Harvey Sisco and Wade Sparks completed their CCR Cave class with Lamar Hires of Dive Rite. Congratulations guys!
Posted by: armchairsailor | June 28, 2009
New CCR Cave Students…
Posted in Cave Diving, Local Diving
Posted by: armchairsailor | June 21, 2009
Dry Tortugas Tech Week
Clear blue water and the gentle hum of the generators breaking the silence of the early morning hours. The wind gently blowing across the deck creates the only other sound. As the sun rises, the water surrounding us shimmers and shines. The sleeping explorers start to stir as the sun rises further from its slumber over the horizon. Soon the boat will be active with divers getting ready to plunge into the crystal clear waters of the Florida straights.
Our Florida wreck diving trip once again finds us over the final resting place of the MS Rhein a causality of the Second World War. The German freighter was sacrificed by her crew in December of 1940 when they set her afire rather than allow her to be captured by the US Navy. This stunning wreck lays in 240 feet of water with her kingposts reaching upwards to 140 feet. Now the home of large schools of fish and goliath groupers, the MS Rhein is seen by few divers.
Today, ten divers (two on open circuit scuba and eight on Closed Circuit Scuba) diving from the M/V Spree had the privilege of visiting this long forgotten piece of history. This is to be the fist of many historical wrecks this group will be visiting. According to Michael Barnette in his book, The Shipwrecks of the Sunshine State:
During 1940 much of the world was focused on the growing hostilities in Europe. However, numerous countries had yet to enter the war, preferring neutrality to a repeat of the bloodshed they encountered in World War I. While the American population opted to ignore and isolate itself from the “European problem,” the Roosevelt Administration recognized that Hitler was a clear and present danger to national security. While neutral at the time, the United States government fully supported Great Britain and her allies. The Declaration of Panama, adopted on October 3, 1939, ordered belligerent nations to stay out of a 300-mile neutrality zone off the coasts of the United States and Latin America. However, this declaration was unilaterally enforced and never applied to those countries fighting the Axis powers. Neutrality Patrols were established in order to assist with the war effort against Germany, while the United States remained “officially” neutral.
The MS Rhein was a 439-foot long freighter, built in Hamburg, Germany, by the Hamburg-America Line in 1926. The latter half of 1940 found the freighter in the neutral port of Tampico, Mexico, separated from the safety of German waters by the expanse of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, both filled with prowling Allied warships. November 29, 1940, also found a U.S. Neutrality Patrol consisting of the destroyers USS Simpson (DD-221), USS Broome (DD-210), and USS McCormick (DD-223) on station off Tampico. At 8:35 a.m., the Rhein and Idarwald, another German merchant ship, were observed leaving port and steaming south, staying within Mexican territorial waters. The USS Broome pulled anchor and slowly shadowed the German freighters. On December 7, 1940, the USS McCormick was ordered to relieve the Broome and keep the Rhein under surveillance as she steamed east towards the Florida Straits and the open Atlantic. As the Rhein steadily approached Florida, the USS MacLeish (DD-220) was given emergency orders and hastily sailed from Key West at 2:05 p.m. to rendezvous with the McCormick in the Gulf of Mexico. At 3:50 p.m., the Dutch man-of-war Van Kinsbergen, sailing under the British flag, was sighted by the MacLeish and informed of the approaching German freighter. The two warships sped westward to rendezvous with the McCormick and intercept the Rhein. Nearing the Dry Tortugas, the 6,050 ton Rhein was finally intercepted by the Van Kinsbergen on the morning of December 11. As the U.S. warships moved off, the Van Kinsbergen turned on her spotlights and fired a warning shot across the bow of the Rhein. With no escape possible, the crew of the Rhein attempted to scuttle their vessel and set fire to the ship. A boarding party from the Van Kinsbergen attempted to salvage the freighter but abandoned efforts due to the fire that raged out of control, as well as armed resistance from the German crew. After the skirmish, the MacLeish reported observing an empty lifeboat riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood. That afternoon, the HMS Caradoc arrived to receive the German prisoners from the Van Kinsbergen. The Caradoc then proceeded to fire 22 six-inch projectiles at the still-burning freighter, eventually sending her to the bottom at 3:56 p.m.
