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South Florida Divers, Inc.
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Later, back at the resort, we had a pool party with a lot of appetizers and Kansman’s 12 gallons of frozen drinks. We ended the evening with a great meal at the Fish House. Sunday morning’s optional dive was another trip back to the Spiegel Grove. Thanks to everyone who made this trip a success. Also special thanks to Jessica at Kelly’s on the Bay, Kat at Amoray and Leslie at the Fish House.
If you don’t have a fresh catch to bring to the party, the club has set up a 2 tank, charter dive that morning on the American Dream, so you can catch your entrée for that night. This dive is to be paid in full at the club meeting. By the way, if you are not familiar where the yacht Club is, there are directions here (click on "Driving Directions to This Location" and enter your address), maps at the club meeting, or feel free to call any E-board member and they will help you. This month’s club meeting has 2 speakers, we will be starting the meeting earlier than usual (7:45 PM). So please make sure you get there in time. Safe diving,
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WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST DIVE BUDDY! We are delighted to welcome new member Shannon Mecklenburg! We look forward to diving with you! |
 September
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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Pete Kendrigan of "Broward County Near Shore" and Peter Hughes' Dancer Fleet
We will also have a representative from Peter Hughes' Dancer Fleet talking about their exciting liveaboard adventures. The Ocean Conservancy sent us a nice quantity of the The Coral Issue of their journal, blueplanet quarterly. Come early and visit the Raffle table for your free copy of this beautiful magazine. 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. |
Have
you noticed the presence of a "red algae" covering many of the corals,
especially on the second reef? Many divers have reported seeing long,
dark-red, filamentous algae covering many reef areas in Broward County.
The algae, called Cyanobacteria, often cover living organisms, such as
sea fans and soft corals. The cause of this algae bloom in unknown at this
time. Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection
is soliciting the help of local divers. They are concerned about
harmful affects and are trying to get a handle on how widespread it is.
They think it is increasing but would like to have more data to determine
this definitively. They designed a questionnaire to determine the extent
of the algae infestation on the reef.
If you are interested, download and print this questionnaire (a 1-page PDF file) and return it to Ken Banks. DPEP hopes to get enough data to be able to map the distribution patterns - where it is and where it isn't. They will be looking at environmental parameters, including flow patterns, temperature, light intensity, water chemistry and others, to try to understand the cause.
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Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, land transfers, hotel taxes, and service charges are included. It also includes round trip airfare from Miami to Cayman Brac, (the air departure tax is not included). Cost around $1375. First down payment of $175 was due at the August 6 Club meeting. Trip coordinators are Jeff “Ski” Guzowski and Michele Burzese. |
On a dense, foggy, late July evening in 1956, the Italian-flagged cruise liner Andrea Doria, bound for New York, was struck broadside by another cruise ship. After an agonizing eleven hours, the relentless sea would drag her down, settling the Doria uneasily into the murky Atlantic ocean floor nearly two hundred and fifty feet below. . Amazingly, due to a daring and fevered rescue operation by her oceangoing brethren, only fifty-one of the more than 1,700 people on board both ships were killed in the collision. Drawn by the siren's call of adventure, a small but fanatical group of extreme scuba divers has long challenged the Andrea Doria, pushing themselves far beyond the limits of recreational divers, up to the very limits of human endurance. Not all of them have succeeded. Dubbed "the Mt. Everest of diving," this silt-layered rusty wreck has lured at least a dozen divers to their deaths, including five in one season. Some succumbed to what is called "china fever"—the passion to acquire dinnerware with the Doria logo—and in their excitement they jettisoned their prudence. Others were unlucky, some unhealthy, somecareless—maybe even stupid. In Deep Descent, Kevin McMurray, an award-winning journalist and an experienced scuba diver, explains why adventurers continue to brave the strong and unpredictable currents around the toppled hulk of the fallen liner. Fifty photographs show even cowardly landlubbers why men dive headlong into uncertain futures in an unforgiving sea. Once you start reading Deep Descent, you won't want to put it down. And remember, you can check it out @your library! |
CoRIS: NOAA's Coral Reef Information System  CoRIS, at www.coris.noaa.gov, was created to provide public "access to NOAA coral reef information and data products, especially those derived from NOAA's Coral Reef Initiative Program." The site includes information about coral biology and reef ecology, threats to coral reefs, a glossary of coral reef terminology, and reports on the environmental status of U.S. and worldwide reefs. The data are searchable as text and by geographical location. A Map Search includes numerous layers and related products, including over 4,000 aerial photos, nearly 400 navigational chart images, tide stations, paleoclimatological studies, photo mosaics, coral reef monitoring, bleaching reports, and more. CoRIS also includes essays such as "What are coral reefs?" and "Hazards to coral reefs" that will prove useful to anyone needing to do a school report on coral reef biology. |
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This
month is our annual Seafood fest. The date is Saturday, September
20, at the 
Nothing
beats getting together with your best "buddies" for an annual dive vacation.
