Pompano Dive Center and charters going out of business...

[Green Frog]

I hope SFDH has functional rental gear now, since they had a lot of broken stuff when I dove with them years ago.

AFAIK, the folks on this trip will be bringing their own gear... I know I plan to carry everything except for tanks. I usually dive overseas, so I only own 1 tank and that wouldn’t be worth hauling down there for two tank dives. Is/were the boats safe, and did they have a good system of tanks and filling?

 

[Green Frog]

Well, I read the news stories about the sinking of the dive boat... it sounds like 1) they may have raised it, and 2) this may be the smaller boat in the operation that our group may be striving to fill. HMMM...

 

[Jcp2]

Well, I read the news stories about the sinking of the dive boat... it sounds like 1) they may have raised it, and 2) this may be the smaller boat in the operation that our group may be striving to fill. HMMM...

Also, if they tie in from the stern, be prepared to dive a bit earlier than planned.

 

[Green Frog]

Also, if they tie in from the stern, be prepared to dive a bit earlier than planned.

Well if I’m going to be on a sinking boat, I guess I’d prefer to be in full dive gear with a full tank?

 

[Green Frog]

Alright then. Three years or so ago, SFDH was opportunistic and moved in on the property being leased by PDC when overall ownership of the hotel where said leased property is located. Early on they had issues with broken or nonfunctional rental gear, and apparently an inexperienced crew running their smallest boat, which subsequently sank, probably due to said inexperience.

The sunken boat may have been raised from its resting place, refurbished and placed back in service or it may have been replaced with a similar one. The current condition of their rental gear has not been discussed, but for purposes of this discussion may be moot. I am interested in their rental tanks and their ability to efficiently fill them with safe, clean air.

Does this just about sum up the current state of affairs at SFDH as well? Has anyone dived with them this year who can provide updates? Should I roll the dice or walk away from the table on this potential trip? Please avoid personalities and history unless this will affect the trip in January.

As always, thanks in advance for useful information.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Alright then. Three years or so ago, SFDH was opportunistic and moved in on the property being leased by PDC when overall ownership of the hotel where said leased property is located. Early on they had issues with broken or nonfunctional rental gear, and apparently an inexperienced crew running their smallest boat, which subsequently sank, probably due to said inexperience.

The sunken boat may have been raised from its resting place, refurbished and placed back in service or it may have been replaced with a similar one. The current condition of their rental gear has not been discussed, but for purposes of this discussion may be moot. I am interested in their rental tanks and their ability to efficiently fill them with safe, clean air.

Does this just about sum up the current state of affairs at SFDH as well? Has anyone dived with them this year who can provide updates? Should I roll the dice or walk away from the table on this potential trip? Please avoid personalities and history unless this will affect the trip in January.

As always, thanks in advance for useful information.

I know plenty of people who use them, some frequently. Force-E books with them a lot.

Are they inherently unsafe? I’m honestly not sure. Beyond this recent sinking there have been at least 2 other incidents I’m aware of over years.

Bottom line for me. The owner is a @$&# and they’ve had a few incidents over an extended period of time. That looks like a pattern to me. Not a business I want to support. YMMV.

Most likely you would be just fine diving with them in January. Whether ‘most likely’ is good enough for you, that’s a call you have to make.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Green Frog

I have never dived with SFDH in Pompano Beach.

Scubatyme III is a SFDH boat that runs exclusively out of Boynton Harbor Marina. You can read about it on their website. I have seen it in Boynton for quite a while, it is in the slip next to Starfish, a boat I use frequently. I went out on my first trip on the Scubatyme III on September 15 and linked that in a post, above

Pompano Dive Center and charters going out of business...

When I did a search of Sands Harbor Resort, all I got was this three year old stuff about them being sold and Pompano Dive Center losing their lease there. Does anyone have current info about the SHR and whatever dive operation moved in after PDC moved out? I’m considering a trip with a local...

scubaboard.com

The trip went well, one wreck and one reef drift. I find it odd that they moored to the Castor, but that worked out. The boat was moored to the wreck by the stern for our descent down the line. It was moored to the bow when I ascended and one drifted around to the stern to board. It was a bit more difficult at the ladder due to the brisk current than it is being picked up by a drifting boat. I do not know much about boating so would defer to someone more knowledgeable to comment on the practice.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

The trip went well, one wreck and one reef drift. I find it odd that they moored to the Castor, but that worked out. The boat was moored to the wreck by the stern for our descent down the line.

Sounds like they’ve not learned their lesson. The only time I’ve EVER seen a stern tie in is on the Great Lakes in flat conditions & no current. A stern tie in on the Castor? Are they purposely trying to sink another boat???

Due to currents the Castor should be hot dropped or dived with a mooring ball attached to the wreck that divers drift into. That’s what the other Boynton boats do.

 

[boulderjohn]

The sunken boat may have been raised from its resting place, refurbished and placed back in service or it may have been replaced with a similar one.

The boat that sank, the Safari Diver, was raised after about a week and put back into service. It is not, however, in their current fleet of three boats at Pompano Beach.

Stern ties are common in the area, but only temporary. That is because of the unique way they hook onto a wreck. The captain lines up the boat for a hot drop, and when s/he thinks the current is right, tells the DM to dive. The DM swims down rapidly, pulling a mooring line attached to a ball. When the DM returns to the surface, the ball and line are temporarily stern tied while divers go in. Once they are all in, the boat is turned to tie off at the bow.

The Safari Diver's fate was due in part to its unusual design. It had a removable transom in the stern that was removed when the DM jumped in and returned. That meant the deck was open at nearly water level. The DM customarily gave the dive briefing while waves washed over the deck. I was on that boat in that situation many times, and I despised it. I only went on that boat when I had no choice. On the fateful day, the crew failed to notice that the waves washing over the deck were larger than usual, due to the current pulling on the line. The DM was still giving her briefing when the sinking began.

The main boats they use, however, do not have a stern tie problem. They usually use one or both of their two Corinthians, twin-hulled flatbed boats with the same structure at each end. It's a big drop when you giant stride into the water.

 

[boulderjohn]

The bigger boat issue with SFDH was with one of the Corinthians, then called the Coral Princess and now called the Black Pearl. It was entering the Hillsboro inlet on its return to harbor, and the story is that a huge rogue wave came up diagonally from behind, lifting the back end of one of the pontoons up high, throwing gear and people diagonally across the deck to the opposite corner and causing the boat to flip. One of the passengers died in that incident.