AUGUST EASY
DIVER TIMES
TO REACH US
PHONE: 901-753-2926
EMAIL: SaralynnT@aol.com
US MAIL: 6161 Shelby Oaks Drive, Memphis TN 38134
WEB:
www.easydiversmemphis.com
To unsubscribe to this monthly message, please hit your reply button and place
your full name and 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.
Dear Fabulous Funseekers
Wow, my cup runneth over with travel, adventure, and great clients who have
become friends. The Carnival cruise to Alaska totally exceeded all of our
expectations. I am not sure that any of us were really prepared for the wild
expanse of beauty that is our 50th state. Let's see, did we love the zip lines
100 feet above the rainforest floor, the dogmush camp, historic train ride,
float planes,kayaking, glaciers, bears, whales, otters, moose? It is hard to
say because each day we thought the next could not get any better and it DID!
Cruising is a wonderful way to have great adventure with great comfort and
ease. We are already planning on a repeat performance same time next year.
It was quite a stretch to leave Alaska and two days later be at Martha's Quarry
for some pretty dives with old and new divers, then two days after that at Lake
Ouachita for a genuine summer play hooky day, and then two days after that in
Roatan, Central America. We loved the Bay Islands Beach Resort and literally
took over the place. There was one lone traveler who is now an officially
adopted Easy Diver. Not only does he like our kind of fun, but he is a
photographer extraordinaire. Tom will be in town for our September picture
party! We apparently are now demanding lots more than just diving on our
weeklong adventures. We went on a really adventurous canopy tour, went
horseback riding from the mountain to the beach, hiking, shopping, spa visiting,
and dancing. Did I leave anything out?? Of course at the resort we also had
great diving, a massage therapist, wonderful surrogate pets (dogs, cats,
parrots, toucans, and a scarlet macaw with attitude). I could go on and on, but
what happens on vacation, stays on vacation! Good news is that most of this
traveling group of vagabounds will reunite on our 2007 trip to Australia and our
2008 trip to the Red Sea.
I left my Roatan buddies a day early to take the hopscotch all over the country
of Honduras plane ride back to Miami. There I had the pleasure of meeting
another group of fun, fearless, diving fanatics and a week aboard our favorite
home place, The Juliet. We had a wonderful week full of diving and lots of wind
for sailing. We had some bad weather threaten, but do no harm. We made tons of
dives and loved getting reunited with four of my Easy Divers from back in the
1980s days of my business. It amazes and thrills me that we can pick up right
where we left off and make the good times continue to roll. There are several
new crew members to welcome and they are working together like a dream already.
After all this travel I was in need of some serious down time. So much fun and
adventure does require some recharging! I am back in the office and back in
town for the whole month of August. Lucky for me Professor and Frankie gladly
took over the reins on the July trip up to Mermet Springs and did a great job of
sharing their skill with lots of new divers who are now happily certified.
Thanks guys for a job well done.
As I spend this month at home, I will be working on some new travel destinations
and getting the details together for Costa Rica, Australia, the Manatee trip,
and maybe a long weekend down to the Dry Tortugas. There has also been a
request for a whale watching/kayaking trip next summer in and around British
Columbia. Want to go somewhere new? Let me know and I will see what I can come
up with. In the meantime save some vacation days and get that discretionary
income into that trip savings account. I am bad for your budget, but good for
your fun factor, and not afraid to say it. Have a GRATEFUL day!
TO PARTY!
A note to all of our travelers: please put your best pictures on a disc for me
to use for our Easy Divers Scrapbook and for our website. I will be calling you
in the next few days to collect your favorite pictures. I would like to have
pictures in the scrapbook before our parties so that you can help me with the
storytelling and journaling that I like to include with our photos.
JULIET TRAVELERS
Monday, August 7 at 6:30 PM at Greg & Jeff's midtown condo. Please bring a
snack, your preferred beverage and a folding chair. I will email you
directions. RSVP please by Saturday at noon.
ROATAN TRAVELERS
Friday, August 11 and Saturday, September 23 at 6:30 PM in Cordova in the street
between Susan and Saralynn's house. Please call party master Susan for
details. Bring a snack, beverage, and lawn chair. Please RSVP by Wednesday at
noon.
ALASKA TRAVELERS
Sunday, August 20 at Beth & Brent's backyard pool. Bring a snack and
swimsuit. Please RSVP by Friday at noon.
