WOODMAN
Contributor
Well, we just got back from our second Nekton trip, which was dedicated to the Cay Sal banks, and other than an inauspicious beginning and ending (neither of which had anything to do with Nekton), the trip was fine. The bad beginning was the airline, as some of you probably guessed. We flew Northwest/Delta non-stop from MSP down to Fort Lauderdale, and we checked three bags. The two big Armor bags with all our scuba gear made it just fine, but the duffle with all our clothes did not. We checked, and found out it had been sent to Detroit. They said, "No problem! It will be rerouted here and we can deliver it to you at midnight." "Not unless you deliver to the middle of the Caribbean", I said. They then backpedaled, and said they would ship it back to Minnesota and sit on it untill I returned next week. Best of a bad situation, I suppose.
So, we went out and told the Nekton pickup driver what had happened. I asked if she knew where we could get some cheap T shirts and stuff, and she then proceeded to drive us halfway around Fort Lauderdale looking for places to stock up on clothes. We eventually managed to put together a minimal wardrobe for both of us, and our angel delivered us to Las Olas, as planned. I tried to tip her for the above and beyond the call service, but she wouldn't take it, stating "my job is to help, Sir" Those who think Nekton's service is deteriorating can think about that for awhile.
Everything else went smoothly, and the trip went off mostly as planned. They were short a couple of hands, but you would never know it. Everyone, from the captain down to the night watch guy, was helpful and eager to please. This was the cook's first rotation on this boat, but again, you would never know it. He had many years of experience with dive boat cooking, and it showed. All meals were very good and plentiful, as is usual for Nekton. We had the usual Nekton problem with damp spots, but the one in our room was on the floor near the door, and stayed there and didn't cause any problems. The a/c was variable, but it was always nice down in our room. The water pressure was a little schizophrenic in our shower, but I didn't notice it anywhere else. Lots of room for cameras, as usual, which was good as there were a lot of cameras (as usual). I do wish they would add electric outlets of some kind by the camera tables, however, but that's an old complaint, and maybe not feasible?
As to the diving, it was pretty much all blue holes when we reached the Cay Sal, and the one site which I had been hoping for, (Damas Rocks) had to be switched for another blue hole due to wind and current conditions. Otherwise, the diving was great. Lots of sharks at Big Hole, as usual, although maybe not as many as I remember from last time?
Lobsters aplenty at Sistine Chapel, including a couple of shy spotted lobsters. Lionfish (the other white meat) were pretty much everywhere, but I didn't see a lot of them. A fair number of rays of various types, including one who snuck up on me and darn near gave me a kiss
. My wife was watching this one, and have you ever seen anyone nearly laugh her head off with a regulator in her mouth?
The weather was nice, with the obligatory couple of caribbean thunderstorms, which were raining buckets one minute and gone the next. Nice freshwater gear rinse, hmmm?
Unfortunately I developed a nasty broken wire in my Ikelite sync cord right where it attached to the housing, and if not for the kind and gracious loan of a spare cord from H2Ogal's husband, that would have stymied my photography. I finished the trip using only one strobe due to this, but that was sure better than nothing.:kiss2: (Unfortunately, somehow his lens dome on his big Ikelite/Nikon rig got knocked loose in the rinse tank, and the camera flooded.:mooner
Water temps were 85-87 degrees, and a lot of swimsuit only diving was going on. We used our skinsuits only, and felt no need for wetsuits. Water clarity was not so hot, [40-80 ft. most of the time] but about average for the area and time of year I guess. We started the last day with the traditional drift dive at Elbow cay, but this was rather deep (90-100 ft.), and it had a lot of us pushing deco way too soon. We finished up with the also traditional mooring at Water cay, and got to dive around the old airplane wreck (the only wreck of the trip) and also float around the idyllic little lagoon in the center of the island. Then, we all packed up and started the long run back to Florida. The photo contest was well represented, with a number of strong contenders, and an unbelievable macro shot of a glistening red night shrimp was the winner.
The trip back and departure from the boat were uneventful (except for the part about me slipping on the stairway going down to the departure deck and falling halfway down the darn thing.:shocked2 I must have climbed up and down that stair a hundred times before with no problems, but always in bare feet or scuba boots. This time it was in shoes, and I think that was what did it. Only 15 seconds from being off the boat. Luckily I only sustained a pulled muscle in my back, but it is still talking to me as I sit here writing this.:sad: Oh well, this could have been so much worse.
And that was not the inauspicious ending that I was referring to earlier. Oh no, that was Northwest/Delta again. We got to MSP okay, and when I went to the counter to retrieve my errant bag, they didn't have it.:shocked2: Apparently they sent it from Detroit down to Fort Lauderdale, and then it simply dropped off the radar. They had no idea what happened to it.
