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South Florida Divers, Inc.
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It's Seafood FestTime! ~ By Jeff Guzowski |
Even though August has turned out to be a really windy month, it hasn’t stopped a lot of the club members getting out there to catch their lobsters. I heard that not only did most people catch their limit during lobster mini-season, but doing just as good during regular lobster season. Our August 11 club dive on the Dry Martini went with 21 club members, and Julie Taylor "I" got six lobsters. Thanks go to Fred Miller and Adrian Soler for coordinating this trip.
As I write this, I have just returned from this year’s Key Largo trip. We had a great time diving the infamous Spiegel Grove and having a weekend of fun. We will have a recap of the weekend with photos from our very own on-the-spot-reporter John Kansman at our September club meeting. His written trip report and a few photos appear further down in this newsletter.
Speaking of September, our Annual Seafood Festival will be held on Saturday,
September 14 at the Lauderdale Isles Yacht Club. I hope you can attend
and don’t forget you will need to bring your favorite seafood (which we
will cook on the grill) and a covered dish. We will have a covered
dish signup list at the club meeting. If you don’t know what to bring,
it will have some suggestions and what other club members are bringing.
This helps us from having multiples of the same dishes. The club
will be providing chicken, beer, wine, and soft drinks.
The club is in the process of organizing an out of country trip to Curacao in the Netherland Antilles. The trip was featured at our August meeting, and we are looking at an 8 day/7 night all-inclusive dive vacation in June 2003. See details below. Thanks to Frank Cihak who flew from Chicago to speak at our August meeting about Curacao.
Our September meeting speaker will be Marc Cohen from the Historical Diving Society, demonstrating deep sea hard hat diving suits. Hope to you all there.
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, come to the next General Meeting.
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The speaker for our September 4 General Meeting will be Marc Cohen from
the Historical Diving
Society, demonstrating deep sea hard hat diving suits.
This is your LAST
CHANCE to purchase a raffle ticket to win a limited edition Spiegel Grove
Medallion. The tickets will be pulled at the September 4 meeting.
You do not need to be present to win. More
info here.
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Curacao, Netherland Antilles
~ By Jeff Guzowski, SFDI President
The club is running a trip to Curacao, located 35 miles off Venezuela’s
north coast, June 7– 14, 2003 (Saturday to Saturday). The trip will
cost $1,150 plus airfare. The lodging will be at the Sunset
Waters Beach Resort. 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."
I have information sheets and a payment schedule made up, and if you are interested, see me at the September meeting. I will be collecting first payment of $150 at the September 4 club meeting. (Note: Joe Smariga and Julie Taylor are arranging the identical trip from June 28-July 5, 2003. All of the same information applies.) |
The weekend began beautifully with most of us having taken the day off
on Friday to prepare for the trip. With a nice leisurely drive down
the Florida Turnpike, through the Florida Bay on US-1, we arrived at Kelly’s
on the Bay at around 3:00. After checking in with Jessica at the
front desk, we began meeting with the other SFDI members around the pool.
We socialized for awhile and it was time for dinner at Hobo’s Grill next
door. They managed somehow to seat twenty of us at a table immediately,
and gave us some of the greatest service around. After dinner, we
sat under a Chickee Hut under the stars, out by the bay, and told stories,
and probably some lies, until it was time to retire for the evening.
We awoke to a typical Florida Keys morning, bright sunshine and a gentle
breeze. Captain Jorge and our Divemaster Reed were busy preparing
the Aquanuts II dive boat for our trip to the Spiegel Grove. After
a 15 to 20 minute boat ride, we waited for a space to open on one of the
mooring buoys on the Grove. After mooring the boat, it was time to
dive, dive, dive. The current, which on the day before was so swift
that the wreck spewed a brown silt cloud from the bow, was almost completely
still. This made it possible for our open water divers with limited
experience to make the dive accompanied by a Divemaster/guide. The
Divemaster/guide was a last minute requirement from the dive operator for
those persons who were not advanced certified or open-water divers who
did not have at least 4 logged dives within the past year. We hope
to continue this practice on future Keys trips to make them more accessible
to all levels of divers in our club. Everyone came up from that dive
remarking on how large the ship was. It was also amazing to see how
much growth was already occurring on her. Jeff (Ski) even found an
18 inch sea whip growing in her hull. I guess the Gulfstream waters
are going to be kind to her.
