Bubblemaker and Scuba Reviews

Guess who will have the coolest story when he returns to school this fall.  We all know the teacher will ask his class either to tell or write about "What you did this summer."  I can tell you my new nine year old buddy Clayton will have one of the best stories.  He went SCUBA DIVING!!!.  Clayton's mom and dad are divers and he wanted to try it out. He is just months shy of being old enoough to be a certified scuba diver, you have to be 10.  But he could not wait to try it.

So Clayton's parent signed him up for PADI Bubblemaker. Along with going diving Clayton also received kid-sized beach towel, log book, certificate, temporary tattoo emblem and the adorable and a popular Bubblemaker “action figure". Whaoo too cool!

Once Clayton finished his Bubblemaker dive and was drying off with his new towel. His mom Audrey jumped in to do a Scuba Tune up.  This was all on Saturday.

Then on Sunday Clayton's Dad along with four other folks that wanted to do a Scuba Tunes where in the pool with me.  Besides Clayton's Dad we had a Boy Scout, as well as a bother and sister getting ready for a trip; she was only 12 and was an awesome diver.  All in all we had a get time this weekend.

Almost all of the certified divers in the pool this weekend are going on a trip with in the next two weeks to some exotic location for vacation and diving is part of their vacation plans.

So keep that in mind if you are planning a vacation soon and diving will be part of the fun. We do Scuba Tunes/Review every other Sunday at the Freedom Center pool.

Vandenberg Dive 2

Conditions where still just as perfect. For the second dive we explored the bow section. While there is a lot to expolre, the bridge area is very open with easy swim throughs.  I was diving with two diver of mix expericence and skill levels so we stuck to the bright, easy and exterior passages. I would really like to go back with divers I know, who are properly equip and explore more of the interior of the ship. That will be a really cool set of dives. 

I will post or link more videos and stills as I upload them.

Diving the Vandenberg

Today I fulfilled a long time objective/dream. I have followed the story of the USS Vandenberg from the time I learn that it was in shipyard in Richmond Virginia being clean up to be used as an artifical reef off of Key West Flordia.  Following the up and down story through to the sinking. I even took of the morning of the sinking to watch it on the internet. (they should have used squarespace). My plan started that day I was going to dive the ship as soon as I could.   

The inital trip I had planned back in March fell through. I decied I would go anyway and make it up as I go. The week has been perfect. Could not have asked for better weather or dive conditions.  Sunny and warm on the surface. Glass flat see no current, great viz and warm water.  You could see the Vandenberg from the deck of the dive boat it was so clear and calm.

I had two cameras with me. A GO Pro HD on my head and a Canon in hand I have lots of video. We where tied to the midship ball. This short video is from the first dive where we covered the stren section. Yeah I need a red filter, I know.  I will post a link to the stills and other videos once I have them uploaded. 

Enjoy.

I am mentioned in Roz Savages Blog for Day 8

Okay it's only for one of the miles I sponsored, but it's still kinda cool

http://www.rozsavage.com/2011/04/20/day-8-waveolog

Another open water diver

Sam meet everybody. Everybody this is Sam.

Sam has an English class assignment where she has to write a paper about something she learned. This girl is going to the extreme. Which after getting to know her that is not surprising.

Back in March Sam was in one of my Open Water Pool classes. I knew then she would be a natural. Her families plan was to go to St Thomas for Spring Break. But with Carnival and out of control air fare they are opting to go some place closer to home later this spring or early summer. Sam needed to get her paper done so she chose this past weekend to complete her open water dives at Millbrook quarry.

Her dad was doing this Advanced Open Water this weekend so the timing was perfect.  I wish I could say the same about Saturday mornings weather. It was pouring down rain. Yeah, I know we where diving,  we where going to be wet anyway. But you have to change in and out of scuba gear, it would be nice to get/be warm between dives, the water tempure at 30 ft was 42 degrees.  We where down in the water for 25-30 minutes. Sam's mom came along to watch from the warmth of their pickup truck and commented that is really wasn't raining all that much until we surfaced.  Her mom also brought a 5 gallon water jug full of hot water. We poured cupfuls of it in our wet suits as we changed gear and off gassed. All in all Saturdays dives where very wet but fun.

 Sunday was bright and sunny we headed over to beach 2.5. The day had promise to flawlessly. Until my ears decided to be not clear. After completing a few surface skills we where descending for our first dive , I could not get past ten feet. My left ear would not equalized. After a couple of attempts we surfaced, I did several equalizing techniques. Then we tried again, I got to 20 feet,  decided we would do Sam underwater nav. On the return trip of both my ears equalize and I was good for the rest of the day. Sam worked all of her skills requirements like a champ. 

When we surfaced from our second dive of the day Sam was officially an Open Water Diver.  Way to go Sam!

Sam, her dad Justin, Gavin and JerryOpen Water Diver Sam and her instructor

Roz Savage begins rowing her third ocean!

