7.27.08 - AQUANAUTS Open Water Class

Hello everyone!

Well, just so I don't forget how to shoot video, Sunday July 27th finds the Video Dude with camera in hand, shooting another Open Water class for Instructor Worth O'Brien of AQUANAUTS SCUBA ACADEMY along with Divemaster-in-Training Donna. We are back on board the "American Dream II" in Fort Lauderdale, and we are headed out to the "Ken Vitale" (aka the "Tracy") and a drift dive. The day is clear and the weather cooperative as Captain Todd and Divemasters Brian and Merlin head us out to the first dive site.

When we arrive at our site, we find another boat on the wreck, so we move over about 200 yards to the "Merci Jesus", and Divemaster Merlin jumps in to tie off. When he comes up, he reports that the current is "ripping" (sound familiar?) and it is stiff all the way down to the wreck. We are all getting in on this one, so I am first in so I can go down to the bottom and tape everyone coming down the line. Everyone makes it down after some effort, and we take a quick tour of the wreck using the wreck itself to block some of the current. We came across an 8ft Nurse Shark laying in the sand and I was able to get some video of it before it swam off. Prior to this, I had seen a student from another class do some serious back-pedaling on the deck of the wreck and actually tumble backwards off the wreck to get away from the shark! The shark wasn't even chasing him, just heading in the same direction. It was quite possibly the funniest thing I have ever seen underwater! After taping the shark, it's back up the line for us all and back on the boat. Current on the surface was a little stiff as well, so it was an adventure getting back on the boat.

After our gear changeover and surface interval, Captain Todd has us moored to "The Caves" Reef and we jump in as a class and head to the reef. After touring for a little bit, Worth finds a sandy area and has the students do their skills - mask removal and replacement, emergency swimming ascents, and alternate air ascents. Then more touring and finally up to the boat. There were lots of Lobsters out, a Squid, Blue Tangs, Chromis, French Angels and lots of juvenile fish everywhere. A beautiful way to end the morning. Once we are back at the dock, Worth and Donna give briefings to everyone, followed by certification paperwork and "graduation".

A wonderful day of video shooting, meeting new divers and having fun in Paradise!

The Video Dude

7.26.08 - "Sunkist Reef" and "Lighthouse Ledge"

Hello everyone!

After a week of teaching Open Water students, it's time for the Video Dude, accompanied by his number one dive buddy and Scuba Goddess, Terri, to head out aboard South Florida Diving Headquarters' "Aqua View" for a trip to the "Rodeo 25" and a drift dive. It's a beautiful day for diving - clear skies and flat seas - as Captain Laurie and Divemaster Ed steer us towards our dive site. Also onboard today is E-diver Tim (and his re-breather beast) and, making a rare appearance aboard the "Aqua View", the buddy team of Joe and Peter. An all-star cast if there ever was one! Additionally, there are only 17 of us on board (about half capacity) so we are comfortable as well.

We arrive at our dive site thanks to Captain Laurie's great skills, and Divemaster Ed jumps in to tie the descent line to the wreck. When he comes up, he reports that the current is "ripping" all the way to the bottom and suggests we might rather prefer a drift dive instead. Laurie puts it up to a vote onboard and, as everyone really didn't want to have to work that hard for a dive, we all decide to do a reef drift dive instead. Laurie takes us over to "Sunkist Reef" and Terri, Tim and myself get dropped on the deep side of the reef. We drifted along in a pretty stiff current checking out the Lobsters, Shrimp, and other reef critters. Just about the time I am ready to head up ( I have been working pretty hard with the flag all this time) I feel the flag line go slack and I think the line has broken in the current. I start reeling in the line and find my clip still attached, so the flag somehow managed to unclip on it's own. I break out my DAN surface marker, inflate it and attach it to my reel and shoot it to the surface. We drift a little farther, then it's time for me to go up while Terri and Tim stay down a while longer. I take Terri's DAN surface marker with me because I know that I am not going to end up on the flag when I surface, and I deploy it on the surface as expected to be picked up by the boat.

After our surface interval and gear changeover, Laurie takes us to our next dive site, "Lighthouse Ledge" for our next drift dive. Once again, Terri, Tim and I are dropped on the backside of the reef and we start touring around. The current is a little less this time and once again I have the flag. We saw more Lobsters, Spadefish, Shrimp, a Brittle Starfish (found by Terri), and lots of Grunts, Squirrelfish and Chromis. After nearly an hour's bottom time, we have to come up and end the day.

A beautiful day of diving with Tim as well as the Scuba Goddess Terri in Paradise!

The Video Dude

7.20.08 - Divemaster/Assistant Instructor Log

Hello everyone!

