~ By Jeff Guzowski

 What a Pig Roast!  We had 91 people come and enjoy themselves on Chefs Joe Smariga and Brian Redmond’s famous barbeque pig, Chef John Kansman’s secret recipe chicken, and all those great covered dishes everyone brought.  Thanks go to all those people who also helped with the cooking, setup, cleanup and everyone who made this year’s Pig Roast one heck of a party.

This month, May, there are a lot of events going on: the McDonalds Air & Sea show, Ocean Festival, charter dives and a shoot ’em up night. Ocean Festival runs May 16-18, on south Fort Lauderdale Beach across from the Bahia Mar, and every year our club volunteers to work the event during the four days.  We need a lot of volunteers to help out at the gate, the auditorium door for the shows, guest speakers, and photo seminar, not to mention our own booth that is set up there.  We will have signup sheets at the May 7 General Meeting for volunteers.  DAN members, click here for a $2 off coupon for Ocean Festival admission!

Both Curacao trips are still open, so if you would like to spend 8 days/7 nights of unlimited dives, all inclusive vacation at Sunset Waters, join us either on the June 7-14 trip or the June 28-July 5 trip.  See their website www.sunsetwaters.com.  We promise you will have a great time. 

Remember, if you are getting ready to start warm weather diving, don’t forget to get your gear overhauled.

Dive safe,
               ~ Ski 

WELCOME YOUR NEWEST DIVE BUDDIES!

We are delighted to welcome new members Brian Hufford and Capt. Chris Hinckley!  We look forward to diving with  you!

May 2003 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, e-mail the web divemaster.

