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October 28 SC DOM (Dive of the Month)


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#1 OTWdiver

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 09:20 AM

Great dives had by everyone :taz:
The wind blew, Tents flew. but our girls and a few guys prevailed :wakawaka:
The fish were fed like never before at the dives yesterday. It was an old family recipe, I am told, for fish to attract to your hook. Only this time it was to the camera and some brave divers willing to inter the feeding frenzy :fish: :fish2: :fish2: :fish: They did not even use a cage to protect themselves from the brim. The fingers were counted and ears were accounted for, all survived :D
The final group went out for a haunted night dive with sound effects. The lights took there toll as well as the sound system on the batteries. Assistance was close and the power was restored in short order. It did keep us from a second dive but it didn’t stop the spirit and the good time.

The event was a great way for all to enjoy one of the last good weekends of diving before the winter weather forces the masses into the indoors. We however have some great plans to keep our members diving through the winter here locally at the hot hole on Lake Keowee. Keep a lookout for details for cool weather dive trips to Lake Keowee.
Thank to the Bumblebee and Jocassee Girl for the hot soup and trail mix. You kept us from eating the stuff in the mesh bag :)
"Those who have never seen themselves surrounded on all sides by the sea can never possess an idea of the world, and of their relation to it" Goethe

#2 JimG

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 09:27 AM

Thank to the Bumblebee and Jocassee Girl for the hot soup and trail mix. You kept us from eating the stuff in the mesh bag :)

That stuff was delicious (especially for fishes!)

I haven't looked at the video yet. I'm going to be traveling extensively the next couple of weeks, but I'll try to edit it down and send it to someone to post.
Will DIR for food!

#3 Jocasseegirl

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 05:52 PM

Great dives had by everyone :taz:
The wind blew, Tents flew. but our girls and a few guys prevailed :fish2:
The fish were fed like never before at the dives yesterday. It was an old family recipe, I am told, for fish to attract to your hook. Only this time it was to the camera and some brave divers willing to inter the feeding frenzy :D :fish: :fish: :fish: They did not even use a cage to protect themselves from the brim. The fingers were counted and ears were accounted for, all survived :D
The final group went out for a haunted night dive with sound effects. The lights took there toll as well as the sound system on the batteries. Assistance was close and the power was restored in short order. It did keep us from a second dive but it didn’t stop the spirit and the good time.

The event was a great way for all to enjoy one of the last good weekends of diving before the winter weather forces the masses into the indoors. We however have some great plans to keep our members diving through the winter here locally at the hot hole on Lake Keowee. Keep a lookout for details for cool weather dive trips to Lake Keowee.
Thank to the Bumblebee and Jocassee Girl for the hot soup and trail mix. You kept us from eating the stuff in the mesh bag :)


WINDY was an understatement!! We had a great time diving and feeding all the fish . . . lots and lots of :fish: :fish: :fish: Somehow I managed to tote the garbage bag all the way back to Columbia, and my dogs rifled through and found all the empty dog food cans from Leah's special, top secret concoction that proved very successful in attracting about 4 types of fish. Our max depth that dive was about 10 feet, which just goes to show you don't have to go deep to have a great time!

Looking forward to seeing Jim's underwater video of our dives. We successfully planted 2 signs -- one for the JOCASSEE SKELETON CREW - and another advertising the famous underwater hotel at Jocassee - Attakulla Lodge. Yeah . . . we had a good time! :fish2:

A special :wakawaka: goes to OTWDiver Bill for graciously leaving his house unlocked while he was on the night dive. The toilet at JOC was out of order :taz:. Bill, Leah and I owe you!!!

I'd love to dive the Hot Hole sometime . . . I'll keep a lookout for a DOM there later!
Following Him,

Jocasseegirl (aka Debbie Fletcher)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

#4 Jocasseegirl

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 05:55 PM

Thank to the Bumblebee and Jocassee Girl for the hot soup and trail mix. You kept us from eating the stuff in the mesh bag :)

That stuff was delicious (especially for fishes!)

I haven't looked at the video yet. I'm going to be traveling extensively the next couple of weeks, but I'll try to edit it down and send it to someone to post.


Jim, it was great to meet you and share some dives and pizza afterwards. :wakawaka: for retrieveing my weights from the bottom! Can't wait to see how the video turns out. Hope you see you there again sometime! :fish2:
Following Him,

Jocasseegirl (aka Debbie Fletcher)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

#5 JimG

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 06:13 PM

Jim, it was great to meet you and share some dives and pizza afterwards. :) for retrieveing my weights from the bottom!

