Vicky,
I understand your feelings... I REALLY do. And I am not interested in starting a war over this either. I have NOTHING to gain or lose either way. I personally enjoy diving w/ both charters and want to try out Blue Tang again. But since you brought it up, I will explain a couple of my points. But let me begin and end w/ this. I do not know you personally, but have mutal friends who spreak VERY highly of you. As such, I have nothing but respect for you.
a) Temptation feeling cramped w/ 12 divers. That has just been my personal experience. I REALLY prefer larger boats like the Narcosis. Even when Ray puts 20 people on his boat, I feel like I have a TON of room.
b) Your quote of JDC being a taxi surface and having to HOPE the dive boat is there to pick you up. Here is where you and I will have to agree to disagree. There is not a captain in the Jupiter/WPB area that I trust more then Captain Mike. Some of my longest waits have actually been w/ captain Paul. Now, I am NOT slamming him for that. I don't get nervous on the surface. But there have been a few times I have surfaced and REALLY had to strain to see the boat in the distance. WHY??? Pure conjection here, but this is my experience. I find a higher caliber of diver on Jupiter Dive Center then I do Paul's boat. The times I have had long waits w/ Paul it was because he has some newbie divers on board kicking with the currents. So when I surface, Paul is half a mile north of me picking up divers. I have to wait for him to come back to pick me up (which is how is should work). I have gone out w/ Captain Mike is condtions that turned less then desirable. Even in large waves and the dive guide on the boat, he follows my bubbles and is right there waiting to pick me up. I swear, I don't know how he does it sometimes.
I've done at least 40 dives trips w/ JDC in the last year and a half. I've never had any issues or seen any issues that I can blame on the charter. The one questional experience I did have was due to bad sea conditions. Randy personally gave us the option to go back ashore. No one from my group took him up on it.
c) My comment regarding JDC getting slammed for things that happened in the past. You brought up one of the biggies and that is directly related to you. I've read the story in the past and COMPLETLY agree w/ your analysis. No way should Randy have tried to put you on Nitrox nor (as you point out) should you have allowed it. Another instance is one you bring up later in your response so I will save comment for second on that one. But here is where I don't think JDC gets enough credit. In the past; even as recently as early 2005, Randy's boat was known for "cowboying it". Standards be damned and don't screw w/ Randy's dive trip. You wanted to jump off his boat - have fun, hope the heck you know what you are doing. Dive briefings were lacking, procedures and limits were minimal. But for divers who WANTED a less restrictive dive boat, they could be your cup of tea. Perfect example, one of the best crews I think in the WPB/Jupiter area is Pura Vida. The owners are some of the nicest guys in the business and they take GREAT care of their customers. But I dive them VERY infrequently because of their "limits". They are very restrictive on bottom times and profiles. I personally don't want to chase a dive guide around or have to be on the surface at 40 minutes (50 foot ledge, nitrox and computer).
Now, lets give credit where credit is due. I started noticing around Feb/March of 2005 a change at JDC (this is BEFORE the hole in the wall incident). Randy actually made you sign the release forms when you came in, checked c-cards for divers he did not know, safety procedures and dive briefings in much greater detail. And yes, the dreaded limits. Now JDC is even starting to put limits on their divers. Ironcially, now days
I think Randy and Paul run their charters VERY much alike.
Let's even talk about air divers. I've had several people dive air with him on my trips. Now I have never personally seen him force a nitrox fill to someone who is NOT qualified. Heck, several times he has pulled them aside and talked about the benefits of nitrox and even offered to give my friends an AWESOME deal on the cert. But they were free to dive air that day. Diving air in Jupiter is not a good idea in MY opinion. If you have even a descent SAC, your going to really be cutting your dives short (especially if you do two 90's). BUT THIS DOES NOT CONDONE FOR THE PAST. There was no excuse for what happened to you and if I was in YOUR shoes, I would remember it for a long time also.
d) You question whether or not I should give recommendations to use them. Why shouldn't I? Just because you had a bad experience some years ago? That would be like me saying you shouldn't say anything bad because you did. I haven't had any problems and have no problems telling people to give them a shot. If they are not your cup of tea - try someone else.
As for you comment regarding the NYC cop who died. To be honest, it was the only thing you said that bothered me. How you can blame that unfortunate ACCIDENT on the charter is beyond me. I think you are letting your personal feelings influence you there. EVEN PAUL agree's the guy probably had a heart attack on the way to the surface. Not a flipping thing JDC could have down to prevent it. Heck I know of a certain boat that you and I use to frequent a long time ago in which that happened to them. Where captain Bob and Mike at fault for the guy who had a heart attack while diving on the Rampage? No! Put enough divers in the water and at some point the proverbial crap will hit the fan.
Let end where I begin. This is very personal for you and I understand that nor do I have ANY problem with you sharing the story. As I stated earlier, I have NOTHING but great respect for you. Al speaks VERY highly of you and the few IM's you and I have had do nothing but support that.
My personal opinion - I want to see all three boats succeed. I am HOOKED on diving in Jupiter. Even when I was diving in the Bahama's last summer I keep thinking how much more I enjoyed Jupiter. Now each charter does have a slighly different personality and that is why I say try them all, see which one floats your boat. I sleep fine at night recommending either Paul or Randy.
Now let's finish this discussion in person on a dive boat... I'll let you pick the boat