The waters were calm but there were currents all the way down to the wreck. The group made two dives on the wreck, with Richie and Dan finding a number of artifacts inside the vessel; most of which they left for future divers to find. Carrie told Richie that she already felt like she lived in a Bennigan’s Restaurant so he could only bring home china and glass – no brass!
Our next stop the highlight of the trip for our avid group of soon to be transformed treasure divers ( treasure fever seems to hit all of the divers when they watch, as Captain Frank puts it “Pigpen I and Pigpen II digging in the wreck and coming up with portholes, deck prisms, a door lintel, a saucer, and other goodies. True to form treasure fever did hit and the divers elected to remain on the Araby Maid for two days. Not everyone was successful with their treasure collecting, Bernie Chowerdy and his student were forced to abandon the porthole they had been working on and Ian only came back with some incredible video of the wreck (of course that is the only treasure he was looking for).
After leaving the Araby Maid, our cure for treasure fever, we moved on to the wreck of submarine U2513. According to Michael Barnette:
The U-2513 was a Type XXI German U-boat built in 1944. Boasting a length of 252′, she was the most technologically advanced U-boat built during World War II. Advanced sonar capability, greater torpedo delivery (6 bow tubes), greater depth range, and a hydraulic torpedo loader allowed for total reloading in 12 minutes. Known as an “elektroboat,” she could stay submerged for a greater period than her predecessors due to her robust battery supply. Unfortunately for the German war effort, the Type XXI U-boats were introduced too late in the war to make a difference; only 12 Type XXI boats were cruise-ready by the end of the war.
The U-2513 was eventually towed 23 miles northeast of the Dry Tortugas to be sunk as a target by the destroyer U.S.S. Robert A. Owens on 7 October 1951. Supposedly Navy divers visited the wreck in the 1950s, but recreational divers did not visit her remains until almost 1990. She now sits in 214′ of water with damage fore and aft of the conning tower. Part of her sail lays in the sand off to the starboard, with hedgehogs (anti-submarine weapons) residing on the port side.
Captain Frank on Deco
It was a beautiful day for a dive with calm seas, 100’ visability and very manageable surface currents. This is a beautiful wreck with fish all around including some very large Goliath Groupers. After one dive it was time to move closer to Key West and a night dive on the newly sunk Vandenburg.
According to Captain Frank’s trip report:
… after an 8 hour steam, we arrived at the Vandenberg. Mel got in to set the sideline in zero current. By the time it was set, current was ripping. The Vandenberg has been populated by some pretty cool fish, but the highlight, at least for those on deck, was the ocean sunfish, or Mola Mola that came to visit. It was a small one, about 3 feet fin tip to fin tip. It hung out at the boat for a little while, then wandered off to do fish things.
The next morning Captain Frank put it best, “Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, with a screaming current. No one could swim against it. Melanie used all of her wiles and tricks to put in a sideline, and off we went…. Er… Off we looked and said “Ummm… Maybe another cup of coffee. This was not a “sporty” current but rather a ripping current.
The divers relaxed, lounged, and watched divers on the local day boats try and battle the ever increasing current. At around 11:00 the current had slacked and divers began hitting the water. Like Captain Frank, Dave and I went exploring the wreck to determine its usefulness for future training trips. Captain Frank’s conclusion “…I went to the sand at 157 feet, and sure enough, you can do an advanced nitrox and deco procedures class here.” Dave and I swam the entire wreck, ducking inside from time to time to escape the currents and to improve our view since the visibility was poor due to the currents. I think we decided this will be a good location for future training trips. There are a lot of spots to duck out of the current that do not violate standards for no penetrations as well as a number of good penetration routs for a penetration course.