Well, Sunday July 20th finds the Video Dude and Bobby James of Scuba Network Deerfield Beach aboard South Florida Diving Headquarters' "Aqua View", heading out for our students final Open Water Checkout dives. Just like yesterday, we have the class divided into 2 groups (morning session and afternoon session), and today is basically a day of "touring" the reef so we can check the students' buoyancy skills. We are also joined by my friend and dive buddy, Joanie, who is just along to observe Bobby and I, and see what life as an Instructor and Divemaster is all about.

After getting everyone's gear aboard and organized, I have the students assemble their gear. Today is also an evaluation day for their gear assembly skills, so they have to rely on their knowledge and their buddy checks to make sure everything is correct. After this is done, Bobby gives a briefing on what we are doing today and a little bit about the dive sites for the morning session.

Dive #1 is supposed to be on the "Sea Emperor" - a nice wreck with lots of life - but there are already 3 other boats on it when we arrive, so we change locations and head over to the "Ancient Mariner" instead. After a briefing from Bobby on descent/ascent procedures, we jump in and follow the line down to the wreck. A few students had problems equalizing on the way down, so we took it slow and easy. Upon arriving at the tie-off point, we take a tour around the wreck and look at the sights. Then it's back up the line to the boat for our surface interval and gear changeover.

After our gear changeover and surface interval are complete, we head over to our next dive site, "Lighthouse Ledge" for a nice drift dive. I have the dive flag and after organizing everyone on the surface, we descend for a nice lazy drift and check out all the cool stuff. Again, these students are really excited by everything they see, and you can see their eyes are big through their masks. All too soon we have to begin our ascent to our safety stop and finally our boat. Back on the boat, I get everyone started breaking down their gear and packing up so that when we arrive at the dock, we can get everything off quickly and fill out the students' certification paperwork.

Just about the time that Bobby is finished with all the paperwork, the students in the afternoon session start showing up. After we get permission from the boat crew to board, I again get everyone's gear placed on board and start them assembling gear. After that is done, and following another boat briefing from Bobby, we find ourselves at our first dive site of the afternoon, "Sunkist Reef" and I begin the process of getting everyone in the water. I keep everyone in a group on the surface until Bobby joins us in the water, then Bobby gives the signal to descend and we're on our way down to the reef. Another nice, lazy tour checking out the wonders of the reef and watching the students point out everything they see to one another. As always, it seems too soon to have to head back to the boat, but we do, and I get everyone organized changing over their gear for the next dive.

The second dive of the afternoon is on "Lighthouse Ledge" again, but a different section this time. We're lazily drifting along checking everything out - the current has picked up by now - and again the students were absolutely amazed by everything they saw. When we are back on the boat, I have to answer a whole lot of questions about the names of various fish, how to catch lobsters and "what kind of coral was that?" before I could finally get everyone started breaking down gear and packing up for our return to the dock. Back at the dock, it's get everyone's gear off the boat as quickly as possible so we can do more certification paperwork.

Man what a week this has been for teaching and assisting with new divers! But while it can be tiring, it still is fun!

Reporting from Paradise,

The Video Dude

7.19.08 - Divemaster/Assistant Instructor Log

Hello everyone!

Saturday, July 19th dawns bright and beautiful as the Video Dude finds himself getting a group of students organized and ready for their first venture into the "big pool" - the open ocean! Once again, Bobby James of Scuba Network Deerfield Beach, myself and Chuck are leading the pack. The students have their gear laid out and I have them start assembling everything. Today is the day they show us how much they learned this past week and we get to evaluate them on their skills. After everyone has their gear assembled, and after a beach briefing from Bobby, we all pack our gear down to the water's edge and set it carefully in the sand so as to not get sand in the crucial components. Then it's mask fins and snorkel out to the first reef to do snorkel skills and tired diver tows. Everyone demonstrates their ability to perform the snorkel surface dives and the tired diver tows, and then it's back to the beach to put on SCUBA gear.

After getting geared up and having a briefing at water's edge, we head out to the first reef again (this time underwater) and find a nice sandy area for skill evaluation. Bobby, Chuck and I run everyone through mask removal and replacement, regulator recovery, and navigation. Then it's back to the beach to switch tanks for SCUBA dive #2.

After everyone has changed their gear over and each buddy has checked each other, we head back to the water and our sandy area for more skill evaluation. This time we are doing emergency swimming ascents, alternate air ascents, gear removal and finally, a new skill - unconscious diver rescues at the surface. Again, Bobby, Chuck and I run everyone through the various skills until we are satisfied they are comfortable. Then it's back to the beach for gear breakdown/disassembly and cleaning.

