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Discover Scuba

Discover Scuba for Ventures and Scouts

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Discover Scuba for Ventures and Scouts

WOW! What  a weekend. My buddy Jim Chaplin stared in November posting notices for a Discover Scuba in January with Virginia Scuba.  At one point I think he told me he had 25 ventures/scouts and adults signed up.

In the end we had a total of 18 folks participate, we broke them up into two session one on Saturday morning, the second on Sunday afternoon. This was a mixture of Scouts and Venture Crews from all over the area. 

We have had scouts groups before but this was by far the best groups of young boys and girls we have had.

What made this a success; as with any event of this type, was planning.  Two instructors, a Divemaster and a Divemaster Candidate. As well we had scouts who were already certified divers help out moving equipment and logistics. 

The goal was for the scouts to have fun.  We went over the Discover Scuba Flip chart, hopped in the shallow water, went through required skills. Let them splash around the for a few minutes to make sure they where comfortable. Then we hopped out and headed to deep end.

A bit more instruction about decents and ascents and away they went. We all hung out on the bottom for quite some time.  Jim Chaplin brought a under water ping pong ball game, we had hula hoops to swim through. The scouts had a great time trying out their new skills.

After they were out of the pool and dried off, we went over the Scuba BSA paper work and they received their Scuba BSA patch to wear on their swim trunks.

Jim was using this event to gather interested in diving as well as planning for his annual Scouting Blackbeard trip.  I think he may have several takers.

As well, several of the scouts that could not make this weekend have signed up for our next pool date January 25, at last count we have 9 signed up so far.  We can always take more. Come join us!

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Talking about Diving to a BSA Round Table.

This evening I will be speaking at the NCAC Bull Run District Round Table about Scouting and Diving.

Here is the presenation :

BSA and DIVING  (this is a 15Mb download Power Point Show)

If you need a power point viewer here is the microsofts link

Here are links to files you may need to get your troop/crew into diving.

Snorkel BSA
SCUBA BSA

PADI Dive Adventure Scholorship 

If you have any qustions or need any additional information please contact me

Let's GO DIVING!!!

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Scouting Discover Scuba Lake Rawlings

This weekend I met up with Troop 295 for a Discover Scuba Saturday. We had six scout and adults that wanted to Discover Scuba.  We chose Lake Rawling because they were camping and the water is warm and clear this time of year.  

Broke them into two groups. We started out on the shallow platform. Once we completed all the skills we went for a  dive cross the quarry to the bus.  Found the computers, rocking horses, the stove and B Ball court. One the hoop is looking kinda sad. Found the bus the odd chacater that was driving it. Then dove our way back to the shallow platform.


Did the same trip with the second group but the scouts wanted to see the hubcap tree and since we had plenty of air, why not.


All in it was a good day if though it rain most the time we didn't mind we were already wet.


Thinking about trying Scuba Diving, this is a great place to start.

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Junes Dive Classes

Okay so it has been a little slow on the dive training front. But the end of June was very busy; for me at least.

I had two Discover Scubas and one Scuba Tune up. In between my classed I took pictures of Steve and Rachel's Confinined Open Water class.  All of the classes and student we had did great. The OW students are signed up for thier open water dives in the coming weeks. 

Here are some pics.

 

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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.


 

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Weekend Wrap up.

Discover Scuba Days was fun. Light turn out but fun none the less. 

After I finished up the DSD I switch my the regs  on my tank from Aeries to  Halcyon and took them for a swim.

They breath very nice. Since I have this set up as a tech diving kit I have the Halo reg for my primary and the Aurora as my reserve, I found the 22 inch hose for the Aurora is too short I could not turn my head to the left with out the reg pull out of my mouth. When I go back to the shop I ordered a 26 inch hose.  All in all for a pool test it was great! 

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Discover Scuba Diving this Saturday.

Otterventures and Virginia Scuba will be hosting the local event at the Freedom Center on Saturday morning June 5th. If you have been thinking about checking out SCUBA diving, this is a great introduction to see if SCUBA diving is for you.

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Discover Scuba Diving Days are coming!

PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) will be nationally promoting several DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING DAYS events this year. The first event will be June 5 and 6. Otterventures and Virginia Scuba will be hosting the local event at the Freedom Center on Saturday morning June 5th.

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Take Your Kid to Work Day.... Sort of....

Happy Take your Kid to Work Day!

This is a great idea if you have a job where you can take your son or daughter to your work place and show them what you do all day.

What if what you do for a living, you can't?

This was the problem facing my new friend Scott.   

His dad works for the government and in his own words (okay, I am paraphrasing here) "If I was deaf, dumb and blind I could go hang out at my dad's work." (His dad works in a top secret facility) His mom works in the private sector but deals with a lot of confidential and propriety information, again not another great (fun) place to hang out for work. Don't get me wrong, his mom loves what she does and is really good at her job, but as a teenager, not so much fun.

About a month a go, Scott and his mom recognized this problem.  She said "So what do you want to do?" Scott reply he wanted to see what it takes to be a Scuba Instructor.  Scott's mom, Joan, is a good friend of mine, knew instantly who to call.

Joan and I chatted; I figured the best way to experience what a Scuba Instructor does is to take a Discover Scuba Class.  Working with Virginia Scuba and the Freedom Center I was able to set up a special Thursday morning Discover Scuba Class. In a nut shell it was the easiest and most fun way I could think of to take a look at the life of a Scuba Instructor.

As part of this process Scott has to report back to his class about his day. His teacher supplied him with a six page form with all kinds of questions to ask to build as the base of his report. 

