Socal Chartered Boat Dive Protocol

[peraevum]

Hi all,

Thanks again to you guys for the boat charter tips you gave a couple weeks ago. They were really helpful, and my partner and I had a relatively great time diving the kelp beds. We even saw and swam with a couple sea lions, which was a real joy.

However, the weekend did not go as smooth as it could have, and I'd love your opinion on whether this kind of thing is the norm in socal in case I come back to dive again.

Our final day of diving was supposed to be on the Bottom Scratcher, and we had paid for our dives through a dive shop in the area who had chartered the entire boat. Check in was supposed to be at 6am, and the boat was supposed to depart at 7am. My boyfriend and I ran into a bit of traffic but still made it to the departure site a little after 6:30am. However, we were informed later that the dive shop owner who was on the boat had made the call to the captain to take off at 6:15am! We had called the shop the night before to confirm our rentals, and they knew we were still planning on diving with them, yet they only gave us a 15 minute cushion before jetting off.

I grew up in Socal and know that most people are pretty reasonable. I've also been on plenty of chartered dives in the Great Lakes and was expecting this charter to be the same way, basically to depart when they say they will. Our dives on the Spectre were the same way. They departed when they said they would. I'd hate to get burned and lose such a huge sum of money again. Does anyone know if departing early is a usual thing for socal charters? Am I missing something here?

Thanks again guys,
Karen

 

[Mo2vation]

Hi all,

Thanks again to you guys for the boat charter tips you gave a couple weeks ago. They were really helpful, and my partner and I had a relatively great time diving the kelp beds. We even saw and swam with a couple sea lions, which was a real joy.

However, the weekend did not go as smooth as it could have, and I'd love your opinion on whether this kind of thing is the norm in socal in case I come back to dive again.

Our final day of diving was supposed to be on the Bottom Scratcher, and we had paid for our dives through a dive shop in the area who had chartered the entire boat. Check in was supposed to be at 6am, and the boat was supposed to depart at 7am. My boyfriend and I ran into a bit of traffic but still made it to the departure site a little after 6:30am. However, we were informed later that the dive shop owner who was on the boat had made the call to the captain to take off at 6:15am! We had called the shop the night before to confirm our rentals, and they knew we were still planning on diving with them, yet they only gave us a 15 minute cushion before jetting off.

I grew up in Socal and know that most people are pretty reasonable. I've also been on plenty of chartered dives in the Great Lakes and was expecting this charter to be the same way, basically to depart when they say they will. Our dives on the Spectre were the same way. They departed when they said they would. I'd hate to get burned and lose such a huge sum of money again. Does anyone know if departing early is a usual thing for socal charters? Am I missing something here?

Thanks again guys,
Karen

I've received calls late the night before, telling me weather is coming in or the destination has changed, and the boat will be leaving earlier than planned.

However - I got the call.

If the dive shop changed the plan and didn't tell you, its not your issue. You are not out the cash. If they try to stick you, call your credit card company - you're Visa's customer, not the dive shop.

That said, glad you had a good time on the Spectre. I'll be back on there next week.

---
Ken

 

[Empty V]

Hey Karen sorry you got Skunked by a dive op, that's pretty lame. I agree with Ken, if they didn't contact you it's their bad. If you don't mind, which shop was it?

Billy

 

[drbill]

Agree with Ken and Billy. I've had similar issues but only rarely.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Does anyone know if departing early is a usual thing for socal charters? Am I missing something here?

Orther than the boat, you missed nothing. Leaving early is NOT standard procedures.

Just so you know, I own a dive shop in town and have been chartering various boats for the past 20 years. We've always been known (even in our new store-less confirguartion) as doing more charters annually than any other single store in the area. We generally have a trip every other week.

On the one hand, we always advise people to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time to allow for unloading, signing in, parking, etc. Sounds like you did that, based on what you were told the departure time was.

