MV Paisabatu II Reviews

[Xscream100]

Hi. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has been on the MV Paisabatu II cruising the Sangihe Islands. I'm considering a trip with them next year. Thanks.

 

[highdesert]

We'll be aboard Jerome's boat in October, and I'll post a report when we're back. Most of his clients are French and German, and I couldn't find an English trip report anywhere. He gave me the e-mail address of two Americans, whom I wrote to, and got positive reports back. Only negative issue was hard beds, but they recommended the boat, the dive operation, the food, and the experience in general, and would do it again.

Standard day is 4 dives. On our 11-day trip, 3 transit days only allow 3 dives. No AC, and hot water "may" be installed by October. Meals on the aft deck, which has side curtains to lower in case of rain. Battery power at anchor, which means no generator running all the time. Outlets for charging available.

Jerome was very good about answering my e-mails, and I did send a bunch of questions as I thought of them. Payment is by cash at time of trip, or if in advance, by bank transfer, which I am no fan of given its expense (and the fact that Indo banks aren't so hot about tracking them).

Sorry I can't tell you more!

 

[Xscream100]

Thanks for the great response. It appears that the boat does not have a desalinater. Do you know if it has Nitrox?

 

[highdesert]

No idea on either. If she's not running a generator at anchor, it's probably unlikely that she's making water (my guess). And we've been fine doing 4 x 60 min dives on air on liveaboards without any problems, so haven't inquired about Nitrox ... but I'm betting "no" on that one too.

PS - No mention here of desalinator or EAN equipment ....
http://www.wallacea-divecruise.com/boat.html
... and she is carrying 6500 liters/1717 gallons water.

 

[Xscream100]

I'm pretty sure if they had a desalinater and EAN, they'd make it obvious. I've been on boats (e.g., the Komodo Dancer) where some divers were on air and others on Nitrox. On the Komodo Dancer, a BSAC certified diver with over 800 dives went into deco on air. He was a photographer focused on his subjects, not his bottom time. Luckily for him, he had barely enough air to do his deco stops. All the other divers had already gone to the surface but could see him hanging out below. We had a good laugh and teased the hell out of him (and by inference, all BSAC divers) but it could have ended differently. We Nitrox divers had plenty of bottom time left.

 

[Xscream100]

Forgot to mention, I hope the boat refills the water tanks during the trip. 6500 liters between 10 divers and crew over 11 days has to be used very sparingly.

 

[highdesert]

He was a photographer focused on his subjects, not his bottom time. Luckily for him, he had barely enough air to do his deco stops.

And this is a problem with air? Sounds more like an inattentive (or incompetent) diver issue. Also, if he was a rec diver aboard the Dancer, why was he doing a dive that required deco stops?

 

[Xscream100]

Didn't mean to suggest there's a problem with air, per se. In this case, the problem was a diver who got careless and went into deco. As you probably know, most liveaboards, including the Komodo Dancer, don't allow deco diving.

What I did mean to say is that Nitrox gives you more bottom time which can be useful in certain situations. To your point, it's not necessary or even useful in some cases.