It's not the best way because it has been done for years and years. It's my chosen way because it works AND it doesn't make the inside conditioned areas of the boat a mass of cameras, housings, cases, tools etc. There is always one or two people who use tables and salons for their gear setup, but if entire boats of photographers begin doing it the results will be unpleasant at best and dangerous at worst. Why am I against the idea of everyone working on their gear inside in the AC? There is a variety of reasons but I will spend time with one example only: recently a liveaboard boat was steered directly into a rock-of-an-island, in a remote location, at 3:30 AM. Had there been cases and gear stacked and stowed in cabins, along the gangway and in the salon, more people would have been injured than were, as passengers tried to exit cabins and make their way to the deck in the sleepy dark of the night. There is a reason captain and crew like photo gear outside, out of the way and/or located in an space described as the photo deck, table or area. And please don't argue that people will store their gear outside and walk each piece, component and/or appropriate tool in and out of the boat as they need them. We both know that won't happenHi Iggy,
I work offshore (10+ years) and have plenty of experience w/ condensation and corrosion. I respectfully disagree that just because something has been done for 20 years does not make it the best way :-)
I think it's a legit comment (even from someone with authority) to say that it's better to keep and/or open microelectronics inside in an airconditioned space rather than leaving them on deck.
I never took you for a slickster James! My refernece to "authority" was made because of your certainty rather than any standing you may or may not have in photography, the field of engineering, or academia. That's neither my call nor my judgement to make.
I am speaking to you as one photographer to another. And this is a different reason for working on gear inside the cabin than you originally made. But since it is better not to take micro-electronics underwater at all, I consider it a bit dramatic to suggest the cabin greatly reduces the overall risk of damage to the camera and lenses. Plus, you will shortly introduce water to the cabin if you plan on doing all your housing work inside because we both know you can't dry the housing enough to prevent that. And the real exposure is from water on our own housings getting dropped on our cameras and lenses as we re-rig for the next dive. That danger isn't reduced by working on your housing inside.
Perhaps it's just me, but I don't follow the process of thought which tries to establish that working on photo gear inside the conditioned areas of the boat is better for the individual as well as his/her fellow passengers. At times it is necessary, at times the light is better, at times the photo table isn't good enough, but those are exceptions. We are all better off on conjested live-aboard boats if most housing and setup work, and storage, is done at the area designated for that work. I am not generally a stickler for rules, but I've been on enough boats and suffered enough close calls to know that some of them really work for the general good.
Here's my thought --- if both our methods manage condensation effectively, why muck up the works by choosing or recommending the one that creates additional problems or concerns?
That's my last word on this subject. I believe I've beaten the horse well beyond the grave at this point 
I appreciate the exchange of ideas!
