Homemade snorkel-bellows diving apparatus for hull cleaning

[OrangeCrush]

This question falls in the category of curious ramblings, so before you get too bent out of shape about safety implications I'm just thinking out loud here...

Anyway I clean my hull a couple times a season by swimming down over and over with a snorkel, mask and brush. It's pretty exhausting and I usually end up totally winded and give up before the job is done. I try to cajole crew into doing it but they're all wise to how unpleasant it is.

Is there any reason that I couldn't fashion some sort of homemade snorkel & bellows system? I'm picturing a semi-rigid hose hooked up to a simple dinghy foot pump. The tube is just long enough to arc down to the 5 foot depth of my keel and back up to the surface. Halfway down the tube is a t-connector with a snorkel mouthpiece, and the far of the hose is open but with a float to keep it above water. Someone on deck pumps the foot pump to move fresh air through the hose, and the diver breathes as they normally would through a snorkel. The hose itself has a weight on it near the mouthpiece so it doesn't yank the mouthpiece out and rise to the surface.

It's only 5 feet we're talking about so there wouldn't be any issues with decompression. And carbon dioxide is not like carbon monoxide so if there wasn't enough fresh air I would notice; I'd get uncomfortable and come to the surface.

Would this work? Any other creative solutions for DIY hull cleaning out there?

[epiic]

Sounds like you are looking for a hookah compressor system

Example:
Built in Boat System W/O Battery

Hookamax Dive Systems

[denverd0n]

Yeah, what you are talking about is basically a manually-operated hookah system. I suppose it might work. Be a lot of very boring work for the person on the surface, and I'm not really sure that they would be able to keep up enough air flow to service the diver. I think a real system, with a real air-compressor would be much better.

Besides that, you are still breathing compressed air, and holding your breath as you surface -- even from just five feet down -- can kill you. That's probably something that is worth being aware of. You know, as, no first-hand experience, but my understanding is that death is not a lot of fun.

[barnakiel]

Downside you need a guy onboard. Watch early scenes of the Big Blue for the equipment.

I would actually use a small diving tank or compressor onboard and a long hose + scuba 2nd stage mouthpiece.

b.

[IdoraKeeper]

I doubt you could pull a breath, even at 5 feet. As a foolish young man, my friends and I would fish for Crawfish using an inverted garbage can hauled down 6 or 8 feet and secured to an underwater pipe. Crawfish loved that pipe. If the garbage can was hauled down any further the water pressure compressed the air to much to get your head on the trapped air bubble. It worked to extend bottom time but was a risky practice. We never told anyone we were doing it. They all wondered how we got so many Crawdad.��

[Valmika]

Unless you have a demand type regulator (which would mean keeping compressed air in the line) you would have to coordinate their pumping with your inhaling or it could get awkward

[a64pilot]

What you describe is how early diving bells and hard hat suits were done, one or two on deck pumping the compressor that was usually two bellows and a see saw arrangement like a railroad hand truck, of course it would work, however since electric compressors are so readily available, lightweight and cheap it just makes more sense to go that route is all.

[briblack]

we had one on a boat, back in the early 60's. a foot pumped bulb, to a bag that you wore on your back, and a hose from it that you held in your mouth. the bottom of the bag was open, so the pressure was about right for your depth. it worked, once when we really needed it. but seemed very dodgy. even a store-bought hookah can be scary (when the hose gets kinked.) not recommended.

[Kenomac]

OP,

Please take a scuba lesson, then buy or make a Hookah system before you kill yourself trying to save a few bucks. Believe it or not, breathing compressed air five feet down, holding your breath and surfacing can kill you. It's NOT the same as taking a deep breath from the surface.

Your "plan" sounds like a great way to end up on that TV show "A Thousand Ways To Die."

[fatherchronica]

Me and cousin Johnny made one from a trash can, some weights and a hose and large volume bicycle type pump 50 years ago. Ours was way more tiring for the pumper than the diver. I bet youtube has a lot of successful designs. Alexander the Great had a diving bell made of glass over 2000 years ago that he used to watch vimanas rise up from the rivers in India, according to my hero Peter Freuchen, who was the writer that led me to sailing. Good luck, it at least sounds like a worthwhile experiment to me.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Before there was SCUBA, there was...

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by fatherchronica

Me and cousin Johnny made one from a trash can, some weights and a hose and large volume bicycle type pump 50 years ago. Ours was way more tiring for the pumper than the diver. I bet youtube has a lot of successful designs. Alexander the Great had a diving bell made of glass over 2000 years ago that he used to watch vimanas rise up from the rivers in India, according to my hero Peter Freuchen, who was the writer that led me to sailing. Good luck, it at least sounds like a worthwhile experiment to me.

Your anecdote reminded me of this image.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

OP,

Please take a scuba lesson, then buy or make a Hookah system before you kill yourself trying to save a few bucks. Believe it or not, breathing compressed air five feet down, holding your breath and surfacing can kill you. It's NOT the same as taking a deep breath from the surface.

Your "plan" sounds like a great way to end up on that TV show "A Thousand Ways To Die."

I knew this was coming... I have advanced PADI certification, a decent amount of experience, and a healthy respect for Boyle's law. Don't worry I never said this was my plan, just wondering if it would be possible.

As for need for a demand-style regulator... if the hose was able to resist being crushed, would the air inside even be compressed? Remember my idea was that it would be remain open at one end, so it's not quite the same as the diving bell concept where the air is pumped down and trapped under pressure. Here the diver would just be taking breaths from the air in the hose as it is "passing by" on its way from the foot-pump, first down and then back up, and out the open end.

It might be hard keeping the hose underwater or keeping it from flooding around the mouthpiece, though.

[michaelratinter]

A human powered hookah system sounds like a good idea to me. 5 feet is shallower than a SCUBA safety stop. You might want an accumulator to decouple compression strokes from breathing cycles. A large lift bag might work well.

Could be useful for rudder repair, cutting away wrapped fishing gear, etc.

Interesting thought.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

I knew this was coming... I have advanced PADI certification, a decent amount of experience, and a healthy respect for Boyle's law. Don't worry I never said this was my plan, just wondering if it would be possible.

As for need for a demand-style regulator... if the hose was able to resist being crushed, would the air inside even be compressed? Remember my idea was that it would be remain open at one end, so it's not quite the same as the diving bell concept where the air is pumped down and trapped under pressure. Here the diver would just be taking breaths from the air in the hose as it is "passing by" on its way from the foot-pump, first down and then back up, and out the open end.

It might be hard keeping the hose underwater or keeping it from flooding around the mouthpiece, though.

Then you must realize how ridiculous your first post must sound to people familiar with scuba. Jeez, just go down to the Home depot and get yourself one of these for about $90, oilless.