Actually, it was Bill (Reefrat) who found them. He just gave them to me because they would have made him too overweighted.

Can't wait to see how the video turns out.

Me too - I just need to think of something "creative" to do with it. I have an idea already, so we'll see what I can do with that.

And thanks for the pizza - my wife and I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning :wakawaka:. I still wish you had let me pay for it. I felt bad that you and Leah did all that work during the day, and then bought dinner, too! Maybe I can treat the next time we all get together.
Will DIR for food!

#6 Jocasseegirl

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 06:18 PM

Jim, it was great to meet you and share some dives and pizza afterwards. :) for retrieveing my weights from the bottom!

Actually, it was Bill (Reefrat) who found them. He just gave them to me because they would have made him too overweighted.


Can't wait to see how the video turns out.

Me too - I just need to think of something "creative" to do with it. I have an idea already, so we'll see what I can do with that.

And thanks for the pizza - my wife and I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning :fish2:. I still wish you had let me pay for it. I felt bad that you and Leah did all that work during the day, and then bought dinner, too! Maybe I can treat the next time we all get together.


Well, in that case, thanks, Reefrat, for finding my weight and saving me $15! One hooded guy in the water looks just like another one to me :fish2:


There most assuredly will be a next time :fish: - but pizza for breakfast :wakawaka: Glad you enjoyed it!
Following Him,

Jocasseegirl (aka Debbie Fletcher)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

#7 UnderSeaBumbleBee

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 06:38 PM

We had a great time diving this weekend. Had to try to control the ever adventurous Debbie aka Jocasssiegirl. As if diving isn't exciting enough. she tried to go parasailing with my canopy over the lake. LOL. Fortunately, we had it weighted enough that she didn't get more than a foot off the ground. LOL. It was a breezy clear day and the temps weren't too bad. Water was 68 degrees. We took some great signs that Debbie made down to the Bones family.

Met some great new folks join the group. JimG from Atlanta came up from GA and Drew came all the way from Nashville. We had a great time over dinner listening to a CD of Everyday Atalas--Drews band. I think that was some of the best pizza I have ever had and the dinner music was great. Wish Bill aka Reefraff could have stayed for dinner. I had a great time diving with you guys. I am looking forward to the next Dive of the Month

I had planned to do the night dive, but after my canopy was killed by the wind, my mask smashed upon the rocks, my borrowed mask leaked like you wouldn't believe, my hip started acting up and I started having leg cramps, I had to call it a day for my diving. Wish I could have been on the boat with you guys and get to know Lakediver and Rockygadiver. Hope you guys will come again and let those of us that didn't get to dive with you do so on the next dive of the month.

I was able to spend some much needed time talking to Cassie and brought back some dinner for her. We chatted and she says Bill has never been happier since the Wench accepted his proposal. She said he even lets her get away with a few more things she isn't allowed to do because he is so distracted by his love he doesn't even notice when she is being bad sometimes. She was a little disappointed that she didn't get any of Deb's fabulous soup, but did enjoy the beef tips and gravy coated in grits.

Well, I was really bummed about my very expensive mask that was shattered beyond repair. I purchased the yellow bumble bee colored mask from another shop. Bill at Off the Wall had a very similar mask in stock at about half the price of what I paid for the now ruined mask. Didn't have to haggle with Bill. He already had a fair price on it to begin with. The price was competitive with online shops. Now I did have one problem with Bill Routh and the mask. :) I am sure this will be solved in the next few months as Kamala continues to become more involved with him. He only had it in clear and black. Where are the froo froo colors?????? I am sure once Kamala comes to town we will see more pink, purple, and yellow in the shop :fish2: and you know, I think Bill just might be OK with that. LOL

See you in the water again soon!!

USBB :wakawaka:

Edited by UnderSeaBumbleBee, 29 October 2006 - 07:27 PM.


#8 Drewbud

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Posted 29 October 2006 - 08:53 PM

Yeah, back safe and sound after the extended trip home. There was an accident in the mountains Saturday night that had the road blocked for 90 minutes.

MANY THANKS to Leah, Debbie, Jim and Bill for the great time, the soup, and the dinner (and cassie thanks you for the dog food 'n grits). And thanks to Bill R. for renting me the light that I never used.

It sounds like there was an adventure on the night dive...I was too tired (and WAY too cold) for it to have been a good idea.

I'm envious of Jim's bouyancy....we're hanging out at 6ft feeding fish and he's hovering 6 inches from the bottom filming us and not moving at all!!! ahhh...something to aspire to.

