So who ended up with the Nemo DVD, and who couldn’t give away the 6 pack of O’Douls?  Our January meeting was one of the best, playing the Chinese Auction.  Some of our members received some really bad holiday gifts, and they went home with someone else after the swap that night.  Thanks to all of you who brought gifts and participated in one of the most entertaining and funniest nights of the year.

Our next club event will be the Pig Roast, so mark your calendars for Saturday, April 3, at the Lauderdale Isles Yacht Club. 

Remember to stay current with your payments for any trip you are signed up on.  The Cayman Brac trip is quickly approaching, and if you want a spot on the Keys 2004 trip, you need to at least get a deposit in to hold your spot.  The Keys trip is usually the most popular weekend trip and fills up quickly. 

February brings our favorite world renowned photographer, Barry Kulick.  Last year the presentation  was macro photography of the Pacific and if you missed it, plan on attending our February meeting to see where his 2003 photo adventures takes us.

Remember when you renew your DAN insurance to please use Sponsor #16529.   Whatever gifts we receive from DAN for the group sponsorship, will be placed in our monthly raffle. 

Dive safe,
                                    ~ Ski 

Photo courtesy of Dive Montana

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WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST DIVE BUDDIES!

We are delighted to welcome new members Mickey Landsburgh, David Schneider, Elaine Schneider and Stephanie Voris.  We look forward to diving with all of you!

February 2004 Calendar and beyond

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, call Cheryl Teugels or e-mail the web divemaster.

