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South Florida Divers, Inc.
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You might
find this to be the best issue of The Wet Zone yet! Many of
your fellow members have been busy diving, taking photos, and writing travel
stories. Scroll down for some riveting reading.
Congratulations to photo contributor extraordinaire Julie Taylor...Julie's photos were published by Real Sailors Magazine (both in print and on their website) and by a surfing website. Julie, will you still remember us when you're famous?
See you at the August meeting!
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Bugs Running Amok:
~ By Jeff Guzowski
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What a July! Every weekend the weather was great and during mini season, the lobsters were plentiful. Unfortunately I had to work this year for mini season, but everyone I talked to told me they caught their limit on Wednesday, and close to their limit on Thursday.
Opening day for the regular lobster season, is Tuesday, August 6th. On the club calendar, we have a beach dive scheduled on Saturday, August 10th, and a charter dive trip on the Dry Martini on Sunday, August 11th. If you are interested in either one of these dives, you still have time to sign up at the August 7th club meeting.
Including both of those dives, on the August calendar, we have more dives and social events planned, so make sure you get to the meeting early to sign up on some of these events. Just a reminder, if you do sign up for a charter dive, you need to pay in full that night in order to reserve your spot.
Everybody going to the Keys weekend in August, please see me for your info sheet. If you can’t make it to the meeting, call me so I can make arrangements to get the sheet to you prior to the trip.
Well it really happened, our regular July speaker Capt. Mike Lamphear really did retire! We bid him farewell at the July meeting with pizza, a cake and sodas. Thanks Capt. Mike for all the years you dedicated to our club. You entertained us with videos and stories, and provided us with up to date documentation on any new laws that had changed since the year before. We will miss you. You know you are always welcome back any time.
The Seafood Festival will be September 14th at the Lauderdale Isle Yacht club. See Linda Meyers for covered dish signups.
Dive Safely, ~ Ski
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Phone numbers of trip coordinators are not posted here to ensure privacy. If you are a club member, consult your Buddy List for numbers; if not, and you wish to contact a trip coordinator, e-mail the Web DiveMaster and she will get the message to the coordinator.
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The speaker for our August 7 General Meeting is Frank Cihak of Sunset
Waters Beach Resort in Curacao. According to their website, "Picturesque
mountains, bays, cliffs and quiet waters surround Sunset Waters Beach Resort
on Curacao's Gold Coast. Renowned for its beautiful crescent shaped
beach and accessibility to the islands premier dive locations makes this
small boutique hotel the perfect island retreat."
You will also have the chance to purchase a raffle ticket to win a limited edition Spiegel Grove Medallion. The tickets will be pulled at the September meeting, but you are urged to purchase your tickets at the August meeting...what if you are out of town for the September meeting, or forget your wallet? You do not need to be present to win. More info here.
Fred Miller invites you to join him on Sunday, August 11, at the beginning
of regular lobster season, for Hollywood Lobster Mania! Meet
at Seafair Marina [Map
Here], 101 N. Beach Road in Dania Beach at 1 PM for a 1:30 departure
on the Dry Martini. Capt. Walt will take us to two reefs in search
of...well, you know what! Sign up and pay at the August 7 meeting.
Rick and
I dove with Key Largo's Horizon
Divers recently, and we had a great time diving the Spiegel Grove,
Key Largo Dry Rocks, and the incredible Minnow Cave. Their very roomy
cat-hulled boat is certified for 48 divers, but they will take no
more than 24. Captain Mike Brooks and first mate Karen were wonderful
boat hosts.
Horizon has a fantastic group rate for six or more divers; $30 each for a two-tank dive if you bring your own tanks and weights, $38 each with tanks and weights, and accomodations next door at the really nice Ramada for $69 per room on weekday nights. DO THE MATH: Bring your own gear, and that's just $94.50 per person double occupancy (before taxes), for two days of diving, and even less with more people in the room!
Rick can only go on a Monday/Tuesday; we plan to go September 30-October 1. We'll make an afternoon dive Monday and a morning dive Tuesday. We only need four of you to sign up to make this a go, but the more the merrier up to 24. Sign up at the August 7 meeting or e-mail me.
Six of us boarded the Discovery Cruise Ship from Port Everglades on a wet
June 30 in the predawn hours. After breakfast on board, we had a
relaxing morning cruise to Freeport Grand Bahama. After our arrival
at the Club Viva Fortuna we checked in with the dive shop and filled out
the mandatory/regulatory/normal paperwork.
