DEMA Orlando 2013...

Dive Equipment Manufactures Association - DEMA  held every year alternating between Orlando and Las Vegas.  In 2013 it was in Orlando.  You have to be involved in the dive industry to have access to the show.  For Dive professional you have to be a Divematers or hire. If you run a dive shop you can owner, employee etc you get the ideal.

This was my first time going to DEMA. Since I had never been and I am helping the dive shop get a handle on thier database to be utilize all the features and functions my job was to attend the database provides week long seminars. Since it is an SQL database and I have been working on setting up a different SQL database for my day job I figured this would be double duty. 

Lot of stuff to learn on database side. Once that was complete each day hit the show floor to meet and greet. Had a get time., met lots of people.  Back to the shop to apply what was learned. 

Tec 40 Dives 2 and 3

Left out of Manassas to Lake Rawlings before 6:30 to be in the water at Lake Rawling before 10 to start the next two dives in my DSAT Tec40 training.

Was a lot of fun. Rachel made it a challange, as she should. Lots of task loading, to make you think about the "what if" with all of the gear.

Diving is diving - look here, breath here, kick.  This adds the option of  more bottom time and more depth. I am not so much looking for the depth but the bottom time.  That is not to say with some more experience  depth won't figure into this. There are several wrecks in south Florida that will put this training to use.

Now on to the real Open Water - the Ocean.  I will keep you posted.

Venturing in to Tec Diving

Rachel teaching Tec 40. Oct 2013Well it was bound to happen.  I have signed up for the PADI Tech 40 class.  Spent  week reading chapter after chapter, knowledge review after knowledge review to prepare fo this weekend classroom work and configuration secession. Rachel is our instructor.  I have been Rachel's student many times over the years. Once she started into tech I kept with recreational.

During the shop's rebuilding phase they continue to increase recreational diving and rebreather diving. But the open circuit tec diving has been hit or miss.  Over the few months Rachel has decided to step in and take control of the open circuit tec schedule.  This is the second batch of tec classes she has put together in the last month.  From what I hear she has classes planned for November and December as well.

Tec 40 is the into course to tec diving. You can go to 130 ft (same a recreational diving) but you can go into deco up to 10 minutes  with up to 50 percent oxygen.   Beyond Tec 40 is Tec 45 and Tec 50 using PADI's System. It is a building bock system to extend depth and decompression time.

Spent the last part of the class today breaking down several of my regulators and reconfigure them to prepare for next weekends pool and quarry dives. 

Will have to see how this goes.  I made it to this quarry sessions a couple of years ago but could not complete the open water ocean dives due to schedule conflicts, I am going to miss this classes ocean dives too, similar conflicts.  But i will get this done. I want this C-Card.  Not sure how much further I will go in Open Circuit Tec but I want to complete this.

SCUBAJAM 2013!

Another great year lots of teen divers enjoying a weekend of diving . Saturday and Sunday where great,  Seems to be a thing to rain doing the group dinner on Sunday;.  I was busy working with staff on events and the troop so I did not get many pictures this year.  Actually I have exactly 1 picture. 

August Open Water

Another great open water class, at Millbrook this time.  The water was the best conditions we have seen this year. You could actually see across the platform.  At the surface was very warm for Millbrook.  The really cold water was still at 30 ft and deeper.   The students did great. We had a great time.  Mpre certified divers in the world, that is a good thing.

What's Next art work complete and assembled.

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Had no plan or thoughts to cobble together a  new dive training program.  As part of a discussion sitting around  the table with the guys at the shop  we wanted to have a way divers felt would move them along with their training. knowledge, skill level and confidence.  Did not create anything new, just repackage what is already being offered in a way that lets the diver feel accomplish.  Just a few months from idea to schedule. We are off to a good start.

Then we figured we needed artwork for a display end cap in the store.  About a month to get that all together, just a few years ago this would have cost a small fortune to do. It was not cheap but do-able.

