--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1400006 Date: 01/02/96 From: KEVIN REID Time: 01:34am \/To: TERRY SMITH (Read 2 times) Subj: Re: Underwater Photograph On 01 Jan 96 11:20:03, Terry Smith said the following to Kevin Reid: > DB> KR> ..... Ikelite Aquashot II ...... TS> > DB> Thanks, I'm not quite up to the Nikonos level TS> TS> Hi Kevin, just pulled off Compuserve the other night some TS> GIF files claiming to have been taken by the Aquashot, I'm TS> impressed. TS> TS> I use a Nikonos V myself but have seen some very good shots TS> taken by the Ikelite houseing. TS> TS> Terry I have always had good luck with my aquashot. I really do like how the pictures come out. It is also in my price range. --- DN WHQ.... * Origin: The Dark Cemetary (813)449-8326 (1:3603/260) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1400007 Date: 01/03/96 From: BRADLEY WITSCHNER Time: 11:37am \/To: PAUL DAVIS (Read 2 times) Subj: Just beginning. PD> It was not a fun dive at all. :( When we got suited up and ready to go the PD>tide had already started to move back in, becuase we were running alittle PD>having trouble finding the site. Not wanting to scrap the dive do to the PD>of our first dive by ourselves we proceeded to jump into the 42 degree water PD> Getting established was alittle difficult with the current pushing us all PD>over the place. Upon the decent we relized that we couldn't see our own PD>so seeing each other was impossilbe. We decide to hold hands and hope that PD>the water would clear up alittle as we got into deeper water. It didn't, and PD>infacted it got worst at times where it got compleately dark. PD> My question for all that have dove on the West Coast, Is there anywa PD>to prodict the visiblity? And what is better to start a dive in, Low lack PD>tide and High slack tide? And does anyone know of any good beginner dive It's a general rule that visibility is always going to be worse when the tide is coming in. All the floating debris and particles that have been swishing around out at sea are coming back in towards shore, so there's not really anything you can do. The best time is when the tide at it's peak or when the tide is going out (low tide is nice too, but you have to watch how long it's been low so you're not stuck with a long snorkel from the tide coming in. As far as diving on the West Coast goes, I can't give you any tips about it since I've never dove anywhere but here in Okinawa where we're dissappointed with anything less than 40-50 feet of vis. I'm quite sure whenever I get back to the states and dive on either coast, I'm going to be slightly dissappointed. In any case, glad you and your wife decided to take part in one of the best activities know to man. Just think, when you're down under, you're seeing things that a LOT of people will NEVER see in their entire lives. Enjoy your dives! --- QMPro 1.53 Success comes in a can. Failure comes in a can not. --- m 1.02 (DPMI & OS/2) * Origin: Scooter's Place - Running T.A.G. v2.7c - No, it's not a game! (6:733/8) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1400008 Date: 01/03/96 From: BRADLEY WITSCHNER Time: 07:36pm \/To: PAUL DAVIS (Read 2 times) Subj: Just beginning. PD> It was not a fun dive at all. :( When we got suited up and ready to go the PD>tide had already started to move back in, becuase we were running alittle PD>having trouble finding the site. Not wanting to scrap the dive do to the PD>of our first dive by ourselves we proceeded to jump into the 42 degree water PD> Getting established was alittle difficult with the current pushing us all PD>over the place. Upon the decent we relized that we couldn't see our own PD>so seeing each other was impossilbe. We decide to hold hands and hope that PD>the water would clear up alittle as we got into deeper water. It didn't, and PD>infacted it got worst at times where it got compleately dark. PD> My question for all that have dove on the West Coast, Is there anywa PD>to prodict the visiblity? And what is better to start a dive in, Low lack PD>tide and High slack tide? And does anyone know of any good beginner dive It's a general rule that visibility is always going to be worse when the tide is coming in. All the floating debris and particles that have been swishing around out at sea are coming back in towards shore, so there's not really anything you can do. The best time is when the tide at it's peak or when the tide is going out (low tide is nice too, but you have to watch how long it's been low so you're not stuck with a long snorkel from the tide coming in. As far as diving on the West Coast goes, I can't give you any tips about it since I've never dove anywhere but here in Okinawa where we're dissappointed with anything less than 40-50 feet of vis. I'm quite sure whenever I get back to the states and dive on either coast, I'm going to be slightly dissappointed. In any case, glad you and your wife decided to take part in one of the best activities know to man. Just think, when you're down under, you're seeing things that a LOT of people will NEVER see in their entire lives. Enjoy your dives! --- QMPro 1.53 Success comes in a can. Failure comes in a can not. --- m 1.02 (DPMI & OS/2) * Origin: Scooter's Place <*> It doesn't get any better! (6:733/8) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1400009 Date: 01/04/96 From: TOM ROGOWSKY Time: 03:00am \/To: ALL (Read 2 times) Subj: Aquashot II I'm using the Aquashot II housing ($65) with the Strobe and the water correcting