 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Click To Enlarge
From Tom Pritchard . . .
A hearty thanks to everyone who attended the Second Annual Dan Memorial Dive. It was a great day to brush the cobwebs off the dive gear, see old friends, and provide a tangible expression of the affection we had for Dan. Thanks also to everyone who brought food. If the turnout isn't larger next year, at least the divers will be. Just for the record, we don't always have that much fun at Willow; sometimes we have more. In order to make room for this late breaking news from the TNI International News Desk, the remainder of the customary dive report will be published next week.
Dateline: Vatican City, Italy, 19/4/05
The College of Cardinals elected German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger the 265th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Ratzinger selected the name Benedict XVI. The quick action of the College of Cardinals was spurred by news that the TNIs had printed ballots of their own and were preparing to elect Terry Martzall pope. Martzall would have become the church's first pontiff to assume the name Pope T-Bone 1st.
From Terry Martzel . . .
Friends of Dan Myers, 21 April there was a second memorial dive. There was lots of food, fellowship and some wine in the box. A cake was baked and it easily brought a tear to all his family and friend's eyes. Gone two years and still missed.
From Bryan Palmer . . .
Hello to Central PA!!! Well I happened to find my self in central pa very briefly this weekend and I was presently surprised to speak with several friends that happened to be in the shop while I was there. I had the Privilege to speak with Joe Dormer for a little while. I met him at the beginning of last summer and dove with him once or twice. Well any ways since we are both in the same situation with coming in to a shop that is new to the both of us we had several things to discuss. Well I found his ideas as a fresh perspective to Smokey’s Divers Den. I would like to suggest to everyone to put there trust in him, he is in a tough situation and is trying to help the shop, the people and the history that lies with the past in Smokey’s Divers Den. If you have any ideas I would say approach Joe about your ideas. But just to let every one know I have been at my new shop for 4 months and we are still going though renovations, and reorganization of the shop, so I can relate to what Joe is doing. Remember Cindy is still around and he is not replacing her, we all know she is a one of a kind and can not be replaced.
Ok, enough is enough on to diving. Last weekend I spent my time in Key Largo, at Jules Undersea Lodge going through the Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) Fundamental Class. I have always tried to keep an open mind about anything that come to diving till I try it for myself. I was very Pleasantly surprised at how many “rumor’s” we dispelled in the first day of the class. I agree that the class is not for everyone, but believe that everyone can learn from the class. I was surprised at how much it pushed me to my physical diving limits and mentally to think on the fly on many situations. My manager is an instructor for the class and will travel anywhere but needs a minimum of 3 students to put a class together. There is also the option of always coming down to Florida and doing it at our dive store in Fort Lauderdale with my manager. Well I think that is enough I’ll talk to every one soon.
From John Gross . . .
April 23 & 24 Dive Report - This was my first Open Water class training dives for 2005! After spending the past two Sundays in the pool at the Ephrata Rec with outside temperatures in the 70-80 I thought this weekend would be beautiful for the students. Well the weatherman didn’t cooperate and Saturday was the best of the two days. Air temp was around 65 and the water temp was around 55-59. On Sat when we arrived it was raining but that soon stopped. Everyone checked their weights and then we went on our first dive. The big bass were out! Our first dive was out the road and back past the boat in the lagoon. It lasted around 20 minutes. I split the group up into 3 groups and I did three first dives. The second dive was out to the platforms at access A. One of my divemaster candidates, Dave Barnhart, must have a sweet foot as a big bass kept biting on his foot. Our platform was around 24 feet deep and the temperature was a little colder so I split the group into 2 groups and I did 2 second dives. One student, Anna, got cold so quickly in the pool that we decided to layer her with wetsuits. She had a total of 17 mils on her torso and she still got cold within 10-20 minutes. But she was a real trooper and finished all the skills on Sat & Sun.
On Sunday I found the water to be warmer then the air. The air was around 45-55 and the water was around 55-59. At the entrance point at access A I was playing with the big bass that Dave Barnhart had on Saturday. This bass was about 15 inches and came right up to my mask and he even tried to eat my finger. Now that’s one hungry fish! On our first dive Sunday we did a tour around the dolphin tower and then ran a compass heading, mid-water, back to our exit. Despite the weather everyone enjoyed the dives.