This display will be hanging in the shop this Thursday afternoon.  that the next time I can get there. Once it is up I will add a store shot.

Update

on 2013-07-23 23:12 by Otter

And here it is in action. On display to infom all those who walk through the shop.  It looks AWESOME.  As I was leaving they moved it more towards the front of the shop beacuse they thought it looked awesome too.  :-)

Almost an Open Water Class today

This dive season has been challenging at Millbrook this year. As usual the water was it's normal cold back in April in the 40 degree range but it was pretty clear. May was about the same the water temp was not rising like it normally would due the rain, we have had a good bit this year.

From observation, but not by any scientific measurements, the picture you see here is the entrance to Beach one. There is a wooden platform with 5 or 6 steps.  Last fall the water level was so low only the last 2 steps were under water.  With this weeks past rain the entire platform is underwater and is about 18+ inches above the deck.  So that is 7 inches for each step plus the 18+ on top of the deck, that would put the total rise around 30 inches.  That is a lot of water considering the size of the quarry.

Somewhere between May and June a cloud of turbidity formed. This is not unusual there is always a layer of turbidity normally just above the thermocline and it is a few inches to foot high in the water column.  The density would vary from place to place in the quarry but never really dense.

When I was diving there in June, entering the water I notice something was different the surface water was very warm, warm like you would have in September around 70 degrees.  Once we descended I found out why. The turbidity layer started around 12 ft and went about 25 ft and it was like looking though pea soup.  Its density was such that sunlight could not penetrate that deep, it was heating up the surface water.

The end of June there was some more rain and divers I know where at the quarry they said the turbidity had seem to thin out. it was still not great but better.

Move a head to today July 13.  We had several inches of rain this week. Surface was warm, the descent had good viz down to 12 feet. Then it got ugly!  Taking my two open water students to about 20 ft holding a line I could not see them. The both grabbed my hand and pulled up, up we went.  They express their concerns about diving in this. This was if you could picture a green cloud in the water. I told there there was a good chance that if we got below it on the training platform it would be clear. I explained my past months experience. PADI standards say you can not leave a student unattended in the water. I explained that if they were willing we could go together in physical contact down line to the platform and see what the conditions looked like. If it was clear we could do the dive. They agreed.

Down we went. I have an Aeris AI dive computer, it is clipped to the chest D-ring on my BCD. It is always about 6-8 inches from my face. The digital display has reasonable size numbers and is easy to read. 16 feet was the last depth I could see. After that I could not see the computer the turbidity was so thick.  What was more disturbing as we continue down I swear the cloud turned from green to red.  That could be a problem. 

After what I thought was red, it became black and we where on the platform. Once my eyes adjusted it was clearer, 3-5 feet of viz, we where below the cloud but the only thing of note I could see was the phosphors glow of our three compasses, to read my computer I had to press the light button. 

Dive over, up we went.  I still swear the lower few feet of the cloud is red and that should not be. 

My divers where troopers, we are working on a plan  to go to Lake Rawlings.

Have to see what happens with the quarry. It may have too much water in it. Throwing off the ecosystem.  I will keep you posted. May just have to finish out the dive season at Rawlings.  It is just such a long ride.

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Virginia Scuba Launches its new Website

At long last, several months, embarrassingly to say, a bunch of meetings, a few heated conversation about direction and a LOT of typing, it has launched! Officially as of Saturday morning. The new Virginia Scuba website has been released in to the wild   www.virginiascuba.com  Go check it out, I'll wait... go, look, I will  be here.

As with any site it is a work in progress.  I have found a few typos and missed words since it was released and fixed them. After weeks of reading and typing it all kinda ran together.  If you find others let me know.

Next up: The on-line store. The store is there ready to go, it is just disable at the moment. They are setting up the payment processing and and working out a few of the policy issues. We are all hoping that will happen by next weekend. Big plans for the store moving forward too you will be able to order just about everything they carry.

