SLSU032413A – Monday March 25th, 2013

And so it begins…

This is going to be a short post…I’m losing power and I already lost most of what I typed for today.

Today is going to be a very, very hectic day. The pace will have to be fast and furious. We will be competing with quite a few other crews for space in the swim area, the pool and for dive gear. Paul and I prepared as much gear and paperwork as possible to make the process go as smoothly and quickly as possible. We have flags, breakfast, swim test, gear issue, skills review in the pool then pack ice and food for the trip. If they already have their personal gear packed we may get out of here before noon…a very aggressive target. I have been up since 4am finalizing a few things so it’s going to be tough on me as well. Everyone, except the drivers, will have the opportunity to sleep on the way down to the Conch Pearl, which is at the dock in Stock Island (Key West).

We all met for flags at 07:45. Because of the lightning and rain in the area we had the flag ceremony under the scuba dorms. The base is very crowded right now, lots of crews. While everyone was in line for breakfast we used the time to have our pictures taken. After breakfast we prepared for the swim review but because there was still some lightning in the area we switched gears and did our gear issue instead. ‘Semper Gumby’…always flexible…the Sea Base motto. Now was time for the swim review. Everyone passed with an ‘excellent’. Now it was off to the dorm to grab any dive equipment still stored there then to the scuba pools. There we issued wetsuits and weights to complete our gear issue. Everyone assembled their gear with little incident then it was off to the small pool to begin our skills review. The skills review allows the instructors and divemasters the opportunity to assess the diver’s abilities and comfort level in the water. Once the deep pool was cleared we moved to it to complete our deep water skills. The crew completed all of their skills well, giving us a good comfort level for the dives to come.

We weren’t supposed to have lunch on base but because we were running so late Captain Steve (ScubaSTEVE) Willis arranged to have us fed. Otherwise we would not have eaten until around 15:30 (3:30pm).

We packed up the scuba gear, packed up the personal gear and headed over to the commissary to inventory and pack the food and ice for the trip. Moving the coolers full of ice is one of the hardest jobs and requires a few strong backs. Once everything was loaded into the trailer and vans we were ready to hit the road for the 1 and 1/2 hour drive to Stock Island, home of the Conch Pearl.

There were a few stops on the way. Colleen had to stop at K-Mart to buy some clothes due to her luggage being lost somewhere in the land of airports. The other van stopped at Walgreens and Baby’s Coffee for much needed coffee supplies. They wouldn’t let Pat out of the van due to some prior history at Wal-Mart (I still don’t know what that was about).

We arrived at the Conch Pearl to be met by Captains Denny and Holley. The hardest job of the whole trip is to move all of the gear and food from the vans to the ship. The crew did it efficiently and quickly. One the best efforts I had ever seen. Denny and Holley gave the crew a thorough briefing then it was off to the open sea. The front that had brought us the rain and lightning earlier in the day was now giving us a driving wind which caused the ship to be washed with a cold spray. Most of the crew spent the trip from the marina to the mooring spot below decks.

When we arrived at the mooring spot we discovered another boat had taken the Conch Pearl’s mooring ball so Denny dropped the anchor. Once we were settled on the mooring we cooked a great dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce.

At this point I was down for the night so I’m not sure what else took place but I imagine after cleaning up dinner the crew all went to bed. It had been a long, busy day.

Now it was time to begin anchor watch.

SLSU032413A – Sunday March 24th, 2013

Day 1 – Arrival Day

 

I contact all of my crews before they arrive; first by email a few months before arrival then I call a week before scheduled arrival. This crew was no different except when I received the confirmation return email from their leader it stated that they had been here 5 years before. When I called the week before I was told that they had been here 5 years before, on board the Conch Pearl, with me. Since I really never had a bad crew I became very curious as to which crew it was; there have been a lot of crews since then.

 

I was also told that they would be arriving a little late. Since they had been here before I was hoping that their prior experience here would make check-in and preparation to go to the ship that much easier, and speedier.

 

The other crew member this trip will be divemaster Paul Mangone. He’s my age and a graduate of the Divemaster Academy that I taught two years ago.  He’s an excellent divemaster and brings a skill set of teaching methods that widens the abilities of the Florida Sea Base Staff.

