Archive for June, 2010
6.21.10 Diveheart Chicago in Key Largo, FL
Monday, June 21st, 2010
Hello everyone.
Today I had the opportunity to travel to Key Largo, FL to shoot video of a group of disabled divers from Diveheart Chicago. This group makes the trip down here every year to give their recently-certified divers a chance to dive in tropical waters and experience what we get to see every day.
I arrived in Key Largo around 9:30am with Worth O’Brien of AQUANAUTS Scuba Academy, a local SCUBA Instructor who works with Diveheart South Florida and is a Disabled Diver Buddy Trainer for the Handicapped Scuba Association. We drive over to our dive charter operator for the day, Rainbow Reef Dive Charters to check in and make sure the logistics for the day’s dives are squared away.
After a brief time to relax and grab a bite to eat, we start to meet up with the members of the Chicago group and make preparations to get aboard our boat for the afternoon, the “Tropical Adventure”. Captain Zack and Divemaster Amber welcomed us aboard and disabled diver buddy volunteers from both Chicago and South Florida helped get all the divers and their gear aboard the boat. After a couple of briefings from both the captain and Diveheart leaders, we get underway and headed out to our dive site for the afternoon. After a brief ride, we arrive at a dive site called “Grecian Rocks” and we get ready to dive in an area protected from wave action by the reef itself. Depths range from 5-10fsw and visibility is a bit murky due to surge action stirring up the sand and seagrass.
The buddy volunteers bring the disabled divers one-by-one to the dive platform and assist them in getting into their gear and, ultimately, into the water where their dive buddies are waiting for them to take them on their big adventure. While shooting video of all the activity, I got to see
-
first-hand
how disabled diver buddies are crucial to the success of these dives, and I got to put some of my buddy training to good use as well. While underwater with the various buddy teams, I also got to see the excitement in the eyes of the divers as they got their first glimpse of the underwater world in the Florida Keys. It definitely made the trip worthwhile!
Another great video project completed here in Paradise!
Doug, the “Video Dude”
Tags: AQUANAUTS Scuba Academy, Chicago, Diveheart, Grecian Rocks, Handicapped Scuba Association, Key Largo, Rainbow Reef Dive Charters, South Florida, Worth O'Brien
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6.10.10 - The “Captain Dan” and Lighthouse Ledge Reef
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Hello everyone!
Thursday, June 10th finds the Video Dude once again aboard “Scubatyme III” heading out for a video shoot on the “Captain Dan” and Lighthouse Ledge. Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda and Owner Enzo are all aboard along with 8 other divers, out to have a great day on the water. The seas are almost flat, hardly any current and it’s a bright sunny morning as we head out of the Hillsboro Inlet.
Captain Bob gets us out to our first dive site - the “Captain Dan” in no time, and we all prepare to jump in after Amanda comes back up from tying off the descent/ascent line. I am first down the line and only encounter a mild current on the wreck while making my way from the stern towards the bow and back. Friendly Horse-eye Jacks and Spadefish watch me closely as I document the wreck on video. All too soon it’s time to head back to the ascent line and do my safety stops on the way back up to the surface.
After switching out gear for the next dive, Captain Bob heads over to the ever-popular Lighthouse Ledge Reef for our second dive. Once again I am in the water first and going solo on this dive to shoot more video of the reef. Almost immediately after reaching the reef, I encounter a large Porcupinefish, a Green Moray Eel, a Spotted Moray Eel, Arrow Crabs, Pufferfish, Squirrelfish and tons of Grunts and Snappers. With the sun being out the whole dive, the reef was really “poppin’” with color and was the prettiest I have seen in some time!
That’s about it for this video project report. If you’re interested, there’s a link below to purchase ($20) your own video copy of these dives to share with your friends.
Diving the days away here in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Arrow Crabs, Captain Dan, Divemaster Amanda, Enzo, Green Moray, Grunts, Hillsboro Inlet, Horse-eye Jacks, Lighthouse Ledge, Porcupinefish, Pufferfish, Scubatyme, Snappers, Spadefish, Spotted Eel, Squirrelfish, Video Dude
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6.7.10 - Dive #600!
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Hello everyone!
Today marks another diving milestone for the Video Dude as I completed my 600th (non-teaching) dive. Super-FABOO dive buddy Joanie was my buddy for this momentous occasion as we boarded “Scubatyme III” and headed out to dive on the “Sea Emperor” and Lighthouse Ledge Reef. Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda, and Owner Enzo were on board as well as 8 other divers as we headed out of Hillsboro Inlet to our first dive site.
In hardly any time at all, it seemed, we arrive at the “Sea Emperor” and Joanie and I are ready to get in first. We head down the line and find a good current on the bottom, but not so tough to swim into as we begin touring around the deck. Our friendly resident Southern Stingray came over for a visit and we played with it a bit before heading down to the sand to look for one of the resident Green Moray Eels that like to come out and check out the divers. We found the little eel pretty quickly (or did she find us?) and she came over to play with me while Joanie took pictures. Pretty cool being on the OTHER side of the lens for a change! After one more tour around the wreck, including a trip inside to rest from the current a bit, it’s time to head up to our safety stops, and then the boat.
After everyone gets their gear switched over, Captain Bob heads us over to Lighthouse Ledge Reef for a nice drift dive. This is my dive number 600 and Joanie and I get in first again and drop down to the reef and begin our drift. Since she is carrying a camera, I carry the flag and we drift lazily along until we encounter a couple of Spotted Eels, a Golden Eel, a couple of Pufferfish, Lobster, Grunts, Snappers and a Queen Angel or two. Very beautiful colors today and a nice relaxing drift dive.
After consulting my logbook, Joanie and I discovered that my dive number 500 was almost exactly 1 year ago (6.8.09) which was another reason to celebrate. 100 dives in a year! I am truly blessed! Thanks again to my Super-FABOO dive buddy Joanie and to everyone else I have met or dove with on the way to this milestone!
Keep on gettin’ wet!
The Video Dude
Tags: Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda, Enzo, Golden Eel, Green Moray, Grunts, Hillsboro Inlet, Joanie, Lighthouse Ledge, Lobster, Pufferfish, Queen Angelfish, Scubatyme, Sea Emperor, Snappers, Southern Stingray, Spotted Eel, Video Dude
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