We put together gear, asked and answered questions, talked about training, did some diving. Scott was really good. Did paperwork, cleaned equipment, took a tour of the scuba shop, answered more questions from the form. Took pictures all in all it was a great time. 

We both agreed that there was no way any of his friends where having this much fun today.

The next Take your kid to work day is next April.  If you need option, mark your 2011 calendar in March to give me a call or send me an email  and we can make this happen for your teenager too!

You or your teen can't wait that long to try scuba diving. We have Discover Scuba Diving Classes twice a month and would be glad to have you join us.

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Day 2 of the FREE Discover SCUBA is done and it was a lot of fun!

Yep it's over.  Sundays Discover Scuba event was just as great as Saturdays.  The neat part was everybody  did different task from what they did on Saturday and it went just as smoothly.

Lots of people showed up and took their turn at discovering what scuba diving is like. Several folks again are signing up to take the open water class.

Rumor has it we might try this Free Discover Scuba thing again in the spring, stay tune.

 

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Day 1 of the FREE Discover SCUBA weekend was a BLAST!

We had a GREAT time this morning. What where we doing?

We held a FREE Discover SCUBA at the Freedom Center.  The turn-out was excellent. Rachel and Kristen had develop the plan and flow for the large crowd of folks that participated.  Everyone had a great time and a number of the participants are signing up for the next step: the Open Water class. 

What's that, you're bummed because you miss all the fun today?!
It's not too late; we are doing it all again tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM. Come join us!

We have another large group signed up and would enjoy adding you to our list of fun!

Here is the link to Virginia Scuba's Free Discover Scuba sign up page.

If you have been thinking about checking out SCUBA diving, this is a great introduction to see if SCUBA diving is for you.

With diving there is always paperwork, you can down load the Discover Scuba Diving form here.

Read it and fill it out ahead of time. Then you will be all set to come join us and DIVE IN.

Update: I have add a picture below as well I have added a folder to my photo gallery. Enjoy.

 

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FREE Discover Scuba!! THIS WEEKEND!

It's here, this weekend!!

Virginia Scuba and the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center are teaming up to offer a FREE Discover Scuba the weekend of September 19 and 20, 2009. How can you go wrong!

From the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Centers website:

DISCOVER SCUBA - FREE to Freedom Members!
Saturday, September 19th 10:30am - 1:00pm
Sunday, September 20th 9:00am - 1:00pm
Discover Scuba
is an introduction to diving and gives you an opportunity to jump in the water with scuba gear under instructor supervision. The Virginia Scuba instructors will be on hand and in the water to introduce diving to anyone interested. Experience the excitement and adventure of the underwater world for FREE!
For complete details visit www.virginiascuba.com.

Here is the link to Virginia Scuba's Free Discover Scuba sign up page.

If you have been toying with the idea to check out SCUBA diving, this is a great introduction to see if SCUBA diving is for you.

With diving there is always paperwork, you can down load the Discover Scuba Diving form here.

Read it and fill it out ahead of time. Then you will be all set to come join us and DIVE IN.

 

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One Week to go until FREE Discover Scuba!

Only one week to go until the Free Discover Scuba Weekend.

Virginia Scuba and the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center are teaming up to offer a FREE Discover Scuba the weekend of September 19 and 20, 2009. How can you go wrong!

From the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Centers website:

DISCOVER SCUBA - FREE to Freedom Members!
Saturday, September 19th 10:30am - 1:00pm
Sunday, September 20th 9:00am - 1:00pm
Discover Scuba
is an introduction to diving and gives you an opportunity to jump in the water with scuba gear under instructor supervision. The Virginia Scuba instructors will be on hand and in the water to introduce diving to anyone interested. Experience the excitement and adventure of the underwater world for FREE!
For complete details visit www.virginiascuba.com.

Here is the link to Virginia Scuba's Free Discover Scuba sign up page.

If you have been toying with the idea to check out SCUBA diving, this is a great introduction to see if SCUBA diving is for you.

With diving there is always paperwork, you can down load the Discover Scuba Diving form here.

Read it and fill it out ahead of time. Then you will be all set to come join us and DIVE IN.

 

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FREE Discover Scuba!!

Virginia Scuba and the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center are teaming up to offer a FREE Discover Scuba the weekend of September 19 and 20, 2009. How can you go wrong!

From the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Centers website:

DISCOVER SCUBA - FREE to Freedom Members!
Saturday, September 19th 10:30am - 1:00pm
Sunday, September 20th 9:00am - 1:00pm
Discover Scuba
is an introduction to diving and gives you an opportunity to jump in the water with scuba gear under instructor supervision. The Virginia Scuba instructors will be on hand and in the water to introduce diving to anyone interested. Experience the excitement and adventure of the underwater world for FREE!
For complete details visit www.virginiascuba.com.

Here is the link to Virginia Scuba's Free Discover Scuba sign up page.

If you have been toying with the idea to check out SCUBA diving, this is a great introduction to see if SCUBA diving is for you.

With diving there is always paperwork, you can down load the Discover Scuba Diving form here.

Read it and fill it out ahead of time. Then you will be all set to come join us and DIVE IN.


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Discover Scuba - Saturday

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!!

Thinking about it, ever wondered what it’s like to breath underwater?

If you want to find out but aren’t quite ready to take the plunge into a certification course, Discover Scuba Diving will let you try scuba to see if you like it.

That is what Emily did this morning. She wanted to take the Discover Scuba course before her family when to to the Florida Keys later this summer. Part of her trip will be to get Open Water Certified.  Emily had a great time and did well with this introduction to the underwater world. She is now really looking forward to her family trip to the Keys.

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