Our Scouts have returned from Sea Base and
the Miami Herald wrote a nice article including a photo of Ben. We had a blast
preparing these scouts for Sea Base.
Here is an excerpt...
"The seedy, rundown Toll Gate Inn and
Marina was known for prostitution in 1980 when Sam Wampler turned it into
something a bit more wholesome: a sea base for Boy Scouts.
Started on a relative shoestring, the Florida High Adventure Sea Base now owns
a 110-acre island and $300,000 dive boats and boasts an $8 million annual
budget. Each year, about 11,000 high-school age kids come for a week of
sailing, diving, fishing and camping, and return home with a greater
appreciation for the ocean, its ecology and its conservation.
``Our little slogan is, `Delivering ocean adventures that make a lifetime
difference,' '' said Paul Beal, general manager of the sea base.
Ben Henneberger, 15, of Hagerstown, Md., said his week there definitely
expanded his understanding of the sea.
``I like to dive along the reef and see how all the marine life works
together,'' he said after a scuba dive in pristine waters four miles off
shore. ``We're learning if one thing goes haywire, like [invasive] lionfish
coming here, it's like throwing a wrench into a motor.''
The sea base is one of three high adventure camps run by the Boy Scouts of
America's National Council along with ones in Minnesota and New Mexico."...
We are back from our Meg Tooth dives with
Cape Fear Dive
Center in Carolina Beach NC and had a blast. Unfortunately due to weather
we got in only one day of diving (sat) but still had some very productive
dives. The water conditions were near 84 degrees on the surface and around 73
degrees at depth. Max depth was around 103'.The sea state was calling for 3-4'
seas but was around 3' most of the day. 11 of us ventured down for the trip in
search of giant meg teeth. Every diver walked with teeth ranging from 3-4
inches. Sean came in on top with a nearly 6' meg tooth, the biggest I've EVER
seen recovered! A partial
gallery
is up, a few more pics are on the way.
Just uploaded a partial
gallery from the
first four "I tried SCUBA" sessions at Capital Camps in Waynesboro PA. Ran 35
campers and staff through the program! Capital Camps will be holding "I Tried"
events for every session this season, plans on running full certification
courses next season, as well as a "SCUBA Camp"! They have dedicated
professional staff and a GREAT facility! We are looking forward to the
opportunity to enrich the kids lives with SCUBA...
July 8, 10
East Coast Diver's air demands
have out grown our current 1700 (4500 psi) cubic foot bank, so we are in the
process of upgrading to an over 4500 (6000 psi) cubic foot bank to service our
air storage needs for the foreseeable future. Don't worry, we'll be making
good use of the old cascade system to bank NITROX! Once we've cleaned, hydo'd,
and configured the new cascade system we'll throw up some pictures. It will
also be serviced by a Lawrence Factor appliance capable of processing 65,000
cubic feet of breathing air! Keep an eye out for photos of the new and
expanded system!
Also...
Ralph is back from a July 4th weekend diving
the Florida Keys working on his "Wreck
Trek" dives and gives us another great trip report! Read the full report
below.
(Ralph's
July 4, 2010 Report)
June 28,10
Kudos from the 4H for our
SCUBA presentation at Camp Frame last week!
(Camp
Frame Newsletter)
"Gary,
Thanks again for your
demonstration at Camp Frame, the campers really enjoyed it, and the counselors
found it interesting as well! Attached is the article the newspaper class did on
your presentation. I was also interested in SCUBA certification...
Thanks,
Jennifer
Knipe"
We look
forward to having Jennifer and some of the campers in our upcoming sessions!
June 23, 10
Jan and I had a great time today
demonstrating SCUBA to the youth at 4-H Camp Frame. This was a great
opportunity to do a demo for around 150 campers! Definitely my biggest
audience for a demo... The camp theme was underwater this year, "Camp Frame
Cove" and we were honored when asked to give a demo to the kids. We gave them
a brief lecture and demo of SCUBA in the camps' pool and answered questions.
Thanks Amy and thanks Air Tran for getting us
there...
We got in 9 dives over the weekend ranging
from dives on French Reef, Molasses Reef, Elbow Reef, the Spiegel Grove, the
Duane, the Ben Wood, "Mike's Wreck", and the City of Washington. Besides
having great weather and water temperatures between 84 and 87 degrees, we had
some of the greatest animal encounters many of us have ever had! The Goliath
Grouper and Nurse Sharks on the City of Washington were quite photogenic to
say the least!
Below are just a sampling of Doug's photos.
In fact, between Sean-Kirk-Doug and Annette taking pictures underwater; this
may be the most well documented ECD trip yet.
A full
gallery in on its way...
June 2, 10
Did a Divemaster pool session last night
and the guys did great! Made them do quite a bit of additional skills, they'll
thank me later I'm sure...
Ralph's Ft Lauderdale trip report is up and
and can be found following the link below. Ralph got a chance to dive the
Captain Dan and Sea Emperor wrecks with Scubatyme, a charter highly
recommended by our Florida Instructor Randy!
