Turks & Caicos Official Trip Report

We are all onboard (except Kamala who is dealing with some issues with the hotel) and I have to say... this boat is gorgeous. Beautiful roomy dive deck... Clean non-humid (did I say clean) interior... wow I am really excited about this trip!!!

Just wanted to check in before we take off...

See you after we get in some

Wrapping up a FABULOUS week. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Groupers, sharks, eels, bennys, turtles and spotted eagle rays accommodated us with visits. More pics to come, from our semi-professionals, but I've attached one to give you an idea...

Also, a few memorable quotes/discussion threads of the week (all a bit influenced by adult beverages):
"nine inches"
"chim-en-y, yay"
"What's your name, Lorenzo?"
discussion around repopulating West Caicos
"That's NOT a hot tub Larry" (edit - I neglected to include this completely unforgettable quote from Demi our DM)

Edited by Kate P, 11 September 2010 - 07:36 AM.

Wrapping up a FABULOUS week. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Groupers, sharks, eels, bennys, turtles and spotted eagle rays accommodated us with visits. More pics to come, from our semi-professionals, but I've attached one to give you an idea...

Also, a few memorable quotes/discussion threads of the week (all a bit influenced by adult beverages):
"nine inches"
"chim-en-y, yay"
"What's your name, Lorenzo?"
discussion around repopulating West Caicos

You are correct, a fabulous week it was, as a virgin SD diver there are memories that will stay with me for a long time. Looking forward to adding to that collection of memories in the future, any time, any place, any dive.

Wayne

Dang I'm already missing everyone....

It REALLY was a great trip!!!!!

AND I have pictures I will be posting later this week.....YES I PROMISE!!!!

What a great week of diving, and a great group of people!

As I was part of the last group to arrive, I'll let others speak to what went on with the early arrivals. I got to the boat around 4pm, and was met with smiling faces of old friends and new. The T&C Explorer Ventures II boat is very nice, although since it wasn't built as a dive boat, it rolls in the water and swings like a pendulum on the mooring line. We were greeted by Captain Ken, Sandra (the purser & Trip coordinator), and the 3 DM's Tim (Sandra's husband), Ossie (actually from Scotland), and Demi (funny as hell when you could understand him!). We were given a brief familiarization with the boat, then left alone to set up our gear, unpack, and get the gear bags stowed. Then, the party started! We re-acquainted ourselves with those we already knew, had some adult beverages, met new friends, and just hung out until dinner.

The chef did an outstanding job. There was never any repetition....each breakfast, lunch & dinner was different each time, and well prepared. He accommodated our vegetarians nicely, and I did not hear of anyone going away hungry. There was fresh-baked goodies for snacks and desserts, too. Hot banana bread for your surface interval, anyone? Or the big pan of warm brownies....mmmmmmm!

After the first dinner, Captain Ken gave us his briefing on the boat & basic procedures, and pointed out the daily schedule board in the salon. The salon was a dry area, and kept air conditioned. Each room had their own thermostat, too. The top deck had the flying bridge, and a big area was canvas shaded and had tables & plenty of space for sitting around in the breeze. There was a fridge up there with sodas and beer. The next deck down had the bridge, the two VIP suites, and a deck with sunning lounge chairs. The main deck had the gear platform, the dive deck (with two hot showers!!!), the salon/dining room, and main staterooms. The lower level had lots of storage, 3 staterooms, and crew rooms. Each room had it's own personal head with sink & shower. My mattress was harder than I like, so I spent the week sleeping in the salon....nobody seemed to mind! The dive deck had a very nice camera table, a very large camera-only rinse tank, two small trash cans for mask rinsing, and two bins with soapy water for rinsing out your wetsuits.

The dive deck had more room to gear up than I had on the Red Sea boat, and the exposure suits hung right over the compressor area, so they would (mostly) dry in between dives. Their system for tank fills, Nitrox analyzing, and checking divers into and out of the water was professional and efficient. A Dive Guide was in the water on every dive, and it was our choice to follow the Guide or go off on our own. We were given the standard 60 minutes or 500 psi dive limits. Because the boat swung like a pendulum on it's mooring line, they hung weighted lines off the dive platform to grab & make your way up to the ladders. Many used those lines for their safety stops, because the boat would disappear on you quickly. Sometimes, those lines would take you on quite a ride!

