Children writing about the ocean - funny!
Greg - 5 days 5 hours ago.
Number 11 and 12 are my favorite. 1) - This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. (Kelly, age 6 ) 2) - Oysters’ balls are called pearls. (Jerry, age 6) 3) - If you are surrounded by ocean, you are an island. If you don’t have ocean all round you, you are incontinent. (Mike, age 7) 4) - Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily Richardson. She’s not my friend any more. (Kylie, age 6) 5) - A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head. (Billy, age 6)...
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Certification at Beaver Lake, AR
went down to do my open water cert. at beaver had a great time even better dive buddy, looking forward to more trips... like, to the ocean ;)...
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Conversation with Richard Neal - New Owner of the Frying Pan Tower
Greg - 14 days 7 hours ago.
I recently had the pleasure of corresponding with Richard Neal, the new owner of the Frying Pan Tower - formerly known as the Frying Pan Shoals Light Station. He bought the decommissioned lighthouse from the U.S. government and converted it into a bed and breakfast for divers and fisherman. I wanted to know how a person could take on such an endeavor, what the process was like...and whether he had any tips for people aspiring to be like him. Here’s how the conversation when: GREG: What did it ta...
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Diver Down Flag in Texas
SDBR - 15 days 6 hours ago.
Texas Sec. 31.1021. OPERATING VESSELS IN SCUBA DIVING OR SNORKELING AREAS. (a)No person may operate a vessel within 50 feet of a buoy or of another vessel displaying a diver down flag that marks an area in which a person is scuba diving or snorkeling. (b)No person may operate a vessel at a speed greater than the minimum speed necessary to maintain steerageway and headway while the vessel is within 150 feet of a buoy or a vessel displaying a diver down flag that marks an area in which a person is...
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Diver Down Flag in Alabama
SDBR - 15 days 6 hours ago.
Alabama Chapter 220-6 (3) The diver’s flag shall not be less than 300 Milliliters (12 inches) square, colored red with a white two-inch strip running diagonally from the top staff corner to the bottom fly corner and shall be prominently displayed and visible from all directions and kept within a 15.2 meters (50 foot) radius of divers when said divers are in the water. EVERYONE SHOULD VERIFY THE ALABAMA STATUTE IS VALID AND HAS NOT CHANGED!!!...
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Skin and Scuba Diver Down Flag in North Carolina
SDBR - 15 days 6 hours ago.
North Carolina § 75A-13.1. Skin and scuba divers. (a)No person shall engage in skin diving or scuba diving in the waters of this State that are open to boating, or assist in such diving, without displaying a diver’s flag from a mast, buoy, or other structure at the place of diving; and no person shall display such flag except when diving operations are under way or in preparation. (b)The diver’s flag shall be square, not less than 12 inches on a side, and shall be of red background with a diagon...
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Dive Boat Dreams
By Bob Halstead It would be a perfect life; I love diving, love being on boats and love adventure. I had moved to Papua New Guinea in 1973, already an experienced NAUI instructor, discovered that very few had dived PNG’s reefs, and that there was no established tourist dive industry. When the opportunity arose I quit my teaching job and started a dive school and shop in Port Moresby with my wife Dinah. We got a bank loan and had a 20-diver day dive boat built for us. This is Solatai and we used ...
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Global Fawning
By Bob Halstead Enough is enough. The environmental doomsayers are way out of control. The last time I dived the Great Barrier Reef, October 2006, the water was freezing. Frankly, I could have done with a bit of Global Warming. Then, through a serious error of judgement, I went to see Al Gore’s movie. It is really boring but I amused myself by seeing how low he could pitch his voice before it cracked. I think there was one joke put there to show he is human, but it was not funny so I am still no...
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Claustrophobia
By Bob Halstead Perhaps you’ve noticed? While discussing our beloved sport of scuba diving, some of the uninitiated will pre-empt any possibility of experiencing nirvana by stating that they could not possibly learn scuba diving, as they suffer from claustrophobia. They will already have asked “How deep have you dived?” and “ Have you seen a shark?” and you will have no doubt wasted 30 minutes or so explaining that no one has to dive one inch deeper than they want, but deep diving is awfully goo...
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Diving is Adventure - A philosophy for divers.
(Dear Reader, “risk” and “danger” are not the same thing though they are often confused by authorities in the name of Safety. Really they just want to restrict your adventure. Many adventures are “Passive” – like taking a balloon ride where your safety depends on the integrity of the balloon and the skills of the pilot. This analysis concerns “Active” adventures where the adventurer actively participates in ensuring his/her own safety … now read on ..) By Bob Halstead Diving is not amusing nor f...