Our rooms were steps away from the dive shop, so an 8:30 AM dive meant
we had to leave our rooms at 8:29 AM. We were instructed to don our
wetsuits at the shop and proceed to the boat ramp. The boat was an
open 25' pontoon boat. We encountered a horrible squall as we were
departing, and the two other divers on board requested to return before
we were 30' off shore. After dropping them back on shore we started
out for our dive. The rain was so bad we had to put on our masks
for the ride out.
During the briefing, the dive master wasn't sure of our exact location
because some of the mooring bouys seemed to have been lost during the days
of recent bad weather. He told us he "thinks it is a wreck but if
we don't see a boat down there...it is a reef." We jumped into bathtub
temperature water for our 1st of many excellent dives. It was a reef.
We dove daily as scheduled and the weather gods were pretty good to us
the rest of the week. Comfortable water temps (83), good visability
(60 +), great reefs, lots of sharks, a big turtle, a spotted eagle ray,
morays, biggggg grouper, a great variety of other fish,......and....Sponge
Bob Square Pants.......Yes....you read correctly. Sponge Bob was
our 7th dive buddy. Once he got his bouyancy under control
he was excellent. The 1st day we stuck a stick up his butt..(the
dive master thought this was just awful...cruel and unusual punishment)
he was too bouyant and floated off anyway. The 2nd day we tied him
to a weight but he floated helter skelter above it with no control.
Then...the perfect solution...we sewed his feet to the weight. Now,
perfectly weighted, he was quite happy to pose for numerous photos.
Sponge Bob on the reef, Sponge Bob eaten by a conch, SB in a barrel, SB
in chains, "The boys" (SB, Joe & Don).
Club Viva Fortuna is an excellant destination. The accommodations
are great, the food was tasty, plentiful, and there was always a great
variety of tempting dishes. The bar staff was superb. The dive
shop is well organized, and the staff are very friendly, fun, and helpful,
as are any of the staff throughout the resort.
The Club offered lots of activities. We took advantage of their rickety bikes one afternoon, did aerobics by the pool, and archery (a couple of us anyway). They had a lot more activities we didn't take advantage of. We played spectator, rested, and read a lot after enjoying our morning dives. The club offers evening shows in their outdoor theatre (put on by the staff, "Club Med style") which we enjoyed on several of the nights. NONE of us made it to the disco. You know...diving in the AM.
The six of us (Julie Taylor, Joe Smariga, Don Lawrynuik, Cathy Olson, and
Julie's NY friends, Pat Kahl and Laila Al Askari) proved to be an excellent
travel and dive team. We had a really great time. Great diving, good
laughs, interesting stories, really good company, fun times with good friends
new and old. As for the rest of you.......... You missed a really great
dive adventure.
(Next year...same time...different location...)
Click here for more of Julie Taylor's Freeport photography
Click
here for SpongeBob SquarePants' Underwater Perils!
What does a diver look for when underwater? Some look for tonight’s
dinner, some look for beautiful scenes of fish life swimming through
undulating coral growths, still others look for the awe of exploring through
wrecks to see if we can locate something no one else has before found.
I tend to be inquisitive of many of these things. With my underwater photography, I look for the small details that most divers would overlook. I try to find the things that my camera’s aperture and shutter will capture. Sometimes, I spend more time trying to figure out what is in my photos and why the heck I took “that” photo anyway. Another one of my hobbies, and I have too many, is the upkeep of my marine aquarium. It is fascinating to watch the critters that I have caught while on my dives. These are the treasures I enjoy. It was on one of these dives that I had a near encounter with some of the PERILS?..
While diving on Minecar Reef off of Dania Beach, I was looking for Yellow-headed Jawfish. In nature these fish inhabit burrows that they dig in the sand. They will peek out of their burrows and usually swim above looking for any food morsel to pass by. When a diver gets too close they will dart back into their hole until it is safe to come out again. While hunting my prey, in the sandy center of Minecar Reef (60 ft.), I came across a perfectly spherical object in the sand. It was about eighteen to twenty inches in diameter and had small nubs sticking out of its’ surface. The thoughts that came to my mind were incredible. Did I somehow discover that the name Minecar was not named for the heavy metal box located just off the reef? Maybe it was named for the countless number of mines placed to protect our shore during wartime. Could I have come across a mine that was unearthed during a recent storm?
Well this is going to sound quite stupid, but I let my curiosity get the
best of me. I found an area of the sphere that was mostly void of
nubs and rubbed the surface with my glove. To my surprise, the area
cleaned off quite well revealing a glass surface. With a quick glance
inside, I saw objects wrapped in plastic bags. Now my mind went really
wild. I imagined this could be some sort of listening device and
I was at that very moment being video-taped by some secret government agency.
