Posted by mike on July 18, 2002 at 14:23:48:
In Reply to: Not Done... posted by rm on July 17, 2002 at 14:17:27:
Food / Galley GE has the best food. The Peace is accommodating also.
Diving locations The PEace (Hey, San Mig..who can beat that?), The GE (Cortez, Osborne, Tanner etc., The Horizon (Guadalupe, San Benedicto, Sacto Reef)
Crew GE is good. Peace is good.
Dive master- can't really say.. depends on who is chartering often times. GE is contender for the top tho, if only Terry would stop bagging on my wetsuit and all the duct tape used to patch the holes :-) Herb on the PEace is helpful too. Art Aldrich is great, The other guy on the GE is good also. Fidel is great when he DMs the Peace also.
Captain - Tim Burke is tops, Eric on the Peace is cool too. Cap'n Strange & Grumpy is all right..a good solid libertarian too : )
Boat Layout GE rocks. No one else can touch it..dont even try.
Air (Nitrox) Fills PEACE!!!!
Swim Step...never even paid attention to that part. I just get up out of the water and climb the ladder...not like that's hard or anything.
Sleeping Quarters Great Escape is fine, quieter than the Peace, larger spaces with better privacy. The Bunks (i think BUT AM NOT SURE # 20 or 21) on the Peace leak a little bit. They're the forward-most bunks, up top, right under the galley
Gear Storage Great Escape has all that room for lots & lots of camera stuff.
Parking (for your car) GE's new digs seem decent. 22nd St landing has had problem with theft and breakins, Peace up at Ventura is located in the nicest area and parking is easy as can be. Also, with the Peace, the ramp from the parking lot to the dock doesn't have a sharp bend at the bottom so pushing and pulling the carts is that much easier.
Price - Jim Hoffman's charters on the Magician are good (plus the deck on top of the galley is nice too). the Peace delivers solid value as well. For what i get boat and destination wise, the GE seems fair. Now that i think about it, The Lois Ann and the Blue Escape down in Diego are good values too.
Technical - haven't been there or done that, but look who charters the GE to go to places like the Matterhorn or the Sacramento. With that wide beam, there's plenty of places to stash extra sets of doubles.