Catalina- Bottomscratcher

A little review: Went to Catalina on the Bottom Scratcher. This was my first time on this boat. It was only at about half capacity, but I felt crowded. Overall, though a not super clean, not a bad boat. I did find it a little slow.

Here are the things I liked:
The crew was animated. Although the food wasn't exactly gourmet, there was alot of it. (Breakfast and a meal after every dive). There was a chase dingy.

Things I didn't like:
The capt. new there were several student there to get their deep dive in for the advanced course. It 10'-15' of vis with an obvious current (Isthmus reef), an anchor line in the deep water for reference would have been ideal. He chose to anchor shallow. A possible big problem for inexperienced divers.

A short move for the second dive (West side of Bird Rock). I didn't see anyone marking people off as they entered the water. I don't even remember seeing anyone at boat stern. However, everyone was checked in at entry.
Though it seamed customers wanted to try a third site, we didn't pull anchor because members of the crew wanted to remain there. Once again, there was nobody marking off names as divers entered the water.

During the trip, with the exception of the captain, each crew member dove at least once (including the dive master), with two diving trice.
My overall impression of the trip was that the intent of the trip was for the benefit of some of the crew and there desire for lobster. (The bugs, by the way, were measure on the boat, with shorts toss out).
I understand the crew wanting to dive, but not on a trip when they are working. I resent having to pay for a crew trip.

I hope this trip was an exception and I'm sure others have had better experiences. I, however, will not be spending my money there, again.

Crew that does not dive for the most part useless crew. This is the single biggest problem with California boats. They put crew on that do not dive or they don't let them dive.

I was on the BS once. IMO it is a bit of a scow. It's old, it's wet, I despise a boat that let's wetsuits in the main salon. And let's divers leave thier **** allover the place. The heads smelled badly and were designed for vertically challenged people. The air-fill system was ok but nothing special. The food was ok but if you were diving you missed it. Oh well . I would prefer to just bring my own. The deck set up is crowded and designed for single tank numptys with one tank. I prefer a bit more deck space. The stern gates are small and the ladders suck. I dont like taking my fins off to climb up.

The captain was a nice old guy. Most of the crew with the exception of the obnoxiously and stupidly loud cook at 5 am were pretty good. When a boat load of people are sleeping crew should shut the **** up. The rest of the time they stayed out of the way and were there if you need them. The loud cook redeemed herself when she put her **** on and went divng. That kept her quiet and showed she could dive. The rest of the crew dived as needed and I was pleased to see that.

Oh waking me up for no reason cost her a $20.

I crewed a boat in NY for almost 14 years. I dived on EVERY trip. What's the point of being boat crew if you don't dive?

Crew is there to help you not hold your hand.

Cheers

In my neck of the woods there are NO charter boats. No dive charter operations. You do your best to hire a local fisherman to take you out or you shore dive. Luxuries like food ... forget it. Even if a DM organizes the trip and hires the boat, don't expect him to lug your tanks or hold your hand. You gotta look after yourself. If you are lucky the boat has a head (or at least a bucket), and if he has a ladder you are feeling pretty pampered. One dive shop here, the owner has an old fishing boat that he takes people out on, but it is a scow and not set up as a dive boat. You are on his schedule, go where he wants to go. I can't tell you how many times the diesel starts up and he is pulling away while I'm still climbing over the transom to get back on the boat.
That being said, we probably only pay $25 to $50 for a two dive day. What are you guys paying when you go out on a boat like the Bottom Scratcher?
When I DM I get in the water whenever I can. But I do guided tours or help out the less experienced divers. It's not for me to do my own thing.
Ron

seasnake it's alot more than you pay. If you find a weekday special maybe $80-90 USD and on the weekend it shoots up to $125-150 USD

Interesting. That does make it expensive for weekly diving! There was just a post on my local board about this. There is an operator in Newfoundland (North of here, a 15 hour ferry ride) at a popular spot now charging $130 for the day. But he trying to cater to tourism, not the locals, so he has a small resort and pro charter boat with meals and the whole thing. Of course, the "locals" are complaining about the extravagant prices! :p But sounds like his on par for what he is offering. (The diving is awesome if you like wrecks ... four WWII wrecks sit upright on the bottom in nearly pristine condition, just a 20 min steam from his front door step)

yea way too expensive for my budget so I just got a used dive kayak and have only been on a charter boat once for my cert. the rest of the dives have been from shore which I feel I get more expierence out of because I don't just jump off and I'm there.

I think the $125 or so it costs for a Southern California dive boat is an incredible bargain. I Know in Southern California the Whalers Dive Club has Wednesday trips now and then to San Miguel for even less than that.