Now it's time for the afternoon class to arrive and the cycle starts all over again. This time there are some divers who had taken a resort class with Scuba Network in the mix, and since there were so few students from our pool class in the afternoon session, Bobby had me take the resort class out for a tour of the reef in the area where he was working on the other students' skills. This was lots of fun for me because these kids had only been in the pool to this point, and everything they saw in the ocean was exciting to them. It always reminds me why I got into diving in the first place! After the tour was done, I said goodbye to the resort class and assisted Bobby with the final afternoon dive.

Tired, but having fun in Paradise!

The Video Dude

7.18.08 - Divemaster/Assistant Instructor Log

Hello everyone.

Friday night, July 18th finds the Video Dude in the pool again at the Pompano Aquatic Center for the final pool session for this class of students. Once again I am working with Bobby James of Scuba Network Deerfield Beach and independent instructor Chuck as we finish up the student's skills in preparation for the beach dives tomorrow. Tonight we are working on taking the students to the deep end and teaching ear equalization skills, removing and replacing gear, free descents/ascents, emergency swimming ascents and underwater communication.

Once again we split the students into groups and begin rotating them through the "skill stations" until the skills have been completed. This would often mean a student would have to perform a skill in the deep end, then head for the shallow end for another, then back to the deep end for yet another. We stressed very highly the importance of equalizing their ears and made sure everyone was equalizing as they were moving from station to station.

After the skills were completed, we had everyone head out to their cars with gear in place and begin to disassemble and clean gear, then we gave a briefing on the upcoming beach dives tomorrow ( more on that in the next blog posting!). It was another fun-filled night of teaching and evaluating skills. Perhaps I WILL finish my instructor training after all! :)

Having fun in the pool in Paradise (on SCUBA),

The Video Dude

7.16.08 - Divemaster/Assistant Instructor Log

Hello everyone!

Wednesday night, July 16th finds the Video Dude back in the pool in his role as Divemaster/Assistant Instructor for Open Water Pool Session #2 at the Pompano Beach Aquatic Center. Once again I am teamed up with Bobby James from Scuba Network Deerfield Beach and this time we are also joined by independent instructor Chuck to help us run the students through their skills. Tonight we're doing snorkeling skills, compass navigation, buddy checks, descent/ascent procedures, and switching from regulator to snorkel while swimming at the surface.

Once again we divide into groups and each of us takes a number of students for a particular skill, then switch groups. This went on all night until all the skills were completed. We only got interrupted one time due to lightning in the area and had to exit the pool area for 20 minutes until the "all clear" was sounded. While we were waiting, I had everyone get their compasses and head out to the parking lot for some navigation lessons. By the time we were allowed back in the pool, everyone was pretty proficient at navigation.

Well that's about it for this session. I am really liking the opportunity to stretch my teaching skills a bit and see the students get their skills down. I hope to do it some more in the future!

Another night of fun in Paradise!

The Video Dude

7.14.08 - Divemaster/Assistant Instructor Log

Hello everyone.

Like I said in a previous post, the work is coming fast and furious now!

Monday, July 14th finds the Video Dude doing his Divemaster/Assistant Instructor thing for Scuba Network in Deerfield Beach. Tonight I am assisting with an Open Water class and we are at the Pompano Beach Aquatic Center doing confined water skills. I am joined by Instructor Bobby James and a large group of eager divers-to-be.

I help Bobby get everyone organized poolside, making sure they have prepared their new gear properly and not forgotten anything. After everyone is set, Bobby gives the briefing discussing pool safety, hand signals, and skills to be performed tonight. Then everyone gets to get in the pool and do their required swims and treading water. After that, Bobby and I demonstrate for everyone how to properly assemble and test their gear and it's into the pool for skill demonstrations and practice. First, Bobby and I demonstrate the buddy method for donning gear and we go over the buddy checklist. Then, I take one group and Bobby has the other group and we go through the underwater breathing (with and without mask), mask clearing and removing/replacing the mask, and regulator clearing and removal/recovery.

By this time, our pool session is nearly over and we have to start vacating the premises. We demonstrate how to do a ladder exit with gear on (as if we were on a boat) and have everyone wear their gear to their parking spot. This is when we show them how to use your buddy skill to remove the gear, and show them how to properly clean it.

There's more to come on Wednesday, so Stay Tuned!

An exciting night of teaching and evaluating students here in Paradise!
--The Video Dude

7.13.08 - AQUANAUTS Open Water Class

Hello everyone.