lens. I also got the macro kit (haven't had a chance to use that yet, though) To take half decent pictures beyond snorkeling depth, use a Kodak or Fuji throw away camera with flash. It adds a few bucks to the price, but the Strobe uses the camera flash as a trigger to activate it's own flash. You screw a flash deflector on the Aquashot housing, which sends the disposable's flash to a light sensor on the strobe. This light sensor causes the strobe to fire whenever it detects a strong light source. So guess what. On our last boat dive (Kerama Islands, Okinawa, Japan), I turned on the strobe on the boat. Imagine my surprise when the flash went into non-stop strobe firing mode as soon as I hit the water. It seems that the sun light (I was a particularly bright day) triggered the strobe. I got around that by turning off the strobe until I got to the bottom. It takes some nice pictures, but you have to start thinking like a photographer and keep the same basics in mind that the REAL UWP use. (ie: distance to object, depth, etc...) No camera will take magic pictures by itself. One nice thing about the AS: The housing opened on me on a deep dive to 110' a few months back. I guess I hadn't snapped the latch all the way. Anyway, the only things I lost were a $12.00 throwaway camera and my ego. I wonder what it costs if your Sea & Sea MMIIEX or Nikonos V or whatever open at depth? Oops. Back to the vendor. That's all for now... Tom Rescue Diver and husband of... KFaye Okinawa, Japan (Land of $3.00 apples and $15.00 Mangos!) --- Squish v1.01 * Origin: Ocean Blue BBS * Okinawa, Japan * 011-81-611-737-4037 (6:733/101) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1500000 Date: 01/02/96 From: DON ZANDSTRA Time: 07:57am \/To: JANIS FOLEY (Read 2 times) Subj: Re: our soap boxes -=> Quoting Janis Foley to Craig Brudenell <=- JF> That makes me so mad!!! I want to know JF> why the government just sits there... Why can't they JF> "crack down" on these people! Ugh! <:-( Which "government" do you propose to do this? I know that this is NOT the area for discussions on matters of government, but before you get the government involved in another area of our lives, you might want to read the constitution and it's ammendments. Particularly the 9th and 10th ammendments first. Then read all of the rest of the constitution, and explain to me where the federal government has any authority over this matter. We don't need a great big babysitter controlling everything. In the case of government intervention, LESS IS BETTER. ... I pay taxes......I have the right! ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.10 --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: |=[Bloom County Hospital>=--- (616) 361-8345 (1:228/500) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1500001 Date: 01/03/96 From: DON ZANDSTRA Time: 05:02am \/To: STEVE ELLIOT (Read 2 times) Subj: Re: new on echo -=> Quoting Steve Elliot to Don Zandstra <=- DZ>Somewhere there is a site that has a review DZ>on the various dive computers. If someone is interested, DZ>I will try to find it. SE> If you find it, I'd like to add it to my list of Scuba web sites. There is quite a list of sites in the February issue of Rodale's SCUBA Diving Magazine. The site that has the dive computer information is: http://www.univ.edu/SCUBA/idcr/index.html Since you are compiling a list of SCUBA web sites, you might want to get a copy of this magazine. If you can't find one, contact me (E-Mail to d.zzandstra@genie.com) and I will snail mail a copy of the article to you. ... First Hillary, then Jennifer, then us. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.10 --- Maximus/2 3.01 * Origin: |=[Bloom County Hospital>=--- (616) 361-8345 (1:228/500) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1500002 Date: 01/03/96 From: STEVE ELLIOT Time: 07:46pm \/To: JOE DZURINDA (Read 2 times) Subj: Tech Divers > Just wanted to see if Tech Diving is catching on in other areas as well > as Ohio. The dive shop that I Divemaster for seems to be the leader in > the area and most of the Tech Divers frequent this store. I don't think > I could be interested in this type of deep diving just because of all > the equipment. Around here if you spend any time diving in the local > quarries you will run into these "Tech Divers" with their dual tanks and > tons of expensive equipment. They are always diving the quarries and I > never run into them on Lake Erie. Just wanted to see if this type of > diving is popular in other areas of the US. I guess it depends on what you call "Tech Diving". The folks that enjoy diving the Florida Springs and cave systems would qualify as people who use dual tanks and tons of expensive equipment. You're also likely to find tech divers combing the deep-water wrecks off of the coast of North Carolina in "The Graveyard of the Atlantic". Beyond that, there are also groups of professional divers (welders, bridge repair, oil rig repair, etc.) that would definately fit the role of tech divers. So, in answer to your question, there are lots of people who enjoy diving beyond the normal sport diving guidelines, and by definition, I guess you could refer to them as "tech divers". --- Run GETALIFE.BAT * Origin: [\] Diver Down BBS [\] Ft. Lauderdale, FL. (1:369/134) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1500003 Date: 01/03/96 From: STEVE ELLIOT Time: 07:57pm \/To: STEVE WILSON (Read 2 times) Subj: St. Lucia > My Dive Buddy is going to St. Lucia for a week at > the end of the month- Jan. 30. He wants to get in some diving but would > like to know if anyone has been there lately that can offer him some > tips. Like should he bring his reg's or just rent all his stuff there, > which charter's to look out for- we're Padi adv. so he'll be looking to > do a couple of deep dive's. We get alot of diving in during the summer > but not much after the water hits about 6C or 40F. Hi Steve, I sent you a file which contains a ton of diving information about St. Lucia. Since you're not a sysop, I sent it directly to Dave at The LightHouse BBS and asked him to forward it along to you. Hope this helps! OOo O Steve Elliot O oO FidoNet Scuba Moderator o [\] Diver Down BBS [\] _____ o o Ft. Lauderdale, FL (_/-\_).. 