Trip Report, BAM Memorial Dive Trip To
Murrells Inlet & The Cooper River October 8-13
Our trip to Murrells Inlet SC followed by a
trip to the Cooper River to honor and remember our friend Beth Moore was a
success. October 9th marked the third anniversary of Beth's passing and a few
of us find ourselves drawn to SC on this date in an effort to honor and
remember her by placing a wreath on the shipwreck "Hebe". This year marks the
first that we have actually made it to the wreck site even with a sea state of
4-6 feet and more than just a few of us too sick to stand; never the less, we
made it and the wreath was placed. The past two years, weather has cancelled
our boat.
In addition to the wreath laying, 3 dives
were made on the "Hebe" and Sean McFarland and myself recovered quite a few
artifacts. Our finds included everything from china to silver, bottles to
brass, and everything in between. We were truly blessed on our dives. Water
temperatures were in the low 70's and we got away with a 7mm and hood. Vis was
in excess of 40 feet before we started blowing sand! I've got
a few pics taken upon our return, but will have a lot more in the gallery
soon.
Our dives on the Cooper also went well and
Sean surfaced with some pretty impressive teeth on his very first dive! Water
temperature was around 70 and with dives in excess of 1 and a half, opted for
a 7mm with hooded vest. Vis was of course zero...
Here are a couple pics:
Click
here for the entire gallery.
Trip/Event Report, Chesapeake Bay Oyster
Dives and Oyster Feed October 4th
We had an absolute blast yet again out on the
Chesapeake Bay collecting oysters. Fun was had by all. In total, the seven of
us came back with 7 bushel of the freshest oysters you could ever hope to eat.
The water was a comfortable 66-67 degrees and most of us got away with a 7mm
and a light hood or no hood at all. We saw everything from crab and flounder,
to striper and jelly fish. Its really amazing to see how virtually every nook
and cranny of the oyster bed supports life, from the tiny crustaceans to
little fish like the blenny and pipe fish. Vis was around 5-8 feet.
After the dives we had about forty guests for
our annual oyster feed. Oysters raw, fried, or steamed; once you are spoiled
by the best/freshest oysters you have ever tasted, your done for. You'll never
hit the restaurant again...
Here are a few pics:
Click
here for the entire gallery.
October 2008
"Continuing the 50-year
tradition of excellence"
East Coast Diver LLC shall certify YMCA SCUBA
through the end of the year and will continue into 09 with this same great
program "reborn". Along with our host of International Training Programs, DAN,
and AHA; ECD offers just about something for everyone!
Trip/Event Report, Greenbrier Clean-Up
September 7th
The clean-up @ Greenbrier State Park
(Maryland) went well. The surface temperature was in the high 70's and
visibility was in the 5' range at best. We saw many interesting items pulled
from the lake to include, not only trash, but a fishing pole, articles of
clothing, and in my case, a working dive light! A few of us joined a
slew of other divers organized by an area dive business for a morning of
public service. We saw everything from, catfish to bass, crappy to bluegill,
snapping turtles, and even freshwater
jellyfish! We did two 35 minute dives with a maximum depth of around 18'.
Now, on a more serious
note. I would like to apologize to a freind who was treated less than
courteously at today's event. This behavior is not indicative of area
divers! This event is in fact, not for profit, and is
open to any diver to my understanding; not just patrons of area businesses.
Gary
September 2008
Help Wanted! Are you interested in becoming a
Divemaster, Assistant Instructor, or even Instructor? ECD needs your help.
Please drop me an e-mail if you
are interested in starting your training this fall. Already an AI or DM,
great, we can get you crossed over to SDI and/or YSCUBA with no problem. Even
better, are you already a YSCUBA or SDI diver at the leadership level?
August 2008
ECD will be providing SCUBA services to Camp
Airy. ECD has a commitment to helping out the BSA whenever we can. As a former
Scout myself, this was a fantastic opportunity! One of ECD's newest
divemasters in-training and I just completed an "I Tried SCUBA
Session" @ Airy. Pictures are on the way so keep checking the photo
gallery!
June/July 2008
East Coast Diver is now officially an SDI TDI
"Training Facility"! We also now have a supply of NITROX compatible
computers for rental as well as for training a host of International Training
Programs. We will be kicking into high gear next season with SDI and TDI
programs at prices that simply can't be touched!
Also, ECD will be providing
both Snorkeling and SCUBA certification through the Chambersburg YMCA. Along
with Waynesboro and Hagerstown, Chambersburg will be ECD's third facility to
offer Snorkeling!
April 2008
East Coast Diver is now
offering SCUBA Certification through Lakeforest,
February 2008
East Coast Diver now
boasts three on-staff service technicians! We at ECD wanted to take equipment
service to a higher standard in our region. Our techs didn't just
attend some manual driven short course. I wanted my staff to posses the qualifications
to approach a repair bench with confidence when servicing your "life
support equipment". We hired Al Pendergrass from Airtech
SCUBA Services, Raleigh NC to put on his three day
technician course for us on site. It was fantastic! Along with training, we benefited
from Al's over 20 years experience repairing equipment. Al assisted ECD in equipping
our repair bench (photos on the way). If there is a regulator brand ECD does
not service, I highly recommend sending your equipment to Al and his team of qualified
technicians
January 2008
The American Heart
association makes a formal position statement on "Hands Only CPR"
and methodology on incorporating it into existing courses. Read
More Also read DAN's
position in regard to dive related emergencies.
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