For those of you who have followed my postings know I am a fan of Roz Savage. Roz rowed the Atlantic solo in 2005. She rowed the Pacific in three parts, San Francisco to Hawaii 2008, Hawaii to Tarawa 2009, Tarawa to Papua New Guinea in 2010.

This week Roz starts out on third ocean, the Indian Ocean. She will be leaving from Freemantle Australia to Mumbai if the winds and tides are favorable, at the very least that is the direction she is heading.

This will be the most dangerous trip, not from the sea, or the elements but of all things - pirates!  The waters around Indonesia have been pirate ridden for as long as man has been sailing.  A blonde English women in a 23 foot row boat hopeful will go unnoticed.  But as we all know the west end of the Indian Ocean has been no picnic either in recent years with pirates from Somalia ranging out almost 300 miles to sea to seize ships. I am hoping that maybe the worlds navy's will find a way to shadow her on the horizon lines through the dicey parts.

Roz would not like them any closer than the horizon line since once she is at sea she rows in the buff.  She says it is just easier, no laundry to do, no chaffing.  Need to clean up just jump in the ocean, then back on board for a quick fresh water sponge rinse.

Her fund raising for the leg of her voyage as not gone as planned but she is pushing forwarded anyway.  Roz is looking for donations to support her while she is out at sea. In the past she has tweeted, facebook posted, podcasted, posted photos, called her mom, etc. during her voyage, all of which cost.  She has set up a donations page so people can contribute per mile.  Here is the link :

Eat-Pray-Row the Indian Ocean

I have purchase a few miles, the economy has been hard on everyone. But how many times in a life time can you follow a true adventurer.  If you can, consider supporting Roz.

Here is Roz's website if you want to lean more about Roz: www.rozsavage.com

Keys Wreck-Trek in June

I have sign up for this dive trip in the Florida Keys. I have been looking for a trip like this for a while. A couple of years ago when I was at the Beneath the Sea dive show the year after the Vandenburg was sunk, I stopped by the The Monroe County Tourist Development Council booth (known on web as fla-keys.com) this booth is always huge and popular; staffed with several dive operations, this is where I learned about the Wreck Trek.

The Tourist Development Council had put together the Flordia Keys Wreck Trek to encourage divers to explore all the major/notable wrecks from Key Largo to Key West.  

Here is the information from their website. I spoke with them this past weekend and they have space available, if your a diver and need a cool trip, here it is...

June 11 - 17, 2011 Join the live aboard M/V Spree and Conch Republic Divers for a 6 night 5 day diving adventure. We have put together a package enabling you to dive all 9 wrecks associated with the Florida Keys Wreck Challenge. Package includes diving, airport transportation, lodging, nitrox, and most of your meals. Details and sign up at Wreck Trek Challenge

Spring Dive training picking up.

Up early this weekend to teach Open Water Confined pool classes. I had three students, plus Gavin with his Divemaster Candidate Jerry joined in at times so Jerry could see an OW class in process.

The students Sam, Marissa and Christian did a great job. Saturdays class was tough for Christian and Mariissa both being very fit and very little body fat got cold early and could not get warmed up no matter what we did, even though the pool is 79 degrees, they were troopers.  We fixed this problem for Sunday, we outfitted them with wet suits and it made the day much more fun.  

Sam, she stared out in a wet suit so she was warm all weekend. Her dad bought her a set of regulators Saturday when we got back to the shop. She used them Sunday morning for her dives.

They will all be good divers, Marissa and Christian will be doing their Open Water dive with Virginia Scuba on the first dive of the dive season at Millbrook Quarry the weekend of April 2. Sam is going to St Thomas with her family for Spring Break; she will finish her Open Water dives there, then go diving with her dad.

With the change in time, Saturday morning the sun was up when I got to the shop.  Sunday morning it was still dark, not sure I am crazy about the whole time change thing.

Next weekend I am back in the pool again. At the moment I have five students, I would like to get three more people to join me.  If you are currnetly doing e-learning, finish up and join me.  If you have been thinking about it, sign up today, complete the e-learning course by Friday and join us next weekend!

Talking SCUBA at a Father-Son event

Spent the morning talking SCUBA diving at  a Father-Son event in Fairfax.  This was a church sponsored event that had about 250+ people show up.  With Virginia Scuba we spoke to about 50 Dads and their boys about PADI's Bubble Maker program, Discover Scuba, Open Water program. For the Dad's that where already certified divers we talked about PADI Advanced Open Water and Speciality options.

Lots of questions about where to go diving, sharks and coral reefs. 

We let those who where willing to try on scuba gear and breath off a regulator.

It was a good time with Susie and Gavin and hopefully we sparked some new friends to try SCUBA.

 

Happy New Year! Time for a Scuba Tune up?

Want a great way to spend a few hours on a Sunday morning! How about signing up for a Scuba Tune up?

That is what Certified Diver Jon did. Jon and his wife are going on a cruise this coming weekend. Jon has sign up for diving excursion as part of his vacation. 

We took a few hours to refresh his skills, which from watching him I could tell Jon is already good diver. We swam around the pool for a while to make sure he was comfortable with the gear and in the water.