Back to the water

After a great couple of weeks in the Dominican Republic, I had the much needed wrist surgery that I had been putting off.  It's been three months out of the water and I'm ready to go back.  The boat is ready and so is the gear.  One last doctor visit and we leave for Monterey on Friday.  I'll have the two best divers I know by my side, Deann and Kelly, just in case something silly happens like getting back into the boat.  I really think a bigger boat would solve that problem.

It was really hard sitting out my 17th anniversary of diving.  I know it had to be done but still it was not easy.  Going to DEMA and being surrounded by diving and divers was almost torture but looking forward to this weekend helped a lot.

The camera is back in order, got a new fancy slate and stage bottles of nitrox we're ready.

JB

Great Students - Bad Conditions!

We did it again! Two classes this month and both finished with great success. Neptune must have been a bit cranky this past weekend as we had a few waves at the beach and sometimes a few inches of viz. The Pier 39 gang stuck to it and came up smiling. Everyone did a great job on the skills. Huge thanks to Terry for his exceptional DM skills, calm head and strong back. Hope you're mending well buddy. I've heard of sneaker waves but this was more like a BOOT wave.

The folks diving for "fun" on Saturday following the expert DM Kelly didn't have too much to say that was printable on this blog. Sunday was a much better story as they all walked out of the water fins in hand "Rocky" style. It was good to hear the stories of what they saw and that viz was good enough to actually see the Metridium fields.

Congrats to all who became a Certified Diver this past weekend and a big thank you to all who made it so successful and enjoyable.

JB

September Class Success!

Congrats to all who participated in the September class. Everyone did a great job with the skills and from the smiles on their faces I think they had a good time as well.

A big thank you to Kelly and Deann for their help in keeping everyone safe and happy.

JB

Deco success!

After many hours /days of planning this deco dive, making sure everything was just perfect with the air consumption, depth, time and divers everything changed at the last minute. Welcome to diving! First Deann could not go, bummer, then the depth for the site was 40 feet deeper than we planned for. Besides not enough air or tables for that depth we had not nearly enough anchor line for that depth. Plan "B" was Hopkins Deep. Everyone agreed we would carry out the plan at that site with a depth of 85 feet and 30 minutes bottom time. The stage bottles were hung with care and we were off. Everything worked as planned, except for Jennifer freezing to death so Larry and Jennifer ascended before the no deco time. Good choice. Kelly and I made the deep stops and the deco stops using the stage bottles as planned. Thanks to everyone who participated in the dive. I had a blast and I'm looking forward to more.

The fourth of July

Any one up for a few dives on the weekend (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) let me know. I have four days to dive with out getting interrupted by work.

JB

Another Great Weekend

Conditions conditions conditions! Not as good as our class weekend but pretty good. If you like diving through pea soup to get to 15' to 20' of viz at the bottom this was your weekend. The shale beds were as beautiful as usual and a toasty 51 degrees. The kelp at Hopkins was beautiful with the sun beaming through. I thought I may have left the AC on in my dry suit but checked my computer and was shocked to see 48 degrees. Burrrrr! The only way to cure that chill was to get some hot food at Baja Cantina. All I can say is, that place won't be that same for a while. Good food, great drinks, (too many) and an awesome band. Big thanx to Chad for getting the place up and dancing. It's OK I think they were done eating anyway. After my search and recovery dive at Hopkins Deep I was done for the day. Sorry Kelly you don't get new gear. I'll replace the caribiners before the next dive weekend.

What's that I hear? Oh, Chad's teeth chattering or is it Jennifer's teeth? I think there will be a dry suit class in the near future.

JB

Congratulations to the June Open Water Class

All I can say is WOW! We did it. A huge thank you the Terry and Kelly for the extremely professional help and assistance they provided this weekend. I could not have done it without them. Please let these two know how you feel.

It was my pleasure to be your instructor the past couple of weekends. I hope you all had fun learning this fantastic sport and will continue to learn and dive from now on.

John Blausey
PADI MSDT 182985

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More Congrats are in order!!!

Some people thought she was making a career out of being a Divemaster candidate but she was just being through. After a bit over 2 years of assisting, studying and about 200 dives, Kelly has finally finished.

Congratulations to Acme SCUBA’s latest Divemaster, Kelly Buckley!!

Congratulations are in order!

Congratulations to Terry for completing the PADI Divemaster program in fine style. Well done. Although it's hard to top that, Terry found a way. Terry and Brenda were married December 10th 2005. Without a doubt the most fun wedding I have ever attended. Moist eyes and big smiles were on everyone’s faces as these two fantastic people found yet another way to touch so many people, friends and family in such a positive way.

Congratulations to Brenda and Terry.

JB

A PADI "style" IE Debriefing

David Bell said...
A PADI "Style" IE Debriefing..."I took the PADI instructors exam on November 19, 2005. There were 26 of us, and everyone did a great job. I specifically liked how everyone was able to finish the theory exam on time. I did identify a problem. The problem was some people did not pass the IE. The solution to this problem is to get training by only the best instructors, like John Blausey, who will teach you what demonstration quality skills are. So, I have now successfully completed IE to become a PADI professional. As a diver, I will find this skill valuable because my job requires it!"

David Bell
Marine Superintendent
PADI Instructor 197562
12:40 PM

Happy Anniversary

Today marks my 15th anniversary. It was this day, Labor Day 1990 that I dove off of the Beach Hopper at Hopkins Reef for my fifth and final SSI Dive to become certified. About half way through the dive I was separated from my buddy. A guy I worked with, Gayle, still did not understand buoyancy so as we swam over a rock he continued up to the surface as I swam down over the rock. A minute later I notice I was alone. After a few seconds of "OH CRAP" I was filled with a "calm" that I still can't explain. I believe it was at that moment when diving became a regular part of my life.

As I have met some of the most incredible people diving and teaching people to dive, I realize diving is not just a regular part of my life but the most character building part of my life. I have seen changes in my life because of diving and believe me when I say I have taught people to dive and in a very short period time seen changes in them that will last a lifetime.

This day will always be one of the very special days of my life. For those of you that learned to dive with me, I hope there was a moment like this for you that will last a lifetime.

JB

Welcome to the new space

Here is the new AcmeScuba web Log that "should be" hacker free. Post what ever you want to say here. Report dive conditions, tell everyone what a great time you just had, talk about a class...

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