TRIANGLE TIDE~~ings July 28, 2008
Congratulations to our newest divers.
OPEN WATER
Jorge Hernandez
Blake Tollison
Amanda Rhine
Tino Suarez
Sara Saleh
Cameron Loudermilk
ADVANCED DEEP
Greg Vandiver
ADVANCED NAVIGATION
Michael Smith
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UPCOMING COURSES
Nitrox Tuesday July 29 @ 7pm
CPROX1ST-AED – Tuesday August 5, 2008
R.E.E.F Fish ID Course – Thursday August 21, 2008
We are planning our next Rescue Course for sometime in August. Details will be complete before next week.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TRIPS
Morehead City trip report: This report was contributed by Doug Kim.
(July 25 through July 27, 2008).This was a great weekend with 18 divers enjoying wonderful weather, good surface conditions and clear water. The trip there and back was uneventful except one detour in eastern North Carolina due to a chicken truck overturning on the road. (In a rather smelly fashion, the truck did not contain chickens but rather the chicken guts and skin). It must have been the biggest event in that area in a LONG time as they had the Emergency Management crews out and were closing all roads in & out of the area.
On Friday, we visited the U-352, the WWII German U-boat sunk by the Coast Guard in 1942. The wreck sits in about 105 feet of water and we were able to see the conning tower, look down into the hatches and view the exposed torpedo tubes. The second dive was the Spar, a 183 foot Coast Guard buoy tender that sank in 1986 and is sitting in 90 to 105 feet water. Generally intact and sitting upright, we were able to see into the hatches and the cutouts that allow a view of the interior of the wreck. There were many sand tiger sharks with our divers bring up lots of teeth. Visibility was at least 75 feet and there was only a light current. Unfortunately, it was also the site of two grouper that “someone” let get away.
Saturday morning was clear skies and small waves. We first visited the Caribsea sitting in 90 to 110 feet. This wreck is a WWII freighter that was torpedoed in 1942 and has many sand tiger sharks and large grouper. The water was clear with over 50 feet vis and a pleasant dive for all. On the safety stop, there were several very curious barracuda that were swimming within inches of us hanging on the line. The surface interval was sunny with sandwiches for lunch. (Oreos were the favorite). The next dive was the Atlas and this wreck is large with the top at 90 feet and the bottom at 130. It was sunk by U-552 in 1942 and a great dive with two very large boilers and machinery behind the boilers. The spear hunter was able to get a grouper, two porgy, a sheeps head and two flounder. After we returned to the dock, we enjoyed good company and the traditional World Famous “Reese Feast” including the grouper, flounder, and sheep’s head complemented by sausages, filet and grill
ed corn on the cob. We went to bed very satisfied after that meal.
Sunday morning, the seas were a little rougher, but all in all, a good trip to the first wreck, the Shurz in 110 feet of water. This was originally the SMS Geier, a German gunship with 5 inch cannons visible lying on the bottom. It was captured by the United States and renamed the Shurz. There are still to be found bullets and brass bolts from the wreck. While the vis was not quite as good as the days before, (about 25 ft), we were not disappointed with sand tiger sharks and southern sting rays. During the surface interval, we feasted on the previous night’s steaks, fish and chicken. The last dive was on the Aeolus, a 409 huge tanker split into three sections with each section being it own dive. It’s so large that divers have been known to travel to other section and end up on the wrong boat (don’t know who would have done this). The wreck includes open cable spool holes and the promenade deck makes for a nice swim though. Large open spool holes, hatches and stairwel
ls also allow for penetration (for those with wreck certification). The current was a little stronger but the visibility was such that we could still see the wreck from the safety stop.
The overall conditions were some of the best we have experienced and everyone enjoyed the weekend. If you have any questions about joining us on the next trip, please feel free to call or email the store.
(Only thing Doug failed to mention was the frequent trips to Dairy Queen at the end of each boat trip and on the way home.) ;-)
NEW TRIP
Myrtle Beach Wreck diving trip. Sept 6 & 7
Cost: $389 pp dbl occ
Includes 2 nights’ motel and Saturday/Sunday 2 tank wreck dives each day.
Lunch/drinks/snacks included on the boat each day.
Diving with Scuba Express on their 46’ Newton Dive boat.
Air/Nitrox fills, additional meals and crew tips are not included.
Check out the website for all of our upcoming trips this year and into 2009.
Still plenty of space on these trips
Curacao, Oct 11 – 18, 2008
Turks and Caicos, January 17 – 24, 2009
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WEEKLY DIVE TIP
Talking with various divers that were certified in previous years, maybe in the 70s or 80s, we have discovered that most of those divers aren’t aware of the current recommendations on properly hydrating before diving. This is especially important if you are doing multiple dives a day or several days or a week or more of diving. DAN research has shown that drinking enough liquids may be the single most important thing a diver can do to help prevent a case of DCS (Decompression Sickness). Water is the most common and best hydrator, with sports drinks and juices coming a close second. Be aware that caffeinated drinks are actually diuretics and can work against you when trying to hydrate. Alcohol is also not recommended on a dive trip. Many people may drink in the evenings and if you do, be sure to not over do it if diving the next day. You can help flush your body with large amounts of water during the night and following day. Most dive operations rule that your first drink o
f the day signifies the end of that days’ diving.
One thing to remember! Drinking plenty of liquids is not a substitute for safe dive planning and staying within your level of training!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GEAR NEWS
One of the best computer sales anywhere to be found is coming to a close Thursday, July 31 @ 7pm.
Aqua Lung has a $200 discount on 3 of their best dive computers.
Purchase a Cobra, Cobra 2 or a Vytec and get $200 off at the time of sale. No rebate to send in, just an immediate $200 off at the time of sale. Ends this week and no extensions may be added. Eleven of our customers have already taken advantage of this great sale. What about you??? Is it time for a new computer?
CAMERAS
Still thinking about a camera?
We have the following cameras in stock and ready to go.
Sea Life Reefmaster II (our only film camera)
Sea Life Refmaster Mini
Sea Life DC 800
Bonica Snapper XP
Sea & Sea 860 G
Sea & Sea 1G
These are available as just camera and housing or as a package with digital flash and other accessories.
Come by for a look and try them out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A reminder to everyone that our website has changed to www.scubagreenville.com
This changed over in January. Our email has also changed and we can be reached at
reese@scubagreenville.com and rachel@scubagreenville.com
We welcome two new employees to the Triangle staff. Ian Anthony is a Junior at Riverside HS, plays football, guitar and loves to dive. He was on our July Bonaire trip this year. Shea Kim is our other new part-timer. Shea and husband Doug are really getting into diving in a BIG way. Shea plans on taking the Rescue Course in August and then start her Divemaster Course. Husband Doug has been taking technical courses with us for the past few months and also helps out with legal/lawyerly issues concerning the store.
Drop by and meet our new staff and introduce yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, get out the dive gear and let’s go diving!!!
Reese, Mark, Rachel and all the Triangle crew
)