As with all of my trips with Captain Frank, it was a fun and exciting trip with a lot of good diving. I can’t wait for next year’s wreck trip…I am already signed up.
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- In the Foc’sle
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- Captain Frank on Deco
Posted in Rebreather, Trimix, Wreck Diving | Tags: Spree, Araby Maid, Rhein
Posted by: armchairsailor | May 30, 2009
Bubbles at Bubbles…
Ann and Eric Keibler joined Mrs. Bubbles (Kathy Lawrence) for a day of diving at the car wash. A good time was had by all as balloons and bubbles were passed out.
Posted in Shows
Posted by: armchairsailor | May 3, 2009
Wine and Steaks at the Lake
Posted in Local Diving
Posted by: armchairsailor | March 29, 2009
Beneath the Sea – New Jersey
Eric with Melanie Wasson of the M/V Spree
New Jersey
is a long way from sunny Bonaire. But this is where I find myself today. As I noted yesterday, “lost” is what people I know at the show, think of when they see me. Perhaps I am a little lost because there is a lot of coverage of the New Jersey Wreck diving and I really have no first hand knowledge of it nor do I plan or learning more about it while being underwater – it is cold and dark with currents and potentially rough seas. There seem to be so many more places to go in the world that I have decided to postpone my visit to these waters until I run out of places to see.
So what is this all about? Well, Beneath the Sea is a consumer trade show in New Jersey. It is well support, well attended and probably the largest retail show in the US. There are booths from all aspects of the diving community – manufacturers, travel destinations, dive retailers, educational companies, certification agencies and the peripheral groups. So who did I talk to at this show?
- Keith – Sunset House, Grand Cayman – Their year has been off but more importantly, their bookings have been different. He said that people seem to be booking at the last minute. They have gone into months with a 4% occupancy and then they are relatively full the last three weeks of the month. Everyone seems to be looking for travel deals, is afraid to commit too far out and schedule things at the last minute.
- Frank & Melanie Wasson – This is a new show for them but it has been interesting. There seems to be a lot of interest in their offering but no commitments yet. Of course they sewed up some deals they were working on before arriving and they generated a lot of interest. Frank said he felt it would be a week or so before they would know the net results of the show. However, they did feel it had been a good show – good enough to try it again
- Evelyn Dudas – Dudas’ Diving Duds – Coming off her PFO reprair surgery last year, she has been taking it easy with her diving only doing a few one or two hour long dives with limited decompression. So far she has had no symptoms. She said they have been busy and Michael has a lot of travel in the works. She has been traveling a lot, mostly to Florida for some diving and visiting her daughter.
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Dave with Leon in Inner Space systems Booth
Leon Scamerhorn & Jerry
, Inner Space Systems Corporation – They are in a good position right now since they have a number of new product offerings and customers wanting them; Business has been steady and while they have seen some slowdown in rebreather sales, they are still getting new orders. Both Leon and Jerry feel that this year will be a good year for ISC and that the economic problems will not impact their business too negatively.
- Kim Smith – Jetsam technologies – The KISS rebreathers remain in demand primarily because of the price point. Kim said that they have been very busy assembling rebreathers since the first of the year. They were busy at the show and in talking to Kim it would appear that she feels that 2009 will be a good year for rebreather sales.
- Tamara Thompson, Technology in Depth (VR Technologies) – Their booth was very busy and in talking to Tamara, she has been doing a lot of diving already this season and it seems others are diving a lot as well. She indicated that the sales of a of the new VRx computers are doing well as are the rebreathers.
- Curt Bowen, Advanced Diver Magazine – Curt has been working hard integrating the operations of Advanced Diver Magazine and Rebreather World along with various diving expeditions. He said it is funny, people keep asking him to do things forgetting that someone has to actually put the magazine together. He seems to have a guarded optimistic outlook for the year.