• January 31: Dine out social with Allen Ryant and Patty Dollard, call Allen for location.
• February 1: SUPERBOWL SUNDAY – Carolina PANTHERS vs New England PATRIOTS in Houston, Texas.
• Febuary 4, 7:30 PM: General meeting. PROGRAM: BARRY KULICK is back with his famous underwater slide show from his year-round travels in 2003.  RAMADA INN FORT LAUDERDALE AIRPORT, 2275 State Road 84.  [Driving directions here] [Map here]  NOTE: additional parking on west side of Ramada. 
• February 7-8: Annual Bogey & Bacall Kayak and Canoe Classic, Key Largo.
• Febuary 9, 7:30 PM: SFDI Executive Board meeting at Connections for Business, 2843 Pembroke Road, NE corner of I-95 and Pembroke Road.  Members please feel free to sit in and join us! 
• February 12-17: Miami International Boat Show
• February 14: Valentine's Day is on a Saturday.  Share Hugs and Kisses with that Special Someone.  You had better make your dinner reservations now! 
• Febuary 15, 12:30 PM show for 1 PM go: Kayak the upper Keys with Florida Bay Outfitters (MM104, Key Largo) and Debby and Rick Auchter. RESCHEDULED from January 18.  Enjoy a half-day guided tour of Dusenberry Creek, winter home for a few Florida manatees.  $50 includes guide, kayak or canoe, snack, shuttle and FREE souvenir water bottle. There is a group discount that increases with the size of the group, so the cost could be less depending on how many wish to go.  Because this is a non-diving event, feel free to invite your family and friends and there is still room for more.  Payment in full due at February meeting.
• February 21: Dinner and Bowling with Cheryl and Lou Teugels.  7 PM, dinner at Shorty’s Bar B-Q, University Drive and Stirling Road [Map here].  Bring your bowling ball for some after dinner fun at AMF Pembroke Pines Lanes, 1940 University Drive [Map here].  Lanes are reserved for 9:30 PM. 
• February 22, 11:30 AM: Shark Valley Biking Adventure with Julie Taylor - Alligators, lizards, and who knows what else you’ll come across!  Bring your lunch, plenty of water,  and a camera.  Click here for more information about Shark Valley and the trail.  Take the Florida Turnpike to the exit for SW 8th Street (also known as U.S. 41 and Tamiami Trail). Travel 25 miles west on U.S. 41 to signs marked Shark Valley. 
• February 28, 10 AM: NOTE CHANGE OF DATE AND TIME:  Trap and Skeet shoot ‘em up with Wayne  Panke at Markham Park in Sunrise, State Road 84 and Weston Road [Map here]. 
• February 29, 8 AM show for an 8:30 go: Celebrate Sadie Hawkins Day on a Private Boat Dive with Joe Smariga.  Meet at the John U. Lloyd State Park boat ramps.  DON'T be late...or you WILL miss the boat!
• March 3, 7:30 PM: General meeting. 
• March 4, 7-9 PM: Michael Barnette from the Association of Underwater Explorers and the author of Shipwrecks of the Sunshine State: Florida's Submerged History will be giving a FREE Florida shipwreck presentation at Broward County Main Library in the 6th floor Bienes Center [map here].  His new comprehensive publication details over 150 Florida shipwrecks, as well as including over 1,000 coordinates for Florida shipwrecks and artificial reefs.  With plenty of video and still images as support, he will detail various Florida shipwrecks, in particular deep shipwrecks such as the QUEEN OF NASSAU, PAN MASSACHUSETTS, and others, as well as other Atlantic shipwrecks such as the USS VIRGINIA.  Join Debby Auchter in attending this great Florida Center for the Book program.
• March 6, 12:30 PM show for 1 PM go: Join Allen Ryant for a  2-tank charter dive aboard American Dream II.  $45 includes tip.
• March 7, noon: Lions, Tigers and Bears! Join Cheryl and Lou Teugels for a  trip to Miami Metrozoo.  It’s a Family Affair so don’t forget the kids.  Meet  at the Front Gate of Metro Zoo at noon [Map here].  Call, growl or hoot Cheryl. 
• March 8, 7:30 PM: SFDI Executive Board meeting.
• March 13, 4 PM: Picnic – Fun, food, and fellowship on Fort Lauderdale’s South Beach near the Yankee Clipper Hotel.  More details next month.
• March 19-21: Ladies, Let's Go Fishing! seminar at the IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum and Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Dania Beach.
• March 26-28:  Ginnie Springs camping/diving weekend with Debby and Rick Auchter.  Camping Friday and Saturday nights and diving Saturday and Sunday is about $90 per person (discounts apply if we get a large enough group).  Explore the Ginnie Springs website to see all they have to offer!    Non-divers adult rate is about $60 for the weekend; kids 7-14 is about $30 for the weekend.  There is a full-service large dive shop in the premises if you need to buy or rent gear.  Bring along your non-diving family members to enjoy swimming, snorkeling, tubing, kayaking, canoeing and volleyball (see Ginnie's website for costs).  Please pay in full at February meeting.
• April 3: Annual Pig Roast at Lauderdale Isles Yacht Club.
• April 15-18: Dania Beach Marine Flea Market.
• May 14-16: Ocean-Festival.
• June: Cayman Brac with Jeff Guzowski and Michele Burzese.
• July 4-11: Captain's Choice private boat trip to Andros Lighthouse Yacht Club and Marina in the beautiful Bahamas!  Approximate cost (share of expenses) about $1200.  See Joe Smariga for more details.
• August: Looe Key trip with Cheryl Bartek Teugels.
• December 11:  Annual Holiday Party at I.T. Parker Center in Dania Beach.

Join us on February 4 and enjoy Barry Kulick, a professional underwater photographer and cameraman. He has been entertaining South Florida Divers for years with his fantastic slide shows and humorous commentary.  A long time sport-diver, he sold his guitar making business in 1988, and turned his hobby into a career. During the past fourteen years he has had the opportunity to travel the world with his cameras to capture images of a wide variety of marine subjects; ranging in diversity from minute Pygmy Sea Horses, to enormous Great White Sharks, from the murky confines of ancient shipwrecks, to the vibrant color and ceaseless activity of majestic coral reefs. Originally from New York City, Barry Kulick now lives in Miami with his wife Miriam, and their young son Alexander.  If there is one meeting a year that you don't want to miss, this is it!

SFDI meetings start at 7:30 at the Ramada Fort Lauderdale Airport.  If you are not a member, and you are reading this on the Internet, please join us because visitors are ALWAYS WELCOME!  For driving directions to the meeting, visit our About Us page.