Our second dive took us to French Reef. We moored on one end of the
reef that was not completely gorgeous but with a short swim, most every
one found the area teeming with life and beauty. You will soon be
able to see some of the underwater shots after I get my film developed
(look for them in your October newsletter). We returned to the resort,
thanked our Captain and Divemaster, cleaned our gear and gathered by the
pool to chill out and relax.
At poolside, we filled a table so full of food for us to lunch and snack
on. This club knows how to eat and our members always come through
with food. We had everything from chips and any kind of dip to go
along, rotisserie chicken, chicken wings, shrimp cocktail, and fresh sliced
fruit. But I also said that we gathered by the pool to chill out,
so I had pre-made two gallons each of frozen margaritas, pina-coladas,
and mudslides and kept them frozen with 24 pounds of dry ice until we were
ready. Do I need to say they went over well?!!! We readied
ourselves for dinner that night at The Fish House. They normally
don’t take reservations, however, for a group of 24 of us they made an
exception. But only if we were on time. We were and we had
a fantastic dinner again with great service. After dinner, we gathered
again by the bay, finished what was left of the frozen drinks, told more
stories and enjoyed each other’s company bringing our dive weekend to an
end.
I know of 24 divers who want to thank Ski and Michelle for organizing one
fantastic weekend. And Ski says it was Michelle who did all the leg
work on this one. And thanks to all who had a great time. That
is what makes it so worthwhile to run and be a part of these trips.
Good diving y’all!
Click here for more of John's great Key Largo trip photos!
Rick Rocco will be teaching an Advanced Open Water course for club members
on August 31 and September 1. The cost for SFDI members is $175 and
includes the manual, instruction, boat fees, and certification card upon
successful completion. Divers must provide their own equipment. Dives
will include one shore and five boat over the two days. The objectives
cover Navigation, Search & Recovery, Night Dive, Drift Dive, Deep Dive,
Wreck Dive.
Rick was certified in 1991 and began his diving adventures in Cleveland, Ohio where he enjoyed brisk Lake Erie and local quarry diving. Rick earned his Master Scuba Diver rating in 1993 and in 1994 he became a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor. When ice diving in low visibility lost its allure, Rick moved to the Fort Lauderdale area and began work with the Lauderhill Police Department. Rick and his wife Lori joined SFDI in 1997 and have hosted trips to Ginnie Springs for cavern diving and camping.
Rick is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and a Police Diver Instructor for the National Academy of Police Diving. In addition he started the Lauderhill Police Department’s Underwater Recovery Team. Currently holding the rank of Sergeant, Rick is assigned to the Broward Police Academy as a Training Advisor and Dive Team Supervisor. He can be reached at (954) 553-2447. If you can't make the August class, he will be teaching it again October 12-13.
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 only need four of you to sign up to make this a go, but the more the merrier.
NOTE: This trip has been cancelled but if you are interested in doing it another time, see Debby.
Tenneco Towers still proves to be a most scenic and exciting dive.
I recently did a "girls day dive" aboard the Water Breaker. We anchored
next to the tower and just as we came in sight of it, we saw a large sea
turtle in the sand at the bottom of the tower. He (she) was quite
friendly and seemed quite happy to pose for a couple of pictures before
gently swimming away.
The amount of sealife on the towers is amazing. We saw thousands
of fish of every variety. Every inch is covered by coral, fans, and
sealife of one kind or another. The structure's angles and abundance
of growth makes for some very exciting photo and viewing opportunities.
If you haven't dove Tenneco Towers, or just haven't dove them in a while, I highly recommend you do so. A site well worth the visit.
