all qualified Captains should follow). The rules cover how to safely overtake other boats, when to give way to other boats, watching your wash when passing close to other boats, safe passage by anchorages / buoys etc. It also means respecting Marina / Jetty rules to enable safe mooring / berthing for the boat and passengers (and other boats).

Remember – the Captain of a boat should be ready (prepared) and able to safely take you to your dive site. This means you can focus on enjoying the trip and dives!

Being Prepared for an Emergency - boat emergencies are rare, and good safety precautions reduce the risk substantially, but it is always sensible to plan for a worst case scenario. This is were boat emergency equipment and plans come in. In case of medical emergencies, a Diving Operator should always carry on board their boat a full first aid kit and an emergency oxygen kit. There should also be at least one qualified First Aider on board a boat.

There should always be a qualified / licensed VHF Radio Operator on board a boat – who is able and qualified to make distress calls (‘May Day calls’) and other recognised safety calls (‘Pan Pan’ ‘Securite’ calls). In addition, clear instructions should be provided near the VHF radio on how to make a distress call.