 

I just spoke with the crew’s leader. It’s almost 6pm and they’re just leaving the Miami airport. I don’t think we’re going to get much done tonight. We still have to feed them so all we’ll get done is orientation…maybe gear issue. It’s really going to effect tomorrow. “it is what it is” as Denny says.

 

The crew finally arrived a little after nine. A lost bag had delayed them even more. Upon meeting them it was good to see some familiar faces. There was the leader Bob, a ‘retired’ dive instructor and Mike, a firefighter. They had both been with me on the Conch Pearl six years ago and if I remember correctly, we had a pretty good time. The rest of the crew seemed like a good bunch of folks; a good first impression.

 

Paul and I fed the crew with leftovers the Galley had left for us, ravioli and vegetables, and then it was off to the dorms. We put the crew in one of the big crew rooms and left them for the evening. It had been a long day for them so it was no use torturing them with the orientation presentation. Tomorrow will be a longer day with a very fast pace.

SCSU031713A Arrives - Day 1

Today my first crew of 2013 arrived. It's a certification crew. I will be team teaching with new instructor David Kirkiner. Sharp guy...he has to be; he was taught by Burt Hubby. The crew is made up of six people; two adult females, three youth females and one youth male. The two adults are not diving. They're going to ride around on the boat and maybe snorkel. Of the youths, one of the girls, may not be diving. She is taking a medication that may disqualify her from diving. Captain Steve is going to talk with the dive doctor tomorrow to see if anything can be done but it doesn't look good.

The crew is somewhat familiar to me. One of the adults was here last year with a certification crew. She had some issues in the pool so she did not finish certification...SCUBA's not for everyone. I don't remember alot about that crew except that they were a fun bunch.

The crew arrived right on time, about 4pm. Check-in was held up while Captain Steve dealt with the medication issue. Once that was settled, for the time being, we met with the photographer and had our picture taken at the Sea Base entrance. Next it was off to the dorms. The crew dropped of their luggage and then we headed to the classroom. We needed to do paperwork and review the upcoming week. We discovered that the students had not filled out their knowledge reviews. This was a problem so they have to make it up on their time.

We finished up in the classroom for the day, went to flags and had dinner.

After dinner we headed to the classroom for the welcome presentation. Divemaster Scott Patton ran through the presentation and got us out of there in about a half hour. After that the crew was on their own, hopefully to go back to their dorms and complete their knowledge reviews.

I'm here, the gear's here...now what

I'm here, the gear's here...now what? That's what I'm asking myself. I want to get in the pool to check it all out but I can't seem to get myself to do it. Now's not the time to get complacent. I know all the gear has to be checked thoroughly, in the water, before my certification crew gets here. I went over it all at home but it's not the same as a 'wet test'. I haven't been diving since April 6th, 2012. I need to weigh my self out too. The new wetsuit may be more buoyant than I'm used to and I've put on some weight which will effect how much weight I need to carry.

I haven't taught Open Water since last March, in Port Antigua. That was fun (not). I need to review all of my teaching materials tonight so that I'm familiar with it all again; don't want to look too stupid. I'm teaching with a brand new instructor which means he should be right on top of everything. At least that's what I'm hoping...old dog, new tricks. I've probably forgotten more than he knows right now.

New Stuff

It seems every time I come to Florida Sea Base I end up with some new gear. This year it's a new wetsuit. I had a few glitches getting it but it all worked out.

First I waited and waited for LeisurePro to put the Pinnacle Wetsuits on sale. They usually put them on sale in late Winter. As the time for me to leave neared I decided to go ahead and order the wetsuit. I hadn't gotten around to trying it on yet when, lo and behold, the wetsuits went on sale. Since the prices had dropped  I was now able to afford what was their top of the line wetsuit. I boxed up the first suit I received to return then went to order the new wetsuit. Suddenly the price changed back to the MSRP. WTF? I fired off an email to customer service and was promptly answered with the offer from them to honor the sale price if I called Customer Service. I called and ordered the wetsuit at the sale price.

