sciencediver1
Guest
Hello everone,
My name is Craig Miller and I am one of the captains of the dive boat Mark V for Porthole Dive Charters. As you may recall, we had this boat custom built to run the summer dive season at Neah Bay here in Washington State. Neah Bay is in a remote area where the Strait of Juan De Fuca meets the vast Pacific Ocean. The diving here while in cold water is nothing short of spectacular! Winter season will be run in Puget Sound where the protection of the inland waters allow us to dive all winter in good visibility with calm seas. Natural Reefs with Giant Pacific Octopus, wolf eels and large fish abound here. We received the boat in February and began to run Puget Sound trips. Right from the start we knew we had problems. Many of the critical systems on the new boat were not working properly. Our compressor and Nitrox membrane were very problematic. It quickly became obvious the hull and engines were not up to task given the excess weight of the whole package. In short the delivered product was not as advertised. So began a long process of dealing with the manufacturer who decided initially not to finish the work or honor the contract. We were forced due to safety concerns to scrub our summer 2008 season and pull the boat from charter. I sincerely apologize to all who had trips reserved and had to cancel. But in diving an ocean site such as Neah Bay, we need to be sure the boat is in proper condition before we let you off. I assure you, that your safety was at the top of our list. Anyway, after several months of talks by council on both sides we have reached an agreement. The vessel is at the manufacturer's docks undergoing a temporary refit to allow us to run at least some of the remander of the season at Neah Bay. After that, it goes back to the factory for a major refit and repowering. This time a very extensive sea trial will be conducted to assure all systems are operating as advertised before acceptance. This winter after the refit we should be back running the Puget Sound out of Harbor Island in Seattle with other scheduled trips to the San Juan Islands. While I don't yet have a firm date as to when we'll begin charters, I will get back on here as soon as we know something. In the meantime, I hope all will consider giving us a second chance to serve your dive charter needs. We very much enjoyed having you aboard and hope to see you again soon! http://portholedivecharters.com
Warmest Regards,
Cap't Craig
My name is Craig Miller and I am one of the captains of the dive boat Mark V for Porthole Dive Charters. As you may recall, we had this boat custom built to run the summer dive season at Neah Bay here in Washington State. Neah Bay is in a remote area where the Strait of Juan De Fuca meets the vast Pacific Ocean. The diving here while in cold water is nothing short of spectacular! Winter season will be run in Puget Sound where the protection of the inland waters allow us to dive all winter in good visibility with calm seas. Natural Reefs with Giant Pacific Octopus, wolf eels and large fish abound here. We received the boat in February and began to run Puget Sound trips. Right from the start we knew we had problems. Many of the critical systems on the new boat were not working properly. Our compressor and Nitrox membrane were very problematic. It quickly became obvious the hull and engines were not up to task given the excess weight of the whole package. In short the delivered product was not as advertised. So began a long process of dealing with the manufacturer who decided initially not to finish the work or honor the contract. We were forced due to safety concerns to scrub our summer 2008 season and pull the boat from charter. I sincerely apologize to all who had trips reserved and had to cancel. But in diving an ocean site such as Neah Bay, we need to be sure the boat is in proper condition before we let you off. I assure you, that your safety was at the top of our list. Anyway, after several months of talks by council on both sides we have reached an agreement. The vessel is at the manufacturer's docks undergoing a temporary refit to allow us to run at least some of the remander of the season at Neah Bay. After that, it goes back to the factory for a major refit and repowering. This time a very extensive sea trial will be conducted to assure all systems are operating as advertised before acceptance. This winter after the refit we should be back running the Puget Sound out of Harbor Island in Seattle with other scheduled trips to the San Juan Islands. While I don't yet have a firm date as to when we'll begin charters, I will get back on here as soon as we know something. In the meantime, I hope all will consider giving us a second chance to serve your dive charter needs. We very much enjoyed having you aboard and hope to see you again soon! http://portholedivecharters.com
Warmest Regards,
Cap't Craig