Ralph has
given us a fantastic trip report from his latest excursion to Key Largo. Not
only did he have a stay at the Jules' Undersea Lodge, but also hit the Diving
Museum, and even got a chance to dive an Mark-V!!!!! We find Ralph's
reports a real treat and are planning on an MK-5 experience for the group... See
below, the report, gallery, and even a few movies!
We're back from an unexpected trip, diving with
our friends in Murrell's Inlet SC,
Scuba Express.
We had planned on diving in Carolina Beach NC, but due to mechanical problems
our charter was cancelled. Undeterred, half of the original group decided to
head further south to dive some artificial reefs and celebrate
Earth Day
with our fellow divers.
Water temperatures were around 64 degrees and
visibility was a good 25-30' on the "11 Mile Reef" which consists of a sunken
tug, barge, fighter jet, and several cement mixers.
New Trips:
Our cancelled trip to Carolina Beach this month
has been rescheduled for July with Cape Fear Dive Center, read more
here.
Our May trip to the Bonne Terre Mine in St
Louis has been tentatively rescheduled for November 2010 based on interest. Read
more here.
Mar 29, 10
Had a great time at "Beneath
The Sea" this past weekend. Ran into many of our friends at some of the dive
operations we use as well as meeting some new operators. Ben and Doug went up
Friday and participated in the "Marine Careers" workshop and reported back as
having a great time!
Cozumel was a little cooler this year than
expected with air temperatures from the low 70's to the mid 80's. Water
temperature this year was around 79 to 81 degrees. Some computers read as high
as 83 degrees. See the gallery here.
As always
Scuba Club Cozumel
was fantastic! Our arrival was delayed by bad weather and they had food and
drink waiting for us upon our arrival.
Dive sites visited were Palancar Gardens,
Paradise Reef, Palancar Horshoe, Yucab, San Fransisco Wall, Villa Blanca,
Paradise Reef (Night Dive), C-53 Wreck, Las Palmas, and plenty of SCC shore
dives. We spotted everything from turtles to nurse sharks and a nice eagle ray.
The reefs are looking healthy although we did unfortunately see a lot of lion
fish! The local dive ops are, however, stepping up efforts to eradicate them.
ECD did a day of Cenote diving on the mainland
on this trip to Cozumel! The dives were arranged from Cozumel by
Deep Blue and
carried out in Play Del Carmen by
Yukatek Divers. We
had a blast!!!! This will most likely become an annual event! The Cenotes were,
to say the least, a phenomenal experience!
Mar 1, 10
Cocos Island has been booked for 2011! Reserve
your spot today. See the travel page
for details.
Also, congratulations to Ben Hennneberger on
receiving the BSA "SCUBA Merit Badge"!
Feb 22, 10
We are back from Cozumel Mexico and had a
fantastic time despite delays in getting there due to the snow! The full trip
report and photo gallery will be along shortly but between the reefs, wreck,
ruins, Carnival, and even Cenotes, we had a full trip!
Also, East Coast Diver had a busy weekend
between holding Discover SCUBA in Cumberland and participating in the Valley
Mall Outdoor Expo. We'll have photos going up soon of the event. Want to also
congratulate Michelle B. on winning FREE Lessons! Way to go Michelle!
ECD also recieved some kudos on their outreach
with the Boy Scouts of Troop 42 in Cumberland.
Below is taken from the Cumberland Times-News
website and the full article can be found
here.
"February 21, 2010
Scouts get first experience with SCUBA diving
Enthusiastic teens didn’t want to get out of the water
Cory Galliher
CUMBERLAND— Members of Boy Scout Troop 42 had their first experience with SCUBA
diving yesterday at the Riverside YMCA at the SCUBA Buddies program’s Discover
SCUBA class.
The class was sponsored by East Coast Diver of Cumberland, LLC. It was an
introduction to SCUBA gear and diving and involved a two-hour session with
certified SCUBA instructor Spotty Kiser.
Eight members of Troop 42, aged 13 to 16, attended.
“The kids loved it,” said Mike Bacon
with East Coast Diver. “They always have a good time.” Bacon said East Coast
Diver has been giving Discover SCUBA classes for over 30 years.
“It was great,” said Scoutmaster Harry Morgan. “I’m a certified diver myself,
and my scouts wanted to learn more about SCUBA. Bacon helped set up the class
for us.” Morgan said that his diving experience included SCUBA demonstrations at
the 2005 Boy Scout Jamboree and he hopes to be on the SCUBA staff at the 2010
Jamboree.
“The kids had a good time,” said Morgan. “It’s really not about me, it’s about
the kids.”
Kiser, who has been diving since 1962, said he was pleased with the Scouts’
enthusiasm. “We thought we’d have to pull them back out of the water,” said
Kiser. “They used up full tanks of air.”
Kiser added that young people tend to pick up the necessary skills for diving
more quickly than adults. “Teaching an adult how to swim tends to be harder
,too,” said Kiser. “Kids tend to be more trusting.” He said that the age
restriction for kids 13 and up was important, however, since there was some
danger involved.
