New Divemaster!

Congratulations to Eddie Kish our newest Divemaster!!!! Great job on working through the course. You all should be diving with Eddie into the start of the year. Greg

Did You Really Check Your Regulator? (or did you just do what everyone else does?)

Here is an interesting question. I was out with a group of experienced divers the other day and one of the diver was doing a buddy check. The diver doing the buddy check picked up the diver's regulator, pressed the purge button slightly heard a hissing sound and decided that was good enough. What just got checked? The only thing that was tested was whether the regulator had air coming to it and if the valve closed.

What wasn't tested??? The objective in a buddy check is to make sure both regulators are functioning correctly and that there is adequate air making it to the regulators. To test the function of a reg, you have to test several parts:

• First - does the air valve open and shut consistently and does it leak after being opened?
• Second - are there any holes in the diaphragm? The diaphragm is the part at the front of the regulator that moves back and opens the air valve as you breath in.
• Third - is the exhaust valve sealing when you breath in and is it opening when you breath out.
• Fourth - is the first stage regulator providing enough air.

All of this is easy to accomplish. When you check your regulator, put it in your mouth and while you look at the pressure gauge, take a couple of breaths. Here is what you should check. As you breath in, the air valve should open quickly and deliver lots of fresh scuba air. If the valve opens slowly, or goes on and off as you breath in, the you have a hole in the reg, most likely either in the mouthpiece, diaphragm, or exhaust valve. A hole in any one of those will cause the reg to breath very wet. This is really important when you check your spare regulator so that if and when an emergency arises, you won't have the person breathing on the reg panic because they are getting half water, half air.

Next breath out. Did the exhaust valve open? Sometimes after periods without use, or not getting rinsed, the exhaust valve will stick in the closed position. No fun rolling off the boat and finding you can't exhale through your mouth.

Finally while you are doing all this, watch your pressure gauge needle. Divers often turn on the air on the regulator to check the pressure, then turn it back off again, but don't drain the system. It gives enough for about 5 breaths and then stops. After you giant stride, your reg runs out of air and you can't inflate your bcd. If you see the needle isn't dropping, make sure the needle isn't moving at all. This happens when somebody closes the scuba valve and then opens it back a quarter turn like they have been taught (btw - you don't need to close the valve a quarter turn anymore, it is a scuba urban myth :-). The person checking the air has gotten confused about which way to turn the valve and as you start to descend, the first stage won't be able to deliver enough air to you.

Pretty simple check and takes just slightly more time than it takes to just press that purge valve, but can make a world of difference.

If you ever want to see how a reg works from the inside out, let me know. I'm happy to show you the "guts". Greg

MD1 and Service Club Park Reports!

It is getting good!!! I'll knock on wood right now to avoid the jinx. Yesterday we went out to MD! and the water was 69 degrees with 20 to 30 feet of viz. Off the beach at Service Club this morning, water was 66 degrees with 10 to 15 feet of viz. Conditions are really getting good for diving!

Looking at the weather forecast, this week promises some good conditions. Hope to see you all out there. Don't forget the New Year's eve night dive. Greg

Christmas Donut Dive and Cleanup 20 Dec 08

Wow, what a beautiful day!!! Thank you to Bob, Tyler, Derek, Seth, Casey, Sue, Gil, and Caroline for coming out today. The donuts were sweet the coffee was, well warm... and the conditions were great. There no surf other than the wake of the crab boat, the wind was down and the VIS was too... About 3 to 6 feet of VIS made for a secluded dive for most. The water was 63 degrees. (Time for that hood.) Everyone had a good time and we overcame some issues.

Issues? Did I say issues? Ok me first. DUH, I show up and am unable to dive. Sinus blockage is never a good way to start a dive, and yes I have had a reverse squeeze. One word, OUCH!!

The next issue was that a mask was forgotten. But thanks to the great people that we have in the diving community there was a spare to be had. Then the weight calculations were for fresh not salt water... makes for a great (large, hehe) surface swim. Wait there is more... weight issues that is. Some ankle weights were left behind. Cool huh? Well yes if you are diving in a .5 mm skin in 63 degree water and have 1% to 2% body fat, now that is downright cold after a few minutes. Oh yah, dive flags... LOL.

Ok, now back to the blog. We all have issues from time to time and they are not fun. But all of the issues that were had today are not all that uncommon. Gear is right where we won't forget it, and it is there when we get back from our trip or when we get back to the car. No big deal. I am inspired though to create a check list that will make sure that I remember those things that I need for each dive. I may even make one that I can go over once I have my gear on so that I don't leave that backup flash light in the dive bag. By the way, I am not the only one that has thought of this. There are check lists out there already, but I did not use one and I should have. My thought is that they may be too vague or general. I have a specific set of kit that I use for different dives. Like slates for my training dives, or a shark's tooth bag for the fossil hunts, or the three lights that I know that I should take with me on a night dive.

