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South Florida Divers, Inc.
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It’s turkey time already and there is still a lot of diving going on this late in the year, between beach dives and charter dives. Visibility has been pretty good, and if you are lucky enough, you may be still see 1 or 2 lobsters on a dive. I hear the spontaneous Jupiter charter dive already has 8-12 members going. That will be some great diving up there. On Saturday, December 6, we will be running a 2- hour holiday lights cruise. We have previously done this using the Water Taxi. This year, we were fortunate enough to be able to make plans with Captain Todd and Chris, running the trip on the American Dream II instead, leaving from Pier 66. This is great time and has been very popular in the past. Come cruise the Venice of America, and party with your friends and see the fabulous homes decorated with holiday lights and other decorations that make Ft. Lauderdale a winter wonderland. More info below in the calendar. Our annual holiday party is coming up on Saturday, December 13. It is held at the City of Dania Beach, I.T. Parker Center, starting at 7 PM and runs to 1 AM. Put this date on your calendars for and evening of good food, drinks, dancing, and most of all good company. See more details in the December newsletter. I would like to take this time to thank all the club members who helped run beach dives, charter dives, club events and parties that we had all this year. These members give their time and devotion to making this one of the best clubs around. Thanks everyone. Happy Thanksgiving to all. Safe diving,
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~ Photography by Bill Dietz
THANKS to Bill Dietz for identifying everyone. |
 November
2003 Calendar and beyondPhone 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.
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SCUBA Swap! The November 5 meeting will be our SCUBA Swap so gather up your excess dive stuff...or save up to buy someone else's excess dive stuff! As they say, one diver's trash is another diver's treasure. Bring some cash and be ready to barter, you never know what will turn up. Previous SCUBA swaps have seen Nikonos cameras and accessories, tanks for less than $50, genuine antique regulators, and like-new wetsuits from people who have gained or lost too much weight to wear them. Your web divemaster has a new case of premium Mercury outboard engine oil, buy a gallon for $8 or buy the case for $40. SCUBA swap night is also a fun night to socialize and get to know your fellow club members. See you there! 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. |
During
a recent relaxing three-day cruise to the Bahamas, Adrian and I decided
to mix a bit more excitement into our weekend and dive with the sharks
at Stuart Cove in
Nassau, Bahamas. Having heard so many great things throughout the
years about Stuart Cove’s shark dive, I was more than excited and looking
forward to taking pictures of a few small Caribbean reef sharks.
In anticipation of the upcoming shark dive, the prior week I did my homework and prepped for the dives by watching the daily shows on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. What a mistake! Every time I saw a set of razor sharp teeth, tearing through flesh at will, I developed goose bumps and seriously questioned the sanity of my decision to proceed with my plans.
On the day of the dive, the bus ride from the Nassau Pier to the Stuart’s Cove Dive Shop again gave me the opportunity to reconsider my decision. After signing what appeared to be a mountain-high pile of waivers, we met on the boat and headed out to dive with the sharks. On the boat we received a detailed briefing showing us how-to and how-not-to behave with the sharks.
After
a short ride, we arrived at the dive site and anchored. As if on
command, the sharks were already circling the boat! We geared up
and entered the water. Talk about a giant stride! Entering
the water was like taking my heart in my hand and throwing it over board
and jumping in after it. Immediately the “Jaws” soundtrack began
playing in my head.
I looked around a bit and realized that we had anchored right at the top of the wall and could see the sharks come up from the deep to check us out. To my surprise, they kept a safe distance and did not come closer than about ten feet. I did realize that some of the sharks were really interested in me, much more than in the other divers. Apparently the recharging of the strobe on my Sea&Sea MM II EX camera was of particular interest to the sharks. At that point instinct kicked in, a calm came over me and I was immediately fascinated by the sharks as they curiously approached me and posed in front of the camera.
The dive consisted of a guided tour around a nearby wreck and a cruise along the wall. Even though the water was rich deep blue and the sites were beautiful, all I could see was the streamlined grey sharks as they escorted us throughout our dive. We all got back on the boat after the divemaster gave us the signal, and got ready for the second dive.