The Scouts will be able to use the class to earn a SCUBA Scouting award, but the
merit badge involves a greater commitment. Scouts who hope to earn a SCUBA
diving merit badge must obtain Open Water Certification, a process involving a
six-week class which Kiser also teaches.
Kiser said that he believes he’ll see many of the Scouts at Sunday’s class
pursuing their certification. “There’s no doubt in my mind that as soon as they
talk their parents into letting them be in class, they’ll come to class,” said
Kiser.
Contact Cory Galliher at cgalliher@times-news.com.
Assistant dive instructor Mike Bacon shows SCUBA apparatus
to members of Boy Scout Troop 42 at the YMCA pool Sunday. The troop participated
in the class as an introduction to diving. Scouts who decide to earn their SCUBA
badge will need to take a six-week class.
Photo By
Steve Bittner, Times-News
Hunter Bridges, left, of Boy Scout Troop 42 from Frostburg
United Methodist Church, is assisted by Mike Bacon, assistant dive instructor
from East Coast Diver of Cumberland, LLC. Area Boy Scouts were given the
opportunity to use real equipment in the pool at the Cumberland YMCA.
Photo By
Steve Bittner, Times-News"
Jan 22, 10
Ralph is back from round two of his Florida
research. Along with visiting our new Florida affiliate,
American Dive Center, he got in some fantastic diving!
We kicked off 2010 with a fantastic resurgence of interest in
SCUBA. We have a large group at the Waynesboro YMCA well on their way to
becoming certified and had a great turnout at our "I Tried SCUBA" at the Boy
Scout Lock-In at the Hagerstown YMCA. What better way to kick off the new year
than by enriching people's lives with SCUBA! Even have a private student on the
way to Maui next month!
Full galleries are on their way so keep an eye on the
photo gallery which is soon to
be updated for 2010...
Jan 7, 10
Ralph has reported in on a weekend of fun in
the sun diving Florida's Crystal River with the Manatees, as well as hitting
Blue Grottos and Devil's Den. Ralph was getting ECD some great info on future
excursions to these destinations! Ralph also tried out flying Allegiant Air
out of Hagerstown.
Ralph will be heading back down to Florida
next weekend and will be heading over for a meet and greet with our new
Affiliates at
American Dive Center in Coral Springs. We will be looking forward to that
report!
Jan 2, 10
Welcome aboard
Randy Hively our newest
"Referral" Instructor. Randy and I were about to add some
PADI specific courses
to our line-up here in Hagerstown when he got the call to head up
American Dive
Centers' class operations in Coral Springs Florida. We thought, lets make
this happen anyway! ECD will now have a Florida affiliation, that's right;
take your class work here and we'll give you a referral to knock out your
checkouts in sunny Florida, either with Randy or one of our other Staff Instructors.
It's a win-win! We will also be using American Dive Center for our
Certivacation program and look
for some upcoming trips and events as well.
Again, welcome aboard Randy!
Jan 1, 10
First off, Happy New Year!
I'd like to thank all the folks that made
2009 a very special and busy time for us here at ECD and reflect on a
few of our accomplishments!
With ECD of Hagerstown and ECD of
Cumberland in full swing we've introduced quite a few folks to diving. We've
had over 50 students participate in our
Open Water programs; a few
of which owe us some check-outs, you know who you are...lol
We've introduced dozens of folks to diving
through our many "I Tried
SCUBA" programs.
We've certified/qualified literally dozens of
folks in specialties ranging from Advanced Adventure, to NITROX, to Altitude,
Drift, and Boat, to Basic Life Support (DAN
& AHA),
Underwater Sign, and several
others!
We've dove Cozumel, the Carolinas, the
Florida Keys, Ocean City MD, the Chesapeake Bay, the Baltimore Aquarium, as
well as many local favorites; and did it all without breaking the bank!
We've grown! ECD has added several staff this
year to include four new Rescue Divers (Bill-Ralph-Doug-and
Allen). These guys will be
completing Divemaster training in early 2010.
Sean,
Mark, and
Bill are well on their way to
becoming Instructors themselves and will be holding classes before you know
it!
I thank God every day for our many blessings
and hope that this new year finds everyone well. ECD wouldn't be possible
without my friends, the staff!
We have quite a 2010 in store for you, so
stay tuned!
Trip was great. Weather was excellent all week, only downside was that the
skeeters were bad (luckily I had brought bug spray).
Dives we did:
Sunday Columbia Normal, Chankanaab Bolones
Monday Punta Sur Sur, Paso de Cedral
Tuesday Punta Sur (devils Throat), Santa Rosa Wall
Wednesday Columbia Deep, La Francesa, NIGHT: Santa Rosa Wall
Thursday Maracaibo (150+), Dahlia
Aldora was great as
always. We were on their big boat (40') with another experienced group. They
had Mateo as a DM (since he's a caver and one of the other group was also a
caver) and we had Aristeo. Memo did the first dive with us for grins and old
times sake.
