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South Florida Divers, Inc.
CONTENTS:
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Letter
FROM The Editor
What's new on your web site
Have you visited your website lately?
If not, you owe it to yourself to surf around. We've added some great
features like Breaking News
Headlines, Member Photo Galleries,
extensive Links, and a new page for
items that don't really belong in the newsletter...or can't wait until
the next newsletter...called, of course, New
Since The Last Newsletter. Your Elected
Executive Board has asked me to give a brief presentation of website
features at the April 3 meeting. See you there!
p.s. Rick and I are planning to sail on the Star Clipper in October on a 2-for-1 special and we invite you to join us...see details in the calendar below or make sure you attend the April 3 meeting to hear the Star Clipper representative.
HOT
NEWS!
On March 25, our website
was awarded the 2002 Diver's
Site Award by Deep
Diversions! "TANKS A LOT" to all members who contributed
to this recognition! A tour of our News
and Pictures pages will show you
why our writers and photographers are NUMBER ONE!
March
30 Update: we were just awarded The Golden Web Award. Our member
photographers and writers are the BEST!
 |
It's Party Time! |
Now that it’s April, lobster season is officially closed, and pig season
opens this month. That's right, it's Pig Roast month, and April 20th
is the night to make your date with a pig (barbecue pig that is).
If you have never been to one of our Pig Roasts, you are missing some of
the best barbecue pork (and chicken) that our club chef, Joe Smariga, has
ever made. Chef Joe gets up early (and I mean real early) to start
barbecuing a mojo-marinated pig and by 5 pm, both the pig and Joe are done.
The club provides the beer and soda, and the club members bring a covered
dish, and this is what makes this one of the best parties we have during
the year. This also is a great opportunity for club members to get
to know other club members while eating, drinking, and swapping dive stories.
I hope you get a chance to make it to the party.
Also, don't forget that the Dania Beach Marine Flea Market will be on April 4th to the 7th. There are some great bargains there for both divers and boaters.
Speaking of flea market, our club meeting this month will be our very own flea market. So get out all that equipment that you don't want, bring it with you to our meeting, and maybe you can sell it instead of storing it. Remember, one man's junk is another man's treasure.
Also during this meeting, we would like you to participate in a survey. The E-Board got together to discuss what kind of club events and trips to run, for the rest of 2002 through 2003 that will get a lot of participation from the club members. Some of the things we need to know from you is where to dive, what time of year, how much, etc. So, we decided the best way to find out is to ask you, the club members yourselves. Our two Members-at-Large, Sandra Soler and Linda Meyers, took some time to put together a questionnaire that we would like you to fill out. This will answer our questions and hope to run some great events or trips that YOU would be interested in. If you have any suggestions, this is a good opportunity to express them. This survey needs to be done in order to start early planning based on your answers. This will only take approximately 10 minutes and we need everyone's participation on this survey. Please attend this meeting.
If you haven't noticed, we have made a lot of changes in our newsletter distribution, snail mail, and website this year. Debby Auchter, Editor and Webmaster extraordinaire, would like to take some time to go over everything she put together in the newsletter and website, and answer any questions to anybody who might have any changes, additions, or having any problems with the website/newsletter.
Dive Safe,
Join us April 3rd at our monthly
general meeting for our annual SCUBA Swap. Make a few bucks on
that extra piece of gear, like a too-small or too-large wetsuit, or pick
up a bargain like a spare regulator, tank or BC. If you are not a
member but you're reading this on the Internet, come on by, visitors are
ALWAYS welcome and the SCUBA swap is an informal way to meet a lot of our
members. Last year I made some money, spent some money, and had a
lot of fun. I don't know what we will see this year, but last year
I spotted some NIKONIS equipment for sale. You never know what will
turn up, so make sure you're there!
Your Elected Executive Board wants to know how to keep you busy and happy with club activities! Please make every effort to attend the meeting to fill out a survey. It won't take too long...we promise!...but we want your honest opinion of how we are doing and what we can do, or what we can plan, to make your dive club the best.
For those of you who are a bit new to the Internet, or who haven't taken the time to surf our new website, I'm going to make a brief presentation of the features and highlights of the site and let you know how you can contribute...it's easy! Bring your stories, photos, links and ideas to the meeting.
Finally, we will have a representative from Star Clippers to tell us about the 2-for-1 special they are offering. If you can't attend the meeting, call or e-mail me right away if you are interested...we're going in October and space is limited on this fabulous deal.
See you there!
All paid-in-full members received their April 2002 calendar by e-mail or snail mail. Here is a list of events that appear on the calendar, as well as some future activities.
|
Crystal River Manatee Trip Mermaids and More! |
 |
The Manatee trip on March 1, 2, and 3 went almost without a hitch. Eight
of us met in Crystal River on Friday night. All of us were on time, except
for Fred Miller who, after a broken down vehicle and a rental car, finally
arrived.
