ADA 2014 International Trip
Bonaire, Netherland Antilles July 19-26, 2014
After extensive research to find the best value for this year's international dive trip, we have selected the Divi Flamingo Resort in Bonaire (See Divi Flamingo ). While many of the resorts are several miles from town, the Divi Flamingo is conveniently located within a 10 minute walk of restaurants, shops, and bars in the capital city of Kralendijk! Caribbean views, white beaches and tropical waters await you only steps away from your own private balcony or patio. The resort offers two restaurants, three bars, a casino, two pools, fitness center, day spa, boutique and car rental. Divi Dive Bonaire offers custom dive boats with easy access to over 88 dive sites. The ADA dive trip includes round trip airport transfers, 7 nights lodging (double occupancy) with breakfast daily, 6 days of diving 2-tank guided boat dives, unlimited tanks for shore diving, use of tanks, weights, and belts, for only $1059!There is also a $25 marine park fee which is paid locally upon arrival.
There are a number of airlines that serve Bonaire. Airfare is not included so that you may use your favorite
airline and take advantage of any frequent flier miles you have, or, simply accumulate more miles. Dan and I will scour the airfares for best values and keep you on top of what we find, but at this point the current best rate is about $500. In last month’s article I said 10 lucky divers would be joining us but one has already signed up so we only have 9 slots left!!! Reservations are first come, first serve, so to reserve this trip contact either Daryl at diverdaryl@bellsouth.net or Dan at dmbaeza@bellsouth.net and send a $100 per person non-refundable deposit to:
Jerry Kosakowski
298 NW 83 Lane
Coral Springs, FL 33071-7439
All checks should be made out to Active Divers Association. The balance of $959 will be due May 1, 2014, and again needs to be sent to Jerry Kosakowski. Dan and I have been here several times and we know the diving well so all I can say is that this will be an awesome trip!
--by Daryl Johnson
CREDITS, REFUNDS, AND RENEWALS
Members who have a credit from 2013, (refund due from an ADA canceled dive) will be automatically renewed for 2014, and a check for the difference will be mailed to the address of record. If you wish to have the entire amount refunded to you, with no automatic renewal, please call Lon at 305-251-4975. All memberships expired Dec. 31, 2013. (unless you have the extended membership plan).
For members with no credits from 2013, please renew by March 31, 2014 to receive the discounted annual rate. See the "Time To Renew" article elsewhere in this newsletter.
TIME TO RENEW
The new dive season is just around the corner. Renew before March 31, 2014 and your membrship fee is only $35 for a year of discounts and diving news. After March 31, your annual membership renewal fee is $45. Your membership includes periodic eNews emails about club activities as well as electronic access to The Mouthpiece monthly newsletter.
You may pay by check or online. Go to http://activedivers.org/Membership-Renewal.html to renew your membership online. To pay by check, mail a check made out to "Active Divers Association" with the appropriate amount to:
Dr. Dan Baeza
Membership Chairman
Active Divers Association
7592 Parkview Way
Coral Springs, FL 33065
Be sure to include your snail-mail and email addresses.
WORDS TO LIVE BY CONTEST
All members of the Active Divers Association are eligible to WIN FREE DIVE TRIPS in our monthly “Words to Live By” Contest. In this fun contest, each month from September, 2013 through March, 2014, the ADA will give away one free dive trip to be used for any local dive trip during the 2014 dive season. That’s seven free dives to be awarded in all.
If you have ideas for slogans or phrases that remind us of the need to conserve our natural resources, promote good diving habits and practices, or inspirational words to live by, send those ideas by email to roy@wassonandassociates.com. He will submit those entries anonymously to a contest judge, and each month the best entry will win a free dive trip.
Entries can -- but do not have to be -- diving-related, and can deal with subjects including but not limited to clean energy, air pollution, littering, healthy eating, conservation, and preservation of our water resources and sea creatures. We look forward to your creativity and ideas.
Here are the rules:
1. One entry per person per month
2. Multiple winners allowed
3. Dives must be redeemed in 2014
4. No refunds or transfers of unredeemed dives
5. Trip insurance may be purchased
6. Deadline for each month is the last day of that month
7. Anonymous judge will declare winners
This is the last month for the contest, so get your entries into Roy by Friday, February 28 to be considered for the March competition!