We nailed a number of Lion fish. Also saw a few eagle rays and they are just
now arriving in numbers at the northern sites along the deep wall. Single
sightings at the southern reefs in the sandy shallows. Lots of turtles this
trip. Nurse Sharks were also prevalent. The night dive at Santa Rosa is always
special with lots of octopus and BIG lobsters. We also found MANY splendid
toadfish, pipe fish (tiny), a frogfish, but no seahorses. Tons of stingrays.
Reefs had a lot of mature fish particularly groupers and parrots. Water temps
in the low 80's and vis I would say around 80-100ft most days.
One the town front:
No more dollar beers at the Malecon "dollar beer place" ... now $2 and usually
empty. Too bad. We started a new tradition at Bianca's on the square where the
beers are $5.50 for a bucket of six (less than $1 beer). We started every
evening there for several buckets and guacamole and chips. Several nights we
then jumped over to Wet Wendy's which is on the other side of the square
(pedestrian walk Ave 5) Excellent margarita's.
Saturday La Choza (Red Snapper for 2 --- Huachinango Para Dos) grilled to
perfection
Sunday Casa Denis (on the square)
Monday Especias (adrian's the owner and his family owns Casa Denis)
Tuesday Tony Rome's (Tony had a 2nd stroke earlier this year and doesn't look
good)
Wednesday Chilango's
Thursday Chilango's
Friday Guido's
Always gelato after dinner! We split allegiance between the Panadaria on 10th
Ave and 3rd and Zermatt's on the north side of the square.
Take care,
Bob"
Dec 13, 09
New Price on Papua New
Guinea - 2010!!!!!!!
Now Only $3999
(excluding airfare) *Price Change 12-13 (Peter Hughes' has lowered the price
on Star Dancer! Price was $4905!)
We had an absolute blast diving the Baltimore
Aquarium on Saturday! Our 12 East Coast Divers were accompanied by nearly 30
guests! I think we had the biggest group they've ever seen for the program. A
special thanks to
Atlantic Edge for getting our guests in with us on such a hectic day.
As for our dives...
The "Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit" is a
335,000-gallon tank that surrounds you with hundreds of vividly colored
tropical fish swimming around the world’s most accurately fabricated coral
reef. Wafer thin lookdowns, spiny porcupine fish, striped sergeant majors,
silvery bonefish and many other species are at home here. 30 minutes and 18
feet max. 74 degree water...
At "Wings in the Water exhibit", dozens of stingrays, a Hawksbill sea
turtle and many small sharks inhabit this 260,000 gallon pool, home of the
largest ray collection in the country. 30 minutes and 13 feet max. 74 degree
water...
Our guests took quite a few pictures and once
sorted out I'll be posting them to the site. A special thanks to Susie for
keeping things organized on the dry side of the glass!
Dec 1, 09
Congratulations Allen on achieving the Master
SCUBA Diver rating!
Nov 28,09
Our trip to Carolina Beach was unfortunately
blown out on November 14 and 15 and the Meg Trip has been tentatively
rescheduled for the Spring with
Outer Banks Diving.
Since we had enough notice, however, we
headed down with our good friend Johnny from
Cooper River
Diving and hit the cooper on Saturday. Water temperature was in the 50's
and we had some nice finds as always. Pulled up a large chunk of Wooly Mammoth
tusk on this trip! Photos are on the way...
Also, I've finally updated the photo gallery
and have added quite a few new pics to the
Open Water Gallery,
the OC Trip
Gallery, and the Invade the Keys
Gallery. I've also placed a very special gallery on Gary Capkovics
page. Check it out, Gary in an
MK-5!
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
Nov 09, 09
Support the Dive Team of Crew 97 in raising funds to go to
Seabase in 2010! We
trained these guys to dive and want every one of them to have the opportunity to
experience Seabase next year!
Car Wash!
When:
Saturday November 14th from 10AM to 4PM
Where: Hardees and Auto Zone in Wayne Heights in Waynesboro PA
Oct 21, 09
One of our divers in training was able to get
in a discover dive while on a recent cruise. Bill and his wife Donnett are
students of ECD and will be completing their checkouts in November. Bill was
fortunate enough to hook up with an instructor from
ProDivers in St
Kitts and gives the below glowing review. He even brought us some pictures!
"Hey Gary, look at this site and pics. These
guys took me on 1 dive in St Kitts. They were very friendly and were very nice
guys as well as very professional. They said I should have no problem w/ the
check out dives. The group would be well advised to add them to our list of
dive boats. He said he knows of 60 dive sites but only has 24 on his website,
(he keeps some secret lol) . I dove w/ a 3 mm suit."
Bill Houck
Oct 14, 09
Last night's Drysuit Seminar at Atlantic Edge
went well. Our presenter was Bruce Justinen, President of
SeaSoft Scuba. Bruce
has probably forgotten more about drysuit diving than most think they know,
he's great. Spotty and I are now waiting on our new TI-Pro-3000s! This is the
deal folks, there simply isn't a more comfortable well built suit out there in
my opinion.
