THE NEKTON PILOT

About the Nekton Pilot Length: 78 feet Beam: 40 feet Construction: Aluminum and steel Draft: variable 6-10 feet Air compressor: 2 Mako compressors Navigation: GPS, radar, video depth sounder, weather fax, VHF/SSB radios, satellite telephone (stay in touch with phone cards to North America available for $80 per card for approximately 13 minutes, or $5.67 per minute). Amenities: 16 double staterooms with private bathroom, showers, large picture windows, and independent A-C controls; spacious main lounge area; 2,000 square foot sundeck; E-6 film processing; rental U/W cameras and videos; Jacuzzi; complete bar and dining services.

I'm not a marine architect, so I can't say exactly why the SWATH design works, but I do know this is the same technology used to stabilize offshore oil platforms. Essentially, the vessel is like a massive catamaran with two submerged pontoons that rest several feet underwater. In a choppy or confused sea a mono-hull has to roll with the bumpy surface conditions, but the submerged pontoons of a SWATH boat rest in calm water beneath the surface, dramatically stabilizing the boat. Nor do you have to be a marine architect to appreciate the efficiency of a SWATH design. Simply sit in the main salon of the Nekton Pilot, calmly sipping a cocktail while six-foot seas rage outside. You'll be a believer.

The Nekton Pilot cruises half the year in Belize and half the year in the Bahamas. While deployed for Bahamas departures, two specific itineraries are offered, each departing Ft. Lauderdale on a Saturday and returning to Ft. Lauderdale a week later. The Nekton Pilot will either cruise through either the Cay Sal Bank or enjoy a "Bahama Adventure", featuring dives off Grand Bahama, the Gingerbread Grounds, Cat Cay, and Bimini.

(The Ft. Lauderdale point of departure provides economy in airfare as compared to joining the cruise in the Bahamas, and also provides logistic support in terms of keeping a sophisticated vessel like the Nekton Pilot shipshape and well supplied.)

I joined the Nekton Pilot cruise in progress in Grand Bahama since I was already on location for a shoot. The vessel had departed from South Florida the night before, and was in the process of clearing customs at West End, Grand Bahama when I met up with them. I noticed this whole immigration routine was very painless for the guests. One of the crew brought all passports and documentation to Bahamas Customs and Immigrations, so that while their passports were being stamped, the divers were already geared up, ready for that first giant stride into the crystalline Bahamian sea. No hassle, no lost dive time. Just the efficiency I came to recognize as standard Nekton Pilot operating procedure.

Anyone who has ever done time on liveaboards will be a little surprised the first time they see the Nekton Pilot on the open ocean. She absolutely dominates the horizon, a massive white rectangular shape rising 3 decks (plus a wheelhouse) above the Plimsoll mark. That was my first impression, sheer mass. Then, as I boarded the vessel from the chase boat tied off to the stern, I saw right away this was a serious dive vessel. The entire dive deck can be lowered up and down to facilitate easy entry for divers. Lots tank of storage was evident, and each diver had their own little bin where they could keep their masks, fins, weights belts, etc. There was places to hang wetsuits, places to rinse gear, commodious camera tables, dedicated camera rinse tanks, drinking water, fresh water shower (heated no less!) In short, anything you could think you might need to make your diving easier or more convenient is close at hand on this unique dive deck. Obviously someone very clever and well experienced in dive ergonomics had a hand in this design.

Then I walked into the main salon. Again, massive was the adjective that first came to mind. Spacious, bright, and tasteful, the main salon offers ample dining space and common areas to watch videos, see a slide show, or simply relax with a coffee or cocktail. The food is ample, tasty, and seemingly always available. Three meals a day, munchies between dives, and a bowl of fruit and snacks perpetually filled assures divers they'll never want for sustenance on a Nekton Pilot cruise.

Cabins are likewise comfortable and spacious, and the en suite head and shower, plus individual A-C controls are much-appreciated amenities. With an absolutely immense upper deck devoted to sunning, drying wetsuits, and dive briefings, the ambience of a floating hotel is complete.

I was aboard the Nekton Pilot during their "Bahama Adventure" itinerary. Which meant in a week's time they would dive off West End Grand Bahama, snorkel with wild spotted dolphins at White and Ridge, do shallow dives on the Sugar Wreck, experience an awesome wreck experience at Theo's Wreck off Freeport, dive with Caribbean reef sharks at Shark Junction, dive along the Gingerbread Grounds (including the historical wreck of the Hesperus, do wall dives off Bimini and reef dives off Cat Cay. All in all, a very busy week. Yet my schedule did not allow a week aboard, much to my dismay, so I'll give a sense of my mini-dive adventure aboard the Nekton Pilot.

When I joined the cruise, the guests had already done a warm-up dive on Indian Cay Reef off West End Grand Bahama. There, in a typical 45-foot spur-and-groove coral formation it was possible to refresh rusty diving skills and adjust buoyancy. Once up to speed, the group opted to move on to more diverse and impressive dive attractions scattered along the Western end of Grand Bahama.