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Assume the Risk and Take the Blame
By Bob Halstead I am not fond of flying. As I strap myself in my seat my usually serene mental state is disturbed by niggling doubts:- will the wings fall off? did the pilot look drunk? why are the ground crew kicking the tires? Only by serious mental discipline can I overcome this paranoia and resign myself to my fate. Resisting the temptation to ask the hostess about the suspicious parcel just placed in the overhead locker above my head, I buckle up and shut up. At the back of my mind the blac...
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A Quiz on the Buddy System
By Bob Halstead This is a little quiz to get divers to think about the Buddy System. Most instructor organizations are locked into the buddy system but my observation is that many would ditch the system if it were not for liability concerns, and that many experienced divers treat it with contempt. You should make up your own mind, and always dive in your own comfort zone. First, I am going to give my definition of the buddy system. I wrote it many years ago because I could not find a definition ...
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The Noisy World
By Bob Halstead America has a coral barrier reef off the Florida Keys. While this is no challenge to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, it does have something Australia does not. For the past 25 years, hundreds of divers and snorkellers have come together for the annual Underwater Music Festival held at Looe Key Reef. Musician-divers mime on whimsical instruments created by a local artist, while a pre-selected radio playlist is streamed live from underwater speakers. Ocean-themed songs, such as the...
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The Job is Yours!
By Bob Halstead Over the years, while operating our live-aboard dive boat, we had to face the challenge of recruiting good staff. I have come to realise that, as a veteran in the dive business, there is a service that I can now provide to both job seekers and boat operators: I can write testimonials for up and coming divers that the operator can trust. We had plenty of applicants for jobs on our boat – but often the applicants’ claims were exaggerated or irrelevant. Only a few could I really res...
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The Dori Awards
By Bob Halstead Dori is a lovely, bubbly lady, an enthusiast at everything she does. She is part of a terrific group of divers brought, by Kevin Deacon of Dive 2000 Sydney, to dive with us in PNG. Dori is about to enter the water for another wonderful dive – the only kind of dive she ever has. She lines up behind her buddy who makes a perfect entry off the high platform into the water more than one metre below. Her friends, still gearing up, wish her whale sharks and manta rays. She steps to the...
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Teaching Diving
By Bob Halstead Qualifying as a NAUI diving instructor in the Bahamas in 1970 was a revelation. My previous life was quite ordinary, but the course inspired me to adventure and self-fulfilment. I can now look back on many marvellous moments diving, and many dealing with the strange and wonderful people that, one way or other, I have taught to dive. My favourite students have always been those that, like myself, are totally fascinated by the sea and its creatures. The motivation is so strong that...
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Speak Up!
By Bob Halstead Most married men understand selective deafness. This is attained by training over many years to automatically tune out sentences with the words “washing up”, “garbage”, “shopping” and so on, and tune in to sentences with words such as “dinner”, “wine”, “sex” etc. Long serving devotees can become quite expert, tuning in to “Dinner is ready” but out to “help with dinner” or “go out to dinner” or ”clean up after dinner”. It is important that women understand that this is actual, rea...
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Ship of Fools
By Bob Halstead It is said that there is one on every cruise. The diver that does not fit in, behaves selfishly, and generally stuffs up the cruise for the other guests. When operating Telita I had a policy of taking the offending character aside for a friendly private chat pointing out that I was getting complaints about his/her behaviour and asking if they could perhaps be a little more considerate. That was when I still had patience. Evolution transformed my private chat into a public dining ...
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Sex in the Workplace
By Bob Halstead (1993) Yesterday, after my wife beat me over the head with an old snorkel for dripping salt water on the new carpet, I got to thinking about the liberated woman (wopersyn?) and the role of the housewife in the 1990’s. Pretty soon I was thinking about sex, which is a weakness of mine and seems to happen every time I think about women. Anyway, suddenly, it struck me – that is an idea, not the snorkel again – there is a gigantic loophole in the Health and Safety in the Workplace leg...
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Scrambled Brains
A previously un-documented diving phenomenon By Bob Halstead I am revealing here, for the very first time, a diving phenomenon often experienced but seldom reported, one which will require diving manuals and medical texts be revised. It happens at the very start of your dive adventure. Just as you relax and get used to a new state of consciousness; you get scrambled brains. Let me explain. Your overseas dive adventure is a big event, one you have been looking forward to for some time. As the tim...
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