We now have six new Open Water divers. If you get the chance please congratulate: Anna Toomey, Dan Fisher, Jim Mentzer, Andy Herr, Mike & Terry Grogan. Mike and Terry have fallen in love with diving and are on the fast track to more experience. They have already completed their EFR and have signed up for my Advanced & Rescue classes in May as well as the Cozumel trip. They will probably rack up more dives in the month of May then must divers do in a year.
I also want to thank my AI, Pete Bohling, and my DM candidates, Jeff Raykos, James Zimmerman, Mark Seymour, Dave Barnhart and Chris Sanders. You guys did a fantastic job of keeping the students comfortable and safe. I received many comments from students and other staff at the great job they did. So my hat is off to all of you!
I also want to congratulate Jim Brown on completing his Instructor Exam. Jim is now an Open Water Scuba Instructor. He is also starting to work on his Master Scuba Diver Trainer certification. Jim had a chance to share with me what he experienced during his IDC and IE. I remember my IDC and it was very intense week of studying, pool work, and diving. The IE (Instructor Exam) is a full two days. The first day is written exams, demonstrating your ability to teach a classroom session and pool work, both swim tests and skill demonstrations. This usually runs for about 10-11 hours. The second day is outside in the quarry and you must pass a surface rescue test and do a dive briefing and have your students do the skill underwater that you just briefed. Your students are the other instructor candidates and they are told to have a problem and you must catch the problem and have the student do the skill again without the problem. So the next time you see Jim Brown congratulate him on a job well done!
From Bob Hanna . . .
Dutch Springs, April 24, 2005 - Natasha Harmuth. Bob Hanna, Bill Hockley, and Ralph Spayd went dry suit diving at Dutch Springs. We did one dive. While the thermocline is beginning to form, below the training platforms it was 41 degrees, a good test of one's dry suit.
This was Natasha's first outdoor dive with her new DRY SUIT. For Natasha this meant figuring the right amount of insulation, getting the right amount of weights and proper distribution. Meanwhile Bob had adjusted his Weight Trim System to allow the weights to hang about 1 inch lower. This adjustment eliminated any need for ankle weights. Natasha also did a fin pivot, and an inverted kick. (Ralph says he is ready for a review.) Natasha also tried out Bob's Argon Bottle. Argon holds the heat in the suit much better than air. The Argon plus heating pouches in her shoes made Natasha a very comfortable diver. (Bob may never see his Argon bottle again.)
We dove to the really big boat at the N end of the platforms on the S side of the Penninsula, and over to a medium sized boat located along the rope leading to the sunken Island, approximately a 70' dive. VIZ was a good 50'. Satisfied with the dive and knowing it would approach 40 minutes upon conclusion, we returned.
We conclude this report with a word or two about being a good buddy. Ralph and Bob are both A.I.s. who have helped each other numerous times as dive partners should. Today Ralph had one tank out of Hydro, and they wouldn't/couldn't fill it at Dutch. His second tank blew a burst disc. (These discs are not supposed to go into action unless the tank is filled to over 4,500 PSI.) Bob supplied Ralph with one of his steel 120s. (The save a dive kit just got much bigger.)
From Darth Vern . . .
Well since our first charter of the year got blown out on Sunday, I don;t have much to write about. BUT I did find something funny to add and it is true, I double checked in snopes.com:
A BRITISH man on a diving expedition had his thumb bitten off by an eel - after trying to feed it a sausage. Matt Butcher, 32, was diving off the Similan Islands, near Phuket, Thailand, when the 7ft razor teethed moray eel attacked.
He said: "She seemed quite playful and I took a sausage from the pocket of my vest and threw it to her." But the eel latched on to the thumb of his left hand. Mark added: "I couldn't get my thumb out of her mouth once she had started biting. She ate it and swam away. I didn't have time to reach for my knife."
Mark, from Stanstead, Essex, has been told surgeons may be able to transplant one of his big toes to replace his thumb.
Keep On Diving and Live The Adventure!!!
|
|
||||
Home | Classes | Events | Equipment | Clothing | Instructors | Staff | Members
|
||||