December's "Words to Live By" winner is...
...Helen Colby for her entry, "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat." The quote is by Jacques Yves Cousteau.
Active Divers Conservation Program
As the ADA’s Conservation Projects Director, it is my pleasure to introduce our members to our Conservation Program. From time-to-time I will identify potential Conservation Projects for action by ADA members. This is a request that you read the description of each such potential project and respond to me by email to say whether you would be interested in joining a group to tackle the projects.
This issue’s potential project is removal of derelict crab and lobster traps. Lost and abandoned spiny lobster, stone crab and blue crab traps have been identified as a problem in Florida's
marine environment by various stakeholder groups, including the commercial fishing industry. Traps may remain in the water during a closed season for many reasons. They can move during storms, be snagged by passing vessels, or illegally be abandoned by their owners. Once traps become lost or abandoned, they may spark user conflicts, "ghost fish" (continue to trap marine organisms until traps degrade enough to allow escape), visually pollute, cause damage to sensitive habitats, and also become hazards to navigation.
Volunteer groups like Active Divers may remove derelict traps and trap debris from state waters when they organize a cleanup event and obtain authorization from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. These volunteer cleanup events can take place during the open or closed seasons, and must adhere to guidelines established in Rule 68B-55, Florida Administrative Code Rule 68B-55, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.).
Please advise if you would be willing to work on this program which would require identifying possible derelict traps, applying to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission for a trap removal permit, and then doing the salvage diving to remove the traps. My email is: roy@wassonandassociates.com.
-by Roy Wasson
Did you know….
....the Christ of the Abyss statue in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, in about 20 feet of water, is the third statue made from the original casting? The original was cast in 1954 and placed in the Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy. The second casting from the original mold was made in 1961 and placed in Grenada to honor those saved from the Italian ship Bianca C, which is now a popular dive site. The third casting was commissioned by the Cressi dive equipment manufacturer and lowered into place in 1965 in Pennekamp State Park. The statue withstood a pounding by Hurricane Betsy the same year but remained firm and did not move. It was dedicated by John Pennekamp in June, 1966. Another replica of the statue stands in front of the St Justin Martyr Catholic Church in Key Largo at mile marker 105.5 on U.S. 1 for non divers to view. As a footnote, the original clay positive for the casting was found in 1993 under a shed at the casting foundry in Italy and is now on display at the National Museum of Underwater Activities in Ravenna, Italy.
--by Carol Cox
Disney Divequest at Epcot: January Diving at its Best!
Sometimes it's a long stretch between the last ADA dive in November and the chilly first dives of April. This year we broke it up with an artificial Disney-esque experience in a giant fish tank! On January 3rd my husband John and I took the plunge at Epcot’s Caribbean Coral Reef, a 5.7-million-gallon saltwater aquarium filled with over 6,000 sea creatures. This is touted by Disney as a scuba experience with guaranteed calm seas, no current, unlimited visibility, and incredible marine life and coral. Through the aquarium’s 56 giant viewing windows the divers become the cast members, and we were on display for the spectators around the tank and in the restaurant to enjoy, making this experience even more surreal. And what would a Disney experience be without the souvenir DVD? View ours here: DiveQuest . Check out our scuba dance at 4:40, a tradition we honor on every dive.
Although a unique experience, the fish were dull in color without natural sunlight, the bottom was crushed shells vs. sand, and the corals were a stage set – smooth painted plastic. I enjoyed the dive in spite of the chilly 78 degree water in the mandatory Disney-issued shorty wetsuit. But I’ll take our last dive of the season over this any day – the Ben Wood wreck on a sunny, flat calm day with abundant marine life in their natural habitat. The real thing, just the way I like it.
--by Rachel Davis
JOIN THE FEW.....THE PROUD.... THE ADA SAFETY OFFICERS!!!
Calling all Dive Masters, Assistant Instructors, and Instructors. On each and every ADA dive there is supervision provided by an ADA Safety Officer. The Safety Officer's job is to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all ADA divers. It is a big job, with little or no thanks, but very rewarding for those of us who have accepted the challenge. You too can be a part of this elite fraternity.