Oct 12, 09
We're back from the BAMM Memorial dive with
Scuba Express
and we had some great diving with good friends and gave respect to one of our
own that was lost.
The weather Thursday was rough with seas as
high as 5' but we were still able to get out to the "Civil War Wreck" in
search of relics. Water temperatures were in the high 70s and we recovered
some nice artifacts. Ralph recovered an intact brass spike! Visibility on site
was easily 40' before we started digging of course.
Friday which is our memorial day and wreath
laying went well. Sea state calmed to 2' and we had beautiful weather. We did
two dives on the "Hebe" with our annual wreath laying in honor of Beth during
our surface interval. Water temperatures were in the high 70s and visibility
was over 40' until we started digging of course... We recovered another plate
and a nice bottle from the wreck.
Saturday we hit the cooper river for a three
tank fossil dive with
Cooper River
Diving. We dove "red bank" twice with a diversion to, well we'll keep that
a secret... We recovered some nice fossils as always and Sean got a nice stone
arrow head!
Pics are on the way...
Oct 5, 09
Yesterday afternoon Bill Whaley, Allen
Robinson, Ralph Silvestro, Doug Henneberger, and James Henry completed their
Rescue Diver Check-Outs at Greenbrier State Park. Congratulations Guys!
A special thanks to Ranger Tammy McCorkle for
the use of the lake.
With this certification under their weight
belts, East Coast Diver is proud to announce that Bill, Allen, Ralph, and Doug
will now begin their Divemaster training and will be joining ECD as active
staff members next season!
I'd also like to acknowledge Ralph, who; with
this last certification, will be receiving his Master Scuba Diver Rating as
well as Diving Emergency Management Provider!
What can I say, we've grown again! I will be
working on getting these guys their own pages ASAP.
ECD would also
like to introduce a new service. Underwater weddings! Allen Robinson
isn't just one of our newest staff, but as a pastor will be bringing a unique
service to ECD, underwater weddings. A page dedicated to this new service is
under construction.
Oct 4, 09
We are back from our 4th annual Oyster Dive
and Oyster Feed!
The bay was absolutely beautiful this year,
with visibility, and I'm not kidding, exceeding 20' and water temperatures in
the mid 70s!!!!!
We saw everything from pipefish to blue crab,
to jelly fish, to striper, I even was given a stern warning to move on by a
stubborn toad fish. Congratulations to Mateusz and William on their SDI
Underwater Hunter/Collector certifications!
The Feast: As always, we headed back to my
place, cleaned up gear and oysters for our annual oyster feed. There must have
been over 50 guests. Nobody left without a belly full of the freshest oysters
they have ever tasted and shrimp to boot. We had a real blast!
Sept 20, 09
We're back from Ocean City Maryland and had a
blast! I will have to give it to the OC Dive Boat. We will be seeing them
annually!
We were unfortunately blown out Saturday, the
day we were hitting the "Blenny". As you can see in the
gallery, we
hit the miniature golf course, underwater theme of course, in place of hitting
the water, still had a great time.
We did hit the water for Sunday on the
"African Queen" and got in two nice dives to a depth of around 70'. The seas
were 2-3 foot and water temperature was in the mid 70s. Not bad... I would
call visibility around 20' plus. Mark collected some mussels which we enjoyed
upon our return home. (I'll be putting up some pics and the recipe I used to
prepare them soon)
August 30, 09
Our Advanced Adventure Class has been
postponed until September 12-13 to accommodate some folks that couldn't make
it this weekend. We also wanted to miss the bad weather Saturday...
Check out the new "I Tried SCUBA"
photo gallery as well
as the newly uploaded pics of the Rescue Diver pool sessions at the Waynesboro
YMCA.
ECD would also like to announce a new gear
rental package. As you
know, weights and tanks are generally included in all courses, but for those
who need additional equipment, we have just what you need! Regulator -
Computer - BCD - and Wetsuit weekend rental for just $75! This great price
will also be offered for folks signed up for an ECD dive trip!
August 8, 09
With a few cancellations for checkout dives
this weekend a few of us decided to head out to
Guppy Gulch. I have
personally never been there and Allen, Theresa, and myself decided to check it
out. Visibility was around 15' and the water was around 41 degrees at 40'.
COLD!!! If we head back I will definitely be packing my dry suit. Allen and
Theresa think I'm a sissy, but hey; I'm thermally challenged...
There is a lot to see at Guppy Gulch and if
properly outfitted in the right thermal protection, this makes a great dive
spot.
Scubaboard "Invade the Keys" trip report July
10-13 ...
