Nekton boats may come back!!

[deepdiver4u]

Hello all,

As a former Chief Engineer and Captain for Nekton Diving Cruises, I am looking for feadback from all my fellow divers.

I have an oppurtunity to purchase the Nekton Rorqual and start a new Liveaboard Charter. I know this boat extremely well and know what needs to be done to get it in shape.

If I purchase this vessel it will be completely refit. Every thing from the gemerators to the sheets will be assesed and replaced as needed. The Rorqual was a beautiful boat with state of the art technology when she first launched and can be again.

I am considering itineraries including Belize, the Caymans, Cozumel, and possibly the island of Mayaguana in the southern Bahamas.

Please give let me know how you feel about this boat re-entering the industry and if you or your group would be interested in coming back out. I know a lot of you are former Nekton customers that became disillusioned and left for other companies. Are you interested in coming back?

Please post all fead back good or bad and I will answer all questions posted. Thanks to all for your time and consideration.

 

[iztok]

I think disillusionment is probably with (former) owners and the way they run business. For attractive price and itinerary I am sure you will get some of former customers as well as new customers to come.

I think some in our group might be interested for a good deal. Perhaps replacing the 1 week of diving Key Largo last week in December

Just my 2 cents.

 

[deepdiver4u]

It will take a while to get all of this in motion. With the legal stuff and then refit, I imagine we are looking at a minimun of 4 months before we would be back in the water. That in being optimistic, it could take longer.

 

[johndg8]

Be careful, the Nekton boats are very expensive to operate, and the amount of work it will take to get them in shape for guests is going to be huge. To really make a go of it you are going to have to flag her outside the U.S. I think people would come back to the boat but Like I said it is going to take a lot of work and a sustained effort to keep people interested. As a former crew member I would like to see the Rorqual on charter again.

 

[Scott L]

Be careful, the Nekton boats are very expensive to operate, and the amount of work it will take to get them in shape for guests is going to be huge. To really make a go of it you are going to have to flag her outside the U.S. I think people would come back to the boat but Like I said it is going to take a lot of work and a sustained effort to keep people interested. As a former crew member I would like to see the Rorqual on charter again.

I would suspect the OP would have a handle on maintenance issues given his resume. Good luck with the new venture if it proceeds forward....

 

[deepstops]

I would suspect the OP would have a handle on maintenance issues given his resume. Good luck with the new venture if it proceeds forward....

We don't really know that now do we. It's easy to say "if Dixon had given me the money, I would have....." but we can also say the boats deteriorated beyond operable conditions on his watch.

To play the game and make money, that boat needs to run with 24+ divers minimum. I don't get on a liveaboard to dive with 23+ other divers.

 

[Scott L]

We don't really know that now do we. It's easy to say "if Dixon had given me the money, I would have....." but we can also say the boats deteriorated beyond operable conditions on his watch.

Let's hear from him why the boats were allowed to deteriorate. I have no dog in this fight. I am not live-aboard material. Too particular with whom I spend time with.

 

[DiveMaven]

If the Rorqual were back in service and completely refurbished, I would definitely consider booking a trip on her. I love the SWATH design as a diving platform and found that even with a full boat it never felt crowded after the first day.

Personally, I think the Cay Sal, Medio, and deeper southern Bahamas itineraries are extremely appealing due to the fact that they aren't reachable by day boats and the dive sites are in pristine condition. Belize was wonderful, but it's pretty well covered by the Hughes and Aggressor boats, as is Grand Cayman.

Keep us posted, and good luck!!

 

[deepdiver4u]

Believe me I understand how much work needs to be done on the boat!!

I am running all of the numbers and coming up with a business plan now to see if there is any chance of success. It will depend much on the return of our past divers.

If this comes together I can assure everyone that the boat would be back to 100%

I absolutely agree that the boat would need to be foreign flagged. I am looking into that as well.

Any other ideas and comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wendyisaac]

We don't really know that now do we. It's easy to say "if Dixon had given me the money, I would have....." but we can also say the boats deteriorated beyond operable conditions on his watch.

To play the game and make money, that boat needs to run with 24+ divers minimum. I don't get on a liveaboard to dive with 23+ other divers.

Even with a full boat the Nekton boats were not crowded when diving. This is because they did not require everyone on the boat to go in the water at the same time. I would much rather dive like this, than 18-20 divers in the water at once.