The process of becoming an ADA Safety Officer begins with an orientation session conducted by the Safety Officers Committee where all your questions can be aswered.
Following the orientation, there is a period of on-the-dive observations, as well as an apprenticeship under the supervision of an ADA
Safety Officer. Thereafter, the Safety Officer Committee evaluates its observations and based on a positive outcome, you are awarded the coveted ADA Safety Officers T-shirt.
Are you up to the challenge? Want to give something back to ADA? Call Lon at 305-251-4975 for more information.
The year was 1972 (were you born yet?) and life was much simpler, as in no cell phones, cable TV, iPads, or even personal computers. Dive gear was very basic, A single hose regulator attached to a steel 72 (cubic foot) tank with a J-valve, a wrist-mounted depth gauge, a watch and your handy-dandy Navy Dive Tables. BCs had not yet been invented ( I remember Lon used an old floatation device scrounged from some airline), octopuses and dive computers wouldn’t become a reality for several years to come.
Nine of us who helped Lon with his pool classes at the North Dade YMCA were invited down to Andros Island in the Bahamas for a 4 day, 3 nighter, via a private plane, no less, the kind that buzzed the rinky-dinky local airport before attempting to land (pack light, your limit is 30lbs.). We arrived at Andros Reef Inn about 10:00am. Our quarters were little wooden huts scattered along a secluded beach shaded with a million and one coconut palms. The floorboards were spaced about a ½ in. apart to let the sand fall through, air-conditioning consisted of the gentle ocean breezes blowing through the windowless and doorless structure. To hardcore divers like
us, it was pure 5 star adrenalin with deep wall dives and inland fresh water blue holes. How deep? Don’t ask!!! All three meals a day were at the main house and yes, they had A.C. there, windows too!
We returned home on the fourth day. The cost of the trip was commensurate with those simpler times: Air Fare ---$27.50, Room & Board --- $54.00 Three days of diving --- $19.50, Tax --- $2.00. If my math serves me right, a little over one hundred dollars filled us with memories that will last a lifetime!
BOAT FEES TO RISE IN 2014
Rising costs affect everyone and unfortunately, our industory is not immune. The fee for most 2-tank dives will rise in 2014 to $55, up from $49.
Shore Diving in South Florida
This is the first in a series of articles of my experiences on shore diving (a.k.a. “beach entry diving”) for your information and titillation. Shore diving can be strenuous at times. There is no way around that. The weather changes, the currents shift, or the tide is against you. This must be accepted at face value. However, I have observed activities on beach dives that I haven’t seen on any boat trip. Twice I’ve swam with dolphins and once bumped into a sea lion. Another time I observed a bull shark on the Ero Jacks. So that’s where we’ll start, at the Ero Jacks, located just north of Dania Beach Pier. These are leftover defenses from WW 2 (huge concrete structures) that had been piled up in a straight line from just off shore (about 1/3 of the way from shore, looking at the Dania pier). Many charter boats make this a dive spot. You can enter from Dania Beach and walk north, or enter from John Lloyd Park. At John Lloyd you park at the first parking area, enter the walkway over a bridge, pass a bathroom, continue to the beach, and walk south. Making your beach walk can be tiring. It is about the same amount of steps from either entry (10 steps different from my count). The current usually runs south, so if you enter from Dania Beach and dive all the way to the ledge, the current will assist and you’ll drift back along the ledge (which is a nice dive itself). The jacks start off low and build to a wide and high barrier all the way to the ledge. There are a wide variety of creatures and it is a good lobster spot. However, a lot of people dive here so it is usually picked clean. It is a great dive spot, one of my favorites. Locating the Jacks for the first time can sometimes be difficult. Often a boat will be anchored at the site, so use this as a hint. There is a jack (the kind you played with as a kid with a ball and little metal jacks) on the beach marking the site, but it gets covered by sand at times and only a small part may show. There is also a barren tree you may use as a marker. Your best bet for locating it is to go with someone who has dived it previously. All in all, it’s a great site and if you’re willing to do a little physical labor getting to it, the price is right.
--by Gerald Kosakowski