Safety Concerns on Blackbeard's for Recent Sailors?

[scuba_guy62]

Hi everyone and yes I have read many of the posts regarding Blackbeard's cruises. I have done a cruise with them albeit a few years ago. I am probably going to book a cruise at the end of April with a workmate but had a concern raised by an email that was sent to the Dive/Travel company I usually book with. I am still waiting for a copy of the email and what resolve if any Blackbeard's has come to regarding the issues raised. The crux of the concerns seemed to revolve around boat maintenance and air quality (possibly some carbon monoxide poisoning below decks) while the boat was in port at the end of the sail. There also seemed to be some issues regarding the handling of the emergent nature of the incident. I realize this is scant information and will post more complete info. if and when I get the full details. My main question is for those who have sailed within the last few weeks on Blackbeard's boats and your impressions of the maintenance and overall condition of the boats. I know that the boats are tight on living space and the whole camping on the high seas analogy but as I have stated my reservations about making a reservation (couldn't help myself there) center around maintenance and safety. I really haven't found many bad reviews on any forum regarding the operation and thought or assumed that since they operate out of the United States that they would have to meet fairly stringent safety standards and compliance with US Coast Guard regs. Any thoughts or input from RECENT sailors would be appreciated and what boat you sailed on. thanks.

 

[scuba_guy62]

An update to the original post...with some more information that sheds new light on the concerns raised. I will start with the response I have received from my dive/travel company regarding the issue they brought to my attention.

Morning, John!
Blackbeards owner will be in later this morning, and I will be discussing the letter with her.
seems the owners never saw the original faxed letter (sent in Jan) .
Now, they have it (Mar 24) with time to review and I will discuss with them today.

There is a new Privacy Act in Canada,which is meant to protect the individuals information.
Companies are specially at risk for divulging client information -which is why I cannot forward that email.
However, I will restate the problems encountered ,and the Blackbeards' reply when I have spoken to the owners.

I just spoke to one of the Blackbeard owners and did a follow up on the trip report of Dec 18-24.

priority; Maintenance problems
the captain stated that the trip was plagued with maintenance problems.
They had a new engineer but, they did what they could.

All of the boats have twice yearly overhauls required by law and inspected by the coast guard.
This boat was due for dry dock maintenance Jan 01 .
and, she was in dry dock for repairs- 4 weeks.

they had a Dec 26 sailing for the New Years' -so they worked on the boat Dec 24 and 25-thru the day and night to get it ready for the short trip.
Loading of the supplies had to be done the Dec 24,as Christmas day everything is closed.
Trip reports from that week were good.

The maintenance problems were a huge contribution to the disappointing outcome of the trip.
They believe that this has been rectified,and future bookings will not be affected .

Let me know if you have any questions on this.

So it seems to me that what I read on this forum and other sites bears out what I suspected. Boats do experience wear and tear and with a proper maintenance cycle most problems can be averted.
I would think that any decisions made during the trip seemed reasonable to the Captain at the time and I should think Blackbeard's places passenger safety over profits.
My own experience diving and travelling is that everyone has differing perceptions on quality and enjoyment and how emergency situations are handled. I am now looking forward to booking a couple of berths on a late April cruise and appreciate both my travel company and Blackbeard's for a quick handling of my concerns. I do wonder though why there was such a big lag in follow up but will accept that the company was unaware of the concerns or that perhaps there was only the one complaint.
Hope to see some Scuba Boarders on the boat.

 

[cow_boy2]

I'm riding with them in May - have heard nothing but Positive comments - I'll take this as the "Hiccup" it was (or seems to have been) & form my own opinions then, Darryl.
PS - hope your cruise goes as well as I anticipate mine will

 

[Vtdiver2]

I did a live aboard on their Cat out of Nassau, the Cat Ppalu back in February. Had a great time, and would go back in a minute. If Capt Scott, Christine, Greg or John read this...thanks for a wonderful week, and I look forward to sailing with you all again.
Chris

 

[BabyAnnaRe]

We just came back from doing a cruise with Blackbeards aboard the Sea Explorer. The only thing that I found concerning safety was trying to walk on land after 5 days at sea and getting motion sickeness walking around Bimini.

 

[Scuba Sciences]

We have booked many trips with the Blackbeard's organization on both the sailboats and their Catamaran.

Our group went down in April this year on the Cat Ppalu and the majority of those divers are going back with us next spring. They couldn't have been happier with the crew, the diving, accommodations and the food. They raved about it.

I have never heard of any problems with the air on Blackbeard's. Our divers wish the could dispense Nitrox, though You may want to contact their main office in Florida and ask them how recent trips have been.

We can't wait to get back in April 2007.

Tina
Scuba Sciences, Inc.
www.scubasciences.com

 

[tstormdiver]

I went with Blackbeard's a couple of months ago. Overall I had a great time. I was aboard the Pirate's Lady. There was no carbon monoxide in the cabins that I was aware of. The worst was maybe some fumes while waiting on the surface to board, but just using my regulator to breathe took care of that. The condition of the boat was OK. The major thing that I noted was that some of the trim was in bad condition, but it was nothing of a critical nature to the boat, just cosmetic. If carbon monoxide was a problem the crew would have suffered first, since their cabins are closest to the engine & exhaust.