If you went on the Bonaire trip and have pictures; we could use a few of them for the gallery; it is blank at the moment. Seen them to me or Tige, please.

Any suggestions or comments let me know. Also let the guys at Virginia Scuba know too. They put a lot of time and though into making this happen. I know they would appreciate the feed back. You can leave them a note here or send them an email to info@vascuba.com

Open Water Quarry - Yes it was Chillllly

Early Spring at Millbrook Quarry. During a Spring where the weather is trying to decide if it really wants to give up on winter. We are going diving. Yes I managed not to go the quarry in April this year, yeah!  But what is a few days later in May went the tempture never really gets out of the 50's.

But we are diving. There is that.  It's just the spinal creep of 49 degree quarry water in to your wet suit, you know ....

But it was all good.  Out to the platform down the lines. Made sure we all had our bouyance under control then off for a quck tour.  The first dive is always a challange, wet suits, gloves, hoods all the gear, green water, all new expreicences, buddy pairs are all over the place.

You just work it, remind them to breath slow and deep, nice even kick strokes find a couple of bass and pont them out.  After that the rest is easy. The water does not warm up any but they know what to expect. 

For the rest of the dives we do the work in the shallows where the water is "slightly" warmer, trust me this helps when you have to flood and remove you mask. Every degree helps.  

Since this was early spring two of the platform off of Beach One the barrels had broke loose by Sunday morning. We did what skills we could mid water.  Skills where we needed a line we just used on of the drifting barrels.  Chilly water, sunny days and four new open water certified divers . A good way to spend the weekend.

Check out  Virgina Scuba's calander, find a date and come join us!

Sunday Pool Dive

This morning I volunteered to go diving with Virginia Scuba, for the purpose of taking pictures of the classes in progress.  We had an Open Water Class, a Rebreather class and a few diver who wanted to work their skills or getting ready for a trip; some open, some closed circuit.

I took advantage of the opportunity to try out my new Hollis M-1 mask. I can not tell you how comfortable this mask. The mask skirt is excellent and creates a great seal. I had to take the mask strap off to put on the Virginia Scuba strap cover I can tell you of the dozens of mask that I have either had or have help students or divers with this task, the assembly that hold the mask strap to the mask was by far the most user friendly I have ever seen.  This is a  frameless, low volume mask, the overall design provides an amazing field of view.  

Here are some pictures from this morning's adventure.

Rebreather Class

Open Water Class

Rebreather predive

Open Water Entry

Talking Scuba with Ship 100

My buddy Jim Chaplin and I where asked by Boatswain Kayleigh of Ship 100 out of Gainesville to talk to the Ship about Scuba Diving.

Sea Scouts are part of the Boy Scouts of America, like Venturing Crew they are co-ed, but base learning leadership and having fun around nautical skills. 

Ship 100 wanted Jim and I to talk about the programs and options available through BSA.  We covered Snorkeling BSA, Scuba BSA and Scuba Diving and what is involved with each. Then we told them about BSA's High Adventure Camp, Sea Base, in the Florida Keys as well as other options and opportunities once they become certified divers.

I want to thank their Boatswain for inviting us to speak this evening and look forward to seeing them in the water diving soon.  

Tonight was also Ship 100's first anniversary as a unit. Congratulations!  

May you have fair winds and following seas. 

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Duckweed after effects

In Duckweed, just the moment of contemplation before the dive

Troy Springs State Park - dive history in the making.

We started out this dive trip knowing the last days dive site would by majority vote. Starting with our first dive at Blue Grotto someone ask if we had been or where planing to dive Troy Springs. When we where at Ginnie Spring we where asked the same.  As a bonus on this trip we where able to get a quick tour of Halycon, which was very cool since most of my gear was is Halycon. They even suggested Troy Springs.  Since none of us had been there it seem fate was pulling us there.