What made this wetsuit different was a front zipper that went across the front. I thought that might be more convenient than the conventional back zipper. When the wetsuit arrived I tried it on. First, it was too small. I thought a Large Medium might fit since my last suits were the same size. Wrong! Over the past nine months or so I had gone off of the grid and off of my diet, and it showed. Secondly, the front zipper design was not as easy to get on and very difficult to get off. In fact, I couldn't get it off. I got it pulled down around my shoulders and it got stuck. Here I was home alone, stuck in this heavy wetsuit, dancing, jumping and gyrating around trying to get it off. I thought I would pass out before I got it off but with enough movement I eventually slipped out of it. Lessons earned...I didn't like the front zipper and I needed a bigger suit. I checked the wetsuit prices again and they were back on sale so I ordered another wetsuit, like the first one, in a bigger size. I boxed up the one I had and returned it.

I expected the newest wetsuit to arrive in two days like the others had, giving me enough time to try it on before leaving for Florida. Even though free shipping states a 7-10 day delivery time I live close enough to LeisurePro to expect items to take only two days. Wrong again. When I checked the tracking information I found out that the wetsuit was drop shipped from the factory, in California. That gave it a delivery date two days after I was leaving for Florida. Once again I emailed LeisurePro Customer Service and asked if they could redirect the package. They said they could for $12 so after a few more emails the wetsuit was on it's way to me here in Florida.

The wetsuit arrived yesterday, as promised by UPS. Now all I have to do is try it on. Well the new wetsuit fits...barely. It's a good thing I'm losing some weight because it's going to be tight until it's broken in a bit. I don't want it to stretch out too much or else it won't fit properly once I lose this weight.

Another goody I purchased was reading lenses for my mask. Although the water magnifies things a bit I still need lenses to see small stuff properly. Now I just have to get off of my butt and install them.

It's that time again...

Well it's that time of year again, time to get my dive gear ready and packed up to return to the Florida Keys for my annual stint as a volunteer SCUBA instructor at the Boy Scouts Of America High Adventure Florida Sea Base. I think this is my 9th year. I'm leaving about a month later than usual as there would have been a four week gap between assignments.

Most of the gear is ready to go. Everything looks good. I even have a new wetsuit on the way. I did maintenance on the lights, tested the BCD and made a list that I checked one, two, three times. I'm sure I'll unpack and re-pack everything at least one more time. (that's my OCD kicking in)

I wish I was in better shape for this year's session but I'll have a week of a certification class to get the muscles broken back in again before I get on the Live Aboard. Hopefully I'll be able to watch what I eat and lose 5-10 lbs. while I'm down there.

This year should be interesting as we take two Divemaster / Instructors on board now and they're giving me a brand new divemaster to 'mentor'. We do far less than we used to but I plan to get back to helping more; filling tanks, mooring, etc. It's boring, sitting around between dives (except when I nap).

Oops..there goes the logbook!

I had an unfortunate incident happen with my computer the other day, The hard drive decided to hiccup and I had to re-format the drive. Luckily I backup 98% of my data so I didn't lose much. I did lose my address book which was a major loss, but I have rebuilt most of it.
Although I didn't lose my logbook the only backup I had, even on my external drive, was from dive 996. It was the same for my paper logbook. I was on dive 1009 which meant I had to dig up data on the 13 missing dives. I know "...a good dive logs his dives daily...".

The first thing I did was to check my dive computer. When I tried to turn it on it didn't respond...the battery was dead. I feared that all of the data was lost but after installing a new battery I was able to acces my dive log. I filled in the dive data for the dives I was missing but I still didn't have the dive site information.

I sent an email to the Conch Pearl but they didn't have any information on the dive sites we had visited for that time period. I was at a loss for ideas. Then I started reading this blog, checking to see if I had documented the activities for the dates that I was missing. Success! I had.

From the blog entries I was able to complete the missing information for the dive log. I used the information to bring my computer dive log and my paper dive log up to date.

This incident showed me that I had lost some of the discipline that I had for scuba diving. I will take some time and examine other areas of my diving to see if I have become as lax in any other areas.