Bay Islands Aggressor, November 1996, Walter Brenner, Wayne, PA. "Water 80 to 83 Degrees, Vis: 40 to 60 feet. "Typical Aggressor operation ­ first class in every way ­ comfortable accommodations, efficient dive operation, lots of personal care, wonderful cook. No great abundance of fish but lovely reef formations typical of the Bay islands. Many HUGE clinging crabs. The rainy season limited the locations visited but the crew gave us the best diving possible."

Maid'en Desert, September 1996, J. Presba, Englewood, CO. "Brochure sounded like the "adventure" we were looking for ­ live­aboard diving and the opportunity to learn to sail. Shortly after arriving we learned that the Maid'en Desert had changed ownership only weeks before. This 8 year old boat has been beat-up. Mishap after mishap occurred during our week. At one point, jokingly, we speculated that the only possible things left to break were the "newly installed" marine toilets or the engine (this boat is a motor sailer). Before the trip ended, the joke was on us ­ on both accounts! . . .Captain Doug, who apparently has been with the boat since it was put into service under the prior owners, tirelessly did everything he could to salvage our week aboard! He spent endless hours commuting to shore in the dingy (after the non functioning dingy motor had to be replaced) to get tanks filled so we could get in as much diving as possible. (The compressor broke on our first day out. The replacement was an electric compressor which took out the electrical system on the boat ­ so that compressor was only used once!) Gregg and Carol, the other two crew aboard also remained upbeat and accommodating ­even though they had to be discouraged. But the crew were personable, very competent, related well to us and we truly enjoyed getting to know each of them. . . . The new owner is going to have to do a lot of work to get this boat in shape. It's not the luxury live-aboard, contrary to what the literature might imply ­­ but, this type of charter can have a charm of its own. Even with all the problems and frustrations, we ended up having a whole lot of fun."

Wind Dancer, February 1997, Anne & Fred Straus, Cincinnati, OH. "Crew busts their butt to be helpful. Placed a warm towel around your shoulders as you exited the water. Excitement of diving the Caribbean is gone after Palau. vis: 50­75 ft. water: warm. Maximum depth: 130 ft."

Wind Dancer, March 1997, John Taylor, Monrova, CA. "Boat is great! Lots of room, plenty of shade and sun areas. Excellent dive set up. Plenty of camera space and charging stations. Good air conditioning. Food and service superb! New divemaster (Lucas) world class. I'm not a photographer but thought photographic opportunities (wide angle and macro) limited. Very few adult fish. vis: 25­60 ft. water: 77­79 degrees. Two dive sites per day. Two dives morning and three dives afternoon and evening. Not many creatures on night dives. Very windy weather. Couldn't get to Utila or Guanaja. Dove leeward Roatan, Cayos Cochinos and sea mounts. Deep diving not worth the trouble. Three seasons (wet, windy, hot). Suggest hot season on air conditioned boat (probably August), worth diving once. Not planning to go back"

Wind Dancer, March 1997, Ari Reguicha, Manhattan Beach, CA. "Roatan is a long island, oriented East­West. Unfortunately, prevailing winds are East, so when it blows, as it did most of the week, live­aboards are stuck on the West end of the island and you lose many advantages of a live­aboard. vis: 60 ft. water: 79 degrees. 3 mm would have been better. Comfortable boat and the food of the non­heartburn type. Diving was similar to Belize but not as nice"

Wind Dancer, August 1997, David S. LeCraw & Lynn B. Mears, Coral Gables, FL. "Food preparation and wait staff was superb. Divemaster, Lucas, was knowledgeable and willing to offer assistance at any hour. We rented an underwater photo rig it was difficult to gain assistance from photo pro in reloading. Shot 12 rolls of film and two were blank, caused by my novice unassisted loading. Until we asked about going to Utila, diver options were never mentioned. Captain would not discuss anything with small groups of divers but only the whole contingent. She presented the Utila option in a negative light. I was left with the distinct impression that dive sites were chosen based on fuel consumption. We did not visit advertised dive sites: Guanaja, Silverlode, Black Rock, Turtle Bight, Pigeon Cays and Barbareta. Still, an overall, a great experience,"

Copyright 1998 by DSDL, Inc., publishers of Undercurrent. All rights reserved. No portions of this report may be reproduced in any way, including photocopying and electronic data storage, without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information, contact DSDL, Inc., P.O. Box 1658, Sausalito, CA 94966.