You get to arrive the night before and go out to dinner with fellow dive friends, sleep on the way there, get up, have hot breakfast, do your first dive, have a snack while they refil yoru tank for no extra $, do a 2nd dive, have a hot sit down lunch, after another free refill do a 3rd dive or lay out and snooze, take a hot shower and put on clean cloths, then nap all the way back.

plus tip.... and each dive is well north of $40. Park the car walk to the site and each dive is $5. That's an 800% savings! Sure it's nice to hop off and you're there but that's too easy and expensive for me.

With the lack of dive charter operations where I live, we were just always used to shore diving and hitching a ride with a fisherman. It is only in the last few years I've had the opportunity to dive from a "dive boat" on a charter. It's actually kinda funny, because my buddies and I were not used to someone helping with our gear and helping us out of the water and stuff like that. We were like "hey, quit touching my gear!"
For the most part, I still prefer the least expensive alternative and just looking after myself, because that is what I am used to. But when the time comes and you want all the frills like iDiveChick mentioned, you pay your bucks and sit back and enjoy, and it is well worth it!

JS1scuba-

Yeah, my station was near the head and it stunk (not to mention, liquid covered th floor). I don't mind the crew diving, as long as the paying customers are taken care of (and I don't mean having our hands held). I do expect somebody to account for everyone going in and out just for safety. And it should be the same person for any particular dive, in my opinion.


I've had better experience on other boats and those are the ones I'll return to.

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Originally Posted by Jefe

JS1scuba-

Yeah, my station was near the head and it stunk (not to mention, liquid covered th floor). I don't mind the crew diving, as long as the paying customers are taken care of (and I don't mean having our hands held). I do expect somebody to account for everyone going in and out just for safety. And it should be the same person for any particular dive, in my opinion.


I've had better experience on other boats and those are the ones I'll return to.

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Frankly the only person who is responsible for people is the Captain. So long as he does a NAME CALL and VISUAL verification of everyone on board before he picks up the anchor and moves then all is fine.

A sign out board is all that is needed. Frankly I can't stand having a useless "divemaster" on a boat. I want crew, real crew that dives.

Cheers

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Originally Posted by Jefe

(and I don't mean having our hands held).

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What? they're not supposed to hold our hands? well, shoot... I kinda like having my hand held :D


As for as the BS (bottom scratcher)~ I've been on it as well.... Wasn't impressed, but then again it wasn't the worst dive boat I've ever seen...

SoCal dive boat prices are fairly reasonable (this is DCI's price list)-
Dive Trip Prices:

2 tank Wreck Alley or Kelp Bed trip..............$80.00 per person
2 tank Coronado Islands (Mexico) trip..........................$100.00 per person
1 tank Night Dive.............................................. .$40.00 per person
4 tank Kelp Alley or Kelp Bed Trip................$155.00 per person
4 tank Coronado Islands (Mexico) trip..........................$175.00 per person

These prices include tanks, weights, snacks and/or lunch.

That actually raises an interesting question: What do you expect the divemaster to do?

In my locality, we provide some help lugging your gear, a thorough briefing at the site, written accounting of all divers, maybe a guided tour UW of the site or buddy up with the least experienced in the group, and safety supervision (including having full first aid and O2 on site and providing same in an emergency).

Just to whine a little :p for that we might expect to make $5-$10 per diver on an outing.

Most locals here would rather not have a divemaster either. They know the sites already and are willing to look after their own safety.

Ron

SoCal,

What is this? A touchie, feelie trip? What, I have to get in touch with my inner-self? Hold hands? Sing Koom-by-Ya? Yikes I am out of here!!!! I thought I was meant to enjoy this time, not endure it! Time for a new hobby.

Seriously, I find that a good divemaster will give you a hand with clipping up stage bottles (holding/handing them for you), and other such gear, then assissting in the climbing back on the boat. Especially if the seas have picked up between going in and coming out (and when don't they?). Taking the camera and SMB to leave your hands free to climb on board.

A little shift in topic: Who the @#$^%@# thought that having a boat deck that sits 5-6 feet (2 meters) above water level is a good thing? I damn near kill myself climbing the ladder with doubles and all!!

If you're gonna complain about a boat set up don't dive off of it, with that said that eliminates almost all commerical boats. Climbing up a ladder isn't that big of a deal, since it's only maybe six steps at most.

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Originally Posted by hbh2oguard

IClimbing up a ladder isn't that big of a deal, since it's only maybe six steps at most.

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Again, try that with full gear. That includes Deco bottles (multiples) and doubles with the extras. Now tell me how easy to pull up and out in 6 feet of air space. That is, no water to help.

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Originally Posted by amtrosie

SoCal,

What is this? A touchie, feelie trip? What, I have to get in touch with my inner-self? Hold hands? Sing Koom-by-Ya? Yikes I am out of here!!!! I thought I was meant to enjoy this time, not endure it! Time for a new hobby.

