Marlinspike
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Recently there have been several threads (or maybe it was just posts) about diving in NC. Last week I had the pleasure of diving again with Discovery and the displeasure of diving with Pelican Divers.
Here is the breakdown:
I spent the first half of the week with my family at the beach in Emerald Isle. It was absolutely beautiful. We all had a great time.
Wednesday
Clouds start to roll in and the seas kick up a bit. 3 friends of mine, all experienced divers with Rescue Certification or higher arrive to dive Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We had planned for offshore dives but this IS North Carolina and we all are well aware of how quickly conditions change. The weather starts to look unpleasant for the rest of the week. Oh well, whatever.
Thursday
We arrive at Discovery in Beaufort at around 7 AM and load up aboard the SeaQuest II. Captain Jerry Smith tells us precisely what we can expect. The seas are rough and there is no precise way of telling at that point what we will or will not be able to dive. He will try to take us out but we may have to turn back. Sure enough, we are plowing through huge waves and turn back after about 2 or 3 miles. The ride was fun, but getting back on the ladder was not going to be any fun at all.
Friday
We arrive at Discovery at around 7 again and this time load up aboard the Outrageous V. Again we will attempt a dive but there is no guarantee it will be offshore. We do manage to get out. It is rough and a few people feel a bit queasy but nobody gets really sick. We only manage to get out to the INDRA (70 FSW artificial wreck) and encounter a bit of surge and about 20-35 foot vis. I saw several large barracuda and a monkfish (in addition to all the other usual creatures). After one dive the captain begins to take a vote on who wants to do another dive on the same wreck, a different wreck further inshore, or who wants to head back for a partial refund. He is clear about not wanting to keep us out in the rough stuff just to make money, but is perfectly willing if the majority want to do another dive. After a bit of inter-diver politics a majority forms and we head back to shore when conditions at the second wreck are no better.
Saturday
Olympus and Discovery are booked for the weekend and we decide to give Pelican Divers a shot. It is one of the few dive operators on the NC coast that at least one of us has not tried before because of what we have heard. We arrive at 6 am, the time we were told to be there, only to not be allowed on the boat for another 20 minutes because the capt is not there yet or something. This is where it started.
People keep arriving. More divers. More people. There were 16 divers, plus the crew of 3 and 2 non-divers aboard the 45 foot boat. The only dry place on the boat was below, and that was quickly taken over by the crew and people who seemed to be their friends. Everyone else had to sit where they could or stand. This included being practically on top of one another and sitting on other people's gear. There was a definite lack of space and tanks even had to be stored forward of rear deck where all our gear was. There were tanks almost as far forward as the not-even-nearly-high-enough pilothouse. Those of us with Pony bottles or bailout bottles couldn't really gear up unless the guy to either side was in the water with his gear. I am usually the first guy in the water but there was no way I could gear up with everyone else still putting on their wetsuits everywhere.
The diver area was covered with canvas that never really kept the spray out but did create a vacuum effect that sucked all the diesel exhaust back into the boat. The crew was helpful really only when taking our fins off for us and handing out water to the 10+ people that puked their heads out.
During our surface interval the captain gave us no indication if we would move to another site or even dive again at all that day. The crew went spear fishing while we all sat there and wondered. During this anchored portion of the trip people began to puke. Not just 1 or 2 but almost everyone who was not crew. Still no word from anyone on what would happen next. The crew speared a flounder or grouper, rumored to be below legal size, and rumored to have been hidden in a cooler. I did not see it.
Here is where the crew really acted dubiously in my book. Clearly most people wanted to head back. There was a CLEAR majority here. The Captain, instead tells us that as long as 1 diver wants to make a second dive we will ALL HAVE TO WAIT AT ANCHOR, seasick or not. No majority votes like on Olympus or Discovery. No partial refunds like Olympus or Discovery for either not getting 2 dives in or not going offshore, even though that is what we paid for.
Sure enough, one lawyer dude who had been pitching his unsolicited services to another diver on the way out wanted to dive again. 5 people in all did the second dive (out of 16). It seemed some people dove again, just to not stay in the boat. All 5 of them came up on the Olympus instead of our boat. it wasn't like the anchor lines were not CLEARLY TAGGED with the boats name or anything...sheesh.
Incidentally, the Olympus was also clearly not rocking as much as the Pelican and nobody seemed to be puking on that boat. In fact, while we were projectile vomiting, they were having lunch on the other boat. None of those in my group usually gets seasick but this was a notable exception.
Conclusion:
Once again I was impressed by Discovery Diving Co and really appreciated the size and layout of both Discovery's boats and the Olympus having been on the Pelican in the same seas. The Pelican is an inadequate dive platform for more than 8 or 9 divers at a time (some in my group said 6) and not stable in anything but the calmest North Carolina conditions. Most divers had trouble with the ladder. People on the larger Olympus seemed to have no trouble. We will not dive with them again unless they adopt business practices similar to Discovery or Olympus and start letting on no more divers than they actually have room for.