• April 26: Private Boat Dive with Jeff Guzowski and John Kansman.
• April 27, noon-7 PM: Join Debby Auchter at the 9th Annual Bay Jam 2003 at Founders Park, Islamorada. Live concert, food vendors, cold beer, raffle, $5 (kids under 12 free) to benefit art & music scholarships for students at local schools.   Lawn chairs OK. 
• May 2-4: Air & Sea Show, Fort Lauderdale Beach
• May 6, 8 PM: Join Debby Auchter to laugh at and with Steve d'Oliveira, former SFDI VP of Programs and star of Yellow Feathers,  live at Uncle Funny's.  $5 cover charge and two-drink minimum.   [Map here]
• May 7, 7:30 PM: General meeting. Program: Ken Weemhoff.  RAMADA INN FORT LAUDERDALE AIRPORT, 2275 State Road 84. [Driving directions here]  [Map here]  NOTE: additional parking on west side of Ramada. 
• May 8-11: Cajun Zydeco Festival.
• May 10, 8:30 AM Show/9 AM Go. Charter Boat Dive on Fish Food with Cheryl Bartek, $40 includes the tip. We'll be diving on the United Carribean wreck, a 150' Coastal Freighter downed last August, and a reef. They are at 2629 North Riverside Drive, Pompano Beach.  The boat is located on the North Side of the Tails Restaurant and Bar at Hillsboro Inlet. [Map here]
• May 11: Mothers Day.
• May 12, 7:30 PM: SFDI Executive Board meeting at Connections for Business, 2843 Pembroke Road, NE corner of I-95 and Pembroke Road.  Members always welcome! 
• May 16-18: Ocean Fest has a new name and a new location.  The Ocean Festival Dive and Adventure Sports Expo 2003 will be held in on Fort Lauderdale Beach [Map here].  VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: SFDI receives a booth free of charge in exchange for volunteer hours given to Ocean Fest.  Please call SFDI Secretary Donna Eades to volunteer, 954-981-6666.  DAN members, click here for a $2 off coupon for Ocean Festival admission!  Take the Water Taxi to Oceanfest...$5 to ride all day, get off at Bahia Cabana.
• May 21, 6:15-8 PM: Shoot-'em-Up night at Big Al's Indoor Gun Range in Hallandale Beach, with Jeff Guzowski, is sure to be a "blast."  $5 per lane per person. [Map to Big Al's]
• May 23-27: Florida Marine Aquarium Society's annual show at IGFA.  More information here.
• May 23-26: Memorial Day Weekend. 
• May 24 AND 25 AND 26: Join Fred Miller on a 3-day, 'round the County whirlwind beach diving tour!  Fred will be meeting at various beaches, TBA, at 8 AM.  Join him on one, two or all three.  Contact Fred for details (he is Robert Miller on the buddy list).
• May 24-25, 8 AM-4 PM: Treasure Coast Working Equipment Group's hard hat dive rally at Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo. [Map here] Free to watch, just $25 to dive.  Call Marc Cohen, 954-565-9754, for more details.  Read about the last rally here.
• May 31 AND June 1, 8 AM: Join Fred Miller for  beach diving.  Beaches TBA.  Contact Fred for details (he is Robert Miller on the buddy list).
• June 4, 7:30 PM: General meeting. RAMADA INN FORT LAUDERDALE AIRPORT, 2275 State Road 84.  [Driving directions here] [Map here]  NOTE: additional parking on west side of Ramada. 
• June 7, 8 AM show for 8:30 go: Join Joe Smariga for a two-tank dive on the Dry Martini, leaving from Seafair Marina in Dania Beach [Map here].  $45 includes tip.
• June 7-14: Curacao trip with Jeff Guzowski and Michele Burzese, details here.
• June 9: SFDI Executive Board meeting moved to June 16
• June 12, 7-9 PM: Fisherman/author Linda Greenlaw will be speaking at Broward County Main Library from 7-9 PM in the Bienes Center [Map here].  Did you see the movie or read the book Perfect Storm?  Capt. Greenlaw was running the Andrea Gail's sister ship Hannah Boden during the storm and was featured in the book and the movie.  Her book, The Hungry Ocean, was her account of that fatal storm and about her life as a swordfisherman.  More recently, she wrote The Lobster Chronicles "about "life on a very small island".  Her books are fascinating to read; Bluewater Books and Charts is sponsoring this program and Debby Auchter believes there will be copies of both of Linda's books available for sale and for her to sign for you.
• June 14:  15th Annual Reef Sweep.  COORDINATOR NEEDED:  contact Dave Wills.
• June 16, 7:30 PM: SFDI Executive Board meeting at Connections for Business, 2843 Pembroke Road, NE corner of I-95 and Pembroke Road.  Members always welcome! 
• June 21, Time TBA:  Charter Boat Fishing with Pat Lamicella on a 55 Foot Hatteras, $70/person. 
• June 21, time TBA: Charter Night Dive on the brand-new American Dream II with Bill Dietz.  $40 for a 2-tank night dive, parking at Pier 66 additional.  [Directions here]
• June 22, 10 AM: Brew up a batch with Joe Smariga at Brewmaster's South, 8280 State Road 84, Davie.
• June 26, 8 PM: Laugh your booties off with Jeff Guzowski at Uncle Funny's.  Ski gets quite a rowdy crowd to join him; don't miss the fun! [Map here]
• June 28: 8:30 AM Show/9 AM Go. Charter Boat Dive on Fish Food with Cheryl Bartek, $40 includes the tip. They are at 2629 North Riverside Drive, Pompano Beach.  The boat is located on the North Side of the Tails Restaurant and Bar at Hillsboro Inlet. [Map here]
• June 28, 8 AM: Join Fred Miller for  beach diving.  Beaches TBA.  Contact Fred for details (he is Robert Miller on the buddy list).
• June 28-July 5: Curacao trip with Joe Smariga and Julie Taylor, details here.
• July 2, 7:30 PM: General meeting. RAMADA INN FORT LAUDERDALE AIRPORT, 2275 State Road 84.  [Driving directions here] [Map here]  NOTE: additional parking on west side of Ramada. 
• July 12, evening: IMAX Theater and Riverfront Dinner Social Night with Jane McArthur.  [Map here]
• July 30-31: Lobster Mini-Season.
• August 6: Lobster season opens!
• August 25: 18th Annual Bog Snorkeling competition.
• August 22-4: Annual Keys trip to Key Largo, dive the Spiegel Grove with Jeff Guzowski.
• September: Annual SFDI Seafood Fest, date TBA.
• October 3-5: Historical Diving Society-USA's 2003 Conference at Jules Undersea Lodge in Key Largo. 
• October 8-11: DEMA comes to the Miami Beach Convention Center!

Join us May 7 as Ken Weemhoff of Galapagos Adventures makes a return visit to tell us about his exciting adventures.  The Galapagos Islands are located 600 miles west of Ecuador and offer some of the most spectacular wildlife found anywhere in the world. Nowhere else on this planet will you find penguins which live on the equator (The Galapagos Penguin) or iguanas which swim and feed in the ocean (The Marine Iguanas)!   Because these islands have only recently been invaded by man, the literally 1000s of animals that inhabit these islands have never learned to fear us.  This means that you can literally walk right up to hundreds of blue-footed boobie birds, red-footed boobie birds, masked boobie birds, albatrosses, penguins, land iguanas, marine iguanas, lava lizards, sea lions, fur seals, red-chested frigate birds, flamingos, finches,  tropic birds, lava gulls, giant tortoises, and flightless cormorants.

