I'd like to clean the bottom of my boat, while it's
in the water. Is there a fairly easy and economical
way of breathing while a few feet below the surface?
A snorkle won't work because I'll be going under
a houseboat, but am wondering if a hose could
be made to work, or maybe a larger piece of tubing
with a hose attached so it's small enough to be held
in your mouth. Or something...?

Could be dangerous. Why not take a scuba course and buy a small
tank/regulator. That way you'll be more comfortable and have a new sport to
enjoy.

You'll find that so much as a foot under water, you'll not be able to breath
through a hose...

You could do a hookah rig like a brownie, or one of the more expensive rigs,
but if you're going to do that, you might as well get diving gear and enjoy
the sport away from the boat.

L8R

Skip

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a
clear night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize
that you are quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to
you that in the general scheme of things you are merely an
insignificant speck on the surface of the ocean; and are not nearly
so important or as self-sufficient as you thought you were. Which is
an exceedingly wholesome thought, and one that may effect a
permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly appreciated
by your friends." - James S. Pitkin

wrote in message
...
I'd like to clean the bottom of my boat, while it's
in the water. Is there a fairly easy and economical
way of breathing while a few feet below the surface?
A snorkle won't work because I'll be going under
a houseboat, but am wondering if a hose could
be made to work, or maybe a larger piece of tubing
with a hose attached so it's small enough to be held
in your mouth. Or something...?

http://www.bestmarineimports.com/Powerdive.html

This is one option, but you can pick up a tank, regulator and mask cheaper.
Most YMCA offer very inexpensive diving classes so you can get certified.


wrote in message
...
I'd like to clean the bottom of my boat, while it's
in the water. Is there a fairly easy and economical
way of breathing while a few feet below the surface?
A snorkle won't work because I'll be going under
a houseboat, but am wondering if a hose could
be made to work, or maybe a larger piece of tubing
with a hose attached so it's small enough to be held
in your mouth. Or something...?

You can get an oilless compressor NOTE OILLESS and 50-60 ft of air
breathing hose and a regular scuba regulator. You need about 100 psi
to run a low pressure - mouth regulator. A friend just did this with a
small 120 vac compressor - it is just a little too small and it gets
hard to breath down at the 6' bottom of his keel. The comp was about
$100, the mouth reg will be maybe $100+ - look for all this stuff on
eBay.

I have a 50' hose that I use on my regular scuba tank, hi pressure and
lo pressure regulators - the extension hose goes between the hi press
reg on the tank and the lo pres regulator in the mouth.

Biggest issue for any of these is getting the connections to work -
threads - sizes, etc. Make sure that they all fit together before you
buy anything.



On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:35:00 GMT, wrote:

I'd like to clean the bottom of my boat, while it's
in the water. Is there a fairly easy and economical
way of breathing while a few feet below the surface?
A snorkle won't work because I'll be going under
a houseboat, but am wondering if a hose could
be made to work, or maybe a larger piece of tubing
with a hose attached so it's small enough to be held
in your mouth. Or something...?

100 PSI isn't enough. The intermediate pressure in a typical SCUBA
system is set at 140-160 PSI.


--
Chuck Tribolet

http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/people/triblet

Silicon Valley: STILL the best day job in the world.


"Ace-high" wrote in message ...
You can get an oilless compressor NOTE OILLESS and 50-60 ft of air
breathing hose and a regular scuba regulator. You need about 100 psi
to run a low pressure - mouth regulator. A friend just did this with a
small 120 vac compressor - it is just a little too small and it gets
hard to breath down at the 6' bottom of his keel. The comp was about
$100, the mouth reg will be maybe $100+ - look for all this stuff on
eBay.

I have a 50' hose that I use on my regular scuba tank, hi pressure and
lo pressure regulators - the extension hose goes between the hi press
reg on the tank and the lo pres regulator in the mouth.

Biggest issue for any of these is getting the connections to work -
threads - sizes, etc. Make sure that they all fit together before you
buy anything.



On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:35:00 GMT, wrote:

I'd like to clean the bottom of my boat, while it's
in the water. Is there a fairly easy and economical
way of breathing while a few feet below the surface?
A snorkle won't work because I'll be going under
a houseboat, but am wondering if a hose could
be made to work, or maybe a larger piece of tubing
with a hose attached so it's small enough to be held
in your mouth. Or something...?

Chuck Tribolet wrote:
100 PSI isn't enough. The intermediate pressure in a typical SCUBA
system is set at 140-160 PSI.



