Looking for divers to share a West Palm Beach Drift Wreck Charter April 2019

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Just curious, what makes this a private charter? Seems like a regular cattle boat trip to the wrecks...

It's a private charter because I booked the boat for the day for my small group and am looking to add some additional divers. So perhaps a better word for it might be "a private charter open to a few more divers"? I figure by the time we're done with a few back and forth group emails we're all going to know each other anyway. I've already had some back and forth with a couple of the divers who responded and they may join us on other diving that week.

The boat holds a maximum of 12 divers. I don't consider that to be a cattleboat, your mileage may vary.

Also the tanks are steel 100s for longer bottom times- I didn't put that in the initial offering and I can't edit it.
 
Just curious, what makes this a private charter? ..
I know FSC and Captain Dustin also. The 3 key differences between a private charter and a regular scheduled trip is both :

*) Times - Departure, return, travel time, & surface interval times, Within reason-It is the group leader that tells/negotiates with the captain when to leave, when to return, how long the bottom time will be and how long the surface interval will be. For example, the drop site is very small. Instead of doing a full 40 minutes of bottom time, the group agrees to 15 minutes, on surface at 20, and no less than 2100 psi. Thereby potentially getting in 6 drops on his 3 tank trip. For spearo's this is very advantageous since if you can't find a fish to harvest in 10 minutes on a tug boat wreck, screw it - we're outta here to the next drop.

*) Drop sites - @caruso drops in on his 1st wreck- The Danny and the current is just screaming at 3 knots. His captain Dustin, calls me on the radio since he knows I'm 4 miles north but in 105 feet deep and asks me howz current on my dives?. The group leader can change the original list of wreck sites and move up towards me since current is only a knot & a half instead of going south as originally agreed.

*) Passengers - On a private trip divers like to have similar experience, training, and objectives. The group leader is responsible for "vetting" the other divers. He wouldn't want to put a 10 dive/new BOW/ air diver with his AOW & EAN divers. After researching his prospects he can always just say "Boat's Full, but I'll let you know " if they don't meet his requirements. This is much more common on tech trips and you start asking what equipment they have and who have they dove with so you can check there references with a phone call.

Within reason,,on a private trip the group leader makes the decisions on when and where. The captain usually just has a "Veto" vote ---which can be sometimes over-ruled with more $$$$$. That never happens on a regularly scheduled trip.
 
I'd love to join but I'm banned from Dustin's boat :poke:
 
Whatever the reason is, it's nothing to be ashamed of. We all make mistakes. I bet if you apologize to Dustin for your transgression he will reconsider.
 
I didn't make a mistake. I called him out on his crap and he banned me. Captain ZipTie has a bit of an anger management problem IMO.
 
I didn't make a mistake. I called him out on his crap and he banned me. Captain ZipTie has a bit of an anger management problem IMO.

I got banned from a local dive boat once. I said the same thing about the captain who banned me. Then I got over it.
 
I got banned from a local dive boat once. I said the same thing about the captain who banned me. Then I got over it.
Why were you banned...now that you're over it?
 
Why were you banned...now that you're over it?

I found out during the pre-dive briefing before we left the dock that the Captain decided to change the destination to a wreck I had dived many times before and was not interested in diving again. Not because of the weather or conditions but because he either felt like it or decided it was better for the divers that were on the boat that day because it was relatively shallow at about 60' compared to the somewhat deeper wreck we were scheduled for, which was about 95' or so. It was also a shorter ride meaning less gas and back at the dock sooner. I told him I wasn't interested in doing this dive and started packing up my gear and he said "Fine, Bye!" or something like that. This Captain was a no nonsense tough ex military guy who would stick his large knife into the wooden bench and put handcuffs on it and say if he catches anyone doing illegal drugs they'd be wearing those cuffs. He wasn't one to be told what to do and he had a chip on his shoulder towards me since that day.

On a subsequent dive he decided I broke the boat rules by getting too close to my girlfriend as she was climbing the ladder after the dive. I was below but alongside the ladder trying to help but this is not allowed on Howard Kleins boat so when I called to book another dive he told me I was "off the list". I was like "really, just for that?". His answer was relatively noncommital but I recall thinking "I know what this is about". He softened up during the conversation and said something like "you can try me another time but you gotta follow my rules". He retired the following year so it never happened.

Aren't you glad you asked?

*** Still have a few spots available for the April trip ***
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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