This tradition has gone on for 7 years and started before my "SFDI days".
Now my buddies Pat and Laila join with our club members to continue this
great tradition. This year we went to Sunset Waters Resort in Curacao.
Located in the southwest Caribbean just north of Venezuela, Curacao is
an arid island with most of its beauty under water. Since we were on a
"dive" vacation this suited us very well.
We
dove with the dive shop located on premises. The staff is superb!! They
offer the very best, and most attentive service you could ever hope for.
They have storage facilities just steps from the boat for your dive gear.
After you stow your gear the first time, the shop pretty much takes care
of it for you for the week, setting it up on your tanks daily, switching
it between dives and then rinsing it, and storing it at night (except for
mask,fins, wetsuits). The dive staff really does a great job making sure
you have everything you need whether on a boat dive or shore dive. Not
only are they knowledgeable and efficient, they become your friends, and
are great fun.
We
dove morning dives daily with the boat. A new, well appointed 44 footer
(don't know what kind...it was big, comfortable, and dry). There was only
the eight of us most days so we could really stretch out and enjoy it.
The diving, just a short run from the resort, was varied, and always interesting.
We did a lot of wall diving (which I am quite fond of). The coral was mostly
healthy, and plentiful. There were lots of fish, although no large ones.
In addition to the usual fish life we saw 2 frog fish, which our excellent
and very entertaining dive master Carlos spotted for us, and a few seahorses.
These were really exciting since we don't see them at home. I also saw
the largest tube worms (a.k.a feather dusters) that I've ever seen. We
saw a lot of black coral (some 5 foot tall trees of it). Eels and juvenile
drum fish were everywhere. I do believe there were quite a few Sponge Bob
sightings as well.
In
addition to the boat dives daily some of us (Pete and I) did the "house
reef" shore dive daily (except the day we went into town.) Yes that's a
lot of diving. Pete and I did 18 dives for the week and I think I can speak
for Pete as well as myself saying we enjoyed every single one of them.
We
did hit town (Williamstead) one afternoon. Unfortunately it was "Flag Day,"
a local holiday, so most of the stores were closed. I did save quite a
bit of money because of that though. :) Williamstead is a most colorful
town and definitely worth the visit. They have a floating bridge that opens
to let the boat traffic pass. Quite interesting and different than anything
I've seen before.
Oh
yes...the resort is all inclusive. Not only the accommodations, meals,
and diving, are included but all your beverages are included and yes we
did party a bit after diving. We dined, danced, acted as guest DJ, led
a conga line, saw the full moons, and danced on the bar with the general
manager's daughter.
We
left our mark on the Island with a 2nd week SFDI trip /Sponge Bob sign
for the tree. The trip left a mark on each of us as well. Along with a
canvas Curacao bag and a custom annual trip T shirt, we have a lot of great
memories and pictures. We so much enjoyed our trip that I do believe we'll
keep the tradition alive for a few more years.
June,
2004, we have planned an 8 day/7 nights all inclusive trip to 
