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| FROM THE PRESIDENT |
The main topic of interest at this
time of the year is the “Southern Open State Championship Tournament”. Which is
fondly referred to as “The Derby”. We have a few changes from last year.
First of all is the new location. “Catches Seafood Restaurant” has been selected
to host this years
event. It is located on the North side of the Pithlachascottee River. The Hwy
#19 bridge over the river is the best landmark. It’s located between The cities
of New Port Richey and Port Richey. The restaurant people have been great to
work with and things are shaping up to become the perfect
environment for a State Championship Tournament.
The dates of the event have been moved up to June 19 to June 26 for the
photography portion and June 25-26-27 for spearfishing. The change was made to
take advantage of warmer water and avoid the hurricane season.
The efforts put forth by John Schmidt and Tom Morris have been spectacular The
“Derby” could not occur without their endless contributions. Lisa Tatro has put
forth equal effort as the chairperson for the photography portion of the event.
A new set of rules and the addition of a digital camera
division will insure a strong and competitive tournament.
Please support all of our sponsors. Their names and logos are listed in the
Bulletin and this web site. Be sure to thank them for their continued support.
I look forward to seeing everyone at “The 2004 Southern Open”. Good luck & good
diving!!!
Dave
FROM THE EDITOR
Thanks for visiting the FSDA web site. Be aware that
the Tournament information, such as rules, wavers, and registration is on the
TOURNAMENT page of the site. The schedule of events is on the CALENDAR page.
Return to the HOME PAGE and click on any of the buttons to access them. Visit
the site
on a regular basis to check for special announcements and changes.
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| ROWDIES |
MEGALODONS! Hunting for the
Giant White Shark 20 million-year-old fossil teeth has become a yearly activity
with the Rowdies. Wading the cold Peace River near Wachulla in March or diving
in the Gulf off Venice or even St. Pete in April and May, you will find Rowdies
bringing up treasures. Lori
Smith found a perfect 4-¼ inch Meg (that translates to ~10 foot of shark per
inch of tooth – think of that size!) It had an unusual pink colored coating on
it that apple cider removed nicely. Ed Zuranski’s perfect Meg is a little over
three inches with serrations sharp enough to cut you. Unfortunately my largest
Meg at 4-¼ inch is only three-quarters there. Interestingly though, were the
handfuls of small teeth that Bobbie Jo Roe and Ed found in the Peace River that
we were told may have been from newborn Megs. You don’t usually think of the
babies – would you call the teeth their “milk teeth?” J Many of you have seen
Ruth and Steve Kisco’s Meg teeth necklaces found last year – well their luck
continues and Steve dove for another perfect four inch, shiny-clean one just
laying on top of the reef.
Lucky Lori also found a large portion of a mammoth tooth that you can clearly
see the plates but it had no chewing surface– not quite as big as the one Ed and
Bob found a while back. She also found a fossil snake vertebra and a tiny
perfect complete fossil toe bone identified as from an ancient bird.
Pat and Eileen and others discovered teeth from the ancient horse, camel, deer
and alligator. Pat is the only one of our group to ever find a perfect arrowhead
point a few years ago, though. Fossiling can really bring the excitement of a
treasure hunt to our activities.
The Rowdies went to Thailand last March – thanks to Lynn Willis’ slides. Wow,
great landscapes, beautiful colored tile on the temples – great pictures Lynn!
Lynn is from the Tackle Shack Dive club. In April we had Martha Collins, a
speaker on the National Environmental Trust - “COOL” – Conserving Our Ocean
Legacy. She was encouraging us to keep our legislators aware of diver’s needs.
Go to www.oceanlegacy.org/ for more information. Thanks to Bob Bourke for his
presentation on DIR (Doing It Right) a very comprehensive review. He has been
active in cave diving and other trips and is a SSI Instructor now. DIR was
developed by the Global Underwater Explorers during the Wakulla Springs Project.
We will be practicing our skills on gas management, teams, preparedness and
situational awareness sometime in the near future.
