Dive Deck
The boat's dive deck is the critical area for liveaboard diving. One's BCD (buoyancy compensator device) is permanently attached to an air cylinder and kept ready at a reserved spot on benches, with the spot and cylinder marked with an identifying number. There is a camera table, equipment for making enriched air (nitrox), which most divers use, and a mechanism for filling the cylinders in their places on the benches.
Divers would suit up, wriggle into their BCDs, and board a Zodiac launch with their dive teammates. The team's dive guide would judge the dive site's currents, select the entry point, and give the order to roll in.
At the completion of a dive, someone on the team usually launched a surface marker buoy to alert the Zodiac drivers for a pickup. Most divers doffed their gear in the water before climbing into the Zodiac. Once it had a full load, it whisked the divers back to the Mermaid. There the crew carried the BCDs back to their bench stations, while the divers rinsed in a fresh water shower and enjoyed a beverage of tea, cocoa, or juice.
Divers would suit up, wriggle into their BCDs, and board a Zodiac launch with their dive teammates. The team's dive guide would judge the dive site's currents, select the entry point, and give the order to roll in.
At the completion of a dive, someone on the team usually launched a surface marker buoy to alert the Zodiac drivers for a pickup. Most divers doffed their gear in the water before climbing into the Zodiac. Once it had a full load, it whisked the divers back to the Mermaid. There the crew carried the BCDs back to their bench stations, while the divers rinsed in a fresh water shower and enjoyed a beverage of tea, cocoa, or juice.
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