Mile Markers: Life's Significant Events

Congratulations to E-board members Patty Dollard and Allen Ryant on their recent engagement!

Debby Bradford Auchter, your Web Divemaster, was recently promoted to Assistant Manager of Broward County Main Library.  If you aren't already a cardholder, Debby encourages you to get your own FREE library card.  Did you know that in addition to books and videos, you can check out the same new DVDs and videos as the video stores, and that you can also borrow software?  BCL also has more than 8,000 books and more than 200 videos about boating and other nautical sports.  There are interesting free programs nearly every day.  Membership has its priveleges!

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Book Review Beyond the Deep: The Deadly Descent into the World's Most Treacherous Cave By William Stone and Barbara Am Ende

This extremely detailed first-person account of a 1994 expedition will leave you on the edge of your seat.  Cave-obsessed Bill Stone spent a good part of his life developing the techniques and equipment needed in order to achieve his goal, exploring the ends of the mysterious Mexican cave system Sistema Huautla, which plunges a kilometer and a half down and stretches out for tens of kilometers. To go the deepest, the coveted "booty" in the caving community, Stone developed a special rebreathing apparatus for swimming through submerged passages called sumps. A taskmaster, Stone assembled an eclectic team of fellow hard-core cave divers and continually pushed them harder and harder.  Stone's team, including then-girlfriend Barbara Am Ende, constantly get themselves into death-defying situations that lead to injury and finally the death of a friend.  Photographs, drawings, and maps abound throughout this extreme adventure story.  You will learn much about caves and cave diving, including history and techniques, if you can wade through the technical jargon. The story is very exciting, but it is easy to get lost in the details.  Hang in there and finish the whole book to read of their eventual success; it is well worth the effort.

Click here for more book reviews!

eDiets.com

Traditionally, this column has a website related in some way to diving.  Well, eDiets.com can help with your diving!  That is, they can help you become more fit and healthy for diving.  It's no secret that I've lost a lot of weight in the past several months, but you may be wondering how.  After a friend lost 140 pounds and then kept it off, I decided to give eDiets a try.  They have fourteen different plans, from Atkins to Zone to vegetarian to their own eDiets plan, the one I use.  My plan is very easy to follow.  It doesn't matter if you cook or not, or if you frequent restaurants or not, because the plan is very flexible.  I am eating nutritiously for the first time in my life and as a result, I do not suffer from food cravings.  If you don't like the first meal plan you try with them, you can switch to another for free.  It's about $5 a week and you don't have to go to meetings or buy program meals.  The best part for me is that they have 24/7 support in the form of live chat with eDiets staff, live chat with other members, free mentors, and a variety of message boards.  Since everyone asks anyway, I'll just tell you here:  I've lost 60 pounds in 30 weeks.  Oh, and I did not do it to look good.  I did it to feel good.  And, I feel terrific!

If you've been considering weight loss, go ahead and give eDiets a try.  If you start now, you will be much healthier by the time warm-water dive season arrives.  What do you have to lose?

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 Debby with the details.  Non-members, come to our next general meeting and join us!

For Sale:  Sea and Sea MotorMarine II 35mm underwater camera.  It has all the lenses (16mm and 20mm, wide angle and macro) and comes with a ton of film, as well as a Pelican case.  All manuals and instructional book included. $1500. DUI dry suit, Model 1200, dove twice,  black and teal, seals cut for skinny neck and wrists, DUI undergarment, 2 pairs of rock boots, gloves, hood, fins, and insulated socks.  $1500. Contact Doug LaPrade, 954-328-7461, 954-227-2139.

February Wacky Foto

Why we all moved to Florida.

Photo by Cary Solomon.  He writes, "How is this for a cold weather dive? Temp 22 degrees wind 25 kts snow depth 16" (Wilbur Utah). Highway 15 closed due to power line down across road brought down by ice. We got stuck for an hour in a blizzard and made a U-turn at one of those "for officials only" turn places.  We went back the other way, got off 15 in Wilbur, gassed up and there it was...Aquatic Adventure dive store. I had to take a picture!  I wonder if they rent 2" wet suits?"

 Click here for more Wacky Fotos!