TIP YOUR HAT TO
Our newly certified Open Water Divers
Tere Gusmus Julie Stewart Jennifer Krueger
Kris Bosley Kyle Krisler Zach Logesin
Megan Long Deanna Long
Our capable First Aid Responders
Randy Clark Michelle Olson Don Wray
Geoff Wood Joe Joe Mastellone Paul Brown
Professor
Divers who have joined the '50 and 100 dives' club
Please email me! I know there are several of you who have hit
personal milestones this summer and since I am having a brain freeze as to every
person that I did a special memorable dive with, I am holding off publishing my
list until I hear from you.
TRAINING
DISCOVER SCUBA, SCUBA FITNESS AND GROUP SNORKELING - $20 activity fee
Want to try diving, update your scuba skills, get familiar with your new
equipment, or just practice? We will be at the pool on the 2nd & 4th Mondays
each month to supervise diving and snorkeling fun. Students who register and
prepay 24 hours in advance my take a $5 discount.
Mondays: August 14 & 28 at 7:00 PM
Saturdays: By appointment
ADULT SWIMMING/SNORKELING - $25 per session
By integrating the calm, comfort, and control fostered by using a mask and fins,
along with emphasis on breathing, stretching, and focus, adults who have
previously been uncomfortable or afraid of the water, learn to relax. As a
result, each student establishes a feeling of safety and skill in the water that
can open up a whole new world of fun and adventure. Each private, thirty minute
session is personally targeted to the individual.
Date: By appointment
OPEN WATER SCUBA CLASS - $350 Group, $510 Private
Now is the time to get started in your PADI scuba diving class so that you can
easily be ready for spring and summer diving fun. Beginner divers love our warm
pool and our friendly and caring staff. We meet for five combination
pool/classroom sessions which provide more than enough time for skill
development in our small, intimate classes. Please call today to register and
pick up your student kit and materials.
OWC #8 Thursdays: August 10 at 6:30 PM
OWC #9 Tuesdays: September 5 at 6:30 PM
Semi-private and private classes available on request, flexible scheduling and
one on one attention are designed to give you the very best experience.
RESCUE DIVER - $325
Our newly revised program is BETTER and more comprehensive than ever! Know
what to do when the going gets tough! Help yourself, or help others with this
challenging level of dive training. This emergency response and preparedness
training makes you a better diver and is an important step towards the PADI
Master Scuba Diver rating or a leadership role as a Divemaster or Instructor.
All students must complete the PADI Emergency First Response CPR and basic First
Aid course and have all of their own gear (except tank) to enroll in this
class.
RD #2 August 1: Tuesdays at 7:00 PM - 5 sessions
TO PAY ATTENTION
Divers Insurance
DAN Divers Alert Network - Scuba
Diving and Dive Safety Association
Before you head off on that long awaited scuba trip, look at the benefits of
membership and insurance through DAN. They have several excellent program
options to consider. Please visit their website now.
Oriskany Wreck News by Easy Diver Correspondant Bond Lux
Here is our report on the newest cool sight for weekend diving from our very
own: Bond Lux
About 2 years ago, I stumbled on the news that a retired aircraft carrier – the
USS Oriskany, CVN 34 – was to be sunk a few miles offshore from Pensacola as an
artificial reef. For the better part of the last 2 years, I’ve been watching,
waiting, anticipating the sinking of this boat. What took so long? Mostly
environmental permits, environmental reviews, public hearings regarding
environmental concerns, and cleaning up potential environmental “hazards” on the
boat – oh yes, and a couple of hurricane seasons.
Enough! On May 17, the “Mighty O” had her bottom blown out for a “controlled”
sinking. Well what was expected to be a 5 hour process was done in about 30
minutes (that’s what you get when you let the Navy have 500 pounds of C-4!).
Within 2 days of the sinking, the dive community got the word – “the pool is
open!”. In spite of topside videos of the sinking showing the boat rolling
about 30 degrees, she came to rest on the bottom perfectly level. Ok, so
what?!?!? It’s just an old rusty aircraft carrier. It’s only about 900 feet
long (okay…3 football fields long!) and 160 feet wide. From keel to the top of
the island is only about 150 feet (e.g. 15 stories) So what! It is only
sitting in 200+ feet of warm Gulf water. So what! Hey…have you ever been next
to, let alone on one of these suckers?
