Haven't seen any photos of the new boat yet.
Dive and Sea has a brand new boat!!!
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Charlie99
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I'll see if I can catch them down at the boat ramp and snap a few pix to post.
I went out with John and Emi last Wednesday, Feb 27th. A bit sloppy nearshore so we had two wonderful dives out at Molokini. Since two Japanese speaking customers went off with their own DM; our group was just me, two other customers, and Emi.
John's still working out details with the Coast Guard, such as why the CG in Port Angeles signed off on the boat, but the local CG says that the head doesn't have a CG approved holding tank. Right now, he's leaning towards getting a COI that would allow more divers, but running it mostly as a six pack.
Nice boat. Deep twin V hull. Rides really nice, slicing through medium size waves somewhat like a catamaran.
Just one little minor quibble -- the aft tank racks need a better bungy system so we don't have to take weights out of BCs to keep them from falling over, but John will get tired of that soon and move the bungie attachments up higher so they are pulling the tanks in rather than mostly down.
Charlie Allen
The whole Coastguard COI thing can be a bit of a bear. I know of a few boats that have come here ceritified in other states for the proper water ratings that have been turned down by Hawaii CG guys. Heck, one of the Newtons, which are specifically made for the dive business world wide and CG inspected all the way through the building process, that came in a few years back took months and numerous inspections (they kept finding "another problem") to get final approval here.
I too am real curious about the boat, can you give a manufacturer name? Being inspected in Port Angeles makes me wonder if it's another Munson or All American Marine or other Washington builder.
I too am real curious about the boat, can you give a manufacturer name? Being inspected in Port Angeles makes me wonder if it's another Munson or All American Marine or other Washington builder.
Charlie99
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Armstrong Marine, Inc.
Although I described the boat as "deep twin V hull" to distinguish it from cats like the Corinthian boats, Armstong calls their boats catamarans.
It has a pair of 225hp Volvo D4 diesels.
The boat is both smooth and relatively quiet at 20 knots, with the engine at only about 2500rpm. He has another 10 hours on the engine break-in period --- after that he can crank it on up towards the max 37 knot or so more often. Well, at least once the whales leave.
They went with the combo style for the three dive ladders ---- t-bar for the lowest two rungs, and then siderails the rest of the way. The ladder at the starboard side exit gate is near the pitching pivot point so it should work well for getting back on if the boat is pitching a lot.
He's still running as a 6 passenger boat, although stability tests and COI would let him go with as many as 15px + 2 crew, 12 weightbelts and 28 scuba tanks. With just 5 customers + Emi and John onboard this morning it was very spacious with all of us able to lounge in the shaded cockpit area when we weren't out in the open area trying to snap of photo of a whale breaching.
Although I described the boat as "deep twin V hull" to distinguish it from cats like the Corinthian boats, Armstong calls their boats catamarans.
It has a pair of 225hp Volvo D4 diesels.
The boat is both smooth and relatively quiet at 20 knots, with the engine at only about 2500rpm. He has another 10 hours on the engine break-in period --- after that he can crank it on up towards the max 37 knot or so more often. Well, at least once the whales leave.
They went with the combo style for the three dive ladders ---- t-bar for the lowest two rungs, and then siderails the rest of the way. The ladder at the starboard side exit gate is near the pitching pivot point so it should work well for getting back on if the boat is pitching a lot.
He's still running as a 6 passenger boat, although stability tests and COI would let him go with as many as 15px + 2 crew, 12 weightbelts and 28 scuba tanks. With just 5 customers + Emi and John onboard this morning it was very spacious with all of us able to lounge in the shaded cockpit area when we weren't out in the open area trying to snap of photo of a whale breaching.
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DiveMaven
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Wow, that's a really nice boat!! Haven't heard much about them as an operator, what is their diving and service like?
Charlie99
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Laidback, casual and unhurried, while still being professional and safety conscious. Check-in time is a leisurely 7:30AM, and yesterday they served lunch after the second dive and were in no hurry to get back to the ramp. I've never seen anybody ever working the boat other than Captain John and DM Emi. They both clearly love what they are doing.
For lunch after the 2nd dive they went well back out into the channel to get near a couple pods of whales and seemed to content to just lounge around for as long as anybody wanted to hang out there. We didn't get back to the ramp until 1PM or so. John did check with one guy that was answering messages on his cellphone to make sure that he didn't have a specific time that he needed to be back at the ramp.
As I've posted several times in threads on dive operators in Maui, there are lots of good dive ops with a wide variety of styles. For example, B&B checks in at 5:45AM, has a fast boat, and gets back to the dock first. B&B is great for a vacationer with a non-diving spouse since you still have the rest of the morning and all afternoon for doing topside sightseeing. Dive and Sea Maui due to the later check-in and doing things at a slower pace takes up much more of the day. Having a variety of choices in good operators is wonderful.
For lunch after the 2nd dive they went well back out into the channel to get near a couple pods of whales and seemed to content to just lounge around for as long as anybody wanted to hang out there. We didn't get back to the ramp until 1PM or so. John did check with one guy that was answering messages on his cellphone to make sure that he didn't have a specific time that he needed to be back at the ramp.
As I've posted several times in threads on dive operators in Maui, there are lots of good dive ops with a wide variety of styles. For example, B&B checks in at 5:45AM, has a fast boat, and gets back to the dock first. B&B is great for a vacationer with a non-diving spouse since you still have the rest of the morning and all afternoon for doing topside sightseeing. Dive and Sea Maui due to the later check-in and doing things at a slower pace takes up much more of the day. Having a variety of choices in good operators is wonderful.
Sounds like Maui is now blessed with another superb boat operator - looking forward to hearing more good things about them in the near future. Thanks for your report Charlie.
Aloha, Tim
Aloha, Tim
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