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[Diverlady]

My Blackbeards Cruise and Other Activities – May 15-24

Chapter One: The Approach

After putting off packing until the last minute, I didn’t get to bed on Friday night until after 11:30pm and then clockwatched until my alarm went off at 2:00am. Great. No sleep. Scubarob (new member here – Yay!!) picked me up at 3:30am (yes there actually is a 3:30AM I’m sorry to report!!) with ScubaKim and another diver in tow and we headed for the airport.
So much for being the required 3hrs early. The check-in counter wasn’t staffed until about 4:30am. We met up with a few others from my club while waiting to check in so we managed to get seats together. The plane was half empty.
The flight to Miami was uneventful (thankfully!!) and we were able to get a couple of taxi-vans which we loaded to the gills with all our stuff and were off to the boat.
We were early so we had to stand around in the sun for an hour or so until we could get on the boat and unpack.

Chapter Two: Sailing Away

As the Florida locals will know, there had been strong easterly winds for a couple of weeks making for wavy conditions in the gulf stream. Due to this, our 3pm departure from the dock was delayed until 3am with the hopes that the winds would be lighter and we would all be fast asleep in our beds with visions of sugar plums…..wait! Wrong story!
Due to getting no sleep the previous night, I retired early but woke up when we started moving. GACK!!! How could anyone be expected to sleep through that crossing is beyond me! I was in the bow of the boat (with ScubaKim) and we were literally airborn as the boat crashed into the waves. Those on deck at the stern later told me that the bow was, at times, 10-12 feet above the stern before smashing back into the water. ScubaKim didn’t stay below deck for long. I decided that remaining flat on my back and bracing myself against the top bunk would be my best option so I missed the fish-feeding frenzy by passengers and crew topside. At least half those on board were sick. Yuck. I wasn’t feeling that great myself!
It took the boat 10hrs to get across to Bimini which was about 4hrs longer than usual due to the wind so we arrived Sunday afternoon.
Time to start diving! Well, I passed on the two dives on the Sunday and opted to get some sleep finally so I could enjoy the rest of the trip. I think I made the right decision.

Chapter Three: Dive, Dive, Dive!

While it remained windy for the first few days around Bimini, we were not to be prevented from diving! There were four dives on Monday of which I did three. My buddy and I skipped the night dive as we were both chilled from the 79F waters. Scubarob and I have comparable air consumption rates and were usually the last divers out of the water consistently having an hour bottom per dive. I didn’t last long in my new 3mil jumpsuit and switched to my 5/4mil jumpsuit which was much warmer!
Tuesday was shark day! While I don’t like the idea of feeding the sharks in order to provide entertainment for divers, I wasn’t about to miss the dive! The DM didn’t appear to pay attention when the frozen fish was dropped in the water, however, so the feeding took place pretty much at the surface instead of near the bottom where we were. Regardless, it was quite a spectacle seeing a dozen or two sharks darting around.
Scubarob and I did the night dive as it was the last opportunity for one on this trip. It took place at the shark-feeding site so there was the added “danger” that if we got lost or missed coming up the line, they would NOT be sending out a dinghy to pick us up. The sharks are used to the motor on the dinghy and associate it with food making it dangerous for divers to get picked up in that location. Once again Scubarob and I pretty much maxed our bottom time watching the sharks, rays, lobster etc.
Wednesday we did two morning dives and then headed to dock in Bimini. We walked around the little village for a couple of hours and sampled some of the local liquor before heading back to the dock to get ready for dinner and evening events. Hot showers!!! It’s amazing how much for granted we take something as normal as a hot, fresh-water shower until you can’t have one!
After showers and dinner, we all made our way to the beach where one of the couples on the trip renewed their wedding vows in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary. Champagne flowed!! It was a lovely event which brought a tear to more than one eye!
Most people then went to one of the two main bars in town and eventually stumbled back to the boat in the wee hours of night.
Thursday was our last day of diving so I was definitely in a dive, dive, dive mood. Four dives later, the last of which I was down for at least 80minutes – yes, it was quite shallow – was not enough for me. I could have managed a night dive as well but alas, we had to start heading back to Miami (and the dreaded gulf stream crossing).

