Nekton (Bad News)

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The Belize liveaboard I did (not Nekton) was mostly Brits and folks from Guatemela "sp" mixed in with locals.

The Belize locals (as well as everyone else) busted their butts - I ever saw lazy!
 
I wonder how many of the critics here have successfully run a business of any size (not directed at you Cappy). It may be easy to diagnose what was done wrong with the benefit of hindsight, but running a business is difficult, and often you need a little bit of luck to succeed. I am not defending JD's ethics or his business acumen, just observing that it's not as easy as some seem to think.

I think you bring up a good point. I am currently running my first business (bought a dive shop two years ago). It is not easy, and I am constantly surprised at how outside factors (volcanos in Europe, strikes in mainland Panama, unseasonable rains, government policies such as increases in the wage laws and increases in sales taxes) affect our bottom line. It is a challenge and nothing like working for someone else, but I love it.

The things I learned from my Nekton experience are that customer service is key and that scheduled maintenence is critical. The one advantage that I have over my competitors is that my shop offers the best customer service on the island (this was no small endeavor, training my crew to meet the high customer service standards that I require, based on my days with Nekton). Maintenance is difficult here, as gear, parts and supplies must be imported from the States, but without proper maintenance, the shop would soon be out of business.
 
I also consider JD a friend and I agree with the large majority of what you write. That being said, Belize never required that we have a 100% Belizean crew. When we first brought the boat down to Belize (I was on the original mooring .


I stand Corrected. I mis-wrote the statement in my haste to respond...indeed, there is some minimum required Belizean crew required (not 100%), but I actually don't know specifically the number required based on the operation. That's just a detail I'd forgotten about when I added my commentary here, but In summary though, what I simply meant to express, was that I would challenge any of these "critics" to even try to get a company like this off the ground, let alone run it successfully for 16 years. I find it humorous that many of these people demonizing Nekton's management over the years, were multi-repeat customers. If you thought the operation sucked so bad, why did you go more than once ? They're basically just whiners with big mouths. And the main reason these threads are disproportionately full of negative and even venomous commentary, is that the lion's share of the people who had great experiences on those trips don't write about them on venues like this. It's the complainers and whiners who surf blogs like this, looking for a forum for their soap box.
 
I find it humorous that many of these people demonizing Nekton's management over the years, were multi-repeat customers. If you thought the operation sucked so bad, why did you go more than once ? They're basically just whiners with big mouths. .

No.. these were dedicated customers who loved going on Nekton trips.... They hung in there while times were tough and still booked trips, even when the boats had mechanical problems, didn't have Nitrox, and the rooms were musty and mildewed.

but they still liked going... They loved going on these boats. They also loved the crews...

Their Loyalty was rewarded by getting stiffed out of thousands of dollars in payments for future trips by John Dixon.
 
And the main reason these threads are disproportionately full of negative and even venomous commentary, is that the lion's share of the people who had great experiences on those trips don't write about them on venues like this. It's the complainers and whiners who surf blogs like this, looking for a forum for their soap box.
Usually true, I think, but the argument unravels a bit in this case when you consider that some of these same posters were staunch and vocal supporters of Nekton right here on Scubaboard in the past. Some were loyal for too long, in fact, when it was obvious to the disinterested reader here that the company was falling apart.
 
I work for the insurance industry, unrelated to travel insurance. I was always told that travel insurance is secondary to your homeowners or medical insurance. Most all policies have this in the fine print. If you get time to read the policy in full you will find it does not cover much. My lost luggage, camera equipment, dive equipment are all part of my homeowners policy. The only thing I am not covered for is lost time in travel due to flight cancellations or such. In these cases the airlines rebook you and may pay for hotel and meals if they can't get you to your destination due to changes they created. Before you buy travel insurance check with your homeowners insurance for a rider that can be added to cover your losses when traveling. It will most likely be a lot cheaper and actually cover you.
I have talked to many people that do a lot of travel for business or pleasure and have yet to hear of anyone being paid back with travel insurance. There are just too many exclusions and/or conditions in the fine print to make it worthwhile to buy.
As an added note, many, many, years ago I was in retail and we sold extended warranties. The underwriter sales people told us how much money we could make as added profit due the terms and conditions of the policy that would seldom repay the customer a dime.
I would sincerely like to hear from anyone for which travel insurance worked.

A few years ago we were booked on teh Nekton in Belize and got fogged in in Chicago. The travel insurance (the same that just denied us) paid a hotel in Houston, dinner, $1,600 to a water taxi to ferry us out to the Pilot and 1/7th of the cost of the trip because we missed a day. To say they cover nothing is an over statement.
 
$1,600 to a water taxi to ferry us out to the Pilot
Did you engage the Sun Dancer to do the taxiing? :wink:
 
No doubt that deferring maintenance is a recipe for insanity and I believe it was one of the major reasons for the company going belly up.

