Ok,
Among divers there is the assumption that any
boat you own, you will do everything within your limited, meager and ever shrinking
scuba related
budget to acquire a dive
compressor for your
boat so you don't have to drag bottles to shore and pay $6 for a fill after they check your Visual sticker and hydro (and make you update either if they are out).
So far I've only heard of two (non-commercial)
boats with dive compressors on board.
The first was Krogen 48
power boat with a really awesome membrane nitrox fill station bolt to the back
deck in a "dive closet". Way out of my range, but hey I can drooolllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The second was from a
diving artical in crusing world a while back. the folks had a
Maxsea compressor on board. They kept it on
deck, it ran on gas and would fill two
tanks in about an hour. It looked roughly the size of a small cart
generator (sans the wheels) and I'm sure it was about as
noise neighbor friendly.
I have to say that this last option is the best I've seen yet and the only modifications I can think of are to enclose it in a
teak box when not in use to protect it from the elements as much as possible. That and I would hazard a guess that this would be rather like a
grill. Buy it once and assume it will rust out and die in a few years.
Can I get some comments from folks who have dive compressors, what where stowed, etc.