266 replies to this topic

[Sonny Beaches]

Welcome NM Joe, Capt.Steve, A diver 42 , SDver girl to the trip, look foward to meeting, diving,
and the Happy hours with you.. You have to be there when we heat up Scuba Hawks Ear rings, , it will
be memories you will never forget... Along with the Diving, Happy Hours. and Diving on the First day of
2006 ,, What a way to start a new year.....

[Desert_Diver]

Yes we need to start a new thread on this...but we'll do it near the airport or your hotel so we can all hang out!!!

Heck, pick a *nice* place, and don't worry about distance to DFW; I can afford the cab, or I wouldn't be on the trip. Money ain't important.... people are!


BTW, I tried e-mailing Del Mar Aquatics, and it bounces with an "account disabled" message from Yahoo!

Anyone know for sure if they can handle DIN first stages? Howzabout the folks we'll be diving with on the Jan 1st (Paradise?)

Edited by Desert_Diver, 23 December 2005 - 11:26 PM.

[SDvrGirl]

Yes we need to start a new thread on this...but we'll do it near the airport or your hotel so we can all hang out!!!

Heck, pick a *nice* place, and don't worry about distance to DFW; I can afford the cab, or I wouldn't be on the trip. Money ain't important.... people are!


BTW, I tried e-mailing Del Mar Aquatics, and it bounces with an "account disabled" message from Yahoo!

Anyone know for sure if they can handle DIN first stages? Howzabout the folks we'll be diving with on the Jan 1st (Paradise?)

Desert_Diver - I;m sure WW can reach them as I know I recently talked with them regarding the confirmation of my diving reservation. Hope to see you in Cozumel on the dive boat!

Cindy
SDvrGirl

[Desert_Diver]

Weird. The e-mail went through the reflector(s), even with the bounce error.

Reply from Jorge: they have a couple of 100s with DIN, but I ought to swap my reg to yoke. Sigh. One of these days, folks will start using the convertible Thermo valves... I'm not a techie (yet), but I *do* like the added reliability of the DINs.

[WreckWench]

Weird. The e-mail went through the reflector(s), even with the bounce error.

Reply from Jorge: they have a couple of 100s with DIN, but I ought to swap my reg to yoke. Sigh. One of these days, folks will start using the convertible Thermo valves... I'm not a techie (yet), but I *do* like the added reliability of the DINs.

Hey gang...if you need to contact the dive op or hotel about special concerns please let me know and I'll be happy to do so for you. They know my email addy and they give me top priority in replies! And it helps them if the group leader consolidates questions for them so that they can better manage their email volumes. Full internet service is not completely restored and can be unstable at times so we try to lighten the load so to speak. Thanks kamala

[scubafanatic]

Weird. The e-mail went through the reflector(s), even with the bounce error.

Reply from Jorge: they have a couple of 100s with DIN, but I ought to swap my reg to yoke. Sigh. One of these days, folks will start using the convertible Thermo valves... I'm not a techie (yet), but I *do* like the added reliability of the DINs.

Hi Desert_Diver,

I can sympathize with your situation, my solution was to convert some of my regs to DIN 1st stages ( at least those that didn't come from the factory as DIN , like my Poseidon Jetstreams) and purchase a number of really slick Scubapro DIN-to-Yoke screw-on adapters that take all of 5 seconds to add/remove from my 1st stages, so I'm able to dive whatever tanks are available.

If you guys were using Liquid Blue Divers (Cozumel) they provide HP 100 / HP120 PST Thermo-valve equipped steel tanks, and you could dive them either DIN or Yoke as you wished.

The good new is that as dive operators renew/expand their tank inventories I'm seeing a gradual increase in the number of those convertible Thermo valve equipped tanks, although admittedly it's a slow process and for now the vast majority of my recreational dive trips have been on Yoke-only AL80's...... I'm seeing lots of Thermo-valve 'standard' tanks in all my local dive shops, and I've seen them on the fancier liveaboards too, but it will be a long time before such improved tanks find their way to so many of the remote, third-world dive sites.

...in the end I more or less adopted the "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" philosophy.....I go with flow and use the traditional Yoke-only AL80's, which is easy to do with my DIN/Yoke convertible 1st-stages....and, at least when I'm on a live-aboard and am using the same tank all week, I inspect/switch out the yoke O-ring so I really don't worry about reliability issues.

I wouldn't dive Yoke 1st-stages in an overhead environment though...but that's not going to be an issue in Cozumel. Honestly, I'd veer away from the logistical headaches of 'custom' tanks in Cozumel, especially with operators that are pretty much exclusively AL80's users...... due to human error and the fact that tanks in Cozumel go 'off-site' for fills, you are risking disappointment relying 100 % on 'your' special DIN tanks to always be there, ready and waiting......convert your reg over using the Scubapro adapter and you won't be left high-and-dry if Murphy's Law strikes.