We joined a slew of Scubaboarders for a long
weekend of diving and other festivities. The weather was mild and we got in
some great diving. On Friday evening after our arrival we hit the "Benwood"
with Horizon Divers
for a night dive. It was fantastic and the wreck was loaded with sleeping
parrot fish, octopus, and a myriad of other marine life. On Saturday we hit
"Molasses" and "French" reefs with
Silent World
in the AM followed by a double dip on the "Spiegel Grove" with
Atlantic Dive
Center. What can I say, the Grove was AWESOME! Definitely ranking up there
with one of our most spectacular dives. This wreck is enormous and loaded with
giant grouper. Saturday night we attended the Scubaboard pig roast and were
able to see face-to-face many of our online friends. On Sunday we hit the
"Eagle" wreck and "Crockett's Reef" with with
Conch Republic
Divers in the AM. The "Eagle" was a great wreck, lying on her side in
about 100' of water, she is loaded with fish and sharks! In the PM we headed
back to Horizon Divers to dive the "Duane", a secretary class coast guard
cutter lying in about 95" of water (to the deck), followed up by our last dive
on "Molasses Reef".
Visibility was around 30-50' on all of the
sites and water temperature was around 84 degrees...
Jason and Lynn headed down to St Thomas last
month to vacation and do some diving with friend and former student D.J. Hiltz
at Blue Island Divers. We'll be planning plenty of trips with D.J. and Blue
Island perhaps as early as this fall! In addition this will most likely become
a "certivacation" hot spot
next season. Here is Jason and Lynn's trip report...
" The trip to St. Thomas was
unbelievable!!!!!!!!! The diving was outstanding, all the dive sites were
teaming with life, expect to see everything from two different species of sea
turtle to schools of squid. The visibility averages between 50 and 80 ft. The
guys at Blue Island Divers provide the islands only wreck diving (along with
an array of other dive excursions). They are a first rate dive operation with
D.J. Hiltz at the helm. Even the shore dives proved exceptional. At "Coki
Beach" (shore diving) we saw a 5.5 ft. nurse shark in about 55ft. of water.
When you are enjoying your surface intervals, the snorkeling also provided
excellent sea life. When you are hungry, Molly Malloan’s has exceptional
food as well as the Green House. Just be aware that the days when the cruise
ships are docking, it can get a little congested, so allow yourself extra time
to get to your destinations. I can’t wait to get back and do more diving, it
was amazing."
Jason and Lynn
June 22, 09
OK, you guys win, we've redesigned the logo!
East Coast Diver unveils it's new logo
design. We have Polo shirts and T's on order.
Also, ECD is now on Twitter, sign up for
constant updates.
June 7, 09
From Doug:
"Mr.Gary Smith; Boy Scout Crew 97 Dive Team wishes to thank
Mr. Smith and East Coast Diver, LLC for the discount on Diving Equipment we used
for repairing Sinoquipes’ Dock and Flood Control Tower. It was much appreciated.
Boy Scouts from all over the Tri-State Area attend Sinoquipe for a week of
summer camp. Sinoquipe is the "Builder of Men," and East Coast Diver,
LLC has helped with the
training and facility maintenance so we as leaders, can focus on the boys. Boy
Scout Crew 97 Dive Team is a first of its kind in Mason-Dixon Council, based in
Hagerstown. Most members of the Crew are Certified Divers and travel to dive
sites to allow the boys to experience the "Other World on our World." 90% of the
oceans on the Earth have never been seen, much less explored, by Man. On behalf
of Mason-Dixon Council, Tuscarora District, and Boy Scout Crew 97, I thank you
again for supporting Boy Scouting."
Yours in Scouting,
Douglas Henneberger
June 4, 09
We are happy to announce that we've added the
Waynesboro Country Club
and Antietam Recreation
to the line-up for facilities offering SCUBA certifications in the region. We've
got an "I Tried SCUBA" set up at the Waynesboro Country Club on June 29th and
will be starting a full SCUBA certification July 21st.
We have also tentatively scheduled an August
class at Antietam Recreation! Keep an eye on the calendar for the final dates.
Also, ECD is pleased to have been invited back
to Camp Airy by the Boy
Scouts. In addition to the "I Tried SCUBA" we'll be putting on for those guys,
we will also be putting on "I Tried SCUBA" in July at
Camp Tohiglo and again in
August for the Valley Grace
Brethren Church.
ECD is always happy to help out
non-profits.
May 31, 09
Sean and I did a quick run down to Murrells
Inlet and recovered some nice pieces with our friends at
Scuba Express. We visited the
"Hebe" and were blessed with 1-2' seas. We recovered some nice bottles, 3
additional china plates, and a nice crystal butter dish cover. The water
temperature is well above 70 (72-73) degrees now and visibility was around 30'.
May 5, 09
Read the excerpt below from the TDI/SDI website...
FREE
NITROX TANK WRAPS… GET YOURS NOW!
The folks at TDI (Technical
Diving International™) are doing their crazy Nitrox Tank Wrap Giveaway again… so
make the most of it and sign up now
Last year, TDI (and their
sport diving sister agency Scuba Diving International™) gave away more than two
thousand full-sized nitrox tank wraps to divers across North America. There was
no catch. And now they are doing it again.