Crew size, on the other hand, did not lead to this problem. First, unlike Agressor (which you mention), the Nekton Boats were US flagged vessels. Having a US flag requires a certain number of crew. You need a licensed mate in addition to the captain. you must have a designated engineer onboard. You also need enough staff to perform night watch, regardless if the boat is underway or at anchor. The pilot had watch from 9:00-midnight, midnight to 3:30 AM, and 3:30 AM to 7:00 AM. Obviously the crew who did the night watches aren't very useful working on the dive deck the next morning or cleaning cabins the next morning, so enough staff is necessary to carry out the necessary duties while the night watchpeople slept.

Back when I crewed the boat (1995-2003) we would occasionally run with nine crew (a full crew was 12), but is was miserable. Imagine doing a 12-3:30 watch, only to be awakened at 7:00 AM to work on the dive deck until noon. We did it, but it sucked. Obviously tips were better with a smaller crew, but passenger safety and comfort should always trump crew tips.

Finally, the proof was in the pudding. Nekton ran with 12 crew for many years (at least from 1994-2001) and did very well. The boat was well maintained, it got great reviews, and customer service was top-notch. I still maintain it was the addition of the Rorqual that doomed the company.

Cappy,

When the dot.com economy tanked, followed by later bank collapses, companies needed to be especially well run. One of Nekton's selling points was 'US Flag' for some people; obviously from what you shared in your recollections this had an enormous cost. When the economy starts to tank, good business people adjust. Most of Nekton's new itineraries were taking them out of the US. Even the puerto Rico trip crossed international waters and we all needed our passports to re-enter PR. It seems to me that in additon to diluting thire customer base, they also had WAY more fixed costs.

By the way the mechanic had mostly a full time job on the Rorqual. He took me around and explained the mechanical systems on board, he also discussed with me the inherent design flaws that kept the boat moldy. When the generator acted up on the aggressor, the captain fixed it in about 30 minutes; the Nekton had a full time mechanic who had to have very specialized skills.

My point is that the Nekton probably should have re-evaluated EVERYTHING when they started to have cash issues. They could have dropped the US flag, they could have sold a boat, they could have found a different crew profile (part of dropping the US flag)

I am an internet person and I always found their web site to be very funny. I sent it to some of my friends and asked them what they thought this company did. Most thought it was a boat builder of SWARTH technology; only a few realized it was a live-aboard. This was obviously not a strength.

Good business leaders have the guts to stop a business before it cycles down the drain and don't have to steal future reciepts to pay current bills; so when you fail this way you hurt innocent customers the most.
 
I am an internet person and I always found their web site to be very funny. I sent it to some of my friends and asked them what they thought this company did. Most thought it was a boat builder of SWARTH technology; only a few realized it was a live-aboard. This was obviously not a strength.

I thought their website was pretty bad too. It looked like it was circa 1987.
 
I stand Corrected. I mis-wrote the statement in my haste to respond...indeed, there is some minimum required Belizean crew required (not 100%), but I actually don't know specifically the number required based on the operation. That's just a detail I'd forgotten about when I added my commentary here, but In summary though, what I simply meant to express, was that I would challenge any of these "critics" to even try to get a company like this off the ground, let alone run it successfully for 16 years. I find it humorous that many of these people demonizing Nekton's management over the years, were multi-repeat customers. If you thought the operation sucked so bad, why did you go more than once ? They're basically just whiners with big mouths. And the main reason these threads are disproportionately full of negative and even venomous commentary, is that the lion's share of the people who had great experiences on those trips don't write about them on venues like this. It's the complainers and whiners who surf blogs like this, looking for a forum for their soap box.

Why don't you speak to your comments about the work ethics of the Belizeans you mentioned? Is that another thing you made up in your "haste" to respond? Listen Doriadiver, If you had botherd to read the postings in this thread, you would realize that many of us are repeat Nekton guest (I did 25 trips with them) and went from loyal frequent customers, to resentful disgruntled former customers. The company went from being the best to the worst. What you consider being a whiner, is people telling fellow divers to look out for a company that is tanking (and guess what-we were right--it tanked!). From the time the Rorqual came on the scene, the company started going on the cheap, and started cutting corners. I was one of Nektons biggest fans, and sent them a lot of bussiness, but my last cruise with them was so bad, and things were so unsafe, I swore to never go back. Luckily, this was shortly before they went bankrupt, so I did not lose any deposit money. Face it, mismanaged bussinesses with dishonest people at the helm don't last very long! Also, the reason the Nekton threads are so full of negative comments is that the operation was was falling apart and was treating it's guests or employees poorly! You don't see threads like this about the Aggressor or Aquacat or carribean explorer --ect. That is because they continue to provide a good and honest service to the customers! If JD was unable to keep his company viable, he should have shut it down before he started taking advantage of customers and crew.
 
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