Happy Halloween and other things

We have treats in the store, so bring your goblins and ghosts in.

Think of it…Halloween means the end of the month, the November newsletter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will be fully-stocked and ready with some new items for the divers on your list. Watch for extended hours and more vacation-time charters.

Come to our Christmas open house on December 3, from 4-8 PM. FUSE and our next door neighbor, A Good Yarn, are having a party! We’ll have our traditional hot cider and cookies and a diver’s gift registry.

Weeki Wachee 24 Oct 2009

Weeki Wachee Pumpkin Carving and Costume Contest

We headed up to Weeki Wachee Saturday for some spooky fun. We were invited by our friends from Clermont at South Lake Divers. We arrived a bit early and walked around the park, went for a boat ride and caught a mermaid show.
Time to gear up for the pumpkin contest. Good thing that it was a shallow dive. Most of us took about an hour to carve our pumpkins. They were then put on display for the mermaids to judge. We surfaced to change tanks and don our costumes.
Leeann had a great kelp costume that flowed with every movement. Shannon was Super Girl. Allison was Ugly Betty and I was just an old lady looking for her dog... We all had a blast. After a bit the mermaids made their choices. Larry from South Lake Divers won for his skull and crossbones pumpkin. For his effort he took home a new aluminum 80 cf scuba tank. As it happens Larry also won the DC1000 Sealife camera for his portrayal as Dumble Diver. He won the heart of the mermaids with his underwater magic tricks. Congratulations Larry, we will have to work harder next year. The mermaids also picked Shannon's pumpkin to be placed on the head of David of the Deep statue for the nighttime mermaid shows
Carl

Interning at the dive shop and my experience so far…

As someone who is new to the diving world and community, I really take pleasure in and enjoy all aspects of the diving lifestyle, and as you could assume, im absolutely delighted to be interning at a place were I get to explore my passion and further my skills in the diving world and in life in general. I met the FUSE staff when I got certified as an open water diver before leaving for a trip to the beautiful Florida Keys the summer. Upon arriving to the store, I could feel that this was a much more relaxed, friendly, and just a overall better environment (and yes I have been to most of the other dive stores in Sarasota if not all). I was astounded by the ease and convenience of getting open water certified and soon after I was in the Keys and putting to use my new skill and loving it!!!! As school approached I came to Florida Underwater Sports for a possibility of being an intern for them so I could possibly further my skills as a diver and at the same time get a great learning experience out of it. So a few emails latter and some paperwork and I was part of the team. I began with learning how to fill tanks, one of the most important and time consuming jobs there is, I have come to learn filling tanks is like an art, you can’t go to fast you can’t go to slow, you have to be just right. But filling tanks is just one part of my internship, besides tank filling I help with the displays, assemble scuba equipment, help out on dives, all kinds of general work, brainstorm new ideas for the store, blog (obviously), oh and not to mention I help out on the dives that we host (that’s one of my favorites). I would say my experience so far has been incredible and one of a kind. It is absolutely one that I am going to cherish and remember for the rest of my life. I also hope to continue gaining experience and knowledge in diving and obtain more certifications witch will help me work towards my divemaster certification.
Till next time Jamie guy (intern)

Where is Greg?

Exciting news for FUSE3, Greg is attending one of four IDCs (Instructor Development Courses). This is the first step toward his goal of attaining the highest and most respected professional rating in recreational scuba diving, that of PADI Course Director.

After the IDC, he has to pass a stringent screening process that examines his experience and training. Passing the screening qualifies him for the competitive and demanding Course Director Training Course (CDTC).

The Course Director designation means that Greg can conduct instructor-level training. I see this as a positive way to expand and promote diving in the Sarasota area. Study well Greg! Bo

Donut Dive Dedication

From Donut Dive Oct1709

We headed down to Caspersen Beach in Venice, FL and had some great donuts, coffee and conversation. There were lots of waves when we arrived and they continued to build as we talked. There were heavy enough seas to strand a sailboat durning the night. Needless to say we did not dive but we had 16 of us there to watch the waves. We will be headed down to Caspersen next month to give it another try.
Carl

From Donut Dive Oct1709

Tec Diving

Hi all - I wanted to do another post on recreational level technical diving. There are some changes in the way that the DSAT (Diving Science and Technology) courses are going to be taught which breaks them up into several different levels. These changes will make it easier int he long run to get Tec certified. The breaks in the course are based on depth, amount of deco time allowed and the gas mix.

What is interesting to me is that the first level of the course will allow deco dives on your computer. The courses progress all the way to 65 meter dives with tri-mix.