After our night in our villas (trailers!), we met another SFDI member (Wayne) at the dive shop to fill out our paperwork and watch an introduction video about our upcoming dives. We set out to find manatees and within fifteen minutes of leaving the dock, we were swimming with about four to five of them. The two children with us, Nathan and Bruce, were apprehensive of swimming around these great creatures. However, in no time at all, we couldn't keep them away.
The next day, after awakening in our beautiful, spacious villas, we walked off of our front porches to the dock where our captain-divemaster was waiting with the boat. With a short cruise up the Homosassa River (it's actually a spring system, he explained), we arrived at the headspring to find even more manatees.
|
Click
here for more great
|
I am setting up a trip to the Bahamas for the July 4th week, if you're
interested. It will be to a place called Club
Viva Fortuna, which is on Grand Bahamas (Freeport). Julie and
I have been there twice already. It's an all-inclusive, and the price
includes all the diving. We will be taking the Discovery
Cruise Ship to and from Freeport. That enables us to dive every
day, even the day we leave.
Cost: $1,122 which does NOT include port and entry taxes or tips. (Worst
case. If I get enough people, the cost will go down.) This
includes Discovery (breakfast/lunch going over, dinner coming back), 7
nights, 2 tank dives per day, ALL beverages (including mixed drinks, beer,
wine, soda, etc.), all meals, nightly "entertainment" (like the Club Med),
plus a lot of other sports (sailing, tennis, gym, archery, etc.).
Trip dates: Leave Sunday June 30, 2002 and return Sunday July 7, 2002.
I will need to know at the April 3 club meeting whether you want
to go. E-mail me at joe.smariga@sfdi.com
if you have any questions. Join us for a fun trip and see why "It's
Better in the Bahamas!"
Join Debby and Rick Auchter October 13-20 on a Star
Clipper cruise, 2-for-1 special! Fly from Miami to Barbados then
cruise/sail on a magnificent 360-foot sailing yacht that only takes 170
guests. Itinerary includes Barbados, Martinique, Marigot Bay, St.
Lucia, Bequia, Tobago Cays, Grenada, and Grenadines. Visit their
website
for more information about the ship and destinations, as well as luscious
photos!
What you will not find on their website is the 2-for-1 special. You
will only see their normal prices. Prices on the special vary depending
upon the cabin you select, but to give you an example Rick and I selected
Cabin Category 4 and our cruise with airfare from Miami comes to $2,895
together, which is just $1,447.50 per person. The same trip with
the same cabin would normally cost us $4,980 or $2,490 per person.
Less and more expensive cabins are available. You could do this trip for
as little as $1,036 (double occupancy). Diving is extra but reasonable,
about $40-$45 per day. You may not wish to dive every day but rather
enjoy the destinations. After all, this is not a "dive trip," it
is a cruise with diving available.
There is plenty for your non-diving companion or significant other to do
too! Come to the April 3 meeting to hear a Star Clipper representative
tell you more. You must be a BoatU.S.
member to qualify for the 2-for-1 special, but BoatU.S. membership is only
$14 if you join on the web.
NOTE: You may do this same trip anytime between May and October without
having to go with the dive club, and still get the special prices.
You won't be going with Debby and Rick, but you'll still have a great vacation
(although you won't celebrate Debby's birthday in Martinique!) Cruise
rates are 2-for-1 May through October on the Star Clipper and airfare
is only $298 per person May, June, September and October, or $358 per person
July and August. If you want to join the Auchters, e-mail
them ASAP while space is available. If you wish to go another week,
please call BoatU.S. Travel and Yacht Charters at (954) 761-9926 or (800)
477-4427 for more information and reservations.
| Originally
christened the Nore in 1956, this 215-foot Dutch freighter was bought and
renamed the Stimas. Over the years, she had been renamed again as
the Windward Trader and in 1986 she became a derelict boat on the Miami
River.
The Pompano Fishing Rodeo bought the ship for their 25th anniversary celebration and renamed her the Rodeo 25. On May 12th, 1990, with 100,000 plus people in attendance, she was sunk and became one of the best artificial reefs off Pompano. Sitting upright in 122 feet of water, her main deck is at 90 feet, and her two large crane masts reach 52 feet. Only oil products were removed from her, so everything else remained. The main deck is as far as you need to go to enjoy a wreck with winches, ropes, and intact rooms, so penetration of the ship is not recommended. |
 ~ Photograph
courtesy www.dixiediver.com
Click on drawing
for larger image
|
Marine Biologist Trevor Norton has written a very accurate but also highly
entertaining history of diving, beginning with the naked native divers
from thousands of years ago. Here are the biographies of a dozen
adventurers, scientists, and eccentrics who experimented to discover ways
to plumb the depths of the ocean.