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas to all and thanks for the inspiration
Carl

Viz

Last night at Spanish Rocks, viz was fantastic! A little bit harder bottom and we had about 10 to 15 feet of viz - and it was still coming up. Over the rocks, viz dipped a bit with the algae, but was still good enough to see a toadfish on top of a rock, a stingray cruising around, nudibranchs and assorted tropical fish.

The strangest thing was in the sand near the rocks, since there has not been much wave action lately (knock on wood), the sand dollars have created a giant flat spot where they have erased all of the ripples in the bottom. It looks like a giant maze of sand dollar tracks out there.

Also, there were a ton of scallops, in one spot within arm's reach, I counted 12 scallops, all of the opened up and feeding. Have to go get ready for the charter this morning, will post on viz further out. Greg

Viz Report

Hi - on my way to a night dive. Quick viz report at Service Club. 64 degrees in the water. Viz is coming up and was much better than 2 days ago. Fair amount of 'string algae' in the water. Will post. Another viz report after my night dive at Spanish Rocks. Greg

More Seal Team Fun, Sunny, Warm and Wet

Another beautiful day in the pool!!! Miles and Kegan listened to the briefing, geared up and got in the pool for another PADI Seal Team Aquamission. Kegan is already and PADI Seal Team Member and is helping his friend Miles by exhibiting the proper behavior and following the PADI Seal Team CODE of Conduct.

Carefully dive at all times - remembering the rules.

Offer help to my diving buddy.

Defend and protect the aquatic world.

Educate myself by learning more about diving and developing my skills.

Great job in the pool guys,

Carl

Diving off of Siesta Public?

Who was that diving off of Siesta public beach? It was me. We were doing Assistant Instructor training and needed a nice close by sandy bottom. There isn't much to see and besides viz was about a foot and a half. Good environment to learn to teach in :-). Greg

RHS Marine Club Open Water Class Update

Moving right along, the bulk of the class has completed the confined water portion of the course!
Way to go guys and gals. Working through the dives today was a bit nicer due to warmer weather, but we got a lot done in the limited time that we had. Next week it is down to Venice and the beach for a couple of dives. I can't wait to show you the wildlife and sharks teeth.

Carl

Spanish Rocks

Made it out to Spanish Rocks tonight. Eddie was completing his Divemaster course mapping project there. Wave conditions were perfect. Water temp was about 63-64 degrees, although a few degrees warmer on the surface after today's warm day. 

It turned out to be a good day for a mapping project. Viz ranged from 2 to 5 feet with no current. It was a bit hard locating all of the parts of the rocks, but Eddie eventually found them all. We spent about 70 minutes in the water and were a little cool by the end. Just so you know, I'm wearing my 1mm rash guard, 2mm hood and 3/2 Everflex wetsuit. I will probably switch to my hooded vest for the next dive. 

Funny thing was there are some large ripples in the sand just before the rocks from the storm, and in the ripples, there were a bunch of large holes (about 8 inches across, and about a foot deep). I wasn't sure where they came from and I couldn't see anything in them.

Dive conditions should be getting better here as the silt settles out over the next couple of days. Greg

Extendable Dive Flags as seen in Undercurrent

We have had a great response to these flags since the Undercurrent newsletter came out. We do carry these flags and have more on order. If you would like one of these flags please contact us and let us know if you would like Yellow, Orange, or Yellow/Orange. The price for these flags is $33.00 plus shipping.

Below are some pictures of the flags. Undercurrent stated that the yellow had the overall best visibility.

Welcome Miles to Seal Team Training

Miles started his PADI Seal Team Training yesterday! As the team grows, so does the adventure. Miles and Kegan had a great time in the pool. As always I had a wonderful time showing the kids the beauty and adventure of the underwater world. The setting at Serendipity is amazing as is their staff. Miles completed his first Aquamission and Kegan worked on his buoyancy skills. It is a blast watching these guys! Get your kids out and watch them learn what you love so much.

Go Seal Team!!!

Carl

PADI Open Water Certification - Buy one and get the second for 1/2 price!

Great gift idea or for you and a friend. Sign up for a PADI Open Water Class and get the second one for 1/2 off! Our classes combine the best of eLearning, pool and open water so you can be diving within the week!