Congratulations to Steve and Ruth in their Spearboard success. They also just
returned from an attempt to go to the Bahamas. Unfortunately the Weather Gods
did not cooperate so they will have to try again some other time. The real
sailors are their three dogs though – they were glad to find
that out! A good time was had by all. By the way, Bobbie Jo Roe is now living in
Anchorage, Alaska. She is planning on being there six months and coming back
here six months of the year. Yes, she took her dry suit!
Next we will be turning to our other love – underwater photography - Look out
Southern Open! All we need now is a boat, film, camera with no leaks, good
subjects and a lot of luck! (We don’t ask for much.) Our next meeting on July
7th brings election of officers, our annual raffle drawing and slides from the
Galapagos. If you can’t be there mail in your vote – that way you will be able
to win the drawing.
Let’s get wet!
Sonia
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|
SEA BUNNIES |
SUMMER WITH THE SEABUNNIES!
The Annual Seabunnie Banquet was held at the Cove Cay Golf & Country Club on
March 20th. We had a “cruise” theme and everyone looked great in their best
island get-away attire. Many awards were presented and new 2004 officers
installed. We always have a fun time at our banquets!
Our ladies have been diving! Mary Taylor just got back from Grand Cayman. The
underwater scenery was more beautiful than she expected. Lot's of swim-throughs,
pinnacles, big colorful coral and sponges, and lots of fish. She fed the
stingrays at "Sting Ray City". Their bodies are remarkably soft and smooth. The
Morays came out for lunch too. But she kept her distance from a big one that
tried to follow her around. Mary took lots of photos, which we are all waiting
to see!
Rita started her dive season in Viti Levu a/k/a Fiji’s “Big Island.” Contrary to
what you might think, Fiji is not built up. She was expecting something like
Waikiki Beach Hawaii, but actually, there are miles of undeveloped land between
resorts on Fiji’s coral coast. The locals still live in small villages run by a
“chief.” And you could stroll the beach for half a day before you would run into
another person. Diving is just as laid back. The day starts off by getting
picked up at the resort by the dive shop manager and a nice 20-minute drive down
the coast to the boat. The boat is just a little skiff that you just push out
from the beach, motor up, and within 200ft, thru the breaker, you are at the
wall. Diving was just Rita and John, and the divemaster. Just roll over and you
see the wall – 100+’ visibility. The walls were beautiful, covered with hard and
soft corals, nudibranchs, Moorish idols, clownfish, scorpionfish, blue traveli,
regal angels, clown triggerfish, giant clams and a “brown-suede” shark. One
wall, named “Snow White” was covered with white soft corals, it felt like
swimming over snow-covered bushes. After a leisurely drift dive, you just
surface when you feel like it, and the little boat picks you back up. The
surface interval is “high tea” on the beach. The boat brings you back, and you
sit at a table set up on the beach and enjoy tea and biscuits. After an hour or
so, you suit up and dive again. Life is tough!
More diving is planned for our group. Deb H has set up our east coast trip, this
time to Jupiter, on July 17-18. The price is good and we may still have a few
spots left. Jupiter is excellent diving because the ledges are very defined –
often a 20’ drop from top of the reef down to the sand. And there are always
turtles on every dive! So mark your calendars, dust off your underwater camera,
call Deb and sign up for the dive!
In preparation for a great dive season, Betty T showed our group how to best
collect and clean seashells. She brought her marvelous collection in and told us
how to find these exquisite creatures. With her great tips, we can clean shells
and have a wonderful collection ourselves. Don’t forget ladies, shell collection
is another competition too for our Seabunnies!
We know Patty B is getting ready for diving. First, she retires from the Fire
Dept (and did you see that big article about her in the newspaper??). Then she
goes out and buys a yatch! After some refurbishing, she and Lowell have big
plans for the 50 footer – they’re planning trips to the middle grounds,
Tortugas, and the Keys. Sounds like an ideal retirement!
Some of our folks are having “big” birthdays this summer! To start off, Adrianne
threw a fabulous Murder Mystery Birthday Bash on June 5th. The scene was the
film set from “Gilligan’s Island” and we all played a part. We had the full cast
of characters, Gilligan, Maryanne, Ginger, the Skipper, Mr. & Mrs. Howell, and
the Professor. Of course, all their understudies, and the set designers, make-up
artists, producers, the chairman of the board, wives, tribesmen and tourists.