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Well its actually "Kum ba ya"... but that's ok.

Anyway, every boat around here i've been on (including the Butt Scratcher) has had a helpful crew- taking fins, cameras, stages from divers.. Often, even the boat captain is there assisting you into and out of the water.. And I agree, trying to get up a ladder with doubles in rough seas can be quite the challenge at times...

well can't say I've been in that situation because I don't frequently dive off of boats normally only the shore, and when I do I only take one 120 to make it easy.

i think the name should be .... Butt Scratcher ........

Well, I guess if you don't kill yourself going up and down the ladder, you can save $ by cancelling your gym membership.
;)

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Originally Posted by iDiveChick

I think the $125 or so it costs for a Southern California dive boat is an incredible bargain. I Know in Southern California the Whalers Dive Club has Wednesday trips now and then to San Miguel for even less than that.

You get to arrive the night before and go out to dinner with fellow dive friends, sleep on the way there, get up, have hot breakfast, do your first dive, have a snack while they refil yoru tank for no extra $, do a 2nd dive, have a hot sit down lunch, after another free refill do a 3rd dive or lay out and snooze, take a hot shower and put on clean cloths, then nap all the way back.

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I agree that when you add in the option of sleeping on board the night before the dive trip, it works out pretty well.

I often recommend to divers from outside of SoCal that they consider one of the dive boats that lets them sleep on board. It is MUCH less expensive than taking the Catalina Express over to Catalina, paying for the parking, diving with one of our boats (although SCUBA Luv's King Neptune is well worth it since you will most likely get to dive with me, the infamous Dr. Bill), and paying the outrageous prices for hotel rooms here (at least during peak season).

It would probably suit many So Cal Divers if they artificial reefed the Bottom Scratcher. Then it would really be scratching bottom. The two best So Cal boats are the Great Escape and the Magician. Both charge the same price, but they offer better food and service. On my last dive the Magician Captain asked us where we wanted to dive. That is the first time a skipper had ever asked me where I wanted to go. And I have been on about a dozen local boats over the last few years.

DiverJohn,

We can count on the Captain of the Magician here as a member. :)

Hey Dr.Bill - I did my certification with Haven's Reef under Brett Bovard. We went out on SCUBA Luv's King Neptune for certification. Nice folks. I suppose some day I will meet you, as I will be going back out there whenever I can.

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Originally Posted by DiverJohn357

It would probably suit many So Cal Divers if they artificial reefed the Bottom Scratcher. Then it would really be scratching bottom. The two best So Cal boats are the Great Escape and the Magician. Both charge the same price, but they offer better food and service. On my last dive the Magician Captain asked us where we wanted to dive. That is the first time a skipper had ever asked me where I wanted to go. And I have been on about a dozen local boats over the last few years.

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Thank you Joel and John for what you have written. After my ONE AND ONLY Charter on the BS, Greg and I made a pact not to bad mouth each other in public. . . .

So, I would like to rave over Ray, Kyaa, Lori, and Frisbee of the Sundiver. I charter this vessel exclusively and Ray has taken us places seldom visited in Southern California. . . if you want to hit Farnsworth, this is the boat to take you there.

On the bottom scratcher. . . .

Well, uh, nuthin

T

There is some great history in that boat! Captain Greg Elliot bought the Golden Dubloon from Mel Fisher and ran it until he sold it for the Bottom Scratcher. He in the last couple of years put new engines in and new heads! The crew has been pretty stable over the years Debi and her sister have been the Galley winches for ever and our bunch of misfits taught her how to dive! I was there the first time she splashed down and there was "No way she was going to go down" but look at her now! Greg helped bury our friends mother at sea to Amazing Grace on his bag pipes, which have been the motivation for more than one diver to get off his boat quickly!

Usually the shop doing the charter is responsible for the DM! Bubba the little dingy has gotten a new motor in the last couple years, you should have seen the old one! Some of the problem is so many people bring every piece of dive gear they own limiting the deck space, learn to leave it home!

We shot a National Geographic show on board the old gal and with a crap load of cast and crew it was amazing we all fit!

The DM's maybe Tom or Jim both with the Riverside County Sheriff's department and very good divers, but if it were either you would have been checked each way for sure!

We have had some great adventures on the old girl and she has always gotten us home with a hot Spaghetti diner and Garlic Bread! So if your going looking for a new, fast, well put together dive boat? You pulled up to the wrong dock, but if you like a good crew and a crusty captain with a loud cookie who you can't get made at, then this is it! I just tried to get to sleep an hour earlier! It's about the Adventure, right? Not the best, just solid, and reliable!