Everything is included in our class price: top-of-the-line SCUBAPRO gear, Classic BC with integrated weights, regulator system w/computer and wetsuit. You get a deluxe logbook crew pak, eLearning access code, Multilevel Recreational Dive Planner, Open Water Diver DVD and your certification paperwork. No hidden costs. All you need is mask, fins and a snorkel.

Our class schedule is flexible so call 941-870-4461 or email:

info@FLORIDAUNDERWATERSPORTS.com and get started!

This offer is good until December 31th. Bo

Want to be a Divemaster?????

Hi all - first off, what is a Divemaster? A Divemaster is the first step in the PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) professional rating. As a Divemaster you can assist with classes, lead scuba dives and trips, teach scuba refreshers and Discover Scuba in the pool and you can teach Skin Diving and Snorkeling. And besides all of that, it is FUN!!!!!

Why do people become a Divemaster? A lot of reasons, but the most common ones I see are that somebody wants to turn their hobby/passion into something with more of a purpose. They are looking for reasons and opportunities to go diving. They want to make money while diving. They want to go on free trips. They want to be part of the cool kids :-). They want to know more about diving and reach for the highest certifications. They want to see and work with people getting trained to see diving through their eyes (there is nothing like taking a new student on their first open water dive).

I mentioned money above. Basically successful Divemasters are in demand. Being in demand equals money in the Divemaster's pocket. The more the Divemaster works and markets themselves and creates cool trips, the more that they make. Now, we aren't talking retire to a house on Siesta Key rich, but good Divemasters make more than enough to cover their expenses, buy a new set of gear every year and still have money in their pocket. <\DIGRESSION>

What does it take? First, the prerequisites are certified as a Rescue Diver (or equivalent from another agency), logged 20 dives, 18 years or older and have a doctor sign off on your medical form. A few other things you'll want to have: your own gear (although the store you work with may want you in another brand if they don't sell the type of gear you are using), good study habits and a really good attitude going in that you are going to make this a fun experience.

The actually training is very straight forward. There are a series of lectures that take a total of about 10-14 hours. They cover a variety of topics, Supervising Certified and non-Certified Divers, Physics and Physiology of Diving, Dive Equipment, Divemaster Conducted Programs, Decompression Thoery and the RDP and the Environment. There is a self study book that accompanies the Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving (which by the way makes a great Christmas gift).

The Divemaster in trianing will need to map a dive site, demonstrate the highest quality rescue skills in open water, show that they can perform Divemaster conducted programs and have a good overall attitude towards learning, the students/customers and show a desire to improve.

There is a physical test portion as well, consisting of a 400 yard swim, 800 mask/fins/snorkel swim, 15 minute tread water and a 100 yard inert diver tow in open water. Most people have no problem with these requirements.

Finally, there is the internship portion of the program. I like to use the first option, which places the Divemaster-to-be into the water with real students and customers. By pre-briefing the dive, letting them lead the divers and work with students, Divemaster candidates improve their diving skills, understand how to work with people in diving situations, build their confidence and encounter problems for the first time with an instructor there to help guide them through the process of solving them. The relationship to the instructor is more of mentor/mentee. It is funny since everytime I run a Divemaster course, I learn something new and cool. For me, the Divemaster course has made me a much better instructor.

There is one other option for completing Divemaster and that is to do the "practical" method where we create fake students and customers for the Divemaster to work with. This is a good option for those that need to get their Divemaster in a hurry, but won't give them experience dealing with real students and customers.

That completes the Divemaster course, however, I also believe that as an instructor, I need to round out the Divemasters with more training, so I add on Nitrox Gas Blender, Fill Station Operator, Deep Diver and Underwater Navigator as well to help them through the first part of the their diving career. Why add these things? Think about what you expect form a Divemaster in open water. I would expect them to be knowledgeable, ready and willing to rescue me or somebody else and have a good understanding of the limits of diving and their local area.

Let me know if you have any questions. Greg

Observations On Service

Here, in general, are some not-too-serious observations made through the years:

• Vise grips are not appropriate for life support equipment.
• Neither is duct tape, usually.
• Regulators do not usually make daangerous noises; they just make annoying ones, which can be eliminated. However, sometimes incantations or a little chicken blood are involved.
• No matter who does your service, always test your regulator before going on a dive trip.
• Puppies will chew regulators. Labradors will eat them, or seriously try.
• Tropical divemasters are not always competent service technicians, especially if they're carrying vise grips. (see above)
• User-changeable batteries are not always.
• There is, generally, a direct correlation between how quickly the customer wants his regulator serviced and how badly the service is needed.
• The only parts on backorder are the ones we order.
• Just because you bought it mail-order doesn't mean you can have it serviced mail-order. We have no idea who made some of these regulators and how to find the parts.
• Just because you bought it "New - in the box" on ebay doesn't mean it isn't 20 years old and service parts haven'e been available for 10 years. "New" describes condition, not the age.