Sure enough, the Hooters Girls came too, and Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne even made
an appearance. We were all having a
good time, and next thing you know, someone screams – and the director is dead!!
We all wanted to kill him - he was either stealing money, or blackmailing
someone, or having an affair with someone’s wife, or just being a louse! He
deserved to get axed; now we just had to figure out who did it! We spent the
rest of the evening trying to piece the clues together. Sure enough – it wasn’t
the butler who killed the director – it was the cook!! The party was a real hit!
Happy Birthday Adrianne!
More fabulous birthday bashes are planned. Patty’s husband Lowell is July 3rd.
Eileen is July 10th. This is going to be a really fun summer!
Competition is going strong on the Bunnie Board. Below are the results to-date:
Grouper: Eileen Morris - 7 lbs, Lisa Tatro - 7.9 lbs, Mary Taylor - 21.5 lbs
Hogfish: Eileen Morris - 3 lbs, Mary Taylor - 15 lbs
Snapper: Mary Taylor - 10.5 lbs
Sheepshead / Triggerfish/ Flounder: Lisa Tatro - 2.3 lb Sheepshead, Lisa Schmidt
- 2.9 lb Sheepshead
The Seals welcome new members Giampaolo “GP” Marchi and Lance Boutcher to the
club. We now have thirty one members. Paul Hermes and Bret Wally were guests at
the last meeting. Dave Shelton and Tom Morris continue to be very active in
planning and implementing the FSDA and WCC activities. The Seals support them
with a high level of participation in the events. They are also enthusiastic
supporters of the “Fishing Rights Alliance” (FRA) which promotes reasonable and
effective fisheries management policies.
As we hit the halfway mark for 2004, most of us have had an opportunity get some
dives in and to make some new friends. The first WCC Shoot held in Tarpon
Springs was a huge success with awesome food prepared and served by Kim
McPherson. We'll soon see if the other hosting clubs can match Kim's culinary
efforts. Top honors went to Sammy Carlino for leading the pack and representing
the Sun Coast Seals.
Our very own Suncoast Seal, Scott McPherson, pulled off yet another successful
Spearboard Open. The second annual Spearboard Open boasted over 215 entries and
a prize table in excess of $25,000 with shooters coming from as far away as
South Carolina and Louisiana. The Seals are excited about our chances to finish
with top honors in the WCC series. Keep safety first and always keep an eye out
for your buddy!
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| ST. PETERSBURG UNDERWATER CLUB |
Submitted: Bill Hardman
Gear Up For the 2004 St. Pete Open
Dates: We will once again put on the St. Pete Open at the former Tierra Verde
Resort and the Mirage Waterfront.
August 20, 21 & 22, 2004.
Rain Date is the following weekend.
Rooms: If you have not signed up to get on the waiting list for a room at the
Tierra Verde Resort for the tournament, please call Bill Hardman at (727)
344-3483. Room availability will be tight so please sign up soon if you are
interested.
Whats New With The 2004 Open!
1. Register in Advance and
Get a Special Edition Tournament T-Shirt. After seven years of the same entry
fee, we finally raised the entry fee – only by $5. Register by August 7 and you
can get our limited Tournament shirt (a $20 value).
2. Freediver Division. We will be offering trophies
for First through Third for the top three Freedive Only participants in this
years St. Pete Open.
3. Tierra Verde Resort is re-vamped. The restaurant
and banquet rooms are now under new ownership and Francine Fabrizio, the Event
Director of the Mirage Waterfront has showed us most of the 2.5 million dollars
worth of renovations. We have a cleaner cooler location and she promised plenty
of staff for food and drinks on every day of the St. Pete Open 2004. See Ya at
The Open!
New SPUCS
The St. Pete Underwater Club has voted in three new members and we want to
welcome these fellow shooters aboard.
