Peace Dive Boat July 4-6 Any Scubaboarders Going?

My wife and I have booked our first trip to experience Calif. diving. Coming from Florida, this should be quite a treat.

We booked on the Peace, which is hitting Catalina, Santa Barbara, Anacapa and Santa Cruz on July 4-5-6. Sounds like a perfect sampler for us.

Any fellow scubaboarders going? It is 1/2 open boat and 1/2 booked by a shop called Aloha Divers.

Always like to meet new diving friends to show around if you ever get over to Florida!

Anyone who has been on the Peace before, let us know your experience though it seems almost everyone really likes that boat.

Guy

The Peace is a nice boat with a great crew and really good food. Just make sure you realize what it is as a liveaboard, bunks with curtains and two small bathrooms on deck. But it should have everything you need. Two or three large garbage cans are used for camera rinse tanks. A small camera area in the galley area but it has a ton of electrical outlets. Self serve soda machine, coffee and hot water for tea or hot chocolate. It has the best mask rinse I've ever seen, a small sink at each gate with running water cycling through. Large rolling bags can fit along each side and the bow. I was on it Sunday and realized I really like the ladder from the swim step lots of convenient handholds. The crew will remove your fins on the swim step which I prefer, at my age in warm water and thin suits I'm more than flexible to do it myself but in a 7mm or drysuit I admit it's easier to come up on the swim step on my knees and have the crew remove my fins. Nitrox is available. Large flat center console at the dive deck is great for storing cameras between dives. Earplugs help for sleeping if the boat moves at night. They supply a pillow and blanket in the bunk but I always bring a pillow case (because who knows when they washed it), a sheet to go over the plastic covered sleeping pad and a sleeping bag, but you would be fine with their blankets. I bring headphones to listen to music on my phone during the night before sleeping. The bunks have a small light but a small flashlight also helps.

You should have a good trip and a good sample of SoCal diving.

^^^ What he said. Also, just because it is summer does not mean the water will be warm. Mid 50's are possible in July especially at the northern islands. So how confortable are you in heavy exposure protection? If you get a chance to try out whatever you will be wearing out here before you come, do so. Buoyancy issues are one of the most frequent problems new to California divers have.

Just remind us again when the time gets close. I may be able to make it but I am not sure yet.

Oh, I wish I COULD join you! I absolutely adore the Peace boat and her crew. Yes, you are in bunks, but they have the thickest, softest polarfleece blankets . . . and the food is both plentiful and delicious, although my beloved chef Joe has departed. Eric and the crew know the sites and know their divers. They are very helpful and strongly safety-minded.

The boat works very well as a diving platform, and the reboarding is ridiculously simple, at least if you are capable of letting the waves wash you up on the swim step to sprawl on your belly. Even I find that easy

The diving in the Channel Islands is fabulous. Be prepared for the fact that the boat puts no one in the water with you -- you have to listen to the briefing and navigate the site yourself. Be sure to follow the anchor ALL THE WAY DOWN, and make careful note of the topography where it lies, including structure and depth. You will have to find it again on your way back, and being from Seattle and used to live boat charters, I found that difficult at first.

This sounds great! We have 7 mil semi drys with hood and 3 mil boots and gloves. We have already dialed in tbe weight. We are used to navigation dives from an anchored boat. The facilities sound fine for my camera rig. Really looking forward to this.

Keep the info coming!