Posted by Randy on September 30, 2000 at 13:01:10:
In Reply to: Re: Open Boat question posted by JRM on September 29, 2000 at 15:03:43:
I love it.:) Carefull of the seagulls, they're worse than crows. I'm 3 hours away myself from Ventura, out in the desert. I almost always go on open boats. I have every other friday off, and in the past year and half have gone out 13 times on the Spectre. 2 other times they cancelled a friday trip, once for weather and once for lack of divers. The one for a lack of divers they made up to me, as a frequent diver, by giving me a spot on saturday (no, not for free, they just held it open for me). I like fridays cause they are 20 bucks cheaper, the boat is generaly only half full, 12 to 20 people instead of 40. I think you just need to find the right boat. A boat with a good crew and reputation is much more likely to run. I've been on a couple of boats I'll never go on again. The Spectre, Liberty and Peace out of Ventura all have good reps and are very consistant. I've heard good things about the Horizon and Conception too, tho I've never dove them. Dive clubs are good, the only problem I see, unless you belong to several, is most only go once a month, if that, and if they cancell, that's a long time between dives. Sport Chalet have dive clubs, and with all the dive centers they have, that may offer a lot of chances. Good luck, and get a hard hat. LOL.