Off to bed....12 hours in a car this weekend was a little too much.

#9 JimG

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Posted 30 October 2006 - 06:36 AM

MANY THANKS to Leah, Debbie, Jim and Bill for the great time, the soup, and the dinner (and cassie thanks you for the dog food 'n grits). And thanks to Bill R. for renting me the light that I never used.

Ditto for me. Debbie's soup was awesome - just the ticket on a cool, windy day.

I'm envious of Jim's bouyancy....we're hanging out at 6ft feeding fish and he's hovering 6 inches from the bottom filming us and not moving at all!!! ahhh...something to aspire to.

:wavey: :cool2: :blush:

That was probably one of the hardest videos I ever had to shoot, due to everything that was going on (drysuit, shallow water, surge from the choppy conditions, silty bottom, etc). I film students all the time in 4-5 feet of water in a pool, but Saturday was entirely different from what I am used to.

And as for the buoyancy thing - that is just something that comes with practice. I'm sure you'll get there eventually if you keep working at it.
Will DIR for food!

#10 UnderSeaBumbleBee

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Posted 30 October 2006 - 07:26 AM

It was amazing to watch Jim aka the ""Hovercraft Man" multi tasking with his camera shooting video, feeding fish, and keeping perfect buoyancy in shallow water.

Jim, would you and some of you buds from Atlanta be up for coming sometime in the spring to do some skill practice dives with us? Most of the folks are not DIR config, but I think we could really learn a lot from diving with you guys. You can tell them that although most of us don't have a HOG harness, we bring enough food to feed a hog! LOL

Glad you had a safe trip home Drew. Sorry to hear you had to spend so much time on the road because of an accident. Were you able to get your computer problems at work solved over the weekend? Hope things go well for you at work today.

Of course as has been said before Deb's soup was delicious! I am wishing I had a bowl for lunch today. It was very good.

Hope to see you guys again.
Leah

#11 JimG

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Posted 30 October 2006 - 07:56 AM

It was amazing to watch Jim aka the ""Hovercraft Man" multi tasking with his camera shooting video, feeding fish, and keeping perfect buoyancy in shallow water.

"Hovercraft Man" - I like that. As long as you are not referring to the fact that I am the size of a hovercraft :wavey: :cool2:

Jim, would you and some of you buds from Atlanta be up for coming sometime in the spring to do some skill practice dives with us? Most of the folks are not DIR config, but I think we could really learn a lot from diving with you guys. You can tell them that although most of us don't have a HOG harness, we bring enough food to feed a hog!

We can probably work on putting something like that together. "Feed them, and they will come" - isn't that what Debbie said? :blush:

Seriously though, precision buoyancy control has less to do with the type of gear that you wear, and more to do with learning how to orient your body in the water, and pay attention to its natural feedback. Someone with really good control is always going to be good, no matter what type of BC they have. It's all about proper weighting, body positioning, breathing control, hand and fin placement and use (or non-use), etc.

Having said that, I think it is much easier to learn the rudiments of precision buoyancy if you are using a backplate-style BC. It has a habit of almost bringing you back into level trim all on its own (kind of like that new Lexus car commercial where the car parks itself). But once you build the muscle memory, then you carry that with you on every dive you do, no matter what type of equipment you are using.

You all are very fortunate to have such a good location nearby to practice this kind of stuff. Lake Jocassee is almost perfect - inexpensive, good facilities underwater (shallow platforms, etc), and convenient logistical support for fills, rentals, etc - Off the Wall is right down the road.

Let me know when the water warms up enough in the Spring, and maybe I can come up there for a half day "show and tell" on buoyancy and gear configuration.
Will DIR for food!

#12 Jocasseegirl

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Posted 30 October 2006 - 03:08 PM

It was amazing to watch Jim aka the ""Hovercraft Man" multi tasking with his camera shooting video, feeding fish, and keeping perfect buoyancy in shallow water.

"Hovercraft Man" - I like that. As long as you are not referring to the fact that I am the size of a hovercraft :) :birthday:

Jim, would you and some of you buds from Atlanta be up for coming sometime in the spring to do some skill practice dives with us? Most of the folks are not DIR config, but I think we could really learn a lot from diving with you guys. You can tell them that although most of us don't have a HOG harness, we bring enough food to feed a hog!

We can probably work on putting something like that together. "Feed them, and they will come" - isn't that what Debbie said? :birthday:



HUH?? I said I'd feed everybody??? :birthday: :birthday: :tears:
Following Him,

Jocasseegirl (aka Debbie Fletcher)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11




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