Serious mechanical problem delays start of trip… Trip #391, 2012. Socorro Island, Mexico.

Who would have known!! Turn around days for any liveaboard dive boat are very busy and if you were wathcing, it probably looks hectic, it really is organized chaos! Reprovishing, fueling, cleaning the inside/outside for the arrival of the next group of happy divers. Squeezing in all the repairs and regular preventative maintenance needed.
I also believe that problems, are not the problem but it is how you handle problems that is. Imagine our horror, as 3/4 of the day through turnaround, we received the news that the scheduled replacement of our fuel injectors on one of our main engines had gone seriously sideways and we discovered we had problems with the heads on the engine and they would have to be replaced.
Thus began the saga of Trip 391. Our guest for that trip were boarding in 16 hours and we were down one main engine, the trip was in jeopardy. Parts had to be found in Mexico as anything from Canada or the States was going to take 2 to 3 days to arrive and clear customs. Parts were found on the Mexican Mainland and promised for delivery for the next day. That meant losing one days diving out at Socorro Island As the Captain one of the most difficult things to do is disappoint our guests and in this case that was my job.
I am proud to say that our crew, our office staff and the management of the company never accepted “no, it is not possible”, for an answer”. When parts were going to be another day late because the courier company said they could not do it, we chartered a plane to get them here, when the airport said they would not allow our plane to fly in after dark as the light were not going to be turned on for a small private flight, we found out a commercial flight came in at a specific time at La Paz instead of Cabo San Lucas when lights were on and brought our plane in right behind the commercial aircraft. The Parts were then in La Paz and a crew member on days off met the chartered airplane and drove the 2 1/2 hours down the lonely baja highway to Cabo San Lucas. Arriving to the boat with the parts at 0130 in the morning. Our Engineer along with the mechanics then worked through the night to rebuild the engine. At 1014 we were underway for Socorro.
Were our guests affected, obviously they were, they got to dive one day in Cabo instead of the Canyon at San Benedicto, kinda like getting to the rental car counter and finding you get a chevy when you reserved a cadillac. Ask our guests today how they feel now, the first day we went directly to “The Boiler” and dove with the Mantas, the smiles said everything, I knew that all the hard work was worthwhile.

Today is the third day of diving out here in the islands, we are at Roca Partida and “The Rock” is working its magic as well, first dive galapagos, white tips, silver tips and of course scores of fish. Then what do we see in the distance, but the first of the humpbacks returning this season. Partial breaches, Pec Lobs, and then breach after breach after breach, probably 3 or 4 animals. Is everyone happy they are here now? You bet. Footnote, just finished the 2nd dive and we have a few hundred dolphins come in to join us. All around the rockpile the usual host of critters, plus the dolphins.
Do probelms happen? You bet, it’s all in how they are handled, and I am proud of how we handled this one. We treat your dreams for dive trip of a lifetime with the upmost respect and alway give you our undertaking to meet or surpass those dreams by always giving you the best possible trip.
Captain Al for all the crew and staff both on and off the boat.