February Pool Fun

Chris and Steven did there run through Try Scuba to see if Scuba Diving was for them back in December.  Now it was time to step up. Time to get the certification underway. Amanda and Paul joined the class as well for their open water cert. Jerry was the Dive Control Specialist for the class.

All of them did great, they had fun. Now to wait for the quarry to open and the water to warm up a bit to complete the Open Water dives, For Chris and Steven then it is on to the Bahamas!!  That is the goal a family trip to Nassau NP Bahama.

Shark Feed!!

January 4 2017
While not a fan of the practice, it is still a thrill to see a shark feed.  What trip on Blackbeard's wouldn't be complete without stopping by the wreck of the  Austin Smith to provide a morning snack to the local population?

Since I was here last in October 2015, Hurricane Matthew blew through the Bahamas during the late summer of 2016. The storm actually spun the wreck bow to stern and broke it into three part. Talk about power.  The bow is broken off and set apart from the rest of wreck, midships is broken from the stern.  The shark feed still happens on the stern it is now just the other way from what I remember.

Austin Smith Jan 2017

Austin Smith Oct 2015 these are the best shots I have of the ship whole. The video below shows how it looks now.

The sharks are always impressive

The video shows the state of the wreck and the feed.  

Danger Reef - AWESOME.

January 3, 2017
Southeast of Cistern Cay is Danger Reef. The top of the reef is about 25 the sand is about 60 ft. Huge boulder shape reef clustered together. Far too much to see even on the two dives on we did,

At one time this area was a shark feeding site so there are still a lot of sharks.  The reef could take days to explore and would be well worth it.

Watch the Black Group to the left at the start of the video, if you wanted to know where the shark was, look where they were looking. They never took their eyes off of him.

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!!!

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.

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.

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.

 

Boy Scouts Release a Scuba Merit Badge

From article posted on divewire.com

Written by Scouting Magazine

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 16:29

(Scouting Magazine.org) - Looking for the perfect stocking stuffer for your water-loving Boy Scout? Here's one: the Scuba Diving merit badge pamphlet, hot off the presses. The merit badge, the first new one in three years, will officially be released on Dec. 1 when it will be available in Scout Shops and online at scoutstuff.org. It's the result of a newly announced partnership between the BSA and PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. Officials at the BSA determined that 84 percent of Scouts were interested in the merit badge, and so it was fast-tracked for adoption. It's one of five merit badges being released in the next 12 months. The other four are Inventing (first quarter 2010), Geocaching (second quarter 2010), Scouting Heritage (second quarter 2010), and Robotics (fourth quarter 2010). But Scuba will arrive first, and so the BSA has established some key facts that Scouters should know about the merit badge: Completing the Scuba Diving merit badge will result in the boy achieving an open-water certification, enabling him to dive around the world with the appropriate supervision, based on his age. There are two important roles for this merit badge: the merit badge counselor and a certified dive instructor. Sometimes this may be the same person, but more likely, the counselor will be an existing BSA adult member. The instructor will be one certified by one of a number of instructional agencies, but he or she does not have to be a BSA member. Earning the Scuba Diving merit badge is open to all Boy Scout-age youth. There are, however, limitations based on age with respect to how deep and with whom a boy can dive. These limitations vary by certifying organization. Completion of the Swimming merit badge is a requirement of the merit badge and must be completed prior to entering into scuba training portion of the requirements. Boys with a current open water certification will not have to recertify in order to earn the merit badge. They will, however, have to have completed the Swimming merit badge, present their certification to the merit badge counselor and complete all the other requirements. There are three important pieces of information which must be fully reviewed by the merit badge counselor prior to approving any Scout for the merit badge: the merit badge requirements, the notes to counselor and the scuba policy of the Guide to Safe Scouting. For more details, visit www.ScoutingMagazine.org