At Reef Seekers, our policy is that - if we are missing someone and we haven't heard from them - we leave the dock five minutes AFTER the scheduled time, to avoid exactly the kind of complaint you're making right now. That way we can say, "We waited."

Assuming your dive was this past weekend, the weather conditions were perfect so there was no weather-related reason to leave the dock early. Assuming your dive was Sunday (since you referred to it as the "final day"), a check of the Bottom Scratcher website reveals the chartering store. Have you talked to them to find out what happened? Because I will add that if the trip was to Farnsworth, 6AM is the standard depature time and if they left at 6:15, it means they waited 15 minutes for you. Was this a Farnsworth/Catalina-backside trip? Is there any chance you simply got mixed up on the departure time?

For future reference, many of the boats (and the Bottom Scratcher is generally one) allow you to board the night before your trip so you don't have to worry about running late in the morning.

But to go back to your oroginal question, no, leaving early is not the norm. In fact boat captains usually ask, "Do you have everyone?"

- Ken

 

[peraevum]

Thanks, everyone. I didn't want to get all riled up without doing a gut-check first. The charter was actually for Saturday morning, and the people behind the Bottom Scratcher were nothing but helpful. I normally do not like to air out my dirty laundry like this, but in this case, I also don't want anyone else to get burned as such. The dive shop that ordered the Bottom Scratcher to leave early without calling us was Scuba Center Temecula.

Ken, good to know not all dive operators are haphazard like this.

At least this dive operation didn't leave thinking they had everyone on the boat! They knew full well they were leaving two people.

 

[tc]

Sorry you missed the trip.

I've DM'ed the Bottom Scratcher many times for another shop and just to clarify, when a shop has chartered the boat the boat crew generally does not know who is coming and relies on the charterer to let them know when it's OK to leave.

I've always done the same as Ken- If we were missing anyone they get spotted at least 5 or 10 minutes and I take a quick walk through the parking lot just to make sure. I have left early a few times- after ALL of the customers signed in.

 

[paradicio]

I've had a boat leave early, but (as others have said) this was after they made sure everyone was on board. If I were you I'd be asking that dive shop for a refund. Either they didn't let the crew know they were short people or they just screwed up. Either way, their end of the deal was not fulfilled and you should not be obligated to pay for a service you did not receive.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

The dive shop that ordered the Bottom Scratcher to leave early without calling us was Scuba Center Temecula.

I'll start off by saying, as a shop owner, I think what they did was wrong assuming the following two facts are correct (1) They left earlier than their intended/stated departure time, and (2) They knew you were on your way. That being said . . .

I checked the Scuba Center Temecula's website and here's what's stated for each of their trips for 2008 (and I assume was the same for 2007):

"Check in no later than 6 am on departure day. Sorry, no refunds if you miss the boat."

They make no mention of a departure time. But they're pretty clear about the check-in time and the consequences if you miss the boat. I'm sure this will be the answer you'll get when/if you try to talk to them.

Also consider that whoever you talked to the night before may not have been the same person who told the boat to leave on Saturday morning. The message that you were definitely coming may not have gotten through to that individual. And anyone who charters boats can recount experiences with people who the night before said "See you at 6AM" and then never showed up. It's a tough call for us because how long do you keep a boatload of people waiting who managed to get there on time?

I'm sure you feel that you're owed a refund. I'm sure they're going to feel that they're entitled to keep your money. Perhaps a good middle ground would be for them to use your money as a credit against a future trip with them, perhaps in the next six months or something like that.

So did you get to go diving Saturday? Who was the "boat behind the Bottom Scratcher" that was so helpful? Did you end up going out with them?

- Ken

 

[Codyjp]

checking in a full 1 hour early? It is common to request 1 hour prior, but to require it 'or else' is another. Knowing that I would have to show a full hour early or risk being left behind is enough to convince me to NOT charter with that dive shop (not the Bottom scratcher, they are a GREAT boat). All this being said I live about 10 minutes from the bottom scratcher.