- Mike Fowler, Silent Diving Systems – He indicated that things had slowed a little but that they were still busy and shipping rebreathers. Their big seller is now the Evolution + which incorporates the Inspiration scrubber with the Evolution electronics and 2l bottles. He feels that the year will be fine and they are looking for a good year.
- Tom Mount, IANTD – Tom realizes that this year will be difficult for some of their dealers but feels overall there will be a steady growth in the rebreather training, especially when the more recreational rebreathers (e.g. Poseidon) come on line. IANTD has been working on upgrading their training materials and creating some of the technical diving’s best courses.
- Joe Diuri, IANTD – Joe is very excited about the new materials that the agency is producing. He is especially excited about the new instructor training materials that he has been working on. According to Joe, they will “change how we train instructors” in the future. He has a positive outlook for 2009. He feels there will be some changes both positive and negative.
- Pete Nawrocky, Dive Rite – Talk about a guy who is high on diving. Pete is traveling with the Dive Rite booth to consumer shows all over the US as well as traveling with the Dive Rite Tech Tour. Wherever he goes, Pete is talking diving, from the cold dark dives of the New Jersey shore to the gin clear caves of Florida, Pete will tell anyone who will listen that they should be diving! Of course, Pete will also tell them that they should be diving in Dive Rite equipment! As far as this year goes, Pete will tell you that it will be whatever you want it to be. You just have to get out and go diving and take people with you.
- Big Wave Dave, DEMA – It is always nice to visit with Big Wave Dave; he loves the scuba industry and his energy in contagious. He said they have had the pool out working at various shows and there still seems to be a lot of interest in scuba. The hardest part is for the retailers to capture the interest and turn it into a committed diver.
So what else did we do? Well other than shocking people by being in New York, Dave and I attended a few seminars, looked at a portable recompression chamber, dreamed about going diving in Komodo, ate some fabulous meals in the City, and talked about diving and what we wanted to accomplish this year.
The 2009 diving season will be an interesting year, full of scary points, disappointments and really cool moments. While the economy will influence our business, Ann, Dave, Ashton and I as well as our entire staff have elected not to participate in the downturn, instead we are focusing on the 90%+ people who are still working and need hobbies, diversions and fun things to do.
Posted in Rebreather, Shows, Uncategorized
Posted by: armchairsailor | March 27, 2009
Thoughts on Decompression Theory
Lost – at least that is what the people I knew thought when they saw me at this year’s Beneath the Sea show in New Jersey. It was common to hear “what are you doing here?” I had a number of reasons for coming to this show this year, among them were to try and find some connections to some students for our Expedition Trimix Course in Grand Cayman this summer.
Friday evening found Dave and I in a presentation by Dr. Gozum about Personal Decompression Strategies. He has been looking at a number of Decompression & Doppler Bubble studies all the way back to the 1940’s. In looking at the raw data, he found that there three groups of divers in these studies:
- Divers who never got bent, no matter what was done to them
- Divers who sometimes got bent and
- Divers who always got bent
His theory is that were individuals that are resistant to DCS. In looking at their Doppler readings, even when they showed a high number of bubbles, they exhibited no signs of DCI. While this population represents a small part of the study, he felt that it is an important finding.
One of the things he advocates is performing Doppler studies on yourself to determine a safer decompression routine for yourself. Since the actual Doppler devices are $400+, a baby ultrasound device ($100) can be used. These less expensive devices have a larger head and are not generally reparable but give reasonable readings to begin a study.
Another point he made is that studies have shown that post dive exertion has lead to DCI. After a dive a diver may show no signs of DCI, and after doing something strenuous, i.e. pulling up an anchor, moving equipment, etc the suddenly developed DCI. For this reason he recommends refraining from strenuous exertion after a decompression dive. I have seen this exact situation in a diver who because of pride issues moved equipment and immediately began showing signs of DCI. It took a table 6 ride in the chamber to confirm the hit and eliminate the pain.
