Picton, Ontario Dive Operation

[diverjed]

My scheduled trip to Picton, Ont 's 'Duck's Dive Operation' was recently cancelled due to apparent issues they were having with the Canadian Coast Guard.

Any Ontario Natives have any further insight into what is going on with this?

[D M I]

Hello

I'm also running my own zodiac dive charter out Picton and Perhaps its an issue with there boat meeting commercial occupancy boat standards the same stuff all the boats in Toby and Brockville had to meet one year ago. I personally don't know them but perhaps if you call them they may given you the answers your seeking.I use zodiacs to stay out of that expensive mess.

Cheers

D M I

[wetman]

DMI,

Whats the difference with zodiacs as opposed to the bigger boats regulation wise? Just curious.

steve

[diverjed]

It was arranged through a LDS. They're re-routing us up to Brockville now.

[Tom R]

D M I once bubbled...
Hello

I'm also running my own zodiac dive charter out Picton and Perhaps its an issue with there boat meeting commercial occupancy boat standards the same stuff all the boats in Toby and Brockville had to meet one year ago. I personally don't know them but perhaps if you call them they may given you the answers your seeking.I use zodiacs to stay out of that expensive mess.

Cheers

D M I

I think you may want to check the regulations there, if your running a commercial operation, you will have to comply with a lot of the regulations, Life Jackets, Fire Extinguishers, First Aid kits, etc. Your Zodiac becomes a commercial operations the second people are under the conception that the're paying for something, whether it be gas, instruction or charter fees. I was at the meetings they held this winter and received this first hand.

Tom

[Chet]

The advantage of a zodiac is it meets all construction and already has a persons number associated with it. Zodiac's have the ability to take alot of passengers. As for safy equipment(extinguishers, flares) that is the same for all boats in that class. As for the size if the vessel, if it is under 5 gross tons and you do not carry more then 12 passengers you have to meet safty regs. and do not need papers. This may change in the future. A zodiac with a 12 passenger rating meets all specs. before it is put in the water. The cost of this would be huge.
The problem with this whole charter thing is it is mostly made of of weekend warriors who think they can make a buck with a boat on the cheap. NOOOOP. Also TC have not figured out what exactly to do with vessels under 15 gross tons, they will.
If I had the money 30ft hurricane class zodiac with 4 stokes on the back. Metro marine unit paid $400,000 + for theirs.
Be Safe
Chet

[D M I]

Hello

Thanks for the advice, but its all taken care of. Zodiacs are required like any vessel to carry the basic life saving equipment and are manufactured with in governments DOT standards. The government and coast guard are after those boats which have been custom made and or altered from there original design and now do not comply and are being used as commercial dive boats. Believe me guys I've been through all that crap with other dive boats in Brockville that I've dove and worked off of and it all old news, but there are always a few who do not comply or care to and sooner or later they get inspected and shut down until the boat is brought up to standards, and I believe the grandfathering in process is now over.


D M I

[DIZZY]

Wow....That's too bad. I'm sure it's just an other hoop. They have spent so much time and money getting that boat up to what the CC wants. I can't believe what they have had to go through. That boat has got to be one of the safest out there. If it's rough out on the lake....I think of the M R Duk.
I wish Duck's all the best !

[scuba-punk]

I dove with George and Susan last year and IMHO, they are some of the best operators I have ever been with. They are very safe, they have a large comfortable boat and they couldn't be nicer people. It's almost painful how nice they are. I hope for their sake, that they can get whatever issues resolved quickly. Our LDS had a trip scheduled over US Labor Day that had to be re-planned for the Brockville area. Best of luck to them...

-Frank =-)

[snuggle]

i had the pleasure of meeting susan about a month ago and your right on that shes very nice indeed..i wish them the best,im sure that things will work out just fine for them..

[taz22]

scubapunk-17055 once bubbled...
I dove with George and Susan last year and IMHO, they are some of the best operators I have ever been with. They are very safe, they have a large comfortable boat and they couldn't be nicer people. It's almost painful how nice they are. I hope for their sake, that they can get whatever issues resolved quickly. Our LDS had a trip scheduled over US Labor Day that had to be re-planned for the Brockville area. Best of luck to them...

-Frank =-)

Are you coming back to Brockville Frank?

If you've got any time available apart from your LDS schedule let me know and maybe we can get a dive in!

Cheers!

[scuba-punk]

I'm looking into taking the DIR-Fundamentals class this fall, so that would kill off the last of my vacation for the year. I am thinking about possible doing a DRIVE-DIVE-DRIVE weekend with some friends in October - that way I won't need to use any more vacation (of which I have none). If that happens, I'll let you know.

-Frank =-)

[Tom R]

There's one in Ottawa and Kingston in the Fall, as well as the one running today.

Tom

[scuba-punk]

...but, I'll probably take it from Bob Sherwood in New York. It's a close drive and I spoke to him on the phone recently. Seems like a really cool guy - then I remembered that I met him at Beneath the Sea this year too. Looking forward to seeing how low my bar is set.

-Frank =-)

[Tom R]

Bobs, a good guy. Enjoy the course.

Tom

[DivingGal]

diverjed once bubbled...
My scheduled trip to Picton, Ont 's 'Duck's Dive Operation' was recently cancelled due to apparent issues they were having with the Canadian Coast Guard.

Any Ontario Natives have any further insight into what is going on with this?

When was it cancelled? I was out them a couple weekends ago.

The only issue I am aware of is that they were not running their second boat (I'm not sure why) -- Mr Duck, the larger one is still running.

[sparky30]

I just got my boat in the water and I was considering running charters....After looking into the requirements I decided not to.. At least for now.. A few of the fishing and dive charter operators in my marina got a visit from TC in recent weeks. Apparently they are moving up all their inspection schedules. Since a lot of the boats are not 100% up to par and/or some of the captains are not licensed, I suspect that a few boats might get shut down. I also think that the increased cost of getting the boat up to commercial standards, insurance, crew licensing, etc will drive up the charter rates... Then again, when its all over, its nice to know that your charter operator is a licensed captain and the boat has been inspected. I looked at getting my limited masters certificate, but my stumbling block was the 2 months of sea time on a vessel of similar size performing similar work. I don't know of any licensed captains on my side of the lake.. The only one I know is in Kingston :) I'm still talking to TC about getting the time on my own boat credited towards my sea time.

[diverjed]

scubapunk-17055 once bubbled...
I dove with George and Susan last year and IMHO, they are some of the best operators I have ever been with. They are very safe, they have a large comfortable boat and they couldn't be nicer people. It's almost painful how nice they are. I hope for their sake, that they can get whatever issues resolved quickly. Our LDS had a trip scheduled over US Labor Day that had to be re-planned for the Brockville area. Best of luck to them...

-Frank =-)

I think you're with me, Lancaster Scuba Center? If so I'll be seeing you.

[Butch103]

.....Their skipper of the second boat left them around the beginning of August, and therefore have had to cancel some charters as they are now dbl booked.