There are a number of pinnacles and mini-walls scattered throughout this region, but one of the most spectacular is the appropriately named Mount Olympus. Here. Drenched in visibility that had to be at least 150 feet, was very high-profile coral heads cloaked in gorgonia and sponge. This is filter-feeder Nirvana, and looking at the reef decoration, no one should be surprised to find some current here at times. During our dive it was easily manageable, and it seemed to bring pelagic life to the site as well, including the turtles and eagle rays seen by most of our divers. Whether the photo imperative was wide-angle scenics or marine life portraits, Mont Olympus delivered.

Another huge attraction of West End Grand Bahama is the pod of resident spotted dolphins at White Sand Ridge. Some liveaboards concentrate their entire week's efforts towards trying to facilitate interaction with these dolphins, but with the Nekton Pilot's Bahamas Adventure, the time devoted to this activity is somewhat dictated by the group's wishes. On this cruise there was a hard-core dive bias, so we invested minimal time with the spotted dolphins. Yet we were rewarded with a group of a dozen or so swimming in our bow wake as we motored along the edge of the sand bar. The dolphins very much determine when or if they are willing to play with snorkelers, but perhaps 85% of the time Nekton guests enjoy close wild dolphin encounters on this leg of the tour.

For the sheer wealth of photographic subjects, our next dive is one of the best anywhere—the Sugar Wreck. Here in only 16 to 20 feet of water lays an old freighter, now mostly scattered about the shallow seafloor. But the amount of fish life that makes this wreck their home is truly incredible. From massive schools of grunt and snapper, to large clusters of barracuda, to Southern stingray, turtles, angelfish, and eels, this wreck has it all! I was bringing 5 cameras on each dive, and shooting them all to completion in an hour or less. And this is just during the day. At night, the wreck may even be more productive in terms of photo opportunities. You can count on seeing green and loggerhead turtles, stingrays, angelfish, moray eels, and octopus virtually guaranteed. And since it is a liveaboard, it is an easy proposition to come back aboard, change film, and go shoot some more. With depths less than 20 feet and friendly, approachable marine life everywhere, this is one of the best night dives you'll find anywhere. In our afternoon and night on the Sugar Wreck I shot 18 rolls of film, testament to the fascination of the site, but also the ease of diving and underwater photography aboard the Nekton Pilot.

Typical of the Nekton Pilot cruise routine, after the night dive we motored off to relocate near our next day's dive sites. For anyone who has ever tried to sleep on a liveaboard as it pitches and rolls in a rough sea, the advantage of the Nekton Pilot is revealed via a relaxing night of absolutely minimal motion and sweet dreams.

Our next location was the east side Grand Bahama and the famed dive icons off Freeport. This was my last day aboard, but I didn't want to miss my old favorite dives, Theo's Wreck and Shark Junction.

Theo's Wreck is a 230-foot freighter, sunk intentionally in October of 1982 as a dive attraction. Local dive operators feared the worst as the ship came perilously close to falling over the deep abyss, but fortunately she settled on her side in 100 feet of water on a sand plateau near the wall. In her nearly two decades on the bottom, Theo's has acquired lovely patina of sponge encrustation, particularly beneath port bow and along the anchor chains. A large green moray has long been fed by local divemasters and now regularly swims out to greet the divers. With impressive propellers still intact, and the surreal posture of this large wreck lying on her side near the precipice, Theo's is a wreck that just continues to improve with age.

There are plenty of shark dives throughout the Bahamas these days, but Shark Junction remains one of the best. Here, in only about 50 feet of water, dozens of Caribbean reef sharks swam about the shark feeder, interested only in a free handout. But at the same time, the feeding activity provides an awesome opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with this sleek (and normally reclusive) predator. A flurry of flashing strobes and videos record the scene, leaving me with a high voltage memory of a cruise I leave with great reluctance. For the other 28 divers aboard this week, more slick calm seas, extraordinary water clarity, and the adventure that defines Bahamas diving awaits. For me, it was off to the Freeport airport and the American Eagle flight home. As I looked out my window across the turquoise sea below, there was a massive white vessel I knew to be the Nekton pilot. My new friends were getting ready for their next underwater exploration, and I was 10,000 feet above experiencing a severe bout of diving interruputus. I guess the cure is more Bahamas diving. Soon come.

Nekton Notes — In the near future Nekton Diving Cruises will launch a brand new SWATH liveaboard dive boat. The Nekton Rorqual will operate exclusively in the Bahamas, while the Nekton Pilot will be deployed to operate full time in Belize. To monitor the progress of the Nekton Rorqual via webcam, please visit http://www.gcship.com/

Nekton Diving Cruises
Phones	800-UW-WORLD or 954-463-9324
Web site	http://www.nektoncruises.com