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| ROWDIES |
PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES! Vacation time for the Rowdies
has taken over club news since the last report.
CONGRATULATIONS to club members Lacy Garno and Joe Pizani as they
were wed April 22nd. Also a great time for Lacy's mom, Ruth Kisco (Steve
too), helping the happy couple to arrange the perfect wedding and enjoying
having lots of relatives visit to wish the happy couple well. The honeymoon
was really special - a two week trip to ITALY. You have to have lots of
"seat power" to sit through Joe's 5000 digital pictures though!! (He really
loves his digital camera.) We are expecting a slide show, Joe - 45 minutes,
please!
Bobbie Jo Roe had a great trip to GERMANY, visiting old friends. Garmisch,
Lauterbrunnen, & Heidelberg are familiar areas for Bobbie Jo, so she really
felt at home. A specialty of the region, Spargel (white asparagus) was in
season and the restaurants vied for special ways to serve it. (With ham and
Hollidaise sauce sounds really yummy to me.) Camera problems were
frustrating but she has taken awesome pictures there. The good news is her
new knee was working great with all the hiking she and her friends enjoyed.
She is back in beautiful Alaska now - turning on the heat!
Would you believe CHINA and TIBET? Ken and Sonia Smith, daughter Maria,
along with diver Lynn Willis, have returned 5/23/06 from an awesome 18day
trip there. Ken picked up a cold on the long trip home and has shared it
with me. The head cold is not as bad as altitude sickness though- ask Lynn.
Tibet's average height in that part of the Himalayas (Lhasa) is over 13,120
feet above sea level. The "Great Wall", the Terracotta Soldiers, the Pandas,
the Yangtse River Cruise (Three Gorges, locks, etc), Buddhist Temples &
Monasteries, jade, pearls, shopping, folk dancing, acrobats, traffic, Peking
Duck, Dumplings, Yak butter tea, etc are just some of the highlights. Yeah,
I know - only a 45-minute show please! --- Let me tell you about the toilets
there - - did I mention the shopping? I have never climbed so much in my
life!
Pat Fredette hasn't been able to go on her usual Bahamas trip this year due
to her fractured leg but it is healing. Now, extended time off her feet has
been ordered for the tendons to do the same. Daughters to the rescue! Mom's
company set her up to work out of her daughter's home in Sanford for the
time being. Families are fantastic! Why do these things have to take so
long???? I know she is loving being "grandma" though.
Lori Smith's vacation was to a gray, cold and rainy SAN FRANCISCO. The best
part? Grey Whales flipping their tails! The sun broke through as they sailed
out and the whales come out blowing and breaching. A perfect day at last -
what a sight! They stayed at Fisherman's Wharf and of course, went to see
and take pictures of the sea lions -in the cold and rain. The cold and rainy
boat trip to Alcatraz was interesting, the cells, the escape hole in the
wall, the list of famous prisoners and some of their paintings. Muir woods
was an interesting trip in the drizzle. But their last day the sun really
came out and San Francisco responded with a grand show of picture perfect
colorful sailboats. Did I mention most of the trip was cold and rainy??
BIG NEWS from Ed Zuranski - there is a ring on his special lady's finger
now! CONGRATUALTIONS! We all think Mary is a great person - she had to pass
Ed's dive family's inspection - (just kidding.) Looking at October for the
big day. This came after his great weeklong dive trip to the Belize area on
the Neckton Pilot. Can you imagine the crazy group of Ed, Pat and Allen
Hall, Bob Burke and friends with a boat crew who - of all things- ties a
rubber chicken on the back of Ed's tank!! "HEY, why are you guys taking all
those pictures of ME??" "I hear you laughing underwater!!" Wall diving was
along the "Half Moon Cay", part of the second largest barrier reef in the
world after Australia, into the "blue hole." You should hear Ed and Bob go
on and on and on abut the fantastic things to see - all those tarpon,
grouper, tropicals, turtles, pelagic tunicates, not to mention seeing the
RED FOOTED BOOBIES!! 'Nuff said till show time!
Not all of the life on the reefs is far away, though. Ruth and Steve Kisco
have been out in the GULF on their boat finding MOTHER NATURE has triumphed
again! The destruction of the past year's red tide has taken a turn and they
are finding tropicals, lobster, baitfish, etc are all returning. You can't
keep a great lady down!!!!!!!