This is not a completely outlandish thought, or is it? When I looked
closer I found a plaque that identified this as a Time Capsule placed by
Progressive Watercraft Insurance Company and Bayview Elementary School
during the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show in 1999.
After the dive, I completely forgot the information on the plaque and since I was not at the time “computer savvy”, I didn’t have the means or the ambition to find out. Recently, on a private boat dive with Sandra and Adrian, Barbara, and Bill along, I had asked them if they had ever seen the time capsule on Minecar Reef. Since Sandra had her underwater camera along, we decided on that for the second dive. I found the capsule again, called Sandra over to photograph it , and here are the pictures for you to enjoy. It was also the only way I would remember the info on the plaque. “MAKING WAVES, INNOVATIONS IN BOATING”.
The items selected for the capsule were based on a national survey of 640
boaters. The items in the globe include a copy of the movie “Titanic”,
a replica of Jacques Cousteau’s red knit cap, and a piece of the USS Arizona
which was sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Students from Bayview
Elementary also selected items to add to the globe. Progressive also
enlisted the help of Bob Denver, a.k.a. Gilligan from “Gilligan’s Island”
to help promote the sinking of this time capsule.
The intent is for this time capsule to be retrieved in 100 years by the future students of Bayview Elementary and to be used as an educational tool. With its 150 pounds and anchor type legs to keep it in place, it should still be there. By the way, the nubs sticking out of it were actually barnacles and other marine growth, not the detonation points of a mine.
To get the information for this story, I contacted the Webmaster at Progressive Insurance, Cathy Ulle. Cathy was most helpful and had a response for me within 24 hours. I was surprised that she didn’t think I was nuts and that she could come up with the info that quick. In addition to being Webmaster, maybe she was a former Librarian!!
On June 13th Annie Baugh, myself, and several “friends of SFDI” traveled
to the ultimate dive destination: the Republic of Fiji. [Unfortunately,
Susan Judah, our expert SFDI dive-reporter, was not able to make the trip.
Susan was dearly missed and we wish her a speedy recovery from her back
surgery.] Fiji is located in the western South Pacific Ocean. We
were present for their first day of winter – which meant the water temperature
was about 79 degrees – and the Southern Cross constellation was visible
when we surfaced from our night dives. Other than that – it was not much
different from our South Florida winters.
We chartered the Fiji Aggressor live-aboard for the first week of our vacation. I had never been on an Aggressor boat before – but the luxurious accommodations, ‘five-star’ dining, heated towels, and the hot cocoa with rum that was distributed immediately after each night dive was enough to make this diver want to be a repeat guest. Our Aggressor itinerary took us to some pristine dive sites where the reefs were a virtual smorgasbord of corals, fish, and sea creatures. During the second week of our trip we stayed at the Marlin Bay Resort where we were pampered beyond belief! For the hours when we were not diving – we had daily massages, drinks by the pool, kayak excursions, hikes to the local water falls, and we were entertained by nearby village school children. We also witnessed the renowned sacred firewalking ceremony and we partook in many bowls of kava (a local beverage that makes your head numb).
The diving was fantastic. Fiji is known as the Soft Coral Capital of the
world. The colors that were encapsulated on each reef made me feel
like I was in my Mom’s flower garden.
Speaking of my Mom, one of the highlights of the trip that I could never
tell her about was having the opportunity to actually pet a leopard shark.
I normally just photograph sharks and let them go their merry way, but
this beauty was just begging to be touched. He let several of us stroke
his sandpaper-like tail for about five minutes before he decided to swim
away.
Living among the beautiful coral, we saw tons of lionfish, sea anemones with clown fish, large clams, unicorn fish, colorful nudibranches, and too much other cool stuff to mention here. On a few rare occasions we encountered leaf fish, blue ribbon eels, and manta rays. (I put together some pictures of my favorites for your viewing pleasure here on the SFDI website.)
I’ve been diving all over the world, so I get real excited when I come
across something new for the first time under water. On this trip my excitement
was peaked when I saw my first sea snake. These deadly fellows seemed to
spend most of their time lying around the sea floor with an occasional
trip to the surface. I passed a baby sea snake heading down from the boat.
He was no longer than 8 inches – it was wild watching fish and divers scamper
to get out of his way.
