White Horse Charters - D-Day Wrecks, any comments?

[Lou]

Chaps and chappesses,

I have been offered a place on a trip to do the D-Day wrecks using the White Horse.

Before I give a yay to the prosepct does anyone have any comments or experiences on either the boat, skipper or diving to share with me? I have never seen the boat let alone used it so I am interested in anything folk have to say

Cheers

Lou

[tom]

IIRC you might want to PM Howard about that boat, think he's been on it.

[divegyrl]

yep, talk to Howie, he has been on it

[beanie]

i went to normandy on Maureen of Dart

and the vis was sh1te plantoon bloom lights out @6m no idea if you were in a wreck or not

turns out we were the first boat the that year

[chrisch]

Some friends have used this boat. They said the diving was OK, but all of them that crossed the channel on board were sick. From this point on it became known as the "rocking horse" amongst our group.

Chris

[FOX]

A Couple of piccies for ya!







Living Accom, no cabins here!


It's a converted fishing boat of some description, 'rocking horse' would indeed be apt! All but two or three of us were sick and we just dived the M2!! There's no dive deck to speak of, you either kit up at the rear and walk down the gangway (sorry i'm no mariner!!) or kit up in the gangway, it's also worth knowing that there's no secure storage for kit.

[Diving Dude]

Lou, you have PM.

Anyone else thinking of going on the White Horse PM me

In a nutshell, the boats crap, however thats not the main problem, its the atitude of the skipper.

[Paul Beal]

Originally Posted by Diving Dude

Lou, you have PM.

Anyone else thinking of going on the White Horse PM me

In a nutshell, the boats crap, however thats not the main problem, its the atitude of the skipper.

That is basically what I have heard.

Paul

[gobfish1]

D-Day wrecks using the White Horse
been on the boat 4 times boats fine , john can be a twat , but cant we all.
but he will put you on the wreck first time .

I find john a good skipper and most of the time a nice man . food was good as well , and its cheep ,

There is a dive deck and kitting up is fine ,

as for the 'rocking horse' its not that bad , you will be in dock at night so you will be ok for bed ,
vis can be sh:t , but when its good its 20m,


mike of the Maureen now he is a twat full stop ,


Steve G

[Angus]

Lou,

Howard and I have discussed this vessel before and my views are on the line of his.

The boat is OK. It does bob like a cork is not brilliant in rough seas but then again there are plenty of boats like this. The accomodation below decks can be a little cramped however despite what Fox said, there are indeed three cabins as well as a few 'open' bunks too.

The diving over in Normandy can be a little 'hit and miss' depending upon the weather conditions etc but in general the vis is pretty good. There are some cracking wrecks to dive and of course the history of the sites add to it immensly.

The skipper, John is a good skipper in that he finds the wreck easily and if he tells you that he has put the shot on the "starboard side of the wheelhouse" you can be sure that that is where it it.

On the other hand the skipper has one of the worse attitudes that I have ever met in diving! He has very little in the way of manners, his social skills are virtually non-existant and he really is one of those bolkes that you want to punch - repeatedly!

He is unwilling to remain out of harbour over night and as the 'home base' in France is St-Vaast, which is a tidal harbour timings can be a little tight. The way he rushes to get back anyone would think he had a woman there!!

All in all - the attitude of the skipper outweighs the good things about the boat and I wouldn't dive off this boat again if it was the last vessel afloat.

To dive Normandy I would recommend Mike Rowley with Maureen of Dart or for a smaller charter I know that Len and Maggie on Autumn Dream now venture over there too.

All the best