We started the week on French Caye, and it was the only time we had to contend with any current to speak of. However, the pelagics were prevalent at this site! Many (and I mean MANY Caribbean black tip reef sharks, nurse sharks, turtles, spotted eagle rays, etc. were among the larger sea life we encountered. The schedule would have us diving twice on the same site in the morning, moving at lunch to the next site, and diving the two afternoon dives and the night dive at that spot. We would move to a new site for the next morning dives. After French Caye, we moved on to West Caicos, and then to the Northwest Point of Provo. Most sites had some shallower reef area leading to spectacular wall diving. We took the time to spot tiny critters in between the amazing large critter encounters. The usual denizens such as parrotfish, damsels, drums, butterflyfish, black durgeon, filefish, trumpetfish, triggerfish, fairy basslets, angelfish, and many others were everywhere. Lionfish too, and we had Larry, Jim and Kamala as lionfish hunters all week. I think the final total was 17 lionfish and 2 spearguns killed, but I could be wrong there.... Saw sea hares, octopus, turtle, sharks, many crinoids, and some strange things I have to look up on some of the night dives.

Lots of cameras on the trip, and many of those who had cameras are not shy about posting our pictures, so over the next few days you'll be seeing them in the Gallery.

If you did every dive, you got 27 in the log book for the week. We headed back to the dock at 9am on Friday, and we cleaned up our gear and laid it all out on the top 2 decks to dry out on our 3 hour ride back. We moored up around noon. We ate lunch, cashed out with the boat, started the packing, had some adult beverages, signed each others dive logs, and generally swapped dive stories until it was time to head to town for a group meal. We managed to get a little shopping done before we all met up at an Irish Pub for dinner. Lots of pictures, laughter, jokes, and two very understanding waitresses! The party continued back on the boat until around 11pm, and then everyone crashed.

We had to leave the boat by 9am so they could get it turned around for the next group. Many of us had afternoon flights out and wanted to do something fun before heading to the airport, but there were so many telling us dire stories about the airport that we ended up spending 5-6 hours in the boring little airport. Next time, I'm going to do something fun for a couple of hours before heading to the airport.

All in all, I think everyone had a good time. The diving was good, the people on the boat were friendly and attentive, and the SD'ers were, as usual, out to have a good time in a safe way. Can we do this trip again? Please??

Great trip report Tammy. I don't have much to add other than saying how much fun the trip was. Met a lot of new friends and had a great time. I travel a lot as a single diver and have been on a lot of Live aboards. I think this trip is on the top of my list for the fun factor. I chose this trip specifically because it was an SD.com trip and it did not disappoint.

The highlights if the trip were the shark encounters, Loretta the grouper, Lion fish hunting ( actually 22 and the spears were only wounded ) getting to put faces to the names here on SD.com and last but not least learning how big 9 inches really is


I would love to do a repeat on this boat. Hopefully we can do the Mayagauna run next year.

Jim

Great trip report Tammy. We had a great group of folks on this trip. Some more lively (Richard), some more quiet for a good mix. I think collectively we had our own dive shop and pharmacy (legal stuff of course.) Whatever ailment you had, someone had a fix for it. A special thanks to Larry for the loaner back up reg after mine decided to disperse air in a slow and constant stream. I didn't even miss a dive.

It was my first live aboard and I loved it. Our daily schedule was breakfast, dive, snack, dive, lunch, dive, snack, dive, dinner, dive, downtime, sleep. The food was very good with a nice variety. It was great not having to get cleaned up and find a place for dinner every night. No hauling gear - relaxing. No shoes or make-up for a week, heaven. The crew was exceptional - fun and accommodating - they worked together like a well oiled machine. I would do this trip or a trip on this boat again in a heartbeat.

Thanks to everyone on the trip for a wonderful week!

Also, a few memorable quotes/discussion threads of the week (all a bit influenced by adult beverages):
"nine inches"
"chim-en-y, yay"
"What's your name, Lorenzo?"
discussion around repopulating West Caicos
"That's NOT a hot tub Larry" (edit - I neglected to include this completely unforgettable quote from Demi our DM)

I'm still confused about what Larry was rinsing in that tank. Judging by our nine inch scale - that tank was at least eight feet deep.

