OP
Hummm... how shall I say... Very nice guy!
The boat is, well, it reminded me of my LDS work area. Things are scattered here and there in what appears to be a random mess, but the shop owner knows exactly where everything is. The atmosphere was very casual, so the other divers just put stuff where they wanted. Some wires hang down from the roof.
Tanks are bungeed in above the seats, just like any other boat.
Boarding was, well... difficult. He backed the stern into a narrow 4' space between some jet skis (it was at the jet ski rental area), with a 4' drop from the dock to the side of the boat. So i couldn't walk my doubles on, they had to be hauled down the drop by handing them off... and then the reverse after docking.
However, that said, I would go with back Capt. Paul in a heartbeat! He really IS a nice guy, very passionate about diving (spear fishing!), and knows his water. Being on his boat was like going out on a boat with some friends who all know each other, but the friends happily including you in the fun with them. Capt. Paul will let you dive your dive - he isn't there to babysit you, but to get you to the site and assist your dive, which is how I like it. I have a feeling that if you told him you'd like to make a 300' bounce dive on air and then have him take you right to the chamber, he just say, "OK, but you'll have to drop down last so these other guys get a chance to shoot some fish first."
As to the difficulty of loading, in his defense, he did all the work for me, wouldn't let me haul my doubles up that 4' ledge, and then wouldn't give the kit back when I asked, but humped them for me all the way to my car.
If I lived here, I would try to cultivate a relationship with this guy for regular diving all the time. I really prefer a rougher, edgier, more casual operation that feels like your diving with divers, not Dive Service Industry Employees. But if the AOW vacation divers from Minnesota were out here to see the reefs, I'd take 'em on the pink S. FL Divers pontoon boat.