Senior Tank Manager

Happy Birthday Allison

Ok, it is a month late... but the party was a splash. My daughter Allison had her 13th (I know, I know) birthday party and wanted to share her love of scuba with some friends, with a discover scuba party. We got all of the girls together and did the briefing and headed to the beautiful Serendipity pool. Thanks to Eddie a Divemaster candidate we got the gear all set up and hit the water. The girls had a blast and are very excited about diving. Back to the store for pizza and a huge reef cake. No the cake did not taste like fish....

Happy birthday Allison
Love Mom, Dad, Joshua, Greg, Tom, Bo and of course Penny...

Riverview Marine Club Learns to Dive

Riverview High School students that are a part of the Marine Club run by Katrin Rudge are participating in the Open Water Diver Course. We are lucky to have five of these great young men and women in this first class. They are all progressing nicely through the class. They have all completed the eLearning of the PADI Open Water Diver Course and have had a couple of pool sessions at Serendipity Racquet Club's Jr. Olympic Pool. Keep up the great work ladies and gentlemen and we will see you next week.

Carl

3 New Members to the Scuba Community

Welcome and Congratulations to Joe, Chase and Carter!!!

Joe, Chase and Carter braved the 63 degree water for three training dives to completer their Open Water Diver course.
It was beautiful out at Lynn Sivertooth reef. Viz was 15 to 20 feet and there were no waves to speak of.

Dive 1: We were thankful for our layers of neoprene, hoods and gloves. With this protection we were able to comfortably focus on the tasks at hand. Skills then tour and back on to The Reef Dog for our surface interval. The sun was shining and we basked in it for the debrief of the dive and the briefing for the next dive.
Dive 2: Back into the water (I love those back rolls) and surface skills... Back at the float we descend into the blue and more skills completed, an easy tour and back to the boat. A nice touch of having hot water in a bottle to pour into the wetsuit warms the bones for the next dive.
Dive 3: We descend with three Open Water students and emerge from the water with three new Open Water Divers!!!

It is always a great time to see the smiles of satisfaction when students complete their Open Water Course and become new members of this amazing club of divers.

Way to go guys and thank you from all of us here!!!

Found the Mammoth!

Out at South Brohard today for two dives. Water was fantastic! 10-15 feet of viz, 64-66 degrees and yes, we finally found the mammoth again. We figured out where it was at near the end of the dive and didn't have much time to look through the VERY LARGE bones yet, but will go back out there. Pictures are from the dive. Sorry about the really bad picture of the Seahorse, but he was too busy trying to hide in the seaweed. Greg

Staff Dive - Cool!

Hi all - we made it out today for our normal semi-annual staff dive. A chance to get out and talk about what we are working on at the store with the staff, go over training changes, talk about what we want to do, and YES, go diving. Today, we dove "Icebox", a natural ledge at 56' just southwest of Big Pass. I've also included pictures of the NEW dive boat, the Reef Dog.

What a fantastic dive!!!! Okay, yes, the water was cool (68 degrees), but the fish were great. I've attached a slide show and a couple of videos so you can see the great amount on life on the ledges out there that we saw.

Sorry about the lighting, somebody left the flash on and it was dead by the time I hit the water. The photos are completely unenhanced, and you can see viz was about 15-20'. I was really surprised by the sheer number of fish on the ledge. A fair number of tropicals as well.

For our second dive, we came in shore to a ledge at 40' and the viz was about 10 and the water was a little cooler 66 degrees, but we still had a great time.

If you are wondering, I was diving a 1mm rash guard, 3/2 wetsuit and a 2mm hood and was pretty comfortable in the water. Greg

Staff dive and Christmas time at the store

It's a beautiful sunny Sarasota morning and Greg, Carl, Tom, Paul and Scott are out on a staff dive. Paul is hoping to spear some dinner. Stay tuned for a full report, including photos, when they get back.

Penny and I are putting the finishing touches on the Christmas display. We selected useful items to showcase and made it easy for you to browse and pick out the perfect gift for your special diver. On weekends, stop by and enjoy some warm spiced cider and cookies. Bo & Penny

November '08 Donut Dive

What a fantastic turnout! And what a beautiful day for a dive! We had 17 divers. There was plenty of coffee and donuts for all. (the coffee went faster than the donuts... it was cool out...)