What a great week. Thanks everyone.

Great trip report Tammy. I don't have much to add other than saying how much fun the trip was. Met a lot of new friends and had a great time. I travel a lot as a single diver and have been on a lot of Live aboards. I think this trip is on the top of my list for the fun factor. I chose this trip specifically because it was an SD.com trip and it did not disappoint.

The highlights if the trip were the shark encounters, Loretta the grouper, Lion fish hunting ( actually 22 and the spears were only wounded ) getting to put faces to the names here on SD.com and last but not least learning how big 9 inches really is


I would love to do a repeat on this boat. Hopefully we can do the Mayagauna run next year.

Jim

I wish someone had gotten a pic of the "wounded" spears. They looked like Elmer Fudd's shotgun after Bugs Bunny stuck his finger in the barrel Must have been splayed open by a full T&C 9 inches Capt Ken's reaction upon finding the wounded spears was priceless also. Please some tell me they got video of that. Very good trip

Great trip report Tammy. We had a great group of folks on this trip. Some more lively (Richard), some more quiet for a good mix. I think collectively we had our own dive shop and pharmacy (legal stuff of course.) Whatever ailment you had, someone had a fix for it. A special thanks to Larry for the loaner back up reg after mine decided to disperse air in a slow and constant stream. I didn't even miss a dive.

It was my first live aboard and I loved it. Our daily schedule was breakfast, dive, snack, dive, lunch, dive, snack, dive, dinner, dive, downtime, sleep. The food was very good with a nice variety. It was great not having to get cleaned up and find a place for dinner every night. No hauling gear - relaxing. No shoes or make-up for a week, heaven. The crew was exceptional - fun and accommodating - they worked together like a well oiled machine. I would do this trip or a trip on this boat again in a heartbeat.

Thanks to everyone on the trip for a wonderful week!

I was one of the more quiet ones.. go figure. We came within one dive of me wearing a pink BC down into the abyss but Kate decided to convert it instead. Wayne saw me it in. I looked hot!!! Well Flaming actually

Good times, Good times...

Great trip report Tammy. I don't have much to add other than saying how much fun the trip was. Met a lot of new friends and had a great time. I travel a lot as a single diver and have been on a lot of Live aboards. I think this trip is on the top of my list for the fun factor. I chose this trip specifically because it was an SD.com trip and it did not disappoint.

The highlights if the trip were the shark encounters, Loretta the grouper, Lion fish hunting ( actually 22 and the spears were only wounded ) getting to put faces to the names here on SD.com and last but not least learning how big 9 inches really is


I would love to do a repeat on this boat. Hopefully we can do the Mayagauna run next year.

Jim

I wish someone had gotten a pic of the "wounded" spears. They looked like Elmer Fudd's shotgun after Bugs Bunny stuck his finger in the barrel Must have been splayed open by a full T&C 9 inches Capt Ken's reaction upon finding the wounded spears was priceless also. Please some tell me they got video of that. Very good trip

Kamala took my wheaties away from me after that but your your right it did look like Elmer's shot gun

Indeed, Tammy described the trip very well, so I will just add a few pictures from the trip in the near future.

I got some decent video of Larry the Lionfish Hunter in action, also his prey before and after meeting Larry.

I will eventually pull some clips and post the links for everyone.

I so much enjoyed diving with everyone on the trip, and now I am spoiled after this liveaboard experience.

ScubaFred

I would love to do a repeat on this boat. Hopefully we can do the Mayagauna run next year.

Jim

I too would like to do a repeat trip on this boat, and would definitely consider the Mayagauna trip.

Gallery pool is open, guys! Here's a link. Since my own camera case failed the first day (at least I salvaged the Sony) I hope the rest of you bubbling shutterbugs will upload some offerings soon. Oh, and please remember the Gallery limits file size to around 250KB (what some of the high end machines consider thumbnails these days). Sorry about the mild inconvenience!

NOTE: Also posted in T&C event topic.

Nothing better than reading a Singledivers trip trip report! Thanks for the report! Sounds like everyone had a great time!