Diving the "Mighty O"

Well worth the long drive.

After a short stop at Morrison Spring we arrived in Gulf Shores Alabama in preparation for our dive. We checked in and then on to more important things, food. A nice dinner then it was off to bed.

We got up early and headed out to the boat. We all arrived at 7 AM chomping at the bit to get going. We were greeted by an amazing sunrise and very low winds from the North. Gear was assembled and the boat was loaded. We headed out to the "O" in one foot seas and a brisk 62 degree morning. The ride to the dive site was comfortable and the two hours went by quickly. Briefings done we settled in to ride the "Down Under" towards the sunrise.

We were the first dive boat on the site and the fishermen scattered as we located the mooring buoy. The viz was good 30 to 40 feet with some particulate in the water. While hooking up we saw a large box jelly and a couple of dolphins. All hooked up the second dive boat arrived on site and hooked in. That was it. Only two boats. Lucky us, we practically had this huge artificial reef to our selves. Greg had three divers with him and I had four. Nine divers hit the water with excitement and anticipation for a dive of a lifetime.

We follow the tag line to the mooring line and head down to the enormous exhaust vent in the top to the superstructure. Following the dive plan we circle down and around this Goliath. Barracuda, bait fish and jacks abound. The history of this vessel and the shear size are equally awe inspiring. There is no going to the flight deck for us recreational divers and really, there is no need. There is so much to see in the 130 feet of available diving that you really don't have time or the need to go in search of more.

For those that are wreck certified there are plenty of areas to explore on the interior and the exterior. Make sure to pay homage to the Stars and Stripes and the POW Flag that are flying proud from this vessel that has helped ensure this country's and our freedom. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to dive this great site and look forward to our next excursion there. Yes we will be returning to the Oriskany and I plan on stopping at more springs on the way.


Keep Diving,
Carl

Morrison Spring Florida

It has been a couple of years since I was at Morrison Spring and I have wanted to dive it ever since. This would be my first dive here due to me leaving some equipment behind... Long story.
When I was there in November 2006, it was a natural beauty in the middle of nowhere. I was a bit dismayed when I arrived Saturday 25 October 2008 to see signs saying that the park was closed and the new gates chained and padlocked. I parked and walked down into this beautiful park. There is ample parking and an amazing boardwalk and floating dock resting on crystal clear water. There are scuba gear and rinse stations thanks to a Boyscout Eagle project. Restrooms and a large pavilion round out the wonderful surroundings. On my walk back I found other people walking in and they said that the boat ramp was open and people could access the spring from there. I proceeded through the woods and found a great boat ramp, also with ample parking. There were others getting ready to go snorkeling and a boat launching for some diving.
The other three that were diving with me arrived and we geared up, walked into the clear water for our one hundred yard surface swim... nothing for us gulf rats... While on the ramp we ran into a couple of Navy guys that had some interesting rental gear... they both needed new tank o-rings and we took care of them. Now for the swim, crystal clear water at 68 degrees and a slow flow from this force one spring. Lots of fish and cypress trees springing out of the bottom.
We approached the hole and passed the log that straddles the hole at 20 feet. We entered the cavern following the rope that is there to guide you. Wait for your eyes to adjust and you are presented with a huge cavern. The hole into the cave system has been filled with concrete and is impassable. The flow used to come through this hole and has now found its way out through the floor and other holes in the wall. Eels and catfish have made this their home and hang out safe in the nooks and crannies. The water is delicious as I found by removing my regulator and taking a few gulps. Now it was back up through the hole and into the vault that is above the main chamber and another large eel. This is a cool dive and the setting is peaceful. We will go back the next time we head up to the "Mighty O"...

Carl

DEMA - Day 2 Death March

Added another four miles of walking the floor at DEMA today. This was my last day here, so I had a long list of things to do and people to see. I just want to say thanks to Starbucks for keeping me moving the whole time. The big stuff I needed to get done was order a lot of the small items that people want at the holiday time. I ordered some great new flashlights from UK including the Aquasun which is a twin LED light that produces over 800 lumens which is twice as much as the enhanced LEDs we have now. Got some hair ties and scuba tube socks as well.

We are making a transition int he open water classes to start teaching with the new eRDPml - if you haven't heard of this, it is a calculator that replaces the RDP table and should make it easier on students.

Here are a couple of interesting pictures form the show. These pictures are great gift ideas for the diver that has everything. The first is the chain mail shark suit complete with 70's silver motorcycle helmet. The second is a backpack portable recompression chamber (since it is $30k, you may want to save that for someone really special. And third is a glow in the dark tank. Funny thing is that the glow int he dark coating process is actually very difficult on tanks and it adds about $100 to the cost of a tank.

Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association Show

Hi from DEMA!

Why am I here? A really good question. There are a lot of reasons to come to a trade show. My top reasons are:

1. Take several PADI courses to continue my education as an instructor.
2. Meet with several people who have been helpful throughout the year, such as our PADI rep, our travel folks and several of our suppliers.
3. Spend some time checking out the latest and greatest stuff.
4. Meet with friends in the industry.

The show is LARGE. Surprisingly large. I think I walked about 4 miles inside the show room floor. There are approximately 750 booths located in the convention center. I have noticed a couple of interesting things about the show:

• The people in the booths are in a good mood still and great to talk to. I think by Sunday, the last day of the show, people won't be so nice.
• There is a lot of stuff out there in the dive industry. I have seen an amazing number of inventors that turn out really cool products. There is a lot of stuff that I would like to see in the store, but I have to be careful and get a sanity check with the folks back in Sarasota.
• There are a number of cool products that don't really solve an underlying problem, or solve a problem that nobody really has. I saw that a fair amount today - and I feel bad because some of these folks have done a great job of building a product that may not be useful.
• The Chinese manufacturers are out in force again with a lot of knock off equipment. They are looking only to sell in large lots to the middle tier re-sellers int he industry.
• The number of rebreather manufacturers is down significantly from last year. I am not sure if it means that the rebreather industry has topped out, but I don't see prices coming down this year at all.
• The show continues to have a "market bazaar" atmosphere with a lot of pushing for sales and less education of the buyers, which is the biggest rap that DEMA gets for the last couple of years.

I am grabbing lunch and resting my feet before I go back in for another hour or so to meet with some of our suppliers. I've posted some cell camera pics from the show.

Service Club Park - Shark Tooth Viz Report

Made it out to Service Club this morning. Viz was good and coming up, 8-12' with mill pond flatness. Good dive, very relaxing.

I'm off to DEMA (Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association) meeting in Las Vegas. Will post some blog entries and pictures from there. Greg

October Donut Dive - Donuts, Fish, Rocks, Scuba Board and the Police...

Growing, Growing, and the parking is gone. Another record turnout thanks to all of you.

Conditions were fantastic. Not even a ripple on the water just the divers making bubbles. The VIZ was about 10 feet and the water was nice and warm at 79 degrees. This was our largest turnout yet and we were competing for space (Parking that is) with Scuba board divers. Great minds think alike... We had 19 divers and Scuba board had a dozen or so too, all had a good time. I am happy to say that no donuts survived, three dozen donuts were consumed to fuel the diving machine.

OK, so parking was limited. We will plan for better parking and talk about ride sharing or shuttling to the site if parking is limited in the future. The local constables were called in and were very understanding, although I heard of at least one ticket issued... no cars were towed. Donuts and coffee were offered but the officers did not partake in the delicious round cakes or in the dark elixir that keeps those divers coming back.

Thank you to all that came and we will see you next month.

Carl

Viz Report - South Brohard

Okay - so is everyone going out to South Brohard now????? My favorite little sleepy dive site was crawling with divers Tuesday. Boats and beach. I think the word has gotten out about all the fossils.

Viz there was pretty good. 10-14' most of the time, and completely flat calm water. Was doing an open water class, so didn't have a chance to look for bones, but the blocks are continuing to attract a lot of life. A great dive! Greg

Silvertooth - Redux

Where was I? I jump in the water, look down past the barracuda and see reef ball and bridge sections clearly. 40' of viz at Silvertooth. What a great day! Couple of open water students, wreck students and an AOW student. If you can get out diving, do it! The water was fantastic.

The surprise for me was a lot of tropicals on the reef. Butterflies and Angels are in abundance there...

Thanks to Best Impressions, we now have a new charter boat to use. Stay tuned for pictures. Greg

Army Tanks and the Trail

Hey there - made it out to M8 (the Army tanks) for the first time in a long time. Dropped down on the first tank - viz was about 25' or so. After we had been around the tank for a while, made it to the memorial trail. The new trail is wonderful. I cleaned the plaque to CW2 Jackson. The trail leads between the tanks and the reef balls are already getting some growth on them. There were small bait balls above them as well. Two HUGE Goliaths on the second tank in. Basically, lots of activity out there!

We came back in and dove Silvertooth just after 1:00PM. Viz was about 15' and there was a lot of activity there as well. A lot of juvenile Spotfin Butterflies, some very curious Cobia kept swimming around me and a large Golaith stalking in the edge of viz - I think he was pissed because we were swimming around his column.

If you haven't made it out to the tanks lately, in the next couple of months, you should think about going out there. An extremely pleasant dive with the trail of reef balls between the tanks and the tanks as always have a ton of life on them. Greg