While on vacation to Gulf Shores the first of June, I convinced my wife to let
me take a little dive outing to the Oriskany (actually she kicked me out the
door with instructions to get it out of my system!). Right now, only Pensacola
operators are making the 25 mile trip out to the O. On the boat with me was a
writer for a British dive magazine, the owner of a dive shop in Gulf Shores, a
guy from Germany that came over just to dive the O. It took about 2 hours to
get out to the O but once we were tied onto the boat, we got the “pools open”
word. Giant stride…spash…ok signal…get camera…grab hold of the down & swim
lines…wait for buddies…signal ok…descend…pull to the bow of the dive boat…look
down…though the layer of tidal stuff you can only see darkness. We begin the
descent down the anchor line and against a 1-2 knot current…Down…30 feet…35 feet
we start to see through that tidal trash an imposing grey mass…40 feet…45 feet
we break through into clear water and there is the island…can you say
“O”…”OH”…”OH WOW”…”Holy - - - - COW”…50 feet you start seeing schools of “bait
fish” teaming around the island…55 feet looking straight down you see 4 or 5
stories of cutouts in the side of the island allowing penetration to the
island…60 feet skads of fish are all swirling all around…Between 65 and 70 feet
and we finally can grab hold of the railings at the top of the island. Looking
down, the flight deck is barely discernable. Starting to move around the
island, we notice that on the floor there are baby crabs and blennies…we’re 150
feet off the bottom on a big chunk of steel and here these little bottom/sand
dwellers have already taken up residence. We begin the descent to the flight
deck. 80…90…100…and the details of the deck are now getting clearer but it is
also noticeably darker…110…120…gear down…touchdown!...standing on the flight
deck my gauge reads 130…and that’s 4 feet off the actual deck! Oh man…Oh me…
You look up to the surface and divers at about the top of the island are just
dark shadows. Look around real quick. On the stern side of the island are some
plaques identifying the Oriskany, remembering its history, and commemorating the
efforts to sink her…3 weeks after the sinking these brass plaques are already
covered. Okay…air and bottom time is already an issue after only about 3
minutes of looking around. We begin the ascent toward the bridge (bow end) to
scout out the next dive. Man!
On the second dive we “only” go to about 100 then spend most of our time
penetrating the bridge and some of the top of the island. Talk about
challenging! There is supposed to be safe passage on the interior of the island
from the flight deck all the way to the top with openings at every level. We
play captain on the bridge go through the open windows then circle the upper
part of the island. I decide to try going through the top “floor” of the
island. Talk about tight squeezes – hatchways are barely 28-30 inches wide and
when you “miss” a clean passage your tank announces your blunder with a very
loud, deep, penetrating boom. Again, because of the depth air and bottom time
are starting to be an issue. So we circle the island again one last time and
head for the anchor line up to the dive boat. As we slowly ascend we watch
this massive playground slowly disappear. The challenge for the next dives
includes penetrating the island (with tight hatchways, current, some dangling
stuff leftover from the Navy, and depth this will make for some real “fun”),
exploring more of the island superstructure (masts hanging out over the abyss,
walkways, old gun emplacements, etc.), and getting further out the flight deck
for a more panoramic view of the island. Of course, just seeing how the sea
slowly claims the O will be worth the show. There is a lone barracuda hovering
around the island along with the schools of “bait” fish. There was a sighting
by one of tech divers of a large eagle ray doing a touch-and-go landing on the
flight deck the week before. Oh yes…that diver from Germany. He was using a
tri-mix rebreather and had been cleared to do a solo dive of the hanger deck and
beyond. His only dive went for close to 2 hours, including decompression
stops. He penetrated the hanger deck (at about 160 feet) and said it resembled
a big cave – the openings on the other side were mere dots of light when he
entered and pitch black once he got away from his entry point. He also
inspected the sands at over 200 feet. And the writer from Britain…he should
be publishing his findings & pics in July or August.
Trip Deadline Clarification
All of our trips have a listed deadline. We need a minimum number of six
participants for a trip to run as scheduled. The deadline helps us to confirm
that there is enough interest to keep the trip on the books. As long as we have
six people the trip will run. We encourage you to call for availability if you
would like to sign up after the deadline has passed. Often times we can add you
on up until just a few days prior to departure on the local trips. If in doubt,
CALL US!
TRAVELTIME
MARTHA'S QUARRY, Nashville, Tennessee
AUGUST 26 - 27, 2006
What's not to like about our favorite quarry just down the road? Travelers will
depart by 7:15 on Saturday morning and dive Saturday afternoon and Sunday
morning before returning home. The four story building, rock crusher and
various and sundry underwater 'wrecks' make this a lot of fun whether you are a
first time or experienced diver. If you will not be crashing on a friend or
relatives couch, call us for hotel suggestions and pricing. Trip fee includes:
pool practice session, customized itinerary, admissions, airfills, staff
supervision, and dinner Saturday night. For those of you on a certifcation
mission: Open Water, Advanced, and Rescue Diver training dives will be held.