Chapter Four: Sailing into the Sunset

The crossing back was not nearly as bad as the trip out. I stayed topside this time and since we were going with the wind, we made excellent time. It was a bumpy ride but not too bad with only one fish-feeder this time. We arrived in Miami at about 3am.

Chapter Five: The Long Road Home

While most of the group travelled home after the cruise, Scubarob, ScubaKim and I rented a minivan and drove to Orlando to partake in some land-based activities. We managed to get a suite with 2 full baths at a great price and soon had gear soaking in fresh water.
We visited SeaWorld where I spent a load of money on knick-knacky things which is quite unlike me! Really!
On Sunday I made the mistake of finding an ad for DiversDirect. So we spend a couple of hours and several hundred dollars there! Next we decided to stick with the Blackbeards thing and played Pirates mini-golf and finished up the day with Pirates dinner theatre before heading home the next day.

Epilogue

Blackbeards:
Well, what I didn’t mention in the main part of my trip report I’ll say here. On the crossing over to Bimini, water was sloshing over the bow of the boat which eventually lead to a drip-dripping on me in my bed due to a leak somewhere around the emergency hatch. (I was told that Blackbeards was like camping-on-the-water and my tent leaks so should I really be surprised??) So, I ended up with a huge wet patch which I reported the next morning to the crew. They did nothing about this. Finally I stole a mattress and bedding from a spare bunk. ScubaKim, whose bunk was above mine, had gone topside during the journey over and didn’t realize that her bunk was getting soaked! Finally the crew came down to take a look and sure enough, all of Kim’s stuff was wet as well as water running down the wall to my bunk. I hadn’t noticed this because I had towels rolled up against the wall to cushion myself as I was being thrown around during the crossing. So the crew set up a fan to dry out a mattress and Kim got a clean sheet and blanket from somewhere spending the rest of the trip sleeping in the spare bunk. Needless to say, neither Kim nor I was pleased to have to deal with wet bunks.
On the Tuesday, the DM came up to me with some broken plastic pieces in her hand and reporting that she had been moving some equipment around and accidentally dropped a tank on my second stage. The pieces of plastic were from my exhaust port. Great!! Just what I needed to hear. In all fairness the equipment guy on board was great and we decided to switch my octo to my primary hose (I have a swivel on it) as well as move my Seacure mouthpiece from the broken second stage to my octo and they placed a rental octo on to use as my octo. It worked fine but my octo just isn’t as smooth as my second stage. I survived. Fortunately, the equipment guy turned out to be the number two guy in the company and he arranged for a new second stage to be ordered for me from my local diveshop which I should be getting in about a week or so. He did offer me the rental octo until my replacement arrived but I declined knowing that I can get one from my LDS if needed (which I’ll need to get this weekend as fate would have it!!).
Twice I found my tank not fully filled. I’m glad I got into the habit of checking my airfill right after it was filled or my dives would have been seriously delayed. Getting top ups was not a big deal but still…
The DM did not go on the dives with us but did provide a diagram of the dive site which was pretty much true to form. She did go on one dive which was a drift dive. She said she would be at about 70-90ft holding the marker and asked that no one get ahead of her. I didn’t participate in that dive but when the divers returned, there were reports of new divers being anywhere from 140-165ft!! How this happened is beyond me! Imagine being at 165ft on your 15th dive! I was relieved to know that no one was hurt on the dive. I really don’t understand why the DM even picked that location since there are many, many other shallower sites around there. I realize that each diver is responsible for himself but the DM should not have chosen a site where the reef started below 80ft and dropped down from there when there are new divers onboard. But that’s just my opinion. Between that and my second stage, I wasn’t impressed with her.
The food was good and there was plenty of it. Kudos to the chef on that boat. He was a bit testy around meal time but he did put on a good spread. A bit heavy on the carbs but all in all, it was good.
Would I do a Blackbeards trip again?
Hard to say at this point. The cramped quarters for sleeping were not kind to my aging body so I think I would prefer something a little less bare-bones. (I’m not saying I need to be living a life of luxury but a good night’s sleep is paramount.) However, it was economical and the diving was great which are two big factors in their favour. I did 12 of the 16 dives offered which is pretty good I think. I’ll give it a year or so to let the negative memories fade a bit and I could probably be persuaded to dive Blackbeards again.