Sunday, July 13th finds the Video Dude back "behind the lens" shooting video for another Open Water class for our friends at AQUANAUTS SCUBA ACADEMY. Today, Instructor Worth O'Brien and Divemasters Donna, Charles and Andre have a class of 20 students to get through their skills and become certified divers. We're aboard the "American Dream II" with Captain Dave at the helm and Divemasters Todd and Brian on deck, heading out to the "Tracy" and a drift dive on "Oakland Ledge". An amazing morning weather-wise with nearly flat seas and beautiful sunshine.

Captain Dave gets us out to the "Tracy" and drops Brian off to tie off to the wreck and check out conditions down below. He reports a mild current and great visibility, so as soon as the group is ready, I jump in and head for the bottom to video everyone coming down the line. The current on the wreck makes for a little bit of work, but it's manageable. I position myself on the wreck to video everyone swimming by, then follow the group around as they take a quick tour. Then it's back to the boat to get ready for dive #2. I stay below for a little while longer shooting some of the interior of the wreck so the students can view it later.

After heading back to the boat and getting our gear changed over, Captain Dave takes us over to the mooring balls on the second reef line and puts us in on "Oakland Ledge". The class is split into two groups at this point with a divemaster guiding each one under the watchful eye of the instructor. We take a brief tour of the reef then find a nice sandy area for the students to work on their skills. After everyone is successful at completing their skills, a final tour of the reef then back to the boat for pickup.

This video is available for purchase! Click HERE to purchase.

Another great day of diving and witnessing new divers on their way to enjoying the beautiful diving here in Paradise!
--The Video Dude

7.12.08 - Divemaster Log

Hello everyone.

Saturday, June 12th finds the Video Dude donning his Divemaster hat and working aboard Parrot Island Scuba's "Fathoms O' Fun" as Divemaster for the day. A very interesting experience as I get to see what it's like on the other side of the dive boat. Captain Jerry has us scheduled for the morning trip to go to the "Ancient Mariner" and a drift dive on "Lost Ledge" Reef.

With his usual speed and skill, Jerry has us out to the "Mariner" in no time and this time I get to jump in and tie off to the wreck. I was originally scheduled to dive with Scuba Goddess Terri before being asked to be Divemaster, so she was on the boat and jumped in with me to watch me tie off and to get into the wreck before anyone else. Jerry gives me a perfect drop on the wreck and I find a good tie off point. After saying goodbye to Terri, I head up to the boat to give the dive conditions report. Then I am helping divers get into and out of the water and making sure everything on the deck was secure and out of the way. I must admit that it seems like forever before everyone comes back up, and I guess that gives me first-hand experience at "divemaster loneliness"? LOL

Next stop is "Lost Ledge" and I assign groups and buddies and distribute dive flags. I get everyone into the water with their flags and begin monitoring flags for signs of divers on the surface or other problems. It does get very quiet onboard when everyone's in the water, and it's a good time to relax a bit while watching the flags.
Soon everyone is coming back onboard and I get them back to their seats and secured in place and we are heading back to the dock to get the boat changed over for the afternoon trip.

After cleaning the boat from the morning trip, we get the next group aboard - mostly students - and head out to the "Pompano Drop-off" also known as the "Balls" because of all the mooring balls that have been installed to protect the reefs. Because of the large number of students aboard, there are really only 3 groups diving, so flag watching is a little easier this time around. All of the groups head down the "ball line" and we keep an eye out for divers surfacing or boats that get too close. Soon, we see groups starting to surface and Jerry gets the boat over for pickup. We assist everyone back on the boat and to their seats, and get them starting to changeover their gear for the second dive.

After the surface interval is up, we are already at the next site on the "Drop-off" and once again I get the groups organized and into the water. After about an hour, everyone's on their way back aboard and I assist everyone to their seats and get their gear secured for the trip back to the dock. Once at the dock, we get the boat emptied out and I assist with cleaning and securing the boat.

It was my first experience as a boat crew member, and while I enjoyed it immensely, I definitely got a new perspective on a divemaster's day!

More fun and new experiences in Paradise!
-- The Video Dude

7.9.08 - NIGHT DIVE - The "Dantor" and The "Ebenezer II"

Hello everyone.

Wednesday night, July 9th finds the Video Dude and Dive Diva Heather aboard the "American Dream II" heading out to do a couple of night dives on the "Dantor" and the "Ebenezer II". Weather conditions continued to be awesome as we headed out with Captain Todd at the helm and Divemasters Brian and Dave on deck. Heather and I are diving as part of a group of E-Divers, an online dive group that plans lots of dive trips all over South Florida.