In talking about this with Larry Elsevier later that evening, he felt that the results could be skewed by the individual diver’s metabolism. According to Larry, in a study at the university of Southern California (he thought) it was shown that DCS was not detected in divers who had 7-8 glasses of water 24 hours before diving but DCI was noted in divers who did not consume water the prior day. The study concluded that an individual’s metabolism, affected by dehydration, played a significant role in the incidence of DCI.
Further, he noted that in some studies while some people did not note any of the traditional signs of DCI, some reported feeling funny. In some cases, this funny feeling was a precursor to more serious DCI symptoms.
In talking with Tom Mount in our Expedition Trimix course, his experience has been that especially on deep dives, what works is not necessarily what the formulas say to do. “You have to listed to your body” and be aware of signs that tell you things are not quite right. By being in tune with yourself, you can modify your schedule to try and get things back in balance before continuing. He calls this Intuitive Decompression. I have been on dives when I felt that I needed to elongate a stop beyond what the computers were telling me to do. I also know that Ann has felt the same way on some of her dives. She will even tell you she “feels the nitrogen” and gets an overwhelming feeling that she needs to pause and spend more time at her current depth.
What does this mean to divers? The first thing we should know is that decompression is not an exact science. There seem to be a number of factors influencing the elimination of inert gasses and the possibility of developing symptoms of DCI. The importance of proper diet and hydration play a major role in preventing DCI as does individual physiology. While there are some individuals who are resistant to DCI, there appears to be a far larger number of diver’s susceptible to DCI. Prevention of symptoms may include using Intuitive Decompression, to modify your decompression schedule depending on how you feel underwater. Additionally, if is important to avoid post dive exercise when possible, especially if you “feel funny.”
Posted in Presentations, Rebreather, Shows
Posted by: armchairsailor | January 24, 2009
Dave &Eric’s Adventure to Florida
Here we are in the middle of the cold weather season, Dave’s favorite time to escape New York. Dave tries to tell Martha that he has been bad and that she should banish him to Texas for a few months. It never really works. However, I was able to arrange for a few weeks off to spend some time in sunny Florida. Of course, winter seems to have followed us as it was cold in Florida.
We had an ambitions schedule planned. We contacted Tom Mount to help us accomplish a few goals for the year. Dave needed to finish his Meg Instructor course so I volunteered to be his student and I needed to complete my OC/CCR Trimix Instructor Trainer Certification so Dave volunteered to be my candidate for the session.
Tom set up two weeks worth of training and diving for us. We planned to do a lot of wreck diving while we were in the area as part of our course. Our plans called for dives on a variety of wrecks at various depths.
During the next few days the winds built and came from the wrong direction. What this meant for us was more time at Tom’s house in lectures and in pools. In fact it meant a lot of extra lecture time and discussions about new training materials.
During our dive on the Speigel Grove, my training dive on the Meg, I had two instructors, Dave and another instructor candidate along wit Tom. Since I was the student, I was anticipating a lot of drills with my instructors. What happened was not at all what I expected. During the descent it became apparent that the other instructor candidate was having problems with buoyancy and we found that his jacket was having trouble holding air. Of course while Dave was helping him sort it out, Tom, who had grown impatient with the lack of attention to me, the student quickly appeased himself by giving me a “boom scenario” to deal with. Having successfully accomplished the procedure for dealing with the “problem” our other instructor candidate signaled he was ok and ready to continue. Tom started on the dive.
Dave soon realized that this other person was not in the proper space for the dive and was having trouble maintaining buoyancy. So rather than focus on me “the student” he decided that he needed to watch the other candidate. As Tom approached a wide opening that traverses the wreck, everyone apparently signaled ok and in he went. I have to admit I was really laughing at myself in the passageway. I kept getting stuck. This was not my normal configuration! Imagine a Wreck Instructor getting stuck on a simple dive. I soon realigned myself and pulled my way out into the opening, under Tom’s watchful eyes. As I turned around there was no one behind me. Tom and I waited and still there were no divers behind us. I looked back down the passage and there was no one there. I communicated this to Tom and then after a little more of a delay the other candidate entered the passage creating a cloud of silt for Dave to swim through. Dave later told us that he had a difficult time getting the other person to follow.