305/436-3937 ===(O). --- Run GETALIFE.BAT * Origin: [\] Diver Down BBS [\] Ft. Lauderdale, FL. (1:369/134) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1500004 Date: 01/03/96 From: LEE BELL Time: 09:25am \/To: ERNEST CARDEN (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: Wife and Nitrox > She snorkled with a group and touched her first manatee, and the > joy and childlike gleem in her eyes brought a whole new level of > intense fullfillment to my dive. Dive safe and stay wet... You've hit on what keeps me in the sport. I've been diving for so long that local dives just don't do much for me anymore. Diving with my wife, however, is a whole different matter. Her joy is catching and I've caught it. Now that she's becoming more experienced, we're both getting a lot from introducing others to what we have started to take for granted. Fortunately, I still really enjoy diving in new locations and seeing new things. We don't have walls here, so wall diving in Grand Cayman was a wonder. We don't often see turtles or eagle rays, so both were quite exciting. We rarely dive at night, so chances for that are also pretty special. While barracuda and nurse sharks are common here, other types of sharks are not, so seeing them gets the old blood pumping too. One of the most interesting things I've come across in a while was a recent post about underwater ruins of a now submerged city. It won't be long before we figure a way to make the trip. Lee --- PCBoard (R) v15.22/M 2 * Origin: The Cross Roads BBS Ft. Lauderdale, Fla 954-791-9325 (1:369/97) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 186 SCUBA Ref: D1500005 Date: 01/03/96 From: LEE BELL Time: 06:41pm \/To: JANIS FOLEY (Read 2 times) Subj: Our Soap Boxes -> > Finning sharks is still a common practice. I think it's prohibited -> by > international law, but such a law is very hard to enforce. -> There's a lot > of ocean out there and not very many people patroling -> that portion of it > well off shore from countries who care, which -> includes the U.S. -> Okay... I can understand that part... That it would be hard to catch -> those people doing it... So why can't the government make it illegal -> to use these products? So why can't these things? And things -> like fur - why can't it be illegal to even own a fur coat made out -> of some animal skin that happens to be on the endangered species... In the case of sharks, you're talking food, not products. Secondly, it isn't the U.S. fishermen who are the primary problem. Not all governments or people have our sensitivity to environmental issues and, frankly, even our government isn't real good about it. There is no such thing as a world wide police force, which is what it would take. How would you ensure there was a shark body to go with every bowl of shark fin soup? Good idea, but darned near impossible task. As for products made from endangered species, it is illegal in the U.S. to buy or sell any product made from any part of an endangered species unless it can be shown that the item predated the law. Our laws include products made from endangered species which are not even found in the U.S., like elephants for example. For protected species, it's a bit more complicated. Alligators, for example are protected but no longer endangered. There is a special and tightly controlled hunting season for alligators with controls on where, how large and how many alligators can be taken. Those taken must be sold to the state (here in Florida) who arranges for the sale of meat and hides with the money going back to the hunter. Things are complicated by the fact that alligators are raised on farms here in Florida and farm raised alligators are not protected. They are, however, controlled. As you can see, the problem is not so easily cured. -> Part of the problem is that it's not illegal to catch sharks for -> food and those who catch them for their fins only can wait until no -> one is looking before disposing of the rest of the shark. It's a -> little surprising they ever get caught. -> Okay fine! It's not illegal to catch sharks for food... How -> about a law that for every pair of shark fins you have on board - -> you better have a shark to go with it! Come on! Isn't it -> difficult to sneak past the coast guards everywhere? What is -> going on here? Ugh! This is so frustrating! I've gotta go... The Coast Guard can't begin to check every fishing boat returning, or keep drugs from being imported, or anything else for that matter. Besides, the reality is most shark fins are shipped to the Orient. Some are returned to the U.S. for use by oriental restaurants, but how do you tell a good fin from a bad one? Lee --- PCBoard (R) v15.22/M 2 * Origin: The Cross Roads BBS Ft. Lauderdale, Fla 954-791-9325 (1:369/97)