On several occasions I was able to spot manta shrimp. I’ve only seen these
guys at night before; I found one almost every afternoon off of Marlin
Bay! Manta shrimp are huge, the ones I saw ranged from 10 to 15 inches.
Their eyes resemble two large Tic Tac mints that appear to move independently
of each other. Manta shrimp carry weapons like spears or hammers
and they do not like to have their pictures taken. (Of course I just had
to try.)
It was sad to leave, but all great adventures must come to an end. Fiji is definitely one place that I would add to my “do-over dive destination” list.
Click here for more of Cheryl Jones' Fiji photography
After the success of her first book, Linda Greenlaw, author of The
Hungry Ocean, purchased a lobster fishing boat and moved back into
her old bedroom in her parents' home -- an unusual move for an accomplished
40-year-old woman, especially a woman who is looking to find a mate and
start a family. A husband to father her future children may
be elusive; there are only three single men on the island, one is her cousin,
and the other two are gay.
There isn't much on Isle au Haut, Maine, located in Penobscot Bay, ''the lobster capital of the world'' -- a post office, a lighthouse and inn, a one-room schoolhouse, a general store and a town hall. Acadia National Park takes up more than half the island's acreage. There are no banks, no fast-food restaurants, no bowling alleys. "Yes we have TV. No we do not have reception," Greenlaw writes. There are only 47 full-time residents, and she's related to half of them.
She hires her retired 71-year-old father, who has "ties to the island going back four generations," to work the stern of her new boat, the 35-foot Mattie Belle. They set some 500 traps, haul them up, then rebait them. As the season progresses and the lobsters fail to arrive in great numbers, Greenlaw refers to this as "changing the water in the traps." Greenlaw relates the lobster's rise from its beginnings as grub fit only for servants, orphans and prisoners; the creature's mating rituals; and her mother's recipe for lobster casserole.
This book is a must-read for everyone who loves boats and the ocean (and lobsters), everyone who has ever reached a crossroads in life, and everyone who has wondered what it would be like to live on a very small island. This is a book that proves once again that fishermen are still the best story-tellers around. Check out a copy of this well-written, humourous story @your library.
Click here for more book reviews!
The Coastal-Marine
Automated Network (C-MAN) was established by the National Data Buoy
Center for the National Weather Service in the early 1980's. The development
of C-MAN was in response to a need for meteorological observations in U.
S. coastal areas, which were previously made by USCG personnel, and
would have been lost as many navigational aids were automated. In all,
approximately 60 stations make up C-MAN and more are being added.
C-MAN stations have been installed on lighthouses, at capes and beaches, on near shore islands, and on offshore platforms (see the NDBC station location map for all station locations). Station FWYF1 - Fowey Rocks, is the one closest to Hollywood, Florida.
C-MAN station data typically include barometric pressure, wind direction, speed and gust, and air temperature; however, some C-MAN stations are designed to also measure sea water temperature, water level, waves, relative humidity, precipitation, and visibility. here is the data from the Fowey Rocks C-MAN station at 3 pm Saturday, August 3, 2002:
| Wind Direction (WDIR): | S ( 180 deg ) |
| Wind Speed (WSPD): | 14 kts |
| Wind Gust (GST): | 15 kts |
| Atmospheric Pressure (PRES): | 30.01 in |
| Pressure Tendency (PTDY): | -0.03 in ( Falling ) |
| Air Temperature (ATMP): | 86.4 °F |
| Water Temperature (WTMP): | 86.4 °F |
Click here for more Websites of the Month!
Members of South Florida Divers, Inc. are entitled to place free Classified Ads here! However, you must agree to have either your e-mail address, telephone number, or both published so that people can contact you. Members, to place your free ad, simply e-mail me with the details. Non-members, come to our next general meeting and join us!Dive the CAYMAN WALL: Beautiful seven mile beach, fully equiped, 100 ft.from ocean. 2 bedroom 2 bath condo first floor that sleeps 7 people, share the cost and make it cheap. Amenities: 2 pools, 1 ocean side, 1 rear door, bikes, windsurfers, barbeques, tennis, etc. Rent for the week of SEPTEMBER 7 TO SEPTEMBER 14 for $775 plus utilities, or purchase week to own with deed for $2,900, if purchased will deduct cost of week's rental. Selling due to sickness. For more info contact. Call Ray or Peg at 954-929-0597 or e-mail rayrem04@aol.com. |
"Stop complaining about the heat already! " |
Many thanks to Dennis LaRue, Buckeye Divers
Dive Club,
Columbus, Ohio for this photo of him on
one of his club's ICE dives.