From now until June 10 TDI is
giving away TWO full sized NITROX tank wraps to everyone who
wants them. That’s right. FREE. ANYONE… even if you have never taken an TDI or
SDI course. You don’t even have to be a certified nitrox diver.
Isn’t that CRAZY? We think so…
but we also think that times are tough and you’ve earned a FREE GIFT just for
being a diver. Hey, and TDI tells us they have a lot of NITROX TANK WRAPS in
their warehouse.
Above are a couple pics with many more on
the way...
We're back from Murrells Inlet South
Carolina, diving with
Scuba Express
and had a blast! We completed four dives (two daily) on the "Hebe" and
recovered some nice artifacts. The seas on Saturday were 3-5' and Sunday 3-4'.
Visibility was anywhere from 40-50 feet and water temperatures were near 70
degrees depending on who's computer you believe.
The wreck looked good and we got to see at
least two nice Sand Tiger Sharks on day two as well as Dolphins and Turtles on
the surface. Some grad students were on board collecting the notorious
Lion Fish
(invasive
species).
We collected a decent amount of artifacts as
well. To include bottles, china, silverware, stoneware, brass, and even a few
buttons. Some of our best finds were a tea cup and saucer, a sugar bowl, soap
dish, and a
stoneware bowl with cork stopper in-tact. We recovered another stoneware bowl
in October of last year, identical to this one.
Also want to congratulate Ralph on receiving
his recreational "Wreck Diver" Specialty from SDI.
April 23, 09
Our Chambersburg Open Water class has been
tentatively rescheduled for June to facilitate our upcoming Instructor
Institute! Please contact us
directly if you are interested in taking on a leadership role in the SCUBA
community.
April 18, 09
Take a look! One of our resident photographer
Sean McFarland's photos was selected by local (Pennsylvania) artist Diana
Penrod to be recreated in this painting. Sean was honored when asked if his
photo could be used and so was I. The print looks great! These prints and
others are undoubtedly available for purchase. I'll be putting Diana's contact
info up shortly.
April 14, 09
ECD now offers one more way to meet your
mandatory or voluntary training requirements with the introduction of the
American Heart Association's Heartsaver Bloodborne Pathogens training
program. This program will meet your company's OSHA requirements!
Congratulations to Allen and Ralph on finishing
up their SDI Altitude Specialty Course at Mt Storm!
April 6, 09
Attention!
We have made some changes to our Open Water line-up for April/May, check the
Calendar! The Hagerstown YMCA is having some OSHA
required drains installed in the pool and will be closed all next week,
Thursdays also opened up for us, so we picked up one Thursday to shorten up
the course for the folks that have already signed up.
Also, We have delayed the Chambersburg class
until after "Healthy Kids Day".
Those folks already signed up have been
notified, but for those still on the fence, drop us a
line if you have any questions.
March 28, 09
Back from Beneath The Sea and had a great
time! We were able to swing by and see some of our vendors as well as book
some new trips! Check out the trip page as we've
added a November trip to Carolina Beach to go hunt for Meg teeth. We have also
tentatively scheduled a dive trip to Catalina Island CA for 2010!
March 9, 09
Congratulations to AI and resident
DMT Jim Koon on receiving his credentials to teach DAN's "Diving
First Aid for Dive Professions"! Jim is not only an AI with both SEI and
SDI, but he is also an American Heart Association and DAN Instructor. Jim and
I offer AHA and DAN courses from here to WV and will travel to train! Jim is a
long time Public Safety Instructor as well and can give you some sound advise
on Public Safety training issues. Please
e-mail Jim for course
availability, price TBD.
We also now offer service on Genesis
regulators and valves!
March 1, 09
East Coast Diver would like to welcome
Divemaster Tiffany Kiser to our staff. Tiffany will be helping out with
classes in central Maryland and with checkouts at Millbrook Quarry and Lake
Rawlings.
February 22, 09
Had a great turnout during our participation
in the "Great Outdoors" Expo at the Valley Mall in Hagerstown yesterday. I
think we did a real nice job informing folks they have multiple options
when learning to dive in our region. I would also like to congratulate
Cassandra Latimer, winner of our FREE SCUBA lessons give-away. We're just sorry
we couldn't get Cassandra in next months classes, but quite frankly, those
dates are full!
We'll see Cassandra and many of the folks we
spoke to on Saturday in April at the Hagerstown YMCA or Chambersburg YMCA.
Even those classes are getting tight. Looks like we've got our work cut out
for us this summer and have a lot of new divers to train, but I have the
utmost confidence in our staff.
Your family can feel safe with the
staff at ECD. You'll find everything from public safety professionals, to
former Navy Divers, to a
DAN referral
physician on staff at ECD! With that
level of expertise, we've got you covered!
February 18,09
We're back from Cozumel and had a fantastic
time! The water temperature was around 80 degrees and visibility ranging from
80 to 100 feet. Dive sites visited were Palancar Horshoe, Paradise Reef (Night
and Day), Santa Rosa Wall, Tormentos, Felipe (Wreck), Punta Sur, Yucab,
Palancar Gardens, Chankanaab, and of course several shore dives; in fact Ralph
one up'd me on the shore dives!
