Stoo
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An operator who has one of his skiffs sink on him for no apparent reason with thousands of dollars worth of customers' gear is more than things going sideways or being quirky.
I am just back from my forth consecutive year at the Hideaway, and perhaps my 15th trip diving with John the owner... all the previous ones being on his liveaboard the MV Clavella. I led a group of 12 there and I think it's fair to say that with one possible exception, everyone had an amazing time. (The one less-than-thrilled was only because he had a sinus infection and missed most of the diving.) We also lost 2 full days of diving when the remnants of a hurricane came calling. The weather buoy that is north of the Hideaway, and in the open ocean, was reporting 11m/36' waves, with 2m/6' "chop" and winds gusting to 90 knots. Fortunately, we were adequately provisioned with rum.
So let me address some of the comments... True to form, the Hideaway is Rustic, with a capital R. When I was "promoting" my little expedition, I told people to think of it as camping on a raft, but with indoor plumbing and showers. It's better than that, because the beds are decent, with down duvets and plenty of blankets. The food is good "homestyle" cooking. There was lots of it and it was very good, but basic. Again, the remoteness limits some options of course, but I certainly didn't feel I was missing out on anything.
I also encouraged people to pack a sense of humour, because there is always the potential for things to go "sideways" as someone put it. A generator can go down, or a compressor or the boat can die, but in all my years diving with John's operations, I can honestly say I've never missed a dive because of something going wonky. (These two down-days from weather were also the only two days I've missed due to weather.) This past week, nothing went "sideways". My only complaint was that we only got three dives in per day, rather than the four we had done the previous years. The only reason for this was that we had a group of 12 which was frankly two many. It takes too long to get everyone in and out of the water and to fill tanks. We took five "K's of O2 out with us for rebreathers and nitrox... Not something I would bother with again I don't think. It really isn't necessary.
The diving was spectacular as always. As were the surface intervals (orcas, sea lions, seals (living on the rafts), wolves (out the back door, perhaps 50m away), bald eagles etc. John is National Geographic's "go to" guy when they're up that way and indeed, a week there is a bit like it must be like living in the pages of that magazine.
Regarding the accident with the skiff, there is another side of the story. I was told by John that there were four late arrivals for that trip. He had already packed and tarped the skiff. While he was tending to other business, the late arrivals showed up and loaded their gear into the bow of the skiff and retarped it, which changed the trim on the boat. They were local guys, so their gear included tanks and lead. When they were out in the open, the water was rough. At one point, another larger boat passed them. John turned into the wake appropriately, and the skiff, now somewhat bow heavy, was slow to turn, and as a result it took on some water, then more, and finally it swamped and capsized. Whatever wasn't tied in, got lose. If it floated, it was recovered. It it didn't, it wasn't. It's my understanding that virtually everyone who lost gear had it insured, but John covered the cost of their deductible. One or possibly two people didn't have their gear insured and expected him to cover the total cost of their loss. I don't personally think that that's reasonable. An airline wouldn't do it, why would someone expect a small operation like John's? Anyone who travels should have their gear insured, just as they should have travel insurance. It was an unfortunate accident, but sometimes stuff happens.
As I mentioned above, I've not stayed at God's Pocket but from what I hear, it's very nice and the owners are pretty knowledgeable about the area as well. I did notice that there boat is open and given the frequent rain there, I think something with a roof is a good idea...
I have another group heading back on the first week of October, 2016. We're half full already, so if you're interested in coming, send me a note here or on FB.
Here's a link to some shots from my last trip or two: https://wetspot.smugmug.com/British-Columbia/
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