If you have any interest in doing this type of diving, let me know and I have a great trainer that I will refer you to up north. I've included the basic list of gear required for Tec courses below. Greg

Double cylinders with isolator manifold
Primary & secondary regulators for doubles
One with a seven foot hose for air sharing
One with an SPG
(2) Stage/deco cylinders with regulator, SPG & staging kit – properly labeled
Back-up deco gas as required
BC, back plate & harness (dual bladder or dual wings unless drysuit diving)
Dive computer (single or multi-gas), and either back-up computer or timer & depth gauge
Back-up decompression information (computer, dive tables, etc.)
Exposure protection (dry suit use requires prior dry suit diving experience)
Weight system (if needed)
Lights as necessary, including primary and backup
Jon line (for current diving environments)
Safety reel
(2) Slates, (1 wrist-type)
Compass
Z-knife and back-up cutting device
Spare clips, pull-ties, tank wrap bands & other rigging accessories
Back-up mask (optional)
Lift bag (100lbs min)

Underwater Pumpkin Carving and Costume Contest

We are headed out to Weeki Wachee Spring for an underwater pumpkin carving and costume contest. It will be at Weeki Wachee Spring October 24, 2009.
Divers cost is $55 Non-divers $13 Adult $5 Child admission.
Have your friends and family come out and watch the underwater knife work and see some amazing costumes. Allison (My Daughter) and I will be there and I am going to be in full costume. This is going to be great fun!!!
Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest first prize of a new 80cc aluminum tank and an underwater costume contest first prize of a new Sea Life DC1000 underwater digital camera.
The park guests will be the judges. The contests will run from 2:30-6:30pm. Come and enjoy the park, the haunted house, the spooky new mermaid show at 7pm and the dives.
Let us know if you are going to attend.
Carl

Sea Hunt On-Line!!!!

Okay - cross post with Facebook, but too good to not post. Sea Hunt (the TV show) is on-line at: http://www.hulu.com/sea-hunt. Thrill to Mike Nelson's underwater adventures. I just watched an episode where one of the divers got the bends and they used in-water recompression and a pressure suit for a jet pilot to save him! Waaaaaaayyyyyyyy cool. Greg

Cryogenic Open Circuit Scuba

What? Doing a little rebreather research, I came across a pretty interesting site: http://www.therebreathersite.nl/03_Historical/cryo_pjotrr.htm. Basically, in the 60's NASA started experimenting with using liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen to make breathing air. Think of having a huge amount of gas (in the form of liquid) with you for a dive. You are breathing the "boil off" as the liquid gases are warmed up. Some folks say the system could easily provide about 5 hours of air at 33' without a weight increase from standard scuba.

I guess filling it would be the only downside. :-). It looks like rebreather folks have been thinking about how to do this for a while as well and have even built rebreathers that use liquid oxygen and then scrubs the carbon dioxide out by using the cold from the liquid oxygen to freeze the CO2 out. Pretty interesting stuff - for a dive geek. Greg

Random Formulas About Air Consumption

I came across a great list of formulas for helping calculate air consumption. If you have never calculated your Surface Air Consumption Rate (SAC or SCR), it is interesting to see how it varies from dive to dive. If you have an air integrated computer, this can be done for you automatically. Greg

Calculating Surface Consumption Rate (SCR) in PSI/MIN:
Salt Water: ((PSI used/Bottom Time) X 33) / Depth + 33
Fresh Water: ((PSI used/Bottom Time) X 34) / Depth + 34

Converting SCR from PSI/MIN to Cubic Feet/MIN: (note: this is how SAC or SCR is normally talked about)
Cubic Feet/min = SCR X Tank Volume (full)/Fill Pressure

Calculating Air Consumption at depth:
Air Consumption at Depth in Sea Water = Surface Consumption Rate / 33 X FSW
Air Consumption At Depth in Fresh Water = Surface Consumption Rate / 34 X FFW


Calculating how long a tank will last at depth:
Tank time = Tank Volume (cubic feet) / Air Consumption at Depth (cubic feet) OR
Tank time = Tank Pressure (PSI) / Air Consumption at Depth (PSI)

Random Stuff

Hey all- just got word back that viz on the Bayronto was 50' yesterday. We still have a couple of spots open on the boat this Sunday. Let us know if you want to go.

I pushed out the new website recently. Hope you all have had a chance to look at it. If you see anything wrong, or anything you want to add, drop me a note at: greg@floridaunderwatersports.com. Greg

New Website

Well you are reading this so you know that we have a new website. This website has been in the works for quite a while and the project has been driven by our own resident expert, Greg. I think that it is a great piece of work but then I am a bit biased. Let us know what you think. Take your time and look at all of the pages. We always appreciate your input. Also check out our new newsletter. If you don't get it via email you can go to the newsletter tab and click on the view the latest newsletter in PDF format. Nice work to all involved.

Carl