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 those of us who have been missing the turn to get into the Ramada (yes, I'm guilty), Ski was kind enough to write explicit, detailed directions to our meeting place from the North, South, East and West.  You may view his driving directions here on our About Us page.

 At the Pig Roast, I dug into a serving of salad and began to exclaim about it's deliciousness.  The folks at my table said that Lori Rocco brings it every year and it is always a hit.  Lori was kind enough to furnish us with the recipe, which originally appeared in Desperation Dinners; Home cooked meals for frantic families in 20 minutes flat. Authors - Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross, Workman Publishing, New York.

1 package (3 ounces) chicken-flavored ramen soup
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sugar*
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 package (8 ounces) broccoli coleslaw mix
1/2 cup sliced almonds or unsalted sunflower seeds, or some of each

1. Combine the flavor packet from the soup mix with the vinegar, sugar, and oil in a 2-quart or larger serving bowl.  Using whisk, beat until well blended.

2. Add the broccoli slaw and ramen noodles, breaking the noodles into small pieces. Toss well to coat with dressing, then garnish with nuts and seeds as desired. Refrigerate for a least 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 6

* substitute Splenda for sugar free slaw

Click here for more great SFDI recipes!

Book Review The True Sea   By Frederick W. Belland

Set in the Florida Keys in the years from 1909 till 1925, The True Sea tells the story of Arlis, a boy growing into manhood against the drama of the construction of the Overseas Railroad. Henry Flagler's railroad, which ultimately linked Key West to the rest of America, promised the people of the isolated Florida Keys prosperity and access to the world beyond its sun-drenched shores. It did change the Florida Keys forever, but not necessarily in ways promised or expected. This historical fiction book is the perfect companion to Standiford's nonfiction Last Train to Paradise, reviewed in February, as Belland tells the stories of rich and poor locals to show us how people lived on our remote islands during that era.

This is a tale of the fascinating history of one of America's most spectacular and unique environments; of prohibition and rum-runners, of schooners and sailors and the islanders who depended upon them, of the plundering of the islands' natural resources, and of progress and growth, with its rich rewards as well as its heavy costs. I wasn't able to put it down and I'll bet you can't either!  It was written in 1984 so you may not find it at your bookstore, but it is available @your library!

Click here for more book reviews!

MAPSERVER

Of course, there is a tutorial, but I never read directions so I jumped right in!  I wanted to see an aerial photo of where we keep our boat in Key Largo.  I clicked on the Mapserver icon to get to their website, then put the zip code, 33037, in the search box and clicked go.  A topographic map appeared.  I located the area I was interested in, and clicked on it to re-center the map.  I selected the Nautical Chart tab at the top of the map, and got an extreme close-up view of Largo Sound.  From there, I scrolled down and played with the zoom tools until I got the view I desired.  Remember, you can click anywhere on the map to re-center it, or use the red arrows to scroll to the next page on the map in any direction.

After playing around with the nautical charts, it was time to click on the Nav (aerial) Photo tab.  Cool!  I could see the roof of the barn where Rapture is stored, so I clicked to re-center, then zoomed in for a closer look.  That was pretty cool, but I really wanted to see how we get out to the reef.  I zoomed back out and got a great aerial view of Adams Waterway to Largo Sound.  From here, I could use the red arrows to see what it looks like on the way to the reef...or to our top secret bayside fishin' hole!  SFDI's beach divers could use this to see where the reefs are closer or farther in Broward County.

Notice the "Fun Tools" at the bottom of the screen.  You can place an icon, save, print, or e-mail your map.  I thought it would be fun to place an icon for Bayside Marina.  I selected "Place an Icon" (of course!) and used the pop-up window to select from one of their great icons.  You can't miss the animated arrows, so I picked them then named the icon "Rapture lives here!"  You can link the icon to a web page, so I did.  Finally, I had the option to save the map, and here's the final result! 

Click here for more Websites of the Month!

Club members Rebecca Gaines and Marc Cohen were published in the February 2003 edition of Florida SCUBA News!  An article about Marc's hard hat diving group featured photos by Rebecca.  Good going!