In Reply to: Re: Setting the Record straight about the Great Escape posted by --! on October 14, 2005 at 20:48:40:

Bummed with Great Escape
We were with a Cal Aquatics charter that was scheduled for Molikai crater. They promised that if we didn't make it there, that we would do Molikini backside.
The departure time shuld have been 2 AM. As we didn't leave until 4 AM, I knew that we were going to be stuck diving Molikini. What frosted my snorkle is that they had to have known this before we left the dock.
While my first tank was 50-50 O2 mix that I brought aboard with me, which was good for the first 150 foot dive, We had been promised 50-50 fills of NO2 for the rest of the day. When they filled my tank, they admitted it was only 32% CO. To say the least, that took the color out of the dive.
I told the DM that my buddy had passed away while trying to offer his regulator to a parrot fish, but his only reply was 'cum see, cum saw' and 'cavet emptor'.
Lunch was haggies and tripe. Good tripe, but I wanted filet orangotang.... I think they were watering the drinks too. My Rum and Coke tasted like gasoline.
On the third dive, several people complained to the DM that the gas smelled funny. He pointed at the dog and smiled.
When I came up from the dive, I hooked my $14,000 video camera to the clip hanging from the boat bumper. Since I forgot about it when we left, the deck hand carelessly pulled up the bumper and tossed the whole rig into the anchor hold in the bow of the boat. This seriously fogged my lens for the next dive.
We could see the Peace docked in Lahaina. Crew and passengers all looked 7 sheets to the wind. I was pissed. That could have been us diving the bar.
The last dive was OK for sight seeing. Captain Tim metered areound and then dropped us in an active volvano. Vis was OK for diving, but sucked for video and it melted my strobe. On the anchor line, I was attacked by a white tipped shark. On the swim step, a large green turtle made some very provocative advances.
Really, all this should have been foreseen by the captain and crew, but they seemed to be passing the fill whip and paralyzed laughing. I guess the compressor was finally working right.
Would I go again on the Great Escape? In a second, but not with S.F. Jiffy Lube Dive Club.