| My White Horse Rant
Its an old thread but I'm a new member and just had to add to it. I organised a trip on the WH and can confirm most of the comments already made. We were a mixed bunch of diver experience and gender but were all used to the good vis (5m) as most of us were used to Liverpool Bay. The skipper moaned at us from day one about eveything from using too much water to dropping crumbs on the floor. You were always under the impression of being an intruder on the boat and seeing as you could only retire to a coffin sized bunk it made the boat quite small. When organising the dive for the day I was always on the back foot, yes I know the skipper usually knows whats best i.e. weather, tides etc, but if there were two wrecks close by he would try and get you to do the one he wanted. The deck hand he had at the time was a pain as well, he seemed to relish in missinformation and upset our female members, fortunately I can't remember his name. The best part of the week was a dive on the Leopoldville though one pair had their dive ruined because they had to retrieve the massive shot from the sea bed at 57m. He stiched us up on the beer as well.
Conversely, I organised a return trip last year on the Loyal Watcher and what a difference!!! The crew were excellent, the skipper Steve would discuss at length what and where you would like to go considering the weather and tides and dropped you spot on every time. Although we did dive a mulberry harbour bridge which was supposed to be a ship wreck but even so this was an interesting dive. The other crew members, Richard shotted the wreck and assisted with kitting up no probs and Julie had plenty of food and hot drinks available throughout. We were blessed with excellent weather and there was never a problem dropping us off and picking us up late at night when going ashore for a beer. Without exception everyone enjoyed the trip.
So you pays your money and you makes your choice but I know I wouldn't pay my hard earned over to the WH again. Many of us can only get one full week away per year and it aint cheap. The thing to remember is that although dive operators run a business as customers you are entitiled to some customer satisfaction.
Regards and safe diving.  |