Boats
About 75% of our dive sites are accessed by boat. We don't rush from one reef to another and prefer to move between sites in a very leisurely manner. However, even our most distant dive sites are reachable within an hour.
Unsere Tauchboote sind traditionelle Fischerboote, die ich auf einer kleinen Insel im Madura Archipel gekauft habe. Wir haben die Aufbauten für das Tauchen modifiziert und die Rümpfe mit Fiberglas ummantelt, um das Holz zu schützen. Wir streichen die Boote oft, denn Sonne und Salzwasser sind harte Gegner im Kampf um Ästhetik. Jedes Boot ist mit zwei redundanten Innenbord Dieselmotoren chinesischer Bauart ausgestattet, die mit Helicopter-Sound für kraftvolle Fahrt sorgen. Sie können von der Crew eigenständig gewartet und repariert werden. Unfreiwillige Pausen entstehen hier und da vor allem durch angesaugte Plastiktüten oder verunreinigten Diesel, dafür bitten wir bereits im Vorfeld um Verständnis.
Three traditional fishing boats
Seadragon
Seadragon was offered to me because the boat builder needed cash to join the pilgrimage to Mecca. Making money by using the boat to catch fish would have taken too long. The much better option was to sell the boat. Seadragon is 10m long and has been modified to accommodate 4 divers plus a guide. Incidentally, we chose the name Seadragon for the boat in memory of our terrifying first exposure to her snarling single-cylinder diesel engines.
Seatiger
Seatiger has an almost identical design to Seadragon. It is the only one of our boats that was actually used for fishing, albeit for a short time only. When the owner was caught fishing with dynamite, he needed money to reduce his sentence and sold me the boat. Unfortunately, I was not made aware that the water supply for the fish holding tanks inside the boat was only plugged with a thong. I did find out within a week though. During a storm the thong was dislodged and the boat sank. We lifted the boat, pumped it empty, completely serviced the engine and also sealed the water intake properly. Anybody familiar with the movie Operation Petticoat starring Cary Grant and Tony Curtis will understand why I had no choice but to call the boat Seatiger. I still couldn't bring myself to paint it pink though.
Puspita Dewi
Dewi is about 14m long and 2m wide. She is equipped with a cabin and there is both a sun deck and shaded area. There is enough space for 2 groups of divers. Beware the popular sun deck as it is easy to fall asleep and get sunburned!
Leider muss die Dewi sich nach den zwei Jahren der Pandemie-bedingten Arbeitslosigkeit einer gründlichen Überholung unterziehen. Wir hoffen, dass sie ab 2023 wieder dabei ist.
