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Showing posts from September, 2012

News from Down Under Dive Shop

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Howdy gang, If you've were in the Gulf this past week then you know what I'm about to say is true. Viz was awesome! We had some of the best conditions ever out on the carrier.  100' plus viz.  The YDTs and Petes Tide were equally putting on a show.  How about those big Sandbar Sharks.  Sweet! This weekend we saw lots of tropicals  and an octopus or two on Nu' Barge. Navy Tug put on a show with tons of fish and even a  bull shark at the end of the dive. We topped off the week with a triple dip at Three Mile Barge.  Most of the crew claims to have never witnessed viz like that before on the old barge. We hosted a Fish Id clinic where the winner, Open Water Student, Lance Olsen won a pair of Polarized Ocean Reef Sunglasses for Identifying the most fish correctly.  He should probably keep it a secret that he is a marine biologist. First Open Water Dives: Lance Olsen, Will Johnson, Michael Perkinson, Phillip Garder, Frank Selesky, Luke Caden, Jena Rush, and

The Instructor's Corner (NITROX)

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Hi Team, After multiple conversations this week about the same topic (Enriched Air Nitrox Diving) I thought it would be useful to resurrect an old column  that we used to do back in the day of snail mail and actual paper newsletters, The Instructor's Corner.  These brief articles covered general knowledge and our techniques on topics such as local beach diving and how the pros do it, safe and general computer diving, practices, boat diving, spearfishing and so on.  Some of these articles have even been published in the past like Beth's mask clearing made easy in Dive Training Magazine and Bryan's & Hugh's tip's from the pros in PADI's Sport Diver Magazine. OK, first off I am not a physicist or anything of the like.  Matter of fact I am an artist so numbers and math are all goofy in my head anyway, but if I can learn this stuff anyone can. If you are not Nitrox Certified then hop over to the e-Learning page and lets get er done.   ***Click Here

Our friend...

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Our underwater realm has lost one of its most passionate ambassadors and role models, PADI Instructor Harlon R. Smith Jr. I will never claim to have been Harlon’s best friend. I only met Harlon at the end of 2005 through a mutual friend and long time dive buddy, Tom Velie. The first thing that I noticed was his infectious smile and great attitude. Harlon had a way about him. He was very easy to be around and everyone flocked to him. Including me. He had that quality of leadership that all we Scuba Instructors desire. I remember thinking this guy would be a great instructor. After dragging Harlon around the various wrecks in the Gulf of Mexico for a year, I finally coerced a “at the time” very prone to motion sickness, Harlon to follow me on a trip involving small planes, small boats, and bouncy conditions in a third world country in Central America. I mention this because when I met Harlon at the destination it was the only time he didn’t have his smiley face, because of the af