IIRC, from ages ago, every 30 feet of water is 1 atmosphere of pressure
(15 lb. / sq. in.) If he is going down, say 6 feet, 15 lb/sq.in. should
be fine. If he tries to go deeper, he will suck air, get none, and come
up to where he can breath.

Tom
of the Swee****er Sea

I am a certified scuba diver with 250 dives and Padi advanced ticket I
have used both methods. My boat is a 33 ft Newport sailboat in San
Francisco Bay. For attaching a zinc, holding your breath and dipping
under the baot in maybe 10 small dips works great. I have done it.
For longer jobs I have made up some gear: Bought an oilfree compressor
with 2 HP electric drive so no fumes from and engine and hocked up to
50 ft hose. The compressor puts out 100 psi which allows you to go
fairly deep. To the hose I attached my second stage regulator from my
scuba gear.
There is no danger of electrical shock because the compressor is
plugged ditrectly into the outlet at the marina, the only thing in the
water is the hose.
If a person has no scuba training I would not go deeper than maybe 10
to 15 ft. I think there are several things to know, one is to clear
your ears same as when you are in an airplane, but this may not be
necessary 6 ft. Second is to have a diving mask to be able to see and
breathe out through your nose to equalize the pressure. Again at 6 ft
this may not be a problem, and third is to keep breathing in and out
while you come up so that the air in your lungs can expand. So I think
to go to very shallow depth like 6 ft it is not a problem even for an
untrained person. The cost of the compressor was $100 at Sears and the
hose another $15. The advantage is now I can clean bottom and stay
under the boat and do work as long as I like. The 2 HP compressor
supplies lots of air. The second stage regulator works fine with 100
psi. I have used this to inst6all a new rudder while the boat was in
the water. This saved me a $400 haul out. Plus I now can clean the
bottom anytime I like at no additional cost.

Tom Shilson wrote in message ...
Chuck Tribolet wrote:
100 PSI isn't enough. The intermediate pressure in a typical SCUBA
system is set at 140-160 PSI.



IIRC, from ages ago, every 30 feet of water is 1 atmosphere of pressure
(15 lb. / sq. in.) If he is going down, say 6 feet, 15 lb/sq.in. should
be fine. If he tries to go deeper, he will suck air, get none, and come
up to where he can breath.

Tom
of the Swee****er Sea

"Tom Shilson" wrote in message
...

IIRC, from ages ago, every 30 feet of water is 1 atmosphere of pressure
(15 lb. / sq. in.) If he is going down, say 6 feet, 15 lb/sq.in. should
be fine. If he tries to go deeper, he will suck air, get none, and come
up to where he can breath.

I can tell that you have never actually tried this.

Run a little experiement. Get a vacuume gauge. Stick the hose in your
mouth and try to inhale. I bet that the gauge will barely budge.

If you close the airway into your lungs and then suck with your mouth you
may be able to suck a few PSI, but that is using the muscles of your jaw,
tongue, cheeks, etc. To get the air into your lungs you need the diaphragm
to be strong enough to pull a vacuume, and it just isn't that strong.

Rod

Ace-high wrote:
You can get an oilless compressor NOTE OILLESS and 50-60 ft of air
breathing hose and a regular scuba regulator. You need about 100 psi
to run a low pressure - mouth regulator. A friend just did this with a
small 120 vac compressor - it is just a little too small and it gets
hard to breath down at the 6' bottom of his keel. The comp was about
$100, the mouth reg will be maybe $100+ - look for all this stuff on
eBay.

I have a 50' hose that I use on my regular scuba tank, hi pressure and
lo pressure regulators - the extension hose goes between the hi press
reg on the tank and the lo pres regulator in the mouth.

Biggest issue for any of these is getting the connections to work -
threads - sizes, etc. Make sure that they all fit together before you
buy anything.

Apparently this is right & works pretty well, no tank fills & no rip
off BS from the dive fraternity:-). The advantage being you can't get
too deep because the little oiless compressors just can't supply the air.

The only caution is make sure you install a one way valve in the supply
line, as close as reasonable to the mouth reg. or use a specific hooker
unit mouth reg (they have an extra valve built in). The risk is that if
there's a hose failure at the surface your lungs will be exposed to atm
pressure while your chest is subject to some psi, apparently your tongue
can suffer if no valve is fitted.

K




On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 17:35:00 GMT, wrote:


I'd like to clean the bottom of my boat, while it's
in the water. Is there a fairly easy and economical
way of breathing while a few feet below the surface?
A snorkle won't work because I'll be going under
a houseboat, but am wondering if a hose could
be made to work, or maybe a larger piece of tubing
with a hose attached so it's small enough to be held
in your mouth. Or something...?