Even with a slight wind out of the Southwest conditions were lovely. As usual the blocks were full of life and the Viz was about 8 to 10 feet. Water temp was 73 degrees. Minor waves and a bit of a flow to the north made for a start headed to the south. Some cool fossils were found. Greg found a beautiful Mastodon tooth and gave it to Kayda for her birthday. Happy B-Day Kayda!!

This dive was also our first Project Aware dive too. We had some bags for people to help keep our dive sites clean and safe. We pulled out some garbage (Thankfully there was not a lot to get) that included and old scuba mask, a lovely comb and a dive flag pole and rope... no flag. Thank you to all that showed up and we look forward to seeing you on the next dive.

Carl

Night at Spanish Rocks

Went out to the Rocks tonight for a night dive class. The wind was solid SW, but the surf wasn't too bad. Slight surge, but good night to dive. Viz was 15' on the sand, but went down as you got near the rocks to about 5'. Squid, flounders, sea robins in abundance out there. Great night to hit the water. Temp is back up a bit to a comfortable 73 degrees. This is a great place to practice navigation at night!

See you all in the morning at the donut dive! Conditions look good. Greg

Official Travel Planning Website for the State of Florida

Thanks to the folks at VISITFLORIDA. Check out their website for videos, blogs and articles to help plan your travel in Florida. Bo

Scuba Air?

I got this question the other day - what does it take to make scuba air? Good question actually. Making quality air is not difficult, but there are some real issues along the way you have to solve. I like to say it is part science and part art. To start from the beginning - when we opened the store, we understood all of the basics of making compressed air and even took a course in basic compressor maintenance and operation. But, what that told Carl and I was that we didn't know enough, that was when we went to the expert in Florida (which is saying a lot), Compressed Air Supply down in Broward County.

We had all the components for the system, a used military compressor, filter towers, banking bottles and a manifold, but needed expert advice. We knew that messing up the air is not an option, as this is life safety. Dick from Compressed Air set up us and built the system.

The system starts with the air intake. We use air from inside the store since cooler drier air makes for more efficient filters that last longer. At the intake, we use a small filter similar to a filter on a lawn mower. The air is drawn into the four stage compressor and each stage it goes through, the pressure is increased. After each stage, there is a separator. The separator's job is simply to take a high speed stream of air, hit it against a metal element which separates most of the oil and water out of the air stream (yes, oil, but more on that later). In the picture, there are two separators, one on each side of the radiator. All of the separators dump into a collector on the compressor and every 15 minutes, the compressor opens up the collector and blows it clear using air from the second stage. You can see the collector in the picture on the bottom just to the left of the gray electrical box. That is the sound you hear in the store when the compressor is running, a loud hissing noise as the air moves up through the muffler.

Once the air moves out of the compressor at working pressure (up to 4000 psi), it goes through the filter tower, starting with a very large separator that has to be manually emptied and then going into the filters. By now, the air is already low moisture and most of the oil should be removed. Oil gets into the air stream normally in a compressor when it goes around the piston rings and gets into the air. This is why we use food grade oil in the compressor, so that even if it did make it into the final product, it wouldn't be a major issue (it would taste VERY bad though).

Once in the filter tower, the air goes through layers of Hopcalite and activated charcoal. The Hopcalite scrubs carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide while the activate charcoal removes and residual taste. The air is then moved through the manifold, normally into the banking tanks and then into scuba tanks for breathing.

Every quarter, we test our air to make sure that it is safe. We send it to a national testing lab in Miami that does a number of test, including a spectrograph to test for stuff that shouldn't be there. It is important to note AIR SHOULD NEVER TASTE LIKE ANYTHING. If you get scuba air and it tastes like something, don't use it. Remember if we screw up and something gets past the filters, we have to assume that something is wrong and carbon monoxide may be making it past the filters as well. A lot of times, taste comes from something stored near the air intake. Most common culprits are paint products like thinner, gasoline and insecticides.

We had an issue where the carbon dioxide was raising earlier and our expert Dick figured out the issue for us. When the compressor was dumping the collector, the pressure on the filters was dropping, which was "breaking free" the carbon dioxide when the pressure came back up. We installed a one-way valve between the filters and the compressor and this solved the problem.

Filters need to be changed frequently to ensure good air quality. And the system needs to be drained everyday. We actually have a start up checklist for the compressor. Whenever I go diving, I always take a good look at the compressor and fill area. I have a new respect for clean, efficient and well maintained air systems.

If you ever want a tour of the air system, let me know. Greg

Seal Team!!!