Suiting up for this dive was different than any dive I had previously been on. The dive store crew, as well as Alex Antoniou, the professional videographer from The Shark Research Institute, who happened to be filming onboard, all began donning metal mesh shark suits! Well, here came the goose bumps again! I looked around, but nobody seemed to be offering me a metal mesh suit. And to make me even more apprehensive, the captain, who would be conducting the actual shark feeding, put on a hockey helmet in addition to the metal suit! The goose bumps smoothed out a bit when they proceeded to give us an even more detailed briefing. By the end of the briefing, I was thrilled! This was what I had come here to do – fear or no fear!
Upon
entering the water, the entire group was led to the semi-circular clearing
on the sandy bottom. We kneeled down in a semicircle, as if preparing
to offer a sacrifice to the ocean’s gods in the center. After we
were all situated, the shark feeder slowly descended with a large metal
box filled with chunks of fish. This was different than the first
dive. Without hesitation, the sharks swarmed the shark feeder from
the onset, thus the need for the hockey helmet and metal mesh suit.
So many grey reef sharks surrounded the feeder, ranging in size from four
to ten feet. At some point, the feeder was barely visible.
He slowly worked his way down to the middle of the semi-circle. Sharks,
sharks, sharks, in front of me, next to me, coming right at me!
Before
I could get a straight thought, the first one already nibbled on my camera!
Well, it took a bite at my strobe, but did not like its taste. The electricity
created by the firing and recharging of my strobe must have been very tempting
for them. They kept brushing by me and bumping into me. A few even
knocked me over a couple of times. Several times a shark came right
at me, and I just ducked, making myself really small in order for it to
swim over me. Two times a shark swam at me almost at bottom level and I
had to use my camera to push it of over my head. Contrary to my initial
thoughts regarding this dive, at no time did the sharks appear to be threatening
to me or interested in biting me, they were just checking me out and looking
for snacks. Throughout this dive, I took some close-up shots of the
sharks and watched the shark feeder systematically feed the sharks, one
piece of fish at a time. At no point did he let the situation get
out of control. Sure he got pushed around by the larger sharks, while
they attempted to get first dibs of the fish, but what can you expect –
they’re sharks!
Back on the boat I was speechless for a while, completely in awe! I felt it was a big honor for me, to be able to go on this dive with so many large sharks and have such a close and intimate encounter with them. It changed my relationship to these creatures forever – I am still in awe. What an AMAZING encounter!
Click here for more fantastic shark photos by Sandra Soler
Click here for more thrilling diving adventure stories!
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Click here for more Seafood Fest photos by Pete Stephinson!
Is there a special place or special event
you've always, ALWAYS wanted to go to but never had the opportunity?
For me, it was DEMA, the Diving
Equipment and Marketing Association's annual show. In the twenty
years since I became NAUI Instructor #7188, I've longed for the opportunity
to see the latest in goodies and gadgets and talk to destination reps from
around the planet, but never got around to going.
What
good fortune that DEMA was in Miami Beach October 8-11, and better fortune
that we just so happened to be on vacation that week. I contactedNAUI
to see how I may obtain tickets, and they were generous enough to comp
Rick and I for a free pass to the exhibits. This is me with NAUI's
Marketing Manager, Alison Matherly, at the NAUI booth.
We arrived soon after opening on Thursday, and to say we were overwhelmed is an understatement. We stayed until closing, and we are not really sure we actually saw every booth.