Now as many of you know Virginia Scuba as of last July has new owners Tige Pratt, Chris Mullins and Kevin Angelilli. They have taken on Hollis as a line of gear. Chris  was one of the first to be trained as an instructor on Hollis's Prism2 Rebreather.  Everyone has been awaiting the release of the Hollis Explorer  which is a Sport Diving Rebreather since it was announced two years ago at DEMA.  While there have been others that have claimed to be Sport Diving Rebreathers, this unit in my opinion is in a class all its own and I think will be a game changer for Sport Diving.  Sport Diving is recreational-open water open circut diving.  Imagine instead of diving for 20-30 minutes  with an 80 cubic feet of air in your cylinder, how about up to 2 hours on one dive with one cylinder. Imagine what you could see or explore, no pun intended. There are wrecks and reefs that are begging to be redove by me with this kit. 

It so happen that Hollis posted on facebook earlier this week a picture of John Conway Hollis's Director of Training with six Explorers getting ready for the first Instructor Trainer course. On the 24th they posted a picture of John with the Instructors he would be training. All very exciting because Virginia Scuba has a preorder in for a couple of units. So we know we are getting close.

Saturday morning rolls around we as a group commit to going to dive Troy Springs. First we have to fill our cylinders, Tige had found Cave Country Diving in High Springs. We drop our cylinders off and wander around the shop looking at all the cool stuff they have, while they teach recreational diving, these folks are a tech diving shop . They are also a Hollis dealer, Tige as he tends to do, strikes up a conversation, the woman who was filling our cylinders and ringing our sale says "Where are you going diving?" He tells her Troy Spring. She say "Oh yeah John Conway going to be out there with the Explorer this morning"   We look at each other, what are the odds!

Tige checking out the ExplorerI had mention before in other post the difference in Florida State Parks, at Manatee Spring and KP Hole you have to sign your life away, surrender your c-card and pay to get in.  The entrance to Troy Springs looks like a one lane service road that seem to randomly have a pole with mail box on it on the side of the road.  At this park it is an honor system to gain access.  We paid our fee pulled into the parking lot and sure enough there is John and his crew gearing up to do their training on the Explorer. Tige has met and knows John as well as Matt, who wrote the manual for the Prism2 we did not hesitate going over to say hello and look, gawk, drool at the Explorers.  Let me tell you it is as cool as it looks. Matt gave a quick nickel tour of the unit, then we  let them get back to their configuring and dive planning. We went off to check out the dive site and set up our gear.

The water was so low here we could not use the platform or the stairs we had to do a beach entry here that is low. We were told at the end of the spring just before it joins the Suwannee river there is the remains of a riverboat that was burned and sunk.  You could still see the ribs and the keel. We will have to save that for a return trip, the water was too shallow to dive there.

The spring flow area was very cool, a deep slanted amphitheater shape down to where the spring flows out at about 75 feet. At the base there are several flows of various sizes and a couple cravens along the walls.  

Hollis Explorer in action

To top off a great dive the Hollis IT Explorer class entered the water about the midpoint to our dive. Since we where the only ones in the deep part of the spring we all seem to move on queue to a shallower depth to allow them to have the deep water. Most of us, or at least, Tige and I just hovered and watch history in the making.

Our dive was finished long before the Hollis group was. We had set up near the ramp down to the spring. As the first group came by I asked them how did it feel to be the coolest guys in the dive industry today.  They just laughed. They knew.

Our second dive we help James finish up his lost diver scenario, the last part of his Rescue Diver course. Which he did an excellent job. Mike was not thrilled about being drugged across the rocks but as a divemater he knows it goes with the job. 

For most of the day it had been overcast toward the end of our second dive the clouds move out the sun warm are bright and turtle came out from everywhere. We started couting but there got to be too many to keep track of and fun way to end the dive. 

Sad to see our great week of diving come to an end, it was a blast.  

What's next - Roatan if I can scrap the funds together.  I need to teach more, who wants to learn to dive or continue, expand on their current dive knowledge?  Several classes we can start here then go to Roatan and finish them there.  Come on, you know you want too...