Karl

[ScubaHawk]

Looks like I'm going to be the only one diving on Thursday, since everyone is flying out Friday. If any of the "unofficial" group is going to be up for some dives, let me know.
I still haven't abandoned my hopes of hitting a cenote on the Mainland.

P.S. about the New Years dress-up, I love ya guys, but I ain't packing extra clothes. I'll bring the computer for the tunes and photo cds, but y'all have to see me in the same couple of shorts and few t-shirts the entire time.

[scubafanatic]

Looks like I'm going to be the only one diving on Thursday, since everyone is flying out Friday. If any of the "unofficial" group is going to be up for some dives, let me know.
I still haven't abandoned my hopes of hitting a cenote on the Mainland.

P.S. about the New Years dress-up, I love ya guys, but I ain't packing extra clothes. I'll bring the computer for the tunes and photo cds, but y'all have to see me in the same couple of shorts and few t-shirts the entire time.

Hi Scubahawk,

...although it's quite impossible for me to ever participate in any SD.com 'New Year's' trips, at least in my present job position/dept, as Christmas/New Year's is peak season for us, (explaining, my 'non-interest' in the annual SD.com trek to Cozumel) I'd encourage you to try some Cenote diving in Akumal......I did a week of cave diving in Akumal in Sept 2003, and the diving experience was quite beyond anything I'd ever imagined.........it totally blew my mind ! It's spooky, errie, alien, and awesomely beautiful...a totally absorbing dive experience....both intense and wonderous......Akumal is the 8th wonder of the world, no question about it!

I'm hoping that one day, SD.com will plan a Cenote dive trip, perhaps something along the lines of a 'lite' Cave Diving trip, where we'd get to have guided cave dives beyond the cavern zones, using 'twin' AL80's....I'd definitely be 'up' for a week of that with SD.com!

Karl

[Sonny Beaches]

AHHH Come on Hawk we wanted to see you in a suit and tie , with liittle rings to match the ears, eyes, nose, and Where ever else they are Looking foward to partying with you again,,, and diving, listening to the stories of the year... and laughing till my sides hurt....
Countdown to Cozy .......4 more days till Dive and party times,

[Stingray1]

Is there a plan for us buying school supplies? What to we need to buy?
Now that Christmas is over, it's time to pull out the dive gear and start getting organized.

[WreckWench]

Is there a plan for us buying school supplies? What to we need to buy?
Now that Christmas is over, it's time to pull out the dive gear and start getting organized.

**COZY UPDATE**

School Supplies:

Yes we are bringing school supplies...whatever you want to bring and whatever you can carry. I'm hitting a few of the sales...yes even school supplies are on sale!

We'll be delivering them to 1-2 groups of orphaned and needy children groups!

p.s. with 50 lbs per bag on most carriers...we'll have lots of space and room!

Happy Hours:

We'll do our infamous SD Happy Hours with tunes supplied by our very own ScubaHawk! There is a bar in the hotel lobby but we'll do the first rounds or so as a private group in one or more of the rooms. So get your favorite bottle of alcohol at the Duty Free store inbound to Cozumel and we'll get mixers on the island when we arrive. SD will have the first round of munchies and we'll do our daily SD Get Happy Happy Hour approx at 5-6 or 6-7 depending on if we have any afternoon boat dives etc. Final times will be announced in Cozy.

New Year's Eve:

We are making plans for ringing in the New Year! We can do a classic standby...Carlos and Charlies or we can do a nice dinner at Primas and walk to the water to ring in the New Year or we can party upstairs in the rooftop bar of the Hotel....ahhh....choices choices choices!!!

What are your preferences????

Diving:

Our pkg has 5 days of diving in it and we are starting the 31st for those arriving Friday and the 1st for those arriving the 31st. Is everyone planning on diving Jan 1??? Currently we have diving set up for the 1st as I planned on the group all diving that day. (We will delay boat departure a bit to compensate for the night before!

Who is interested in doing an extra day of diving beyond the pkg of 5 days??? I need to give some preliminary head counts to the operator. Thanks! -ww

[ScubaHawk]

Dive the 1st - plus any extras I can get in!

[Desert_Diver]

Sign me up for the extra day, too!

See some of ya in a few days!

Stan

[WreckWench]

Note: ALL our diving will be with the same operator...that makes it easier for us! WOO!!! HOO!!!

Ok so we have 4 people doing an extra day of diving...anyone else?

[MNJoe]

Note: ALL our diving will be with the same operator...that makes it easier for us! WOO!!! HOO!!!

Ok so we have 4 people doing an extra day of diving...anyone else?

I want to dive as much as possible. So put me down for the extra day also.

Keith