Our Wednesday Seal Team is going very well. We are having a blast exploring the underwater world at the Serendipity pool. This exciting activity for young kids allows them to experience scuba in a safe and controlled environment. As the team members progress they are learning how to recover and clear their regulators, work on buoyancy control and just have fun underwater. Minimum age in 8 years old. It is fantastic to see how these kids take to the water. They really are amazing. Come in and get your little ones involved in the sport that we all love so much.

More to come...

Carl

Noronto NO MORE!

For those of you that haven't heard, the Bayronto has become the "Noronto" for us. We have had to cancel more trips to the Bayronto. So today was the day! It was about 6 inch seas the whole way out there and back. Perfect day to dive. Water temp was 75 and the viz was about 20-25 feet. The viz was a little weird, as it was fairly dark at depth.

What impresses me about the wreck is the size. The first dive we dropped down in the middle, froward of the break in the boiler room and went aft and around the rudder post. By the time we got back to our anchor, we had 30 minutes of bottom time and we had to go up. On the second diver, we went forward form the break and back around before running out of deco time. LOTS of fish. A lot of bait balls as usual, cobia, jacks, cuda, etc. There were only two boats out fishing there, which was a surprise for such a nice Saturday.

Also, last night, I was out doing a night dive on South Brohard, the viz was no very good. About 5-6 feet max for most of the dive. Surprised a very large nurse shark that was down in the blocks. Greg

Bay Cleanup and South Brohard

Great cleanup dive yesterday with Reef Rakers. For those of you who don't know about Reef Rakers, please visit their link above. Great group of kids that dive and clean up our waterways. Yesterday was great with a ton (literal ton, I think) of trash coming out just north of Coquina Boat launch to Leftis Cay. It is amazing to see how dedicated these kids are to come out on a very cold day with 68 degree water and go diving and do a cleanup. I hadn't dived there before, but found a lot of cool stuff. Large Seahorses are in abundance there, found a small Frogfish. Viz was pretty good for that site (there is a lot of mud) with viz up to about 8 feet in places.

Thanks again to Reef Rakers for cleaning up our waterways! Please support their group. Sarasota Scuba Club was out as well to support the clean-up.

Went out on South Brohard today for two open water dives. The students did great and only have two more dives to make before they are certified. Viz was good with 8 to 12 feet. Found a skate in the sand there (I am not great with IDs on skate, so I will be looking it up). The skate was very patient with me and allowed itself to be "unburied" so i could show the students. Found a couple of horse teeth and a meg tooth, but we didn't spend a lot of time in the water. Water temp was 70 degrees.

I heard back from the charter that water temp at 50 feet is still about 73 degrees.

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

South Brohard Beach Friday 29 September 2008

WOW! How is that for a start. The water was an even 80 degrees and the VIZ was 15+ tons of fish the blocks are a huge hit for the fish. Silly me poking around and picking up huge shells woke a sleeping scorpion fish! I about jumped out of my wetsuit... Great dive. See ya soon.
Carl

Task Loading?

Hey all - so over the weekend, I ran a number of charters for shark's teeth and worked on some Advanced Open Water and Wreck classes. So, the news from the boneyard was good. 6 meg teeth, the largest one was 5". Viz was okay, not great, about 5 to 8 feet. Viz at Silvertooth was better with almost 15 to 20 feet on Sunday morning with 10 to 15 in the afternoon. Water conditions all through the weekend were great, with almost no chop at all within a couple of miles of shore.

As part of the courses I was teaching this weekend, we had a good discussion about task loading and diving. Two great examples of what I mean by task loading are when somebody uses the compass and starts swimming, but instead of holding their depth, they begin to ascend without even knowing it. Another great example is when a diver is working with a wreck reel, their air consumption goes up dramatically. Task loading is something that every diver faces on every dive and in extreme cases, the diver who becomes over loaded under the water will begin to ignore some of the more important aspects of diving. As divers become more comfortable, first with the safety aspects of diving and second with how their gear works, they can take on more complex tasks like underwater navigation or wreck reel use.

I see a number of divers that have issues with task loading with equipment. This most often occurs when a diver rents gear for the first time and is not used to how the regulator and BCD will end up in the water and they find themselves fumbling for an inflator or a computer. Combine new gear with a small problem like a fin that is not correctly secured and you may overload a lot of divers who will ignore of get into a position that they shouldn't be in.

How do we prevent this?

