Posted by Just Say No on July 31, 2002 at 07:10:46:
In Reply to: Re: Iron Eagle Slam posted by Ken Kurtis on July 30, 2002 at 23:47:57:
I'm with Ken on this one. Yes, I'm posting anonymously, but for a good reason... I run a fairly well-known SoCal dive-related business (NOT a dive boat business). I have had far too many people who have had really bad, and generally dangerous, experiences on the Iron Eagle come talk to me about it. I have struggled greatly with what to do with this information; at what point do we owe the community a warning about this boat? Generally, you try to be quiet about local dive-related businesses. But at some point you begin to think that someone is going to get hurt or killed, and you have a moral obligation to spread the word. But I choose to do so as an individual... something which I couldn't do if I used my name.
Whether one chooses to dismiss my comments because they're made anonymously, or not, the fact remains that a lot of people have had dangerous experiences on this boat. So ask around more than you would for the average boat before you decide to go. Just be certain that the people you're asking know who you are, so you don't run into the experience below (related by yet another person who will never go on the Iron Eagle again, who relied upon a false positive recommendation by someone he didn't know well because the guy was afraid Dan was going to sue him):
"I got an email reply this morning from the guy who had given me a verbal recommendation of the Iron Eagle from his trip a month or two ago. He actually had a terrible experience, and got into it with the captain and marketing manager to the point that they threatened him with legal action if he "bad mouthed" their operation. When I called him before our trip - he thought I was Dan or someone on his staff trying to catch him "slandering" their boat!"
Be safe.