Trip report - M.I.T.

[MSilvia]

No, not the technology university. Saturday was my first trip out on 'Fugitive' as Capt. Aleks Zlobin's 'Mate in Training'. We departed from Hewitt's cove marina in Weymouth. It's a great boat for south shore diving, although the entry and exit must be done without the benefit of a door.

The guys who chartered the boat (3 instructors and their friend from TN) wanted to do two dives and some cod fishing, so we were out from 8am to 7pm and had a beautiful day!

The first dive (which I sat out) was off Green Island, the second was off the Brewsters. I personally bagged 4 lobsters in a half hour, and the others collectively took about 12 and a full bag of scallops (which I found out are delicious raw) over the course of two dives. Water temps were about 53 degrees at the surface and 50 at 35'.

They caught over a dozen cod in the afternoon, and a huge number of dogfish circled under the boat picking up scraps and cleaned fish. On the return trip we were even lucky enough to spot a pilot whale!

If anyone's interested in chartering the boat, give Aleks a ring at 781-335-6124 or check out the (soon to be updated) website at http://www.gis.net/~azlobin

 

[MASS-Diver]

Matt - I wish they had a better way of getting into the boat. Any chance of them retro fitting it with a X-Mas tree ladder or something? I just don't see my skinny ass being able to get in with my doubles.

Although, I might have to drop them a line about some cod fishing.

That's really cool about the whale.

 

[Spectre]

... now that we have an 'in'.

A better ladder would be nice. That one off the swim platform is pretty much useless for someone in doubles.

A door in the transom would be very nice, but not absolutely necessary.

Getting rid of those boards on the side. That would be quite nice as well. There just ain't anywhere to sit down. If you're gonna backroll in, it's a hop over that board and then your gone. You gotta hope you're all set before that hop.

All in all, it's the worst boat to dive off of that I'd return to in a heartbeat. All the annoyances about the boat get completely offset by one hell of a captain.

Congrads on the job, and make sure Aleks doesn't drink too much of that tea!

 

[aktunbuzo]

I'm one of the guys on the charter with Matt. We had a beautiful day to spend on the water and a great time. We've used Alek's boat for the last couple of years for Advanced classes. He is a great captain. While I agree it is not the easiest boat to dive out of, it is not that bad. I've dove both doubles and singles out of it. What I usually do is stand on the swim platform to get geared up and giant stride in. I don't like doing a backroll as I think the sides are too high. At the end of the dive, I remove my gear in the water and then climb up on the platform, that avoids the ladder. I got in the habit of taking my gear off in the water when I had my own boat that didn't have a ladder at all. I had to climb up the outdrive to get on the platform.
Jeff

 

[MSilvia]

I'll talk to him about a christmas tree ladder and see what we can do.