• Practice, practice, practice. Best when you start with an instructor that can give you lots of shortcuts and practical ways of doing things underwater like navigation or reel use, but even after you finish a class, get out there and practice. Build the muscle memory so you don't have to really think to do a task.
• Gear. Can you find your way around your gear without looking? Are you comfortable enough that you could quickly respond to a rapid ascent? Is your safety sausage becoming tangled around your octopus? Getting comfortable in your own gear is the first major way to reduce task loading underwater in new divers.
• Stop, breath, think and act. This is the real "golden rule" of diving. Solve those small problems quickly. Fin not fitting right? Stop and fix the problem right then and there. Do what it takes to fix the issue so when something else comes up, you don't get overloaded by two problems and forget to take care of the other things that you need to do.

Greg

Carbs Rule!!!

Surf was down and VIZ was up!!! Training, discovery and sightseeing were the words for the day. The big blocks at South Brohard Park are alive and well. Greg and Steve saw a spotted eagle ray and Bryant found a huge section of Mastadon Tusk!!! WOW! Everyone had a great time. We will see you next month for the Donut Dive.

Thank you for all of the fun.
Carl

Open Water Class - South Brohard

Wow! Dove South Brohard today with a great student. The blocks are really attracting a lot of growth. I was wondering what they were going to look like after the storm, but when I got to the first set, I was greeted by a large bait ball. A ton of juvenile Butterflies, Banded Porkfish, Sheepsheads and random Gulf fish.

Viz ran from 12' in shallow water to about 6-8' a little deeper out with string algae blooming. Looks like things are improving nicely. This is a great spot to dive if you haven't in a while. Lots of growth on the blocks and the storms turned up some nice teeth and fossils. Look for Carl's post on a great donut dive today. Greg

Blue Grotto

Saturday the VIZ at Blue Grotto was 200 ft... that was until it got busy, busy, busy... then it was about 100 ft. Well since the gulf conditions were down we made the trek to the Grotto for open water class. Congratulations to Kathy for completing her Open Water certification! There were at least 50 other divers there training and diving. It makes me appreciate the wide open Gulf.
Keep Diving!
Carl

Service Club Beach Report

Monday was very nice at Service Club Park, the waves were gone and the wind was from the East. VIZ was between 5 to 10 feet. We went in about two hundred yards north of the park and swam NW. We found some nice teeth and had a wonderful 75 min. dive. As always the grunts were very curious. I also found a pair of red octopi!! They were hiding under a rock and were about one inch in diameter. Very Cool!! Good Diving, Carl.

Ah Hah!

Have you seen the white float in the middle of Silvertooth. Got to dive it today (viz was 6-15 feet and water was flat). They are dumping new rocks in the area. Did not know there was still activity. Large new chunks of rocks all around the float. We should see some really great growth in the next couple of months.

The afternoon, we were at Service Club for a rescue class session. Good day to practice rescue - conditions were slight surface chop and surface current moving south. Typical weather for somebody to get into trouble. Viz was 10-12' and dive conditions under the surface were great. We've got one more good diveable day tomorrow and we're headed out on a shark toothing charter. After that it looks like Ike will have us out of the water for a couple of days. Greg

Venice Beach Report

Quick note - made it back from Venice and the pool. Viz wasn't great, about 4 feet over the sand and then down to about a foot or so over the fossil beds. Got a report that the viz was opening up as the day went on and was about 5 feet over the fossil beds. Great day to dive - no surf, surge or current. Greg

Safety and Experience in Diving

Hi all - so I was having a discussion the other day with a student and we both agreed that as a diver builds experience, safety takes a backseat to getting in the water. The conversation was prompted by an experience we saw on a boat where the diver (who had a LOT of experience) strided off the boat without letting the divemaster check his gear out. He basically said "I'm okay" and jumped.
The diver jumped in the water without his air on and without much air in his BCD. Although he was able to stay afloat at the surface, it could have been a disaster. In talking with the divemaster afterward, she said that it surprised her that he just walked past and jumped off the boat and she had gotten ready to dive in and bring him back to the surface. Digressing slightly, this is a great divemaster in action, but unless you watched closely at what happened, you never would have known there was an issue (this is why divemasters deserve those tips).

Once the diver realized the issue, he came back to the boat, Divemaster was able to turn his air on and the diver was able to inflate and head out on the dive with the group.

In discussing this, we figured that we see this a lot, missing pre-dive safety checks. And to be honest, both of us have done something like this before, been happy not to get hurt and used it as an object lesson moving forward.