· Scott Hooker
· Scott Weber
· Isaac Lathrop
Congrats – Spearboard Open Volunteers
The SPUCs want to congratulate all the Spearboard Open organizers for putting on
such a good tournament. We realize there is always some who complains or moans
and groans. Believe me we know!!! However, the VOLUNTEERS for this tournament
truly did a great job putting together a top notch tourney. GOOD JOB GUYS!
The FRA is fighting For Your
Spearfishing Rights
The Fishing Rights Alliance is doing it’s best to support your fishing and
spearfishing rights. In fact, they are now pushing to have a limited harvest of
Goliath Groupers. These are the kind of important issues that the FRA is trying
to support for you! To find out more or to help support the FRA contact their
website at www.thefra.org or call Dennis
O’Hern at (727) 692-6902.
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| SUNSHINE FINS |
SUNSHINE FINS
The Fins are hanging out, with several of us wooses waiting for diving season.
We remember the days when we dove all year around…oh, well. We had our annual
Xmas party at Basta’s, one of our favorite Italian restaurants. We also like to
have football parties. Funny how, as we get older, we do more parties.
Fins Jim Hitch and Mike Yagmin are diving all the time – you go, guys! We have
dive trips planned to Jupiter and Key Largo in July and August, respectively.
Fins Spencer Workinger is planning the Jupiter trip and Ron Komosinski is
planning the Key Largo trip.
We decided to change our meetings to once a month, so now we meet the first
Tuesday of the month at Kissin Cuzzins on 34st Street South. We are also
discussing ways to bring in new members. Feel free to come visit.
Respectfully Submitted,
The Ghost of Gary Wood
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|
OCEAN PALS |
OCEAN PALS™
AT FT. LAUDERDALE 2004
Winning Florida Ocean Pals posters, proudly boasting nine National and fifteen
Regional prize ribbons were displayed at the Ocean Festival Dive and Adventure
Sports Expo 2004. FSDA’s Sonia and Ken Smith arrived in Ft. Lauderdale Beach
Friday afternoon 5/14/04. The car was mounded up with the posters, a huge box of
prizes, display boards, fans, ladder, tools, computer program and all the
supplies but the kitchen sink. There we were: lift that panel, pound it in,
where’s the staple gun?, is this straight?, artfully arranging, a little more to
the left, more stapling, -is the FSDA table cover centered?, someone turn on the
fans PLEASE; WHEW, we got it up. Ed Grubicy, photographer and Lucille & Ed
Smith, the New York Ocean Pals director, represented BTS (Beneath The Sea –
Ocean Pals’ parent organization) and also took turns to help man the booth.
Special thanks go to Neal Watson Productions for donating the booth!
Again this year, we invited show-going students to have fun adding their
special, talented marine life drawings to the mural paper lying across the
table. Certificates of participation were presented to each of them. But the
most fun for them was when they had their name drawn for the raffle of the mask,
fins and snorkels donated to Ocean Pals by the MARES company. (I got my exercise
running up to the front of the show tents to use the microphone to announce the
winners!)
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What excitement when two of our first place National/District winners came to our booth. Jack Reedy, 10th grade from Oklawaha, who had been selected for the national grand prize of a trip to the Caiman Islands, and Shannon Matthews, 3rd grade from Plantation winner of the first place national $200 savings bond arrived on Sunday. I believe sending the new computer generated postcard reminders of the poster display at the Ocean Festival were the deciding factor for them to come to the show. I’ll do that again next year – maybe we will have even more winners come. Notice in Shannon’s picture, she is wearing her T-shirt with her poster picture transfer on it - a special prize I sent to the first place district winners this year. Even with all the computer problems we had this year some of the special projects did work out.
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The show continues to hold it’s own in
battling the Weather Gods. This year it was high wind and rip tides to put the
monkey wrench in diving activities for the show. Thankfully, we were spared the
heavy rain of past years. Being flexible though, Neal had some alternate
programs to save the day and keep show-goers busy and entertained. Join us next
year to see Florida’s biggest dive show!
Sonia & Ken Smith, Director South East Region
Ocean Pals Poster Contest
Sponsor: FSDA