It was at this point, we all noticed how poor his buoyancy was and that he appeared to be struggling to stay afloat in the water column. Further, Dave was signaling Tom that the diver was low on dil. Tom, immediately terminated the dive leading us to the mooring line. After our safety stop, we exited the water to a surprised crew. We were supposed to be go for 2 hours and we were surfacing before the other recreational divers.
Tom started to talk to Dave about the lack of drills for his “student” during the dive but quickly changed his focus when the entire situation became known. Then his attention switched to the other diver/candidate.
In the end, Dave and I did accomplish our goals. Dave received his Meg Instructor and his CCR Normoxic Trimix Instructor credentials and I received my OC/CCR Trimix Instructor credentials. We also decided that January was not the best time to travel to Florida for diving. The winds are unpredictable and the diving is likely to get blown out. Something Tom knew and tried to tell us but who said we ever listen.
Oh well, live and learn…
Posted in Rebreather, Travel, Trimix, Wreck Diving
Posted by: armchairsailor | October 27, 2008
Cool New Stuff
Platinium Pro Winners - Jess Stark, Eric Keibler, Gary Taylor
Several members of the Oceanic Ventures Staff have just returned from DEMA, the diving industry trade show. The purpose of the show is for retailers to preview equipment, training products and travel locations so they can bring new things back to their clients at home. The training agencies host parties and meetings to showcase their offerings and to thank members for their support in the previous year and in the upcoming year.
SSI is no different, hosting its annual dealer social at the Rivera hotel. It was great to see friends from all over the country – many of whom we only see at these events. Julie Footman was on hand to shake her head but to also offer her support to Ann for her 2009 Cold Water Diving Program to help her Antarctica divers gain some diving experience. We will be joining Julie in Maine after the group completes their Ice Diving Course, at Lake Winipasakui, New Hampshire in February (there is still room for interested people). Julie is the owner of Aqua Diving Academy in Portland Maine and has been a great source of information for a number of things including dry suits and repairs. She is also a good friend.
During the dealer social, I was awarded my Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor Award. This means that I am old and have been teaching a long time. The award is based on points made up of a number of things from Instructor Ratings to Number of years diving; but, primarily, it the points are the number of students I have taught over the eighteen years (see what I mean about being old). [Find out more about Eric and this award by pressing here or going to www.oceanicventures.com].
Jess Stark and Gary Taylor (a member of our adjunct faculty) were both honoured during DEMA this year. Both of these men have been diving a long time and have accumulated in excess of 5000 dives (Gary has in excess of 10,000 dives). They were among this year’s recipients of the Platinum Pro 500 divers award, given by SSI. They join a very exclusive club of divers representing the who’s who of divng. We were fortunate to have been able to nominate both of these people as well as two other designees – Lamar Hires, CEO of Dive Rite and Ron Carlo, manufacturer’s representative for a number of lines including Dive Rite. Congratulations to all of you!
Another party we attended was hosted by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. They always throw great parties! Of course it is even more fun since the Houston office is full of our students! It was quite an evening full of free drinks, horśderves and good company. Carl Griffing joined us at the party as did Robert Hew and Ian McKnight. Of course, Carl and Ashton seemed to have a better time than most of us – at least their evening lasted longer. I guess I’m getting too old!
Of course we did much more than party. The group attended Risk Management seminars hosted by IANTD and another by SSI. There were seminars on selling & teaching technical diving, recruiting, marketing, new camera systems, improving your client’s photographs, dealer product updates and new course offerings. We all had meetings with manufacturers and manufacturers representatives, destination representatives and a host of other meetings. Through it all, we also had some goals of things we needed to accomplish and some new products we needed to find.