They told me to call corporate on monday, and we left pretty disgusted with the whole affair. We finally got home, and what do I find on my answering machine but about 4 messages from a courier service which had my bag here in Minneapolis and was trying to deliver it to me! And the Delta lost bag office at the airport had no clue of this! Anyway, the bag got delivered to us at about midnight, and the adventure came to a close. (Well, almost to a close- I'm still gonna go after Delta/Northwest for a refund on that 25 bucks I paid to have that bag sent to kingdom come and back, but that's for another day)
So, in conclusion, it was a great trip overall, and Nekton performed admirably. So now we are thinking about the next trip..... We'll keep you posted. Woody (and Judy)
So, we went out and told the Nekton pickup driver what had happened. I asked if she knew where we could get some cheap T shirts and stuff, and she then proceeded to drive us halfway around Fort Lauderdale looking for places to stock up on clothes. We eventually managed to put together a minimal wardrobe for both of us, and our angel delivered us to Las Olas, as planned. I tried to tip her for the above and beyond the call service, but she wouldn't take it, stating "my job is to help, Sir" Those who think Nekton's service is deteriorating can think about that for awhile. Everything else went smoothly, and the trip went off mostly as planned. They were short a couple of hands, but you would never know it. Everyone, from the captain down to the night watch guy, was helpful and eager to please. This was the cook's first rotation on this boat, but again, you would never know it. He had many years of experience with dive boat cooking, and it showed. All meals were very good and plentiful, as is usual for Nekton. We had the usual Nekton problem with damp spots, but the one in our room was on the floor near the door, and stayed there and didn't cause any problems. The a/c was variable, but it was always nice down in our room. The water pressure was a little schizophrenic in our shower, but I didn't notice it anywhere else. Lots of room for cameras, as usual, which was good as there were a lot of cameras (as usual). I do wish they would add electric outlets of some kind by the camera tables, however, but that's an old complaint, and maybe not feasible?As to the diving, it was pretty much all blue holes when we reached the Cay Sal, and the one site which I had been hoping for, (Damas Rocks) had to be switched for another blue hole due to wind and current conditions.
Otherwise, the diving was great. Lots of sharks at Big Hole, as usual, although maybe not as many as I remember from last time? Lobsters aplenty at Sistine Chapel, including a couple of shy spotted lobsters. Lionfish (the other white meat) were pretty much everywhere, but I didn't see a lot of them. A fair number of rays of various types, including one who snuck up on me and darn near gave me a kiss. My wife was watching this one, and have you ever seen anyone nearly laugh her head off with a regulator in her mouth? The weather was nice, with the obligatory couple of caribbean thunderstorms, which were raining buckets one minute and gone the next. Nice freshwater gear rinse, hmmm? Unfortunately I developed a nasty broken wire in my Ikelite sync cord right where it attached to the housing, and if not for the kind and gracious loan of a spare cord from H2Ogal's husband, that would have stymied my photography. I finished the trip using only one strobe due to this, but that was sure better than nothing.:kiss2: (Unfortunately, somehow his lens dome on his big Ikelite/Nikon rig got knocked loose in the rinse tank, and the camera flooded.:moonerWater temps were 85-87 degrees, and a lot of swimsuit only diving was going on. We used our skinsuits only, and felt no need for wetsuits. Water clarity was not so hot, [40-80 ft. most of the time] but about average for the area and time of year I guess. We started the last day with the traditional drift dive at Elbow cay, but this was rather deep (90-100 ft.), and it had a lot of us pushing deco way too soon. We finished up with the also traditional mooring at Water cay, and got to dive around the old airplane wreck (the only wreck of the trip) and also float around the idyllic little lagoon in the center of the island. Then, we all packed up and started the long run back to Florida. The photo contest was well represented, with a number of strong contenders, and an unbelievable macro shot of a glistening red night shrimp was the winner.
The trip back and departure from the boat were uneventful (except for the part about me slipping on the stairway going down to the departure deck and falling halfway down the darn thing.:shocked2
I must have climbed up and down that stair a hundred times before with no problems, but always in bare feet or scuba boots. This time it was in shoes, and I think that was what did it. Only 15 seconds from being off the boat. Luckily I only sustained a pulled muscle in my back, but it is still talking to me as I sit here writing this.:sad: Oh well, this could have been so much worse.And that was not the inauspicious ending that I was referring to earlier. Oh no, that was Northwest/Delta again. We got to MSP okay, and when I went to the counter to retrieve my errant bag, they didn't have it.:shocked2: Apparently they sent it from Detroit down to Fort Lauderdale, and then it simply dropped off the radar. They had no idea what happened to it.
They told me to call corporate on monday, and we left pretty disgusted with the whole affair. We finally got home, and what do I find on my answering machine but about 4 messages from a courier service which had my bag here in Minneapolis and was trying to deliver it to me! And the Delta lost bag office at the airport had no clue of this! Anyway, the bag got delivered to us at about midnight, and the adventure came to a close. (Well, almost to a close- I'm still gonna go after Delta/Northwest for a refund on that 25 bucks I paid to have that bag sent to kingdom come and back, but that's for another day) So, in conclusion, it was a great trip overall, and Nekton performed admirably. So now we are thinking about the next trip..... We'll keep you posted. Woody (and Judy)