Ken and Sonia also worked the OCEAN FEST show just before leaving for China,
representing both FSDA and Ocean Pals. Be sure to take a look at great kid
pictures & winning poster pictures under OCEAN PALS on the FSDA website.
Come JOIN US at our regular club meeting the first Tuesday of each month -
June's is 6/06/06 (That has to be a lucky day!!) We have been quite good at
having a special program along with the business meeting each month. Call
Sonia, Pres. to check out where the dinner meeting will be as we are
taste-testing a few restaurants. 727-522-8276. Watch the Rowdie web for
announcements.
GET IT WET,
Sonia
THE ST PETE OPEN
Its just around the corner with a bigger crowd expected then ever.
Come see the best shooters around compete for the bragging rights for the
year for the biggest fish. If its anything like the past. Get ready for some
true monsters brought in.
The tournament will be held on August 18th, 19th and 20th at the
Holiday Inn Sunspree which is located at 6800 Sunshine Skyway Lane. Use exit
16 on I-275. Their phone number is 800-227-8045 or 727-867-1151 locally. Its
gonna be a great time for the whole family.
BUSY SPUC'S
The SPUC'S have been some busy boys lately traveling all around for
some of the best tournaments around and kicking some butt in the process!!
The SPUC boys started out strong with the State Freediving
Championships taking home 2nd and 3rd place teams. The 2nd place team
members were Rich Taylor, Chris Gardinal and Gerry Guerra Jr and the 3rd
place team members were Ritchie Zacker, GR Tarr and Sasa Bratic. Also Chris
Gardinal took home the 3rd place individual. We also took home two big fish
trophies. Scott Hooker got the biggest grouper and Gerry Guerra Jr got
biggest triggerfish.
Then Ritchie Zacker and GR Tarr went down to Key West for the Key
West Open and Ritchie took 2nd place amberjack and GR got 2nd place snapper.
All while freediving and it only gets better.
At the Spearboard Open Ritchie and GR took 6th and 10th place out of
305 people entered in the tourney also while freediving against some of the
best in the South Eastern United States. GR also took home the biggest
Amberjack that weighed 68.8 lbs.
Last but not least. The SPUC'S won the WCC series for the year
beating out the Seals by only 62 points in the end. The SPUC'S would like to
congratulate all the shooters that entered the WCC for the year and congrats
to Rich Taylor for getting 2nd place individual for the series year and also
getting biggest snapper for the year but the biggest congratulations goes to
the winner of the WCC series and president of the FSDA John Schmidt. John
has been competing, running tournaments and fighting for divers rights for
over 20 years and has never won the WCC series. Boy did John kick some butt
and take name's this year. John won the # 3 WCC tournament individual by
almost 30 points to secure his WCC title. John also took home the biggest
grouper and triggerfish for the series year. All the SPUC' S are really
proud of John. Way to go Buuudddddddyyyyyyyyy........
The following is the latest competition data:
Grouper
Weight
Lisa Schmidt
12.02
Lynn Jones
14.2
Lisa Tatro
15.0
Eileen Morris
16.5
Mary Taylor
32.8
Hogfish
Weight
Lisa Tatro
2.1
Lynn Jones
3.0
Mary Taylor
14.0
Snapper
Weight
Mary Taylor
1.3
Lisa Schmidt
1.4
Lisa Tatro
3.1
Lynn Jones
4.0
Sheepshead / Triggerfish/ Flounder Weight
Lisa Schmidt – Triggerfish
1. 48
Lisa Tatro - Sheephead
2.1
Lynn Jones - Triggerfish
3.4
Amberjack / Barracuda / Cobia
Weight
Lisa Schmidt - AJ
19.22
Lobster - Not in season
Save Our Seas (Entries are in Points)
Mary Taylor
Deflated party balloon with 4 ft of ribbon 1
Spear Shaft 1
Total points = 2
Lisa Tatro
50 ft. of shredded ship tow rope 4
25 green balloons in a group 3
Total Points = 7
Lynn Jones
Fortress Anchor 4
Tin can 1
Glass Bottle 1
Boogie Board 4
Four Weights 4
Total Points = 14