I’ll post some pics when I get them developed.

Diverlady

[coppermaus]

Great trip report, DL! It's like reading a diving play in five acts. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and giving the interesting details! I hope you get your new second stage soon.

[fbp]

Good report DL,
I like the "Real Nitty Gritty" on trips as it gives you a feel for the staff, equipment etc... instead of "Oh, it was just wonderful and nice..."... so the bunk bed leaks and the DM was helpful...

Thanx again for a good report, think I'll just pass on BB's trips for now...

Hope the next one is better....

[stanner82]

DL, that was a great trip report. I have been considering a Blackbeard cruise but I've wanted some independent review before I made a commitment to spending a week as a captive passenger.

Honestly, I think I'll spend a little more and choose a different operator!

Thanks again!

[Diverlady]

Note: I had a forward bunk with 3 other females in the cabin. There was another cabin adjoining ours with the same set up and head. The next set of bunks and the bunks in the galley were double beds whereas I had a single bed. One person in a double bed would have allowed for room for baggage which I did not have. Apparently the price is the same regardless of which bed type you get. The ones in the galley would be a bit more noisy with the cook rising early and card players staying up late but I imagine earplugs would remedy that problem.

Blackbeards does have 3 different boats: Pirate's Lady, Morning Star and another one that I can't remember the name of right now. I was on the Morning Star. Perhaps the other boats don't have the leaking issues my boat had.
Scubarob had been on Blackbeards twice previously and those crossings were calm and thus no dripping on beds. Our trip was his third so clearly he has no issues with their setup. It's cheap and the diving is great!

DL

[Blublood]

Excellent report DL! Thank you so much.

[ScubaKim]

DiverLady did an excellent job describing the event, but I have a few other things to add, from a different perspecitve.

You see this is my first out of country Dive Trip, so I have little to compare BlackBeards too.

The crossing was horrible, I was on top for the whole crossing and believe me I was wishing for Death I had never been so sick in my life. I was feeding the fish for 8 hours straight, then to make it worse I got sun burnt because sunscreen was the last thing on my mind. So that put a negative spin on things again.

The diving was nothing I had ever seen before. The colours ... the beauty... the fish ... the wow. It is soooo different from Ontario diving. I was in heaven. But once I was able to start diving the horrible events of sickness and a soaked bed seemed a little less bad.

The food was great, (when I was able to eat it of course) however, there was not enough room at the table for everyone so some had to either eat colder food on a second shift or eat up top where the wind would cool the food. But if the boat was rocking, you almost had to eat up top to prevent getting sick. But there was always a fresh fruit snack or chip etc after the dives to sustain ourselfes until the next meal. There were always options for dinner. The food was a buffet with lots of variety. We had something different each meal.

Between dives there is not much to do. We just sit and chat as we move to the next location. This is the same for night life. Unless if you wanted to play cards there was not much to do and there was no point in trying to sleep until the boat docked for the night. So there were many boring nights.

But the diving was amazing and the fact that our club was the majority of the club it make things easier to chat with different people and make friends that you know will be more that a trip friend.

That drift dive that DiverLady refered to had a bottom of 3000 feet. THat is why I also did not opt to go on that dive. It is not worth the risk.

Another negative thing to mention was the washrooms. They were tiny. I am a bit heavy, and I had to squeeze to fit into the washroom and it was a tight fit to sit down. ANd no to mention the smell. The toilets constantly broke down and it was a manual pump to get fixed. A yucky time.

