Worst dive trip ever!!

[BigWhiteSquare]

I'm a little late coming into this one, but I can tell everyone without reservation that Capt Tom runs a quality operation. I've always had a great time on his charters, but then again I wasn't expecting a lot of handholding either.

[gkim4107]

I know I am way late on this thread, but I have to agree with.. oh i dont know, just about everything scubapolly had to say... wait no I agree with everything

[herman]

I know I am way late on this thread, but I have to agree with.. oh i dont know, just about everything scubapolly had to say... wait no I agree with everything

Now that is scary! You have not heard some of the things I have heard her say.

[gkim4107]

hahaha, Im sure they cant ALL be bad

[cdiver2]

Should the dive op also have to go to every other board the OP felt like posting this on? Here, DEco Stop, Rebreather World, etc?

The boat captain here is also the owner. He's also the receptionist as the operation is just him and his divemaster.

Time spent on the internet is time taken away from running his boat and/or business. As El Orans wrote, the op is aware this. I'm quite certain that, if he felt the criticism were worthwhile, he would be on here explaining things.

As you say "Its just him and a DM" so the second crew member that was mentioned by another board member was fictitious. That means the original poster was correct when he stated a customer set the anchor?

[packman]

As you say "Its just him and a DM" so the second crew member that was mentioned by another board member was fictitious. That means the original poster was correct when he stated a customer set the anchor?

It's entirely possible that a customer set the hook for him. IIRC from one of the earlier comments in this thread, one of the people on that charter requested to set the hook for him. That's not entirely unheard of around here. Depending on the experience level of a diver and how well the captain knows them, they may request to set the hook and the captain may let them.

I can assure you that Capt Tom is not going to let someone from a group that's never been on his boat before to set the hook for him.

[RAD Diver]

It's entirely possible that a customer set the hook for him. IIRC from one of the earlier comments in this thread, one of the people on that charter requested to set the hook for him. That's not entirely unheard of around here. Depending on the experience level of a diver and how well the captain knows them, they may request to set the hook and the captain may let them.

I can assure you that Capt Tom is not going to let someone from a group that's never been on his boat before to set the hook for him.

I agree Bob, I have set & pulled the anchor for several dive ops that I dive with regularly.
Mostly on the smaller 6-pack type boats, but not always, Andy & I set the anchor for LDC when their DM hurt his back.
I don't need to wait for a DM to come back with a vis & temp report. I am diving no matter the conditions.
No WWW or 80/80 diver here.

[Debay777]

I personally havent dove with Spearit the dive op. But I have dove with the owner/capt on a few other dives. From what I have seen he is a cautious, careful, and safe diver. I have seen him go out of his way to insure that those that dove with him made it to the bottom, had a good time while down there, and then made darn sure they got back up with plenty of time left as well as air. I know he takes his family and his closest friends out diving which leads me to my final point.

Im a semi avid member of another forum. I may not attend many functions or gatherings but I keep a fairly good pulse on the core of the group. Many of this core group are some of the most "safety" minded and professional divers I have ever met. I have yet to hear from a single one of them that they would refuse to dive on the Spearit boat. In fact, many of the actual core members have been out with Spearit on multiple occasions. If the captain's family, friends, and fellow board members will dive on his boat, that, IMHO, says enough about his operation to label it "safe", reliable, and dependable.

[Tortuga James]

Dan...are you sure you are thinking about the right Captain/Owner? Spearit is Captain Tom Collins based on Topsail. Alot of what you say applies, his operation is certainly "safe, reliable, and dependable". Knowing what I know, I just got the feeling you might have him confused with someone else we both know.

[Tobagoman]

I didn't find out about Steves post about this dive trip until the other day and thought I should chime in about this trip since I was on it. For one, Steve started complaining before the boat even left the dock. There was nothing unusual about the trip out and the seas where not as bad as he made them sound. Yes, some of the other divers got sea sick as we were waiting to go down in a rocky boat, big deal it happens, get over it.

I'm the one who set the hook for the Captain, I've done it several times for him. The problem this time was that the swells were causing the line to surge and I could only get one tine of the hook into a crevass in the ledge, plus the anchor line was pulling along the length of the ledge. I wasn't sure it would hold, but after about 3 minutes of watching it and it hadn't dropped out, I tied off my reel and went about the dive. Yes, it did end up dropping out of the hole somehow, but that is one of the reasons we have lines attached to the anchor so we don't get separated or lost from it. When it started dragging (at a very slow rate) I was able to reel in my line and easily catch up to the anchor. In fact as it was dragging I was able to swim away from it at times and pick up teeth and swim back to it. On this kind of bottom, this can happen from time to time, again, NO BIG DEAL!

Everyone made it back to the anchor except one individual, and it was a mistake on his part coupled with the dragging anchor that ended with him doing a free accent.

I was to blame for telling the Captain that I thought the diver was below me. I didn't realize that the dive mates deco bottle was hanging below the boat on a line still and that is what I had seen in the murk. I did say I wasn't positive, and they continued to look for bubbles and the diver. it was while we were all looking that his sausage was spotted. There was no problem getting over to him and picking him up and he wasn't upset about the situation.

Steve had been grumbling the entire time about every little thing, making small remarks about the boat and its crew. He finally pushed too much when he made a derogatory comment about the achor type and the Captain and mate called him on it, this during the attempt to set the anchor for the second dive when tensions were a little high. When the Captain told him they had to use a hook because of the bottom type and ledge, he made another derogatory remark/gesture behind the Captains back that the mate saw, and this is where the mate put him in his place, rightfully so in my mind.

I have been diving with this Captain for years and he runs a very good charter. I don't know what this guy Steve's problem is, but he is not someone I would feel safe diving with or even want to be around due to his attitude.

I have found out also that Steve is a snitch and reported the Captains use of a trailer to transfer his fuel to the boat for filling, which resulted in him having to rebuild his trailer. That to me is just spiteful and low (Plus I think snitches are the lowest form of life!) .

I recommend Captain Tom's SpearIt Charters to anyone who wants to spearfish or fossil dive off of North Carolina and stick by that recommendation!