~Marlinspike
Here is the breakdown:
I spent the first half of the week with my family at the beach in Emerald Isle. It was absolutely beautiful. We all had a great time.
Wednesday
Clouds start to roll in and the seas kick up a bit. 3 friends of mine, all experienced divers with Rescue Certification or higher arrive to dive Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We had planned for offshore dives but this IS North Carolina and we all are well aware of how quickly conditions change. The weather starts to look unpleasant for the rest of the week. Oh well, whatever.
Thursday
We arrive at Discovery in Beaufort at around 7 AM and load up aboard the SeaQuest II. Captain Jerry Smith tells us precisely what we can expect. The seas are rough and there is no precise way of telling at that point what we will or will not be able to dive. He will try to take us out but we may have to turn back. Sure enough, we are plowing through huge waves and turn back after about 2 or 3 miles. The ride was fun, but getting back on the ladder was not going to be any fun at all.
Friday
We arrive at Discovery at around 7 again and this time load up aboard the Outrageous V. Again we will attempt a dive but there is no guarantee it will be offshore. We do manage to get out. It is rough and a few people feel a bit queasy but nobody gets really sick. We only manage to get out to the INDRA (70 FSW artificial wreck) and encounter a bit of surge and about 20-35 foot vis. I saw several large barracuda and a monkfish (in addition to all the other usual creatures). After one dive the captain begins to take a vote on who wants to do another dive on the same wreck, a different wreck further inshore, or who wants to head back for a partial refund. He is clear about not wanting to keep us out in the rough stuff just to make money, but is perfectly willing if the majority want to do another dive. After a bit of inter-diver politics a majority forms and we head back to shore when conditions at the second wreck are no better.
Saturday
Olympus and Discovery are booked for the weekend and we decide to give Pelican Divers a shot. It is one of the few dive operators on the NC coast that at least one of us has not tried before because of what we have heard. We arrive at 6 am, the time we were told to be there, only to not be allowed on the boat for another 20 minutes because the capt is not there yet or something. This is where it started.
People keep arriving. More divers. More people. There were 16 divers, plus the crew of 3 and 2 non-divers aboard the 45 foot boat. The only dry place on the boat was below, and that was quickly taken over by the crew and people who seemed to be their friends. Everyone else had to sit where they could or stand. This included being practically on top of one another and sitting on other people's gear. There was a definite lack of space and tanks even had to be stored forward of rear deck where all our gear was. There were tanks almost as far forward as the not-even-nearly-high-enough pilothouse. Those of us with Pony bottles or bailout bottles couldn't really gear up unless the guy to either side was in the water with his gear. I am usually the first guy in the water but there was no way I could gear up with everyone else still putting on their wetsuits everywhere.
The diver area was covered with canvas that never really kept the spray out but did create a vacuum effect that sucked all the diesel exhaust back into the boat. The crew was helpful really only when taking our fins off for us and handing out water to the 10+ people that puked their heads out.
During our surface interval the captain gave us no indication if we would move to another site or even dive again at all that day. The crew went spear fishing while we all sat there and wondered. During this anchored portion of the trip people began to puke. Not just 1 or 2 but almost everyone who was not crew. Still no word from anyone on what would happen next. The crew speared a flounder or grouper, rumored to be below legal size, and rumored to have been hidden in a cooler. I did not see it.
Here is where the crew really acted dubiously in my book. Clearly most people wanted to head back. There was a CLEAR majority here. The Captain, instead tells us that as long as 1 diver wants to make a second dive we will ALL HAVE TO WAIT AT ANCHOR, seasick or not. No majority votes like on Olympus or Discovery. No partial refunds like Olympus or Discovery for either not getting 2 dives in or not going offshore, even though that is what we paid for.
Sure enough, one lawyer dude who had been pitching his unsolicited services to another diver on the way out wanted to dive again. 5 people in all did the second dive (out of 16). It seemed some people dove again, just to not stay in the boat. All 5 of them came up on the Olympus instead of our boat. it wasn't like the anchor lines were not CLEARLY TAGGED with the boats name or anything...sheesh.
Incidentally, the Olympus was also clearly not rocking as much as the Pelican and nobody seemed to be puking on that boat. In fact, while we were projectile vomiting, they were having lunch on the other boat. None of those in my group usually gets seasick but this was a notable exception.
Conclusion:
Once again I was impressed by Discovery Diving Co and really appreciated the size and layout of both Discovery's boats and the Olympus having been on the Pelican in the same seas. The Pelican is an inadequate dive platform for more than 8 or 9 divers at a time (some in my group said 6) and not stable in anything but the calmest North Carolina conditions. Most divers had trouble with the ladder. People on the larger Olympus seemed to have no trouble. We will not dive with them again unless they adopt business practices similar to Discovery or Olympus and start letting on no more divers than they actually have room for.
~Marlinspike
