Nekton boats may come back!!

[daniel1948]

It would seem to me that unless the boats are completely trashed, refitting them should be less expensive than building new ones. But perhaps the technology is just too expensive for the market. Especially in an economy when people are spending less on vacations. Places I've visited in the past are all offering discounts to get people to come. That's not a market where it will be easy to obtain financing to build or retro-fit boats as technologically complicated, and as expensive to run, as the Nekton Boats.

Having said that, I would sail on these or similar boats. Seasick scuba divers are probably a niche market. But it's a niche I firmly fall into, and I'd love to see a stable boat operating.

My best guess is that the OP has found that the money to revive this business is not there. I hope he does not give up. If the economy recovers this may change.

 

["MC"]

Hahaha! I'll be watching this thread with interest!

I'd love to see the Rorqual back on duty, but I can't imagine what it'll take just to get her seaworthy, let alone attract customers and crew.

I sure enjoyed my short time on the Rorqual, but I wasn't a bit surprised when Nekton went belly-up.

Good Luck and keep us in touch!

 

[daniel1948]

[QUOTE="MC";5547835]Hahaha! I'll be watching this thread with interest!

I'd love to see the Rorqual back on duty, but I can't imagine what it'll take just to get her seaworthy, let alone attract customers and crew.

I sure enjoyed my short time on the Rorqual, but I wasn't a bit surprised when Nekton went belly-up.

Good Luck and keep us in touch![/QUOTE]
Attracting customers should not be hard. Seems as though everyone that sailed on them loved them. Getting them operating again is another matter.

 

[mitsuguy]

It would seem to me that unless the boats are completely trashed, refitting them should be less expensive than building new ones. But perhaps the technology is just too expensive for the market. Especially in an economy when people are spending less on vacations. Places I've visited in the past are all offering discounts to get people to come. That's not a market where it will be easy to obtain financing to build or retro-fit boats as technologically complicated, and as expensive to run, as the Nekton Boats.

Having said that, I would sail on these or similar boats. Seasick scuba divers are probably a niche market. But it's a niche I firmly fall into, and I'd love to see a stable boat operating.

My best guess is that the OP has found that the money to revive this business is not there. I hope he does not give up. If the economy recovers this may change.

It is my understanding that the previous captains and crew of at least the Rorqual believe that it would not have passed a USCG hull inspection, required every year on a vessel that size.

Problem with those boats is that they are steel hulled, and from what I've been led to believe, they weren't built thick enough to start, so rust was a major issue with the hulls...

One thing that turns me off of them is their operational speed, 6-8 knots, and they might have seen 8-10 with the wind at their backs... Pretty limited in range and my guess would be ridiculously expensive to fuel...

 

[mike_s]

It would seem to me that unless the boats are completely trashed, refitting them should be less expensive than building new ones.

Where are you going to go to get them refitted?

I mean Dixon basically built his own shipyard (Port St Joe) in order to build and rework these boats.

Why? because he couldn't get it done elsewhere or couldn't find a place that was willing to do it for a reasonable price.

oh... the IRS has Tax Liens against the shipyard in Port St Joe also. I don't know if it's still in business or not. But unless you throw LOTS of money at these boats, chances are they won't get fixed.

And if anyone does, I doubt the banks are going to underwrite it.

It is my understanding that the previous captains and crew of at least the Rorqual believe that it would not have passed a USCG hull inspection, required every year on a vessel that size.

The Pilot has been sitting in Port Saint Joe for a while now. I think when I looked it up, the last time it passed a Coast Guard inspection was November 2008.

 

[daniel1948]

Yeah. I know nothing about their condition. I just know that if you get seasick as easily as I do, the Nekton boats were great. No matter if they are slow, as long as they are stable. I also didn't care that they were as ugly as a refrigerator on floats.

But it sounds as though they were a money-loser, and in a down economy that's a double whammy. I guess I'll be sticking with land-based operators for a while. But it would be nice if someone could bring back those boats or something like them.

 

[Karloss]

The Rorqual just passed Coast Guard inspection in late September of '09 which wasn't far from when operations ceased to my undestanding.

 

[mike_s]

The Rorqual just passed Coast Guard inspection in late September of '09 which wasn't far from when operations ceased to my undestanding.

Actually it was SOLAS Inspection they passed in Sept 09.

It passed USCG Inspection October 12, 2009, which of course expires Oct 12, 2010.


But anytime they have do major replacement of equipment or structural (engines, etc) on commercial inspected vessels, you have to have that inspected also.

some question whether or not that the boats could pass inspection after that. But also apparently there were issues paying for the repairs in the first place.

 

[divematt]

Attracting customers should not be hard. Seems as though everyone that sailed on them loved them. Getting them operating again is another matter.

Not "everyone that sailed on them loved them"! It's hard to count the people that just have not commented in a positive way here in hope that they come back. Some of us had terrible experiences on them. Some of us are just keeping their mouths shut. My dad once said that "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all"! I guess I should have listened.

Some of us hated paying for Nitrox for a week and got a 25% blend, some hated how it ran on only one engine half of our 7 day trip. Many hated the bickering that we saw "behind the scenes" from the captain on down in many cases. Others hated the smell and sight of mold in the cabins. I went on my sailing 4 years before the operation shut down and I can't imagine the condition that boat was in during those 4 years AFTER I left it! If not for the dive sites, and some helpful people on the crew, it would have been even worse.

Maybe it can be brought back, but like others have said, at 7 knots and with all that is wrong with it, is it "really going to fill it's 28 spaces on every sailing with it's limited range? It has had as many poor reviews following it as it has great raves about it. Changing that impression of it would take some doing, some time and a lot of money.

I just booked a Liveaboard trip that normally would cost me $4000, but with this economy it's going for under $3000 and included $998 worth of discounts such as hotel the night before, all taxes and fees included, fuel surcharges, free Ntirox for 9 days, all transfers from the airport, to the hotel, and ship and back, and other benefits. These deals on Liveaboards are all over the place out there.

I guess if there was a stock named Nekton, I wouldn't be a buyer of shares, it would be highly speculative. But then again, that's how some people get rich if they're right. And I've been wrong before more than once! May it do well if it does return.

 

[daniel1948]

I'm glad you found such a good deal on a liveaboard. I wish you great diving! I probably won't be doing another liveaboard because of my issue with seasickness. I'm resigned to the fact that these boats, or new ones with the same technology, are probably not economically feasible, and I'm probably going to have to stick with land-based operations. But I and people with the same issue would put up with a lot of inconvenience in order to sail on a stable boat. And I noticed none of the problems you mentioned, other than the fact that at 25%, nitrox was not worth it and I dived air. But with the long surface intervals, I didn't mind diving air. And if anyone did manage to revive these boats (very unlikely I suppose) it would be a simple matter to provide 32% nitrox.