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Date:
Sunday March 1st, 2009 Well the weather cooperated again today. As Carey says there must be a hole over Richardson's where the sun always shines. We had one shower that lasted only about a minute or two but mostly sun. It was great to see Pam on her feet again and out to join the fun. She even, at one point, was chasing me for some wise-crack I made. Way-to-go Pam for being on your feet again so soon. Amazing! We had a nice group for today's meeting including several new faces as well as many familiar ones. The food was wonderful. My favorite was the cream cheese stuffed lychee which was very tasty. The ocean conditions were pretty rough with some monster sets which made getting in and out of the water a bit crazy but