And we did come back with some really cool things. Here are a few of the things we brought back to Oceanic Ventures:
- Komodo, Indonesia live aboard – The crew of the Archipelago Explorer II are excited about the potential of rebreather diving and with the help of Oceanic Ventures and Silent Diving Systems they are hosting the first live-aboard, all rebreather dive adventure in Indonesia! This trip promises to be and extra special experience and a real treat for rebreather divers! The trip will be 22 July 2009 to 2 August 2009, give or take a few days (Dive Mom is finalizing the air schedule)
- Cool New Lights – We found some really cool new LED lights that are more affordable than anything we have had in the past. These new lights, which come in a flood versin and a spot version use Lithium batteries and are rated to 400 ft.
- Inexpensive back-up Light – When you need an inexpensive back-up light that fits in your pocket or on your BCD, we have a suggestion. A 5 LED light for $9.95. Pretty cool find!
- Camera Spotting Light – This light is different from anything we have seen before. It is a spotting light with an sensor that shuts-off the light when your electronic strobe fires, keeping the different temperature lights out of your photograph.
- 8 megapixel Camera & Housing for $199.95 – What a find! As Dave said when he was telling us abut this at one of our morning staff meetings during the show, this makes photography affordable for everyone. New divers and experienced divers can start taking underwater photographs almost from the start. And, you can always add an external strobe later to improve your photography even more. We are so excited about this new starter camera that we have put one in the pool for our students to try during dive class!
- New Training Options – The new buzzword in dive training is on-line training. Ann, Dave and I have been watching this for several years and we believe that now there is a good product that will meet the needs of some divers. Beginning in 2009, Oceanic Ventures will begin offering On-line education as a part of its training program. Keep an eye out for more details on this program.
We believe that DEMA was very successful for us this season. We appreciate all of the staff’s help during the show (Ashton, Dave, Barney & Barbara at the show and Zaide in the office). I hope you will come by and let me show you these way cool things! If you can’t make it by, send me an message and I’ll tell you more about them.
Posted in Travel, Uncategorized
Posted by: armchairsailor | October 13, 2008
DIVAS, Diving, Rum and Wine
Dive Divas in Grand Cayman, photo courtsey of Dora Valdez
As the hurricane becomes more of a past event, a group of ladies joined Ann in Grand Cayman. Affectionately known as the Dive Diva group, these ladies left Houston in recovery and escaped the usual Houstonian question “so did you have any damage?” The plan was 5 days of diving with other activities including massages, reflexology, a rum tasting featuring Grand Cayman’s own Seven Fathoms Rum and of course one of Arie’s famous wine and cheese parties. Word from Grand Cayman is that the island will never be the same again!
Posted by: armchairsailor | September 28, 2008
2 matches, 4 Chukkers Each with Wine
Polo anyone? Did you know that Houston has one of the oldest Polo clubs in the South? The Houston Polo Club is celebrating its 80th Anniversary this year and has been voted as one of the top polo clubs in the United States according to the Robb Report.
We were the guests of the Elizabeth Himes with the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, sponsors for the club this year. After a little white wine the first match started. Who would have thought Ashton was such polo fan – he kept an active score sheet and was familiar with some of the players. In looking through the guide, we found that several of our clients actively played polo at the club and others were supporters. It is always fun to find out what other activities your clients are involved in outside of Scuba.
Ann & Cindy Thompson Enjoying a Glass of Wine
Between the two matches, we were treated to wine from a small California winery, a tour of two Jaguar convertibles and a Rang Rover all mid-field. The wine was nice and the cars were beautiful. Ann really wants a Jaguar convertible so this did not really help squash that desire…
We followed the Polo match with dinner and drinks (mostly Iced Tea). It was a fun day and definitely different from what we normally do – Polo anyone?
Posted in Uncategorized
