Blackbeard liveaboards

[Ron G.]

I dove with Nekton a couple times and thought it was a great compromise. Nothing luxurious about the boat, very utilitarian, but a far cry from camping. Sadly, that's no longer an option, since they're out of business.

I seriously considered Blackbeard, mostly cause I'm frugal (cheap). I'm 61, not much of a drinker or partier. A couple things worried me about BB. I've heard stories about the result of the free beer and rum punch. Things can be pretty wild in the evenings and into the night. My experience with Nekton was that, although some folks brought their own liquor, there wasn't much drinking and folks tended to settle in relatively early....tired from a long day of diving, preparing for the next one. Given the small size of the BB boat (and the close sleeping quarters), I was concerned that it might not be real conducive to a quiet night's sleep.

A second concern was simply the limited space on the boat. With Nekton, folks spread out in several places between dives.....sitting around talking, reading, or taking a nap. Most folks chose a relatively quiet place....usually in the shade. When I looked at photos of the BB boat, it was hard for me to figure out where folks could comfortably relax. Someplace in the shade, maybe on a chaise. I had this vision have spending the hours between dives sitting on a wooden bench trying to find a bit of shade under a sail.

Maybe folks here can reassure me...that it's not a lot of drunken, loud revelry every night and there are adequate, shady places to comfortably kick back and read between dives. Well?

Oh, one more thing.... When i was comparing BB to Nekton, I think I found that BB is only six nights, which Nekton (and others) are seven nights.

 

[vondo]

I dove with Nekton a couple times and thought it was a great compromise. Nothing luxurious about the boat, very utilitarian, but a far cry from camping. Sadly, that's no longer an option, since they're out of business.

I seriously considered Blackbeard, mostly cause I'm frugal (cheap). I'm 61, not much of a drinker or partier. A couple things worried me about BB. I've heard stories about the result of the free beer and rum punch. Things can be pretty wild in the evenings and into the night. My experience with Nekton was that, although some folks brought their own liquor, there wasn't much drinking and folks tended to settle in relatively early....tired from a long day of diving, preparing for the next one. Given the small size of the BB boat (and the close sleeping quarters), I was concerned that it might not be real conducive to a quiet night's sleep.

A second concern was simply the limited space on the boat. With Nekton, folks spread out in several places between dives.....sitting around talking, reading, or taking a nap. Most folks chose a relatively quiet place....usually in the shade. When I looked at photos of the BB boat, it was hard for me to figure out where folks could comfortably relax. Someplace in the shade, maybe on a chaise. I had this vision have spending the hours between dives sitting on a wooden bench trying to find a bit of shade under a sail.

Maybe folks here can reassure me...that it's not a lot of drunken, loud revelry every night and there are adequate, shady places to comfortably kick back and read between dives. Well?

Oh, one more thing.... When i was comparing BB to Nekton, I think I found that BB is only six nights, which Nekton (and others) are seven nights.

Drunkenness: Depending on when you go, maybe. The two trips I was on had a wide variety of people from a few college students to families with teenagers to retired couples and singles. In that group there have been a few partiers and maybe one or two nights where things got pretty rowdy. Mostly on the shore night, which means the noise is away from the boat until people stumble home.

Sleep: That can be an issue, especially if you are a light sleeper. Having 4-6 people in a room all but guarantees it no matter how they behave.

Shade: Usually the sails are not up and then an awning is in place. There is also the mess hall down in the basement. Yeah, most of my time was spent in the shade on the deck talking to various people.

Not sure I'm trying to talk you into it, though.

 

[Bigmac1]

I have gone with Blackbeards on 4 occasions and had a bad experience the last time when the captain was finishing his last trip before moving on to a different job and he was drunk most nights and got upset when we asked to dive some different spots. My wife even had to clean his puke off the kitchen floor one morning so we did not have to walk through it.

All the other times it was good diving but it is camping on a boat and if you have a lot of young people on board then there is a bit of drunkiness.

The last few times we went on a liveaboard we went with the Avalon out of Nassau also and there is only twelve persons on board instead of twenty-two and the cabins are more private with a sink in each room. The food is great and it is not much more for the comforts that you receive. You can look up the Avalon at Lostislandvoyages.com.

 

[mike_s]

Any captain that is drunk (or even drinking) on a cruise is a danger to the passengers on the ship.

If there was an emergency, such as someone falling overboard at night, even at anchor, how is a drunk captain going to rescue them?