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South Florida Divers, Inc.
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Thanks to our contributing members whose news, photographs, and stories
appear on this website, www.sfdi.com
is getting a lot of attention on the web! We are now ranked in Top
Scuba Sites. Click on the tiny internet screen
on the right to see some worldwide publicity we recently received!
Help your club stay high in the ratings by visiting your home
page daily and voting for your website!
On
your daily visit, remember to click on New
Since The Last Newsletter and on Breaking
News. We've added some good news sources for you. Go to
the Photo Gallery to see what's new (Jon Black's
and Tad Vaughn's pig roast photos were
added just two days after the event). And remember...we are being
noticed and complimented by divers the world over because we have the BEST
content of any dive club website on the planet...because YOU, our members,
contribute
the BEST content!
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Prepare for a fun-filled May! |
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The Pig Roast (our first big event of the year) turned out great with nearly
100 members and guests in attendance. Everyone who came left stuffed
from either the barbeque pig or chicken (or both), not to mention all those
terrific side dishes and desserts everybody brought. Thanks goes
out to both Chef Smariga for spending all day preparing the pig, and for
all of you for bringing your special dish. Click
here for more photos.
Since April has been so windy and blew out almost the whole month, hopefully in May the winds will die down and bring us some good diving weather with good visibility. We have lot of events planned for May, including the Air & Sea Show, Captain’s Choice to the Bahamas, private boat dives, and Ocean Fest.
Speaking of Ocean Fest, if you haven’t signed up for Ocean Fest and would like to volunteer to "work" (if that’s what you call it) at the club’s booth, make sure you do so at the May meeting, or contact Joe Smariga. We need several club members to help out at the auditorium door for the shows, guest speakers and photo seminars. We need every club member we can get to help us that weekend, and it really is a lot of fun.
Hope to see you
at the May meeting. Dive safe,
~ Ski
Join us May 1 at our monthly
general meeting and learn much more about the reefs right here in Broward
County. Our guest speakers, Stephen Attis and Frank Schmidt
of Vone Research,
will give a "fly-over, dive-under" presentation showing the topography
of the coral reefs in Broward County, with inserts of actual footage of
the coral reefs. He will also bring maps of the entire county that
show planned dredging and sand placement.
Local divers and dive clubs are needed to help map out "treasures" that are not included in this map so they can be considered when projects such as the beach renourishment are being reviewed. Schmidt and Attis are also inviting Tom Campbell and Norm Brumel of Coastal Planning and Engineering to join us at our meeting to listen first-hand to our diving experience near planned beach renourishment areas. The beach renourishment project being done by Coastal Planning and Engineering and is scheduled to begin this August. See you there!
Editor's note: Click here for more information here about the dredge and fill project.
All paid-in-full members received their May 2002 calendar by e-mail or snail mail, but for your convenience, you may also click here to view it. Here is a list of events that appear on the calendar, as well as some future activities.
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~ By Jeff
Guzowski, SFDI President
You will check in on Friday afternoon and dinner will be on your own to go wherever you want. Saturday morning, Kelly provides you with a continental breakfast. We will be doing a 2-tank dive with Aqua-Nut Divers, which is conveniently located at the dock of Kelly’s resort. Aqua-Nut will provide you with the tanks for our chartered morning dive with them. When we return from our dive, we will relax and spend time around the pool, so don’t forget to pack your favorite drinks and snacks. We are still looking into different restaurants, for Saturday night dinner, since Kelly’s does not have dinner facilities. If for some reason we cannot arrange Saturday night's dinner, we will return your dinner money at the August meeting before we go down there. Cost of the trip is $220. Deposits were due at the April meeting. The trip MUST be totally paid for by the June 5th meeting in order for me to meet the deadline for the resort. I need a minimum deposit of $120 at the May meeting, and final payment of $100 by the June 5th meeting. This time frame is per Kelly’s due dates for money, so if you decide after June 5th that you would like to go on the trip, you will need to make your own reservations and dive boat arrangements. There are 26 dive spots available for the 2-tank dive on Saturday. If you just want to come down and not dive, sign up and please let me know. After June 5th, we will go with who has paid in full. Also, for those of you with deposits on the June Keys trip in Marathon, since this trip has been cancelled, if you would like to go on the August trip, you need to let Adrian Soler, SFDI Treasurer, know you would like to transfer your deposit over to this trip. In honor of the arrival of the Spiegel Grove, this month's "The Wrecks We Dive" is about our brand-new favorite wreck! Scroll down to read it. |
Ocean Fest 2002 is coming to Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Florida, May 17-19. This is not your typical dive show. It's an ocean festival and one of the largest in the U.S.! Here's a little of what you will experience:
Volunteers are needed, not only for our dive club booth, but also to help
at the auditorium door, and volunteers are admitted for FREE. Who
knows which famous diver you may meet? Besides, you'll save the $7
entry fee for something else like tasty conch fritters or a cool beverage.
Here's what our booth looks like. Spend some time helping out and
we guarantee you will run into old friends and dive buddies.
Contact Joe Smariga for more details and to sign up, or sign up at the May 1 General Meeting. Click here for a map to Ocean Fest.
Joe Smariga is running a trip to the Bahamas for the July 4th week.
It will be to
Club
Viva Fortuna on Grand Bahamas (Freeport). It's 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. Click
here for more information about this trip.
Debby and Rick Auchter are running a a Star
Clipper cruise, 2-for-1 special, October 13-20. 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!
Click
here for more information about this trip.