The adventurers profiled range from Henri Milne Edwards (1800-85), the first scientist to turn underwater observer, to Peter Throckmorton (1928-90), the founder of underwater archaeology. In between come such relatively well known figures as William Beebe of bathysphere fame; John Haldane, who invented the time tables crucial to preventing the bends; and his son J. B. S. Haldane, a great eccentric as well as one of the greatest biologists, who perfected the mixing of oxygen and helium that makes very deep diving possible. Then there are Guy Gilpatric, who invented spearfishing on the French Riviera; Hans Hass, pioneer of underwater movies; and Frederic Dumas, codeveloper of the aqualung (with Jacques Cousteau, conspicuous in absentia).
The book is filled with wonderful old black-and-white photos and drawings of the men and women who made it possible for us to dive with such ease today. Browse the pages to see that none of these old-timers were "chicken of the sea!"
If you want a factual, bone-dry account of diving's beginnings, read the NOAA Diving Manual. If you want to laugh and cry while learning about those who paved the way, check out Stars Beneath the Sea @your library today!
Click here for more book reviews!
This month we visit www.waterexplorer.com,
sponsored by the Platinum
Pro Foundation. The foundation is a group of 1,253 members who are
the most experienced water explorers in the world. In order to become a
Platinum Pro, you must make a minimum of 5,000 SCUBA dives or SNORKEL trips.
Their mission is "to educate people about the oceans and waters of our
world." In pursuit of that mission, they have established one of
the most beautiful and educational ocean websites on the 'net.
Adventure stories, short photo essays by water explorers, include "Dolphin Dance," "Whales!," "Turtle Tombs," "Underwater Tornado," and "Dive the (Panama) Canal." Slide shows such as "How Corals Build Reefs" and "Fish Secrets" are spectacular and educational. The Image Library contains hundreds of pictures in useful categories like "Sharks," "The Angelfish Family," "Cool and Unusual," and "Lake Michigan Shipwrecks." Even if you have a dial-up connection, the images load fairly quickly and the photography is awesome.
Water Explorers is seeking input on how to expand their website for research purposes. Click on "Research and Links," "Educators," or "Get Involved" and give them your input...to help them grow!
Click here for more Websites of the Month!
Your
editor took part in the recent Ladies
Let's Go Fishing seminar at the IGFA
in Dania Beach, followed by a successful fishing trip on Bouncer's
Dusky where I caught my first-ever dolphin! No, not Flipper...
a Mahi-Mahi! Yes, it was DELICIOUS. Margie McGough of
Boca Raton (in photo, on right) caught and released her first sailfish
after a long battle, using techniques she learned the day before from Marsha
Bierman, world standup short rod fishing champion. Most women
were attending their first LLGF seminar but several of them have taken
the course over and over, always picking up a few new skills and making
friends. Click here for streaming video of your web divemaster on
NBC's
Nightly News with Tom Brokaw!
Betty Bauman, LLGF Founder and American Sport Fishing Association's Woman of the Year, started the "No Yelling School of Fishing" in 1997 and hosts seminars all over Florida and even to Alaska and Hawaii. I had a blast and learned a tremendous amount. I plan to attend LLGF's Islamorada seminar October 18-20 and it would be great fun if a few SFDI lady anglers, or ladies who would like to become anglers, would join me.
We have started a local chapter and will meet Wednesday, April 17 at 6:30 PM at Bass Pro Shops/Outdoor World in Dania Beach, in the employee lunch room. Whether you're an experienced lady angler or a woman who doesn't know the difference between a Sabiki Rig and Yo-Zuri Lure doesn't matter...come on out to the meeting and meet some great gals! And, I've been promoting SFDI to the LLGF women and hope to see a few of them at our April 3 meeting!
 |
a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" at the April Meeting! Bert Abell
|
The rest of the dive was in a cavern which was a good, controlled experience
for any diver. With a lunch break between dives, we set out on the most
relaxed dive of the day, drifting down the Rainbow River. We looked for
the various spring water sources that feed the river. We saw springs called
Blow holes (great openings where thousands of gallons of water erupt),
sand boils, and smaller gravel openings. It's fascinating to see
Mother Nature at work.
After an hour and a half, it was time to head back to the resort and clean
up for the trip home. I would like to thank the club members who came on
this trip, the parents who brought their children along for the fun, and
Fred Miller who was my partner in coordinating this trip. Look for this
trip to return in February of 2003!
