Sea Safaris/Diving and Bareboat Chater
         May 25, 1996--June 01, 1996
                   by Carl L. Wilson, II
    FidoNet Address: carl.wilson@f14.n279.z1.fidonet.org
       Internet Address: clwilson@access.mountain.net
                      Part One of Two
In June of this year I took a trip with the Sea Safaris
company from 25 May to 01 June.  The group was a "pick-up"
group, ie, we were not all from one location, club or
association.
Sea Safaris uses a 57 foot Defender style trawler.  This is
a very stable sea worthy hull design.  The boat has two
Detroit Diesel propulsion engines, a generator, and diesel
air compressor.  Boat speed is about 9.5 knots and the
generator is adequate to power the air-conditioning and
other electrical needs. One nice thing I liked about the
boat was that the generator is located in the engine room
and is quiet, very unlike the ones used on the BlackBeard
boats.
The boat has a common sleeping area for 12 people that is
air conditioned.  Crew's quarters are located in the stern
area of the boat and are not air-conditioned.  The boat has
two electric heads with wash basins.  The shower area is
located on the stern of the boat and is not enclosed.  The
galley and salon are combined, which makes it convenient to
eat, get snacks and such.
This is a "participation" type of bareboating.  I helmed the
boat from Miami to almost Bimini and several other times
during the week.  Others filled tanks and performed other
tasks. Filling the tanks is easily accomplished as they are
filled in the racks where they are stored.
On this trip, Jerry Kundert captained assisted by two
mates. The captain is very competent and with the divers
help there was no need for the mates.  I have chartered the
boat for a week in August for Dive Tech Sports in South
Charleston, WV, and have made arrangements to use the same
captain and a mate/cook to handle the food preparation
chores.
Departure from Miami was around Midnight on Friday with
arrival in Bimini early the next morning.  After clearing
customs we then started to dive and motor around the
islands.
Bimini has several excellent dive sites around it of
varying depths, so we were able to dive deep early and then
do more shallow dives the remainder of the day.
After Bimini we dived off of Chub Cay, then went ashore
to buy T-Shirts and other necessities. We then motored to
Nassau, visited there for around two hours then proceeded
to Green Cay and dived there. In these waters I recovered a
20-25lb grappling anchor.
Leaving Chubb we then proceeded to Lyford Cay diving that
area and replenished our fresh water for more showers.  On
our return we stopped in Bimini again to clearout with
Customs & Immigration and had supper on the island.
Returning to Miami we experienced some weather difficulty.
The great advantage of a liveaboard is that one can move
your living quarters to where you wish to dive.  Thus we
were always able to dive from the boat visiting several
locations, without long swims or riding a small dive boat to
the desired dive site.
During the week we had 15 scheduled dives and visited
several different islands and cays.  The diving schedule
could easily be increased if the group so wishes.  Our group
was a "laid back" style of people, so we visited and dived
at a rather leasurely pace.
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   SLMR 2.1a   Clay, WV----National Opossum Refuge
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