There is a balance to strike with something like a pre-dive safety check, it can be both fast and thorough. I know my buddies gear, I know what problems to watch out for and I know how to do a buddy check. On the cattle boat in the Keys, with my rent-a-buddy, it is going to take longer, but then at the same time I don't want to have gear issues with my buddy that either slow down my dive or make it so I have to rescue my buddy. That extra one to two minutes is pretty good insurance. Greg

TANKS TO TRAILS

This week, volunteer divers will link four artificial reefs with an underwater trail using 140 reef balls. Several years ago, the county obtained five Army-surplus tanks (M-60 armored fighting vehicles to you war buffs) and sank them 13 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico to create the M-8 artificial reef in 65 feet of water. Before making their last "deployment," the tanks were scrubbed clean of pollutants by the local Army National Guard as part of its annual training, according to Sarasota County's Mike Sollum. With hatches welded open, the tanks became a wonderful habitat for marine animals. Using a $60,000 grant from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, and authorization from the Army Corps of Engineers, Sarasota County will create a project to connect the tanks. As the tanks are close to each other, the project will create an underwater trail for SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) divers. The trail will commemorate Sarasota's first soldier to die in Iraq - helicopter pilot CW2 Kyle Jackson - and all other first responders in the county who have lost their lives in the line of duty. It will be called "The Trail of Fallen Heroes." Jackson's name is on a bronze plaque on one of the reef balls scheduled to be deployed this week. There will be three balls every 15 feet connecting the four sites, so divers can find their way. You can reach M-8 by going 12.6 nautical miles on a heading of 239 degrees true from the New Pass sea buoy. The northernmost tank is at 27 degrees 12 minutes 635 seconds north, 82 degrees 48 minutes 191 seconds west. The tanks are between 160 and 610 feet apart, with three reef balls every 15 feet to guide divers. Article thanks to Pelican Press.

Diving Saturday & Body Surfing Sunday

So, we did make it out for a charter on Saturday afternoon. We ended up going to Silvertooth and had a great dive. Viz was about 15 on the surface and got down around 5 feet on the bottom. We got chased off the site by a thunder cell. The customer had brought out his GPS with NexRad radar on on it. Pretty cool as it showed the track of each of the thunder cells headed our way.

Sunday was the day to go body surfing. I did feel bad for the poor lifeguards on SK public had to watch all the folks out there floundering around in the surf. Carl and I took our fins out and caught some waves and got washed around by a bunch of waves. The current was running north and drifting we would cover from the south end of the beach to the north end, walk back and start all over again.

The surf was strong from the southwest. Shark toothing will be good when the viz clears up a bit. The surf forecast is looking good for the end of the week. Greg

Viz?

Made it out this morning. Had a couple of folks to take shark tooth diving at Service Club. Water conditions were great a very clean 1-2 foot surf (unusual for here). When we got to about 8 feet of water, viz was 4 to 6 feet - not that bad. We headed out underwater and hit the "wall" at about 12 feet deep. Silt and algae left us with about 4 inches of viz. Shark tooth by braille.

So, we ended the dive, but are going back out tomorrow to try again.

We've got a lot of diving this weekend, three charters and three beach dives - all for different skill levels, so call us if you want to go out.

We've also got some weather coming in, so we'll be holding our breath. The Monday charter is to the Noronto (our nickname for the trip that always seems to get cancelled). Greg

Back in the Water!

Hi all - back in the water today. Was doing the last dive of an Advanced Open Water class, Search and Recovery dive. At Service Club Park in Venice, the temp was 84 degrees, surf was about a foot, and the seas were really flat. In short, a wonderful day in the water, except for the viz. At 13 feet, the visible light started to disappear. I did a compass nav, but had to have my flashlight out :-).

Kudos to Andy for completing his AOW in low viz. He did a great job tying the required knots and rigging a lift bag in zero viz. Funny thing is that these are the most realistic conditions to practice Search and Recovery in because when something goes overboard, it will always by in the muck. He completed his search by using a wreck reel and doing circular pattern using his arms to search the bottom.

So, with these conditions, the diving looks like it will be getting pretty good over the next couple of days. The biggest particulate in the water appear to be string algae close to the bottom. I'll be back out Weds and.or Thurs and will let you know the conditions then. Greg

The new website!

I hope you enjoy our new website as much as we enjoyed building it for you. The structure and functionality are designed so you can check back regularly to keep current on the latest store news and weather conditions. Bo

New Website!

Hey - so we finally got our new website up and running. Please let us know if you like/don't like it. Or if there is anything you would like to see. So, now the weather is turning better and we'll be back in the water in the next day or two. I was out on Sarasota Bay this morning and the water was VERY clear. Not sure what that means with all this rain, but we'll see. Greg

Out of the Water?

Fun weather we've been having? So it looks like we'll be out of the water for another couple of days. Stay tuned, we'll be back in the water with the latest dive reports in the next couple of days. Greg