We even had some folks earn specialty ratings
on this trip. Ralph, Sue, and Scott all walked away with SDI Specialty
Ratings!
We want to thank the folks at Scuba Club
Cozumel for a fantastic time! We'll see you next year.
As a full line
Seasoft
dealer ECD offers some of the finest dry suits available! ECD would also like
to announce that with the purchase of any new Seasoft Dry Suit, get a
FREE class and specialty rating from eitherSDI or SEI! Your choice,
that's a $150 value!
January 28, 09
ECD welcomes Former Navy Diver and Instructor Gary Capkovic
to our staff!
January 24, 09
Attention Tech divers...
We've just added some serious muscle to our
blending/fill station! ECD has added a Haskel Oxygen Booster to the operation
and will hopefully have everything operational by mid-summer. So, in
addition to NITROX fills, we'll add Heliox, Tri-Mix, and pure Oxygen fills to
the line-up of available gases. ECD will be able to offer just about any mix you
want!
We're even considering Argon fills for those
hard core Dry-suit divers...
January 1, 09
Happy New Year!
Nothing would kick off 2009 like a dive trip.
Join us in Cozumel in February...
December 31, 08
Mt Storm tomorrow and the associated courses will be postponed. The roads
leading up the mountain are steep and ice and snow is not a good thing. I know
getting in a Jan 1st dive is pretty cool, but not at the expense of our safety.
Pulling a trailer up the mountain even with a four wheel drive would be tricky
at best; coming down could be an accident waiting to happen. They do keep that
road relatively clear due to the power plant, but…
Mt Storm and the associated SDI specialty
courses have been rescheduled for Saturday, January the 10th.
Gary
December 11, 08
ECD is very excited to announce that we've
grown!
We are proud to welcome Spotty Kiser,
Mike Bacon, Dave Kurry, Jim Koon, and Bill Lamm to the ECD team! These guys
have many many years experience as SCUBA instructors and dive leaders. Now
that they have joined our training facility, ECD will be offering virtually
the same course line-up including DAN
and AHA courses in Cumberland Maryland!
They will be offering SDI/TDI courses at the
Cumberland YMCA
starting in 2009. I've added these guys to the
staff page and will be writing up
their bios soon, so keep checking back...
December 5, 08
ECD is proud to announce the addition of the SDI Underwater
Photography Course (Taught by Assistant Instructor
Sean McFarland) and Underwater Video Course
(Taught by Assistant Instructor Mark
Kelsey) to our list of
course
offerings. We plan to begin the Photography Course in early 09 and the
Video course a little later. In addition, ECD is now an Ikelite dealer. As an
added bonus we will be offering our Photography and Video students a 10%
discount on Ikelite housings! ECD is also pleased to announce that our
Photography students will receive a 10% coupon good for any camera purchase
from Ritz Camera in the Valley Mall Hagerstown!
November, 08
YDI Scuba (Formally YSCUBA) renamed to SEI
Scuba Educators International. The YMCA of the USA didn't seem to like the "Y"
in YDI. We'll keep you posted.
We now service Oceanic, Zeagle, Aeris,
Mares, and Sherwood! ECD has a supplier for factory service kits
for most models from these popular lines and will be offering "out of
warranty" service and repair. ECD is not a dealer
for these particular brands but will offer you the same great warranty on
service See our service section
for details.
We've gotten a jump on booking Open Water
classes for this coming spring so check out the calendar. We currently have
three sessions scheduled in the Spring with more to come. We have two sessions
in Hagerstown on Tuesdays; March 3-31 and April 7 - May 5. The Hagerstown
dates are every Tuesday 6-10PM (5 Classes). We have also booked a Sunday
session at the Waynesboro YMCA March 1 - April 5. This session is every Sunday
1-5PM (*6 classes due to some scheduling conflicts, class one will be a
shortened classroom and swim test). Give the gift of
SCUBA lessons this Christmas! At only $299 this makes a wonderful and unique
gift! Holiday gift certificates available...
kudos...
ECD is proud to have 3 students this month
well on there way to completing the DES challenge! ECD offers all of the
Divers Alert Network courses and is an
"Authorized Provider of CPR and ECC Courses"
for the American Heart Association and I have 3 folks that simply cannot get
enough. They have completed Heartsaver First Aid with CPR/AED and the Diving
Emergency Management Provider Course! Congratulations to you three and all the
folks that have participated in this "continuing education" month!
Don't forget we still have
SeaSigns and
TDI NITROX next month,
both are on sale...
Trip Report, BAM Memorial Dive Trip To
Murrells Inlet & The Cooper River October 8-13, 08
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...
Trip/Event Report, Chesapeake Bay Oyster
Dives and Oyster Feed October 4th, 08
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...
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, 08
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, notforprofit, 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 threeday
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 qualifiedtechnicians
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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