Click here for more of Julie Taylor's Tenneco Tower photos
Click here for Jeff Guzowski's "The Wrecks We Dive" report on the Tenneco Towers
I had the opportunity to go to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in June 2000 for
a 10-day live aboard/5-day Highlands tour. Who ever deemed PNG as "The
Land of Adventure" knew what they were talking about. I felt like I had
the adventure of a life time. For those who are geographically challenged
- PNG is the large grouping of (over 600) islands located to the north
of Australia. PNG's reefs are unique because they are the only reefs close
to the heart of the Indo-Pacific that are not subject to degradation by
the pressures of a massive human population. We did feel like we were in
the middle of nowhere .... the only other Americans that I encountered
there (other than my traveling companions) were 3 IMAX movie producers
that were setting up the logistics for a future film.
I survived the long air flights, horrible food, and the not-so-pleasant
side effects of anti-malaria drugs. It was all worth it though because
I have some great stories to tell and I think I have a few good pictures
to share. (Of course the best images I have will be the ones forever implanted
in my brain.) Some of the numerous new sea critters I encountered on this
trip included a blue-ringed sting ray and some tiny pigmy sea horses. Unfortunately
I did not get a photograph of these guys .... so I guess I'll just have
to go back.
I used my Sea&Sea MotorMarine camera with the 16mm wide angle or the
built-in close-up lens for most of these PNG underwater shots. I used both
a Sony digital and the Sea&Sea for the other photographs that I've
submitted to the SFDI website. The digital is very convenient - but
35mm slides are still the best media for underwater (in my opinion).
Click here for more of Cheryl Jones' PNG photography
Perhaps the single best-kept secret about our National Parks is the underwater
realm that they include: millions of acres of submerged lands, only a small
fraction of what has been explored by divers. From geysers on the bottom
of Yellowstone Lake, to the coral reefs of the Dry Tortugas, to steamers
sunk in the frigid waters of Isle Royale in Lake Superior, to the kelp
forests of the Channel Islands, the National Parks have much to offer the
diver. This wonderful book, by Daniel J. Lenihan, NPS park
ranger and archaeologist, and John D. Brooks, u/w photographer and cinematographer
for the NPS, is well-organized and contains maps and lots of useful information
from history to safety tips rules and regulations to travel information.
Florida parks featured include Biscayne National Park (18 pages), Dry Tortugas (12), and the Gulf Islands National Seashore. Check out a copy @your library today!
Click here for more book reviews!
Back in the 1960's there was a really silly television show, Diver
Dan. I remember seeing many episodes of Diver Dan rescuing Miss
Minerva the Mermaid from Baron Von Barracuda and the cigarette-smoking
Trigger Fish. I thought that everyone my age knew what I was talking
about when I imitated Baron Von Barracuda, but all I ever got were
strange looks.
One day I decided to find out once and for all if I dreamed up this television series or if it actually existed. An Internet search led me to a few websites where other people talked about the same experiences I had; that is, talking about Diver Dan and having people look at them as if they were from another planet. For a blast from the past, visit these Diver Dan pages: Planet X Magazine, Roger's Basement, and two pages at TV Party, this one with a bit of information and the words to Diver Dan's theme song, and this one with a link to listen to the actual theme song. Yes, this obscure children's show really did exist!
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!Buy a GREAT dive boat! Sit down...Debby and Rick Auchter are selling the Rapture. How can we do that after spending so much time and money customizing this beautiful Grady-White Sailfish into a great dive boat? Because we want to buy a house in the Keys! Visit rapturedivers.com for detailed information or call 954-926-8084 or e-mail Debby @ Rapturedivers dot com. |
From MyDailyCartoon.com |
This is an all-inclusive trip and the price includes hotel and service
tax, round trip airport transfers, two restaurants which include ALL meals
(breakfast, lunch, & dinner), all beverages (premium, top shelf are
extra), two boat dives a day, unlimited shore diving, tanks, weights, and
air fills, complimentary shuttle to Willemstad (the capital), use of all
hotel facilities (pool, Jacuzzi, beach lounges, towels, fitness rooms),
tennis courts, 18 hole mini golf, and motorized water sports. Not
to mention a casino on the premises!