We arrive at our first wreck - the "Dantor" and Brian jumps in to tie off to the wreck. After hearing his report on bottom conditions, we jump in. Visibility in the first 20fsw or so was less than 10fsw, but after about 30fsw it became amazingly clear all the way to the bottom. This is a wreck that is not done very often and it is also fairly new having been sunk in 2002. Not many big critters - although I DID see a nice Barracuda - but there were lots of little critters and all of the coral polyps had their "feelers" out. Because of the depth of the wreck, we had barely enough time to do a complete lap of the outside and poke our cameras and lights in a couple of holes before having to head up to the boat. I'd like to come back and do this wreck during the day so I can see what I missed.

After our surface interval and gear changeover, we have arrived at our next dive site, the "Ebenezer II". After Brian ties off to the wreck and gives us our conditions report, we all jump in again and begin touring this wreck. Again, not any large critters, but Heather found some Hermit Crabs and Anenomes over in the sand next to the wreck, and the Corals were all in "bloom" on the wreck. We did a couple of turns around the outside and I made notes on possible penetration points for future dives.

This video is available for purchase! Click HERE to purchase.

Another great set of night dives and another great dive buddy here in Paradise!
--The Video Dude

7.6.08 - The "Jay Scutti" and "Sunkist Reef"

Hello everyone.

Sunday July 6th finds the Video Dude and his favorite dive buddy (and underwater model), Scuba Goddess Terri, once again aboard Parrot Island Scuba's "Fathoms O' Fun" heading out to do a wreck dive on the "Jay Scutti" and a drift dive on "Sunkist Reef". Today we have Captain Mikey at the helm and Divemaster Jonathan working the deck. Weather conditions once again are amazing and it looks to be a great dive day.

With his usual amazing skill, Mikey gets us to our dive site in no time and Jonathan jumps in to tie off to the wreck. After listening to his site condition report, Terri and I jump in with our mission to once again video interiors of the wreck and try to find some new areas to see. We were able to not only check out the interior of the "Scutti" but also swam over to the nearby wreck of the "Tracy" and check out the interiors there as well. We were in an interior section of one of the wrecks when there was a major silt-out event and visibility went to nothing real quick. Fortunately we were already in contact with some wreck guidelines that had been run previous to our visit, and were able to follow them to the exit. So I got to experience my first silt-out and gain some respect for those guidelines! This mission accomplished, we headed back up the ascent line and back to the boat.

After our surface interval and gear changeover, we find we have arrived at our drift dive site and we jump in. This time Terri and I are joined by Gail, a buddy-less photography diver and we plan to drift along as slowly as possible to allow for great video and photo opportunities. Plenty of life on the reef, with lots of Blue Chromis, Snappers, Grunts, Lobster, a couple of White-Spotted Filefish, and lots more. We were having so much fun exploring all of the finger reefs that we hardly noticed we had been down for over an hour! We didn't really want to come up, but sadly we had to.

This video is available for purchase! Click HERE to purchase.

Another great dive day, and I made a new dive friend as well here in Paradise!
-- The Video Dude

7.5.08 - The "Ancient Mariner" and Turtle Ledge Reef

Hello everyone.

Once again another week has passed and I have been too busy to keep my blog updated! Things are really hopping around here now that we're in the middle of summer.

Anyway, July 5th finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri once again aboard Parrot Island Scuba's Fathoms O' Fun heading out for a wreck dive on the "Ancient Mariner" and a drift dive on "Turtle Ledge" Reef. The weather conditions were awesome as we headed out to the site. Captain Jerry gets us there in no time and Divemaster Kimmie jumps in and ties off to the wreck. Terri and I jump in after hearing Kimmie's report on conditions down below, and we immediately head for the interior of the wreck. My mission on this day is to video the interior sections, and hopefully get into some areas we haven't seen before. We were successful on the new areas - I found an area that looked like it used to be a bathroom, complete with tiled floor and shower drain! We also saw a "mutant" lobster - previously described by someone else as a cross between a Banded Shrimp and a Spotted Lobster - in one of the interior sections. Next trip, my mission will be to get video of it for identification purposes! After checking a few more areas, we have to head back to the boat.

After our gear changeover and a quick trip to our next dive site - "Turtle Ledge" Reef - Terri and I jump in for a nice lazy drift dive. Visibility was 70ft and water temps were in the low 80s. We covered a very small section of the reef compared to everyone else and checked out the small stuff this time around. We saw lots of Banded Shrimp, a small Golden Spotted Eel, a few not-so-small Lobster and lots of juvenile Chromis and Grunts. Regrettably, after over an hour's bottom time, we had to get back to the boat. It was a great drift on a pretty reef!

The video from today is available for purchase! Click HERE to order.


Another beautiful dive day here in Paradise!
-- The Video Dude