The weather was great, not too hot and never rained.

Would I recommend the trip???

Yes,

Overall I had a great time. The crew was generally good, the diving was excellent and even the bad was part of an adventure. So to keep a positive attitude, I just looked at the trip as a whole adventure. I especially liked the sharks.

Basically, the price was under a $1,000 for an all inclusive dive adventure. But you need to remember that you get what you pay for. Camping on the water, with excellent food and of course awesome dives. But the key is camping with little room, horrible toilets. and lots of water.

Edited by ScubaKim, 27 May 2004 - 04:49 PM.

[DandyDon]

Thanks for the report. Water leaking in by the bulkhead is not acceptable, but @!&% happens. At cheap as they are, I'd expect only the basics, but I would expect a dry cabin.

I'm thinking about doing their New Years cruise, and I'm curious why only 16 possible dives. Thought there'd be more...?

[nikk]

Great report DL! I enjoyed reading that!

[Diverlady]

I'm thinking about doing their New Years cruise, and I'm curious why only 16 possible dives.  Thought there'd be more...?

We didn't arrive until Sunday afternoon which was later than usual. So we only had 2 dives on Sunday. I suspect the boat would normally arrive by midnight on Saturday night so there would undoubtedly be 4 dives on the Sunday under normal circumstances.
Four dives Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and two on Wednesday as we needed to get into Bimini while it was high tide (12:30pm) or we wouldn't be able to dock until about 6:30pm. We opted for the earlier docking so we could explore town a bit, get on solid ground for a while and take hot showers. If we had selected the later time we would have been able to do at least 3, possibly 4 dives that day.


DL

[nycamico]

Gotta say I would never go on one of these trips- sounds pretty horrible to me. If money is the determining factor I would try to figure out a land based trip for around the same- otherwise I am happy to pay 2x as much for the Aggressor or some other higher end live aboard. Maybe I'm too old for that nonsense, but stinky bathrooms and leaking cabins are not ok anymore. I love camping and truly don't think I'm high maintenance, well, ok, maybe a little- but if you can afford a bit more, go for a nicer boat and a better experience. I've loved every live aboard I've done, and had no truly bad experiences. Scubakim, be sure to take your motion sickness meds well before the boat starts to move and keep taking until things calm down- better safe than sorry!
Laurie

[ScubaKim]

Scubakim, be sure to take your motion sickness meds well before the boat starts to move and keep taking until things calm down- better safe than sorry!

Believe it or not, but I had taken a gravol when we arrived at the boat, then 2 more throughout the night. And I still fed the all night.

If I do a trip like this again, I will go to a doctor and get a stronger drug.

[fbp]

had taken a gravol when we arrived at the boat,

Heheh... yeah, but WELL BEFORE.. meaning a hour at the least, 2-3 hours..

It's weird stuff, sea sickness pills, as I took some before going out of Long Beach on the Atlantis as seas were a little rough... we only got out about 30min and had to come back due to swells.., biggest I've seen out there, whole channel was white caps... anyway, came back, got into the car started driving down the freeways and began swaying... LOL... just like when you've been on a boat for a while and hit stable land... I believe it was the pills, could be wrong, but just a little weird driving down the freeway swaying "Within" the lane like a Drunk Driver..

Anyway, I'd suggest 2-3 hours ahead just to stay ahead of the game...
Sometimes nothing will help... and then it's just miserable...

I can get sick on rough waves coming up from or going down (waiting for buddy) so will have to drop 15 feet to stabilize.

[jextract]

Yikes! That's a horror story and a half! Thanks for the tip ... based on that I'd never use them.

I'm so glad that I don't get seasick - I can't even imagine how miserable it must be.

[chinacat46]

I agree with Laurie the older I get the more creature comforts I appreciate. I rough it in the backcountry but even then I've got my goretex and my tent and ultralight down sleeping bag. When I'm diving I like being pampered. I'll pay the extra for the Aggressor or Peter Hughes. In a case like this you get what you pay for.