Season
Opener Picnic at the Bridge
Nearly 50 active divers attended our
season opener picnic at the Blue Heron
Bridge on Saturday, April 27. Safety
Officers Amber Laureano, Rachel Davis
and Steve McPhillips led the dive
teams with the help of Safety Officer
Candidates Anand Ranganathan, Bruce
Garber and Jonathan Hilliard making
their season debuts. 34 divers took to
the water including seven new members
doing their inaugural dive with us
including the Marcado family: Isaiah,
Sofia and Anthony, Sam and Jessica
Bochenek, Orlie Braha and our youngest
diver Sarah Gimenez, age 11. The
diving was great, followed by a
scrumptious BBQ prepared by chefs
extraordinaire Aaron and Sarah
Brooks and a potluck of delicious
dishes prepared by our members.
Rounding out the afternoon was a
wonderful raffle of fabulous prizes
including an air fill card courtesy of
Force E, dive flashlight, safety
sausages, dive bags, a
wetsuit and nautical-themed
hanging plants handmade by Juliana
Bach. Last but not least, the numerous
active divers attending had the
opportunity to wish ADA President
Rachel Davis a Happy Birthday and
watch her blow out candles on a
beautiful cake.
Special thanks to all who
volunteered for this event: John
Davis took reservations, Aaron &
Sarah Brooks shopped and cooked the
BBQ, Kathleen Whitcomb sold out our
new rashguard shirts, and Juliana ran
the raffle. We wouldn't have our
amazing dive club without the generous
help from our volunteers so thank you
one and all. And thanks to all the
members who brought food to share. We
appreciate you very much. |
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Reef
Report
Blue Heron Bridge
Saturday, April 27
West Bridge: seas 3-4 inches, depth
16, viz 15-20, water temp: 78. The
Bridge is the place for unique marine
life, and today it didn't disappoint.
Schooling Atlantic spadefish were in
abundance along with lobster, arrow
crabs of all shapes and sizes,
numerous topicals including
parrotfish, sheepshead, yellowtail,
Bermuda chub, queen angelfish,
sharp-tail eel, squid and a huge
Loggerhead turtle.
-- Active Divers President and Safety
Officer Rachel Davis |
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| Pictures provided by
Active Diver Leah Bamford. |
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Women's
Dive Day on July 20: All are Welcome
On July 20 we will join in
the tenth consecutive PADI Women’s
Dive Day event with divers around the
world . The purpose of this day
is to encourage women to participate
and enjoy the sport of diving. This is
our opportunity to honor and celebrate
our women Active Divers with an
afternoon dive on the beautiful
reefs of Boynton Beach. This is not an
exclusive event, and all who love
and support women in the sport of
diving are welcome to attend. And join
us up the road for our Full Moon
Octopus Dive at the Blue Heron Bridge
that evening! It will definitely be a
summer day to remember.
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International
Travel Updates
If you are a single male willing to
share a room, there is still one spot
available for the 7/20-7/27/24 Little
Cayman trip. Experience valet diving
at its best while diving on the
spectacular world acclaimed Bloody Bay
Wall. Weather permitting, you will
also be able to experience one morning
of diving at nearby Cayman Brac.
Please click
here for more
details and e-mail Daryl Johnson at
diverdaryl@bellsouth.net if you are
interested. Deadline for signing up is 5/18/24.
Also, there is one spot left for a
single female on the 9/21-9/28 Bonaire
trip. In addition to the scheduled
boat dives, explore unlimited shore
diving at its best in a top-notch
resort. If interested, please click
here for
additional details. |
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Divers will remove marine debris
from the Blue Heron Bridge dive site
on Saturday, June 8 during our Dive
Against Debris. |
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Dive
Against Debris on Saturday, June 8
Be part of the world’s largest
underwater community science movement
by joining us for Dive
Against Debris, a program from
the PADI AWARE Foundation. Your
participation will help the
organization create a blueprint to
achieve their critical conservation
goal to reduce marine debris by 50% in
targeted countries by 2030. Our Dive
Against Debris will take place at the
Blue Heron Bridge in which you will
learn tips for debris collection and
collect debris at the Bridge dive
site. After the dive all participants
will bring their debris to our
pavilion where it will be weighed,
surveyed and discarded. Our marine
debris survey will be added to PADI’s
database of
over 2.3 million pieces of marine
debris already removed from the ocean,
contributing to their critical
scientific research that advances the
PADI Blueprint for Ocean Action.
Participation in this fun event is
free of charge and will be followed by
a BBQ. There will be prizes awarded
for largest item, heaviest item, most
unusual item and more. All you need to
participate is your gear, air tank,
and a mesh bag to collect debris. You
can also earn the PADI Dive Against
Debris Diver Specialty Certification
for an additional fee which counts
toward the Advanced Open Water and
Master Scuba Diver Certifications.
RSVP to Rachel at 786-316-9852 or
simply reply to this email to sign up
or for more information on this fun
and rewarding experience. |
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| Lost
Reef Adventures Dream Cat dive boat
sits in Stock Island Marina just
steps from the beautiful Perry Hotel
where we'll be staying in Key
West. |
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Join
Us for Key West Weekend August
23-25
We’ve got a great weekend in Key West
planned this year including three
consecutive days of fantastic diving
in Islamorada and Key West capped off
by the Vandenburg wreck. Active Divers
member Lisa Littleton of Unicorns
Travel has put together a spectacular
lodging package for us for two nights
at the new luxurious Perry Hotel
located on Stock Island marina just
steps from our dive boat. The hotel
offers free shuttle service from the
hotel to all the nightlife and action
in Key West. In addition to a great
rate, this package offers free onsite
parking and reduced resort fee. Join
us for this unforgettable weekend by
reserving the dives through our dive
schedule and using the button below to
reserve your room. It’s the best
weekend of the year, so don’t miss
out! |
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I.CARE
Coral Restoration Experience
Scheduled for
Saturday, October 12
We have teamed up with CNN
Hero Mike Goldberg of
Key Dives to participate in a full-day
coral restoration experience this
year. The I.CARE program starts with a
morning coral workshop. Here all
participants will learn about the
history of our reef, coral morphology,
the science of our corals and hands-on
demonstration on how to put down
coral. In the afternoon we will make
two dives outplanting coral in the
turquoise clear waters on the reefs of
Islamorada. Divers meet at Key
Dives at 8:30
a.m. The cost for this full-day
experience is $110 and can be booked
through the dive
schedule.
Thanks to our Conservation Chair Lisa
Littleton for organizing this event
and to Active Divers Founder and
Safety Officer Lee Wood who will be
onsite for the event greeting members
and serving as Safety Officer for the
dives. If you have any questions about
this event or ideas for future
conservation activities, please
contact Lisa at Lisa@UnicornsTravel.com or 740-503-9589. |
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