Coral reefs are some of the most
valuable and spectacular places on earth, and they are in crisis. Too often,
the beautiful reefs off the Broward County coast are the victims of careless
boating and recreational use. These delicate reefs benefit from the clean-up
efforts of the annual Reef Sweep and Beach Clean-Up hosted by Ocean
Watch Foundation, scheduled this year for Saturday, June 8. This daylong
event includes removal of debris from the ocean environment by both scuba
divers and beach walkers.
During the past 13 years, over 4300 volunteers have removed 11+ tons of
garbage from our beaches and coral reefs. We were asked to support Ocean
Watch, who is in need of volunteers in and on the water. If you can spare
the time between 9 AM and Noon, please meet at Anglin’s
Pier off Commercial Boulevard, which is the pier designated to South
Florida Divers. Bring all your dive gear including gloves, Sea Snips (wire
cutters) and catch bag.
Non-diving volunteers are needed to collect trash on the beach and help
the divers to bring the trash on land with surface floats, canoes, buckets,
etc. This is a great way to do something for the environment and future
health of our oceans, so that we and our children may continue to enjoy
it.
The annual fundraising Reef Sweep party for the volunteers follows later in the day at the Harbor Grill (old Tugboat Annie’s), beginning at 7 PM. There will be a trash contest with awards given for those who gather the most trash, rope, monofilament and the most unusual item along with entertainment, silent auction, door prizes and raffles for wonderful trips, prizes and more!
For further information,
please come to the May 1 meeting or contact Sandra Soler.
It’s springtime, the water is warming up and dreams of warm summer diving
abound. It is also time to do a thorough check of your dive gear.
Some of you haven’t been in the water for many months. A few things to
check:
The three-volume fish, creature and coral ID books by Paul Humann, The
Reef Set, are the unparalleled sources for information on Caribbean
sea life and identification. Paul and his partner Ned deLoach recently
released updated and expanded editions of each, with scores of new critters,
even better photos, and information unavailable anywhere else. Reef
Fish Identification, at more than 500 pages, is 20 percent larger than
the 1994 volume.
Paul's splendid Reef Creature Identification (420 pages), covers sponges, nudibranchs, octopus, crustaceans, Christmas tree worms and plenty more. His Reef Coral Identification (276 pages) helps you identify all the hard and soft corals, spawning, and even the growth on top of corals, as well as algae and other plant life. Beginners may want to ID only fish, but I'd recommend that all three books be part of every diver's library. And, if you have an old set, by all means replace it. You'll be delighted at the additions and improvements.
While each book normally retails for $40, you can get all three for $84 by ordering through Undercurrent's website www.undercurrent.org/UCnow/bookpicks.shtml. You'll get the best prices Amazon.com has to offer, speedy delivery, and the knowledge that a large hunk of the profit will go to the Coral Reef Alliance, which is working to keep our reefs alive and well. To ensure that the Coral Reef Alliance benefits from your purchase, select the book/set directly from the link above.
Click here for more book reviews!
Alive with facts, breathtaking images of the deep, and a wealth of information,
the Office
of Naval Research's Science & Technology Focus site is bound to
be a hit with everyone, young and old. As rich in detail as the sea is
in life, the site features a number of lessons, or tutorials, for those
ready to get their feet wet in the field of oceanography. From the beginning,
users will be drawn in by dynamic modules like the introductory section
entitled Ocean in Motion; it presents the seven major sea currents, the
forces that drive them, and their perceptible effects. Further modules
offer information on the composition of the sea, including an analysis
of sea water, the topography and geology of the ocean floor, and the profusion
of life that calls the sea home. Also sure to amaze is the site's extensive
tour of deep sea exploration vessels and their research missions.
Click here for more Websites of the Month!
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a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" at the May Meeting!
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I think I'm getting a bad reputation and I would like to quench the rumors
before they get out of hand. The last two dive functions I participated
in left me in the unenviable position of people talking and stories getting
exaggerated.
First: Shark Valley
My story: Yes, I did end up with a very bad road rash, skinned knee,
elbow, and alligator nip. I was attempting to take a picture of a big gator
in the path. He moved almost faster than I did and nipped my right
calf. While trying to escape his massive jaws...I fell and injured
my left knee (nasty thing.....I still can't wear a dress.)
Papa Gator flees the scene as Julie reacts to her injuries |
Joe, Rick, and Debby look on
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Rumor: I was looking at a mama crock and a couple of little babies on my right when another biker was passing on my left. I crashed into her, fell off of my bike messing up my left knee and right leg. (The other biker sustained no injuries.)
Second: Diving with Dave Wills on April 14
My Story: Lovely day... with 4-6 foot seas. I was chased by a 20-foot bull shark. While trying to escape, I hit my right knee and ankle on a big dead coral head (rock) and injured myself. Unfortunately, I was unable to get pictures because I was swimming for my life and then it was too close to get it in focus.
Rumor: I fell down on the boat and twisted my ankle and hurt my knee..... I wasn't even diving with a camera (but like I said...there were 8 foot seas!!!)
I'm only telling you all of this to protect my reputation.............
I am NOT A KLUTZ!!!!
But.... I am a good story teller!!!!
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Think of a funny caption for this photo
and send it to Contest @ RaptureDivers dot com.
You don't even need to be a member. All submissions will be printed
in the June Wet Zone. The funniest caption, as judged
by diver and cat fancier Rick Auchter, will win a can of tuna, brand to
be determined by what's on sale that week and what coupons Rick has.
The prize will be awarded at the June 5 General Meeting.
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