I did not post a trip report after our trip last October. I got busy with other things and to be completely honest, I got lazy. So here are the details. Trip in to Provo was from Richmond, VA to Charlotte and then to Provo. The flights were easy and no complaints with USAir. We were met outside the airport by a crew member and the pickup from the airport went very smoothly. There were a few other guests that came in earlier in the day and they were picked up and taken to a local hotel with a restaurant /bar to use the pool and facilities there while waiting on the rest of the passengers to arrive. We picked them up and then made our way to the boat. The vessel was in good shape, but was in need of some touchup painting here and there. The crew had scheduled some down time to do most of that type of work about two weeks before our trip, but was kept busy with a hurricane and was not able to handle a lot of the routine maintenance trying to keep the boat in one piece. The minor repair work was not really noticeable unless it was pointed out and one of the crew members apologized for the appearance of the vessel before I brought it up. It is nice to see pride in your home even if it is temporary. The boat was in overall good condition and was by far the nicest live aboard I have ever been on. My wife and I had one of the cabins on the top and it was huge (by live aboard standards). Unfortunately because of the winds at night I had a hard time sleeping with the listing of the vessel. No one else on board seemed to have any problems at all with this and it was not that severe, but I have a history with live boards and it is still a bit unnerving to rock while I am trying to sleep in a dark cabin at night. (I was on board the last WaveDancer trip in Belize in 2001.) The meals were great. Stan the chef has worked on live boards in Provo for years and is very good. The crew was good about letting everyone set their dive plan and getting out of the way. They were available if you needed anything and quick to respond to any request. The diving unfortunately was not that good, due to the recent storms and the visibility was down significantly from where it has been in past trips to the area. We also drew the unlucky card of having pretty strong winds for our entire trip. The winds blew the boat in about a 200 yard arch when we were moored to a dive site. This made finding the boat a little more of dive on faith that the boat would swing back around to you at the end of your dive if you were just patient. After the first day or two everyone seemed to get it and there was not too much of a pile up trying to get back on the boat at the end of the dive. If you were last to get back to the boat hanging on to the down lines off the back of the boat would give you a great high speed tour over the reef, but only one diver per line or the speed of the swing would cause everyone to surface. I am sure that the visibility has returned by now and the wall diving is excellent in Provo. When your diving is finished for the week and you make it back to shore, I would recommend getting a rental car from the same agency that the crew uses, if you are going ashore. Our group separated when we got in and I went with the crew. Our rental car was about $35 for the day and was returned to the airport when we were done. Others paid as much as $85 for the day and could not return to the airport. To make a long story a little shorter, I would definitely recommend the trip and the vessel to anyone. I think for me it will be a little while longer before I try another mono hull vessel for a week of diving. Luckily for me there are still several twin hull boats working out there and these provide a much more stabile base for me to sleep on.
If you have any specific questions please let me know and I will be happy to try and answer them.
Rick Patterson