DEMA is the place to see the newest, and sometimes wackiest, developments. Three dramatically new fin designs caught our eye. Freedom Fins of Miami Beach is developing the strangest of all...fold-down fins that you wear like leg warmers. A tube fits over your calf and the blades fold down when you're ready to dive. Imagine going on a beach dive and not struggling to put your fins on, but instead just reaching down to fold them into position. The concept is so new that they don't have a working model or a website yet; they were at DEMA in order to gauge response to their concept. I must say, most people were giving them some strange looks. Another manufacturer had a dolphin-shaped fin that you put both feet into, and yet another has developed a fin blade that straps onto your sport sandals. They were marketing them as the perfect travel fin to pack flat into your suitcase. Another concept that caught my eye was a telescoping snorkel. It folds up compactly while you are diving, to eliminate mask wobble and facilitate streamlining, then pulls out to a full-length snorkel while you are on the surface. Yes, I want one! We also visited with some kayak manufacturers and Rick became so interested in the sport that we visited Florida Bay Outfitters the day after DEMA to rent some and try them out. Yes, they are FUN and we will be running a kayak trip with them one Sunday in January.
And of course there were the photography exhibitors. You can imagine how my pro photographer spouse was drooling over the offerings. The one I'd like Santa to bring isn't even on the market yet...a Sea & Sea digital camera in a compact housing that can be used topside and below, that should be in dive shops by Thanksgiving.
Many destination exhibitors were giving out CDs and I've been enjoying their movies on days I can't dive. Next month I'll be reviewing a few of the ones you can obtain for free on your own. There are also several stunning new dive magazines this year which I will be adding to our Magazines Links page.
The destination booths filled up our goodie bags with pounds and pounds of slick brochures, tempting us with every type of dive trip possible. From Fiji to the Florida Keys, from slick luxury live-aboards to sailboat/SCUBA charters for twelve, from the Antarctic to the Flower Garden Banks, if you didn't see at least fifty places you would LOVE to visit, then you just don't like diving.
We spent the most time in the Florida Keys area, where the Monroe County Tourist Development Council had a logbook/passport contest. If you visited each of the Keys area booths and had a special logbook stamped, you could enter into a drawing for a great week of diving in the Keys...starting with one week's use of a Nissan Xtera and accomodations and dives down the entire island chain for a week. We booked a trip with Conch Republic Divers on the spot after learning they had a 6-pack lobster trip going out Saturday. It was fun reuniting with old friends and meeting our new neighbors as there are several dive shops within walking distance of our house.
NAUI invited us to their social at the Biscayne Bay Marriott that evening, with great food and drink and steel drum music. Too bad we didn't have a winning raffle ticket for one of the great trips or cool gear or the Sea & Sea camera, all donated by NAUI members. We really enjoyed sitting with a NAUI instructor who teaches at Temple University with Dr. Bob Rutledge, the man who certified me as an Asst. Instructor there way back in '81, and reminiscing about my old quarry dives (brrrrr). Another instructor at our table has dived with nearly all of the people mentioned in Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andria Doria and The Last Dive. As you can imagine, we heard some tall...er, make that deep...tales.
Alas for us, unlike the boat show where you can buy goodies on the spot, there is very little available for cash-and-carry at DEMA, as it is not a consumer show and the representatives are there to take large orders from retailers. I bought a hilarious T-shirt from the US Navy Dive Team (I promise to wear it at the November meeting) and a DEMA water bottle for my bicycle. Rick found it very frustrating to see great toys that he absolutely had to have, but he couldn't actually buy. Oh well, we'll just have to make a trip to our favorite dive shop in Fort Lauderdale to satisfy our cravings for the newest gadgets.
Click here for more stories From Our Logbooks!
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Life's Significant Events |
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Congratulations to Sandra Soler for having her fabulous Ginnie Springs photographs published by Penn State University! They contacted us to get permission to use her pictures to advertise their Spring 2004 SCUBA certification trip. The photos are available here on Penn State's website (you will need to click your browser reload button a few times to see Sandra's pictures).
Sandra is the third SFDI photog to have her photos published elsewhere after being posted here on your website. So what are you waiting for? Get your best underwater shots to your web divemaster and you could be our next famous underwater shooter!
E-mail your "Mile Markers" to Debby @ Rapturedivers dot com
~ Review by
Debby Bradford Auchter
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Seafood Watch: Choices for Healthy Oceans
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