TRIP FEE: $140 Diver, $40 vacationing buddy (please note: children are not
allowed on quarry property unless they are diving and under my supervision)
DEPOSIT: $85 due by August 11
BALANCE: Due by August 18
LAKE OUACHITA, Hot Springs, Arkansas
PLAY HOOKY DAYS: The last Wednesday of the month
August 30
How delicious will it be to float around on one of Arkansas' most beautiful
lakes diving and playing when the rest of the world toils! We leave at 7:00 AM
and return home by dark. Trip fee includes: pool practice session, customized
itinerary, staff supervision, and boat fees.
TRIP FEE: $75
DEPOSIT: $40 due no later than August 16 deadline
BALANCE: Due August 23
LAKE NORFORK, Jordan, Arkansas
SEPTEMBER 22 - 24, 2006
Join us for a big house party and dive weekend at this beautiful lake on the
other side of Hardy, Arkansas. Trip fee includes: pool practice session,
customized itinerary, staff supervision, group River House accomodations, boat
fees, airfills, and dinner Saturday night.
TRIP FEE: $195
DEPOSIT: $95 Due at time of booking, deadline: September 8
BALANCE: Due September 15
TEMPTATIONS
THE JULIET, BAHAMAS LIVE ABOARD
October 7 - 13, 2006
Year after year this is one of our favorite dive trips! There is nothing like
cruising around on a historic 104 sailing schooner while eating, diving,
playing, and cavorting with dolphins to make your year perfect.
One single space remains!
TRIP FEE: $1355 from Miami plus port tax
DEPOSIT: $400 due at time of booking
BALANCE: Due 60 days prior to departure
HOMOSASSA SPRINGS, FLORIDA
JANUARY 18 - 23, 2007
Frolic with manatees, drift Rainbow River, explore the local springs, and take a
step back into time as we play and relax in the best that old time Florida has
to offer. The waterfront villas and our personal dive boat are already
reserved, other details are still pending.
TRIP FEE: To be announced
DEPOSIT: $100 to claim a villa bedroom
BALANCE: Due 30 days prior to departure
COSTA RICA
MARCH 2007, date to be announced
This trip is not for the faint of heart but for the adventurous traveler who
likes a challenge and has at least a moderate degree of physical fitness.
Planned adventures include: hiking, canyoning, zip lines, white water rafting
and river floats, horseback riding, hot air balloon rides, and snorkeling. Trip
plans are currently being made. There will be a trip planning party to discuss
options and budgets.
TRIP FEE: $2500 ballpark figure
DEPOSIT: $500 due at time of reservation
BALANCE: Due 60 days prior to departure
THE SPIRIT, CARNIVAL CRUISE TO ALASKA
JUNE 2007
Easy Divers LOVE cruising Alaska, all we could say on our last trip was, NEXT
time we want to explore.... There is no diving scheduled, just a lot of great
shipboard activities and amazing shore excursions. We will embark from
Vancouver and visit: Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, Whittier and end up for
a day in Anchorage. Since each port is unique, excursions include just about
every kind of adventure you can imagine. Our favorites last year were: canopy
tour zip lining in the rain forest, dogsled/mush camp, float planes, glacier
viewing/hiking, wildlife tours, whale watching, historic railways, kayaking and
hiking. Call us today for a dedicated flyer on the Northbound Glacier Cruise.
The trip price does include air from most US Gateway cities. Prices are subject
to change based on availability.
TRIP FEE: 4A - inside room, lower level - $1921 per person
6A - picture window - $2272 per person
8A - balcony - $2514 per person
DEPOSIT: $200 due at time of reservation
BALANCE: Due 60 days prior
THE JULIET, BAHAMAS LIVE ABOARD
July 7 - 13, 2007
Year after year this is one of our favorite dive trips and it always sells out
quickly! There is nothing like cruising around on a historic 104 sailing
schooner while eating, diving, playing, and cavorting with dolphins to make your
year perfect.
Make your deposit today or be left standing on the dock!
TRIP FEE: $1435 from Miami plus port tax
DEPOSIT: $250 if paid by Oct 1, $400 due at time of booking after Oct 1
BALANCE: Due 60 days prior to departure
AUSTRALIA
THANKSGIVING 2007
Trip planning now in progress, stay tuned for further details.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL trip deposits are nonrefundable, please call us for a copy of
the Easy Diver Travel application that contains the full cancellation policy and
penalties. Travel insurance is STRONGLY suggested. Visit our website for a
direct link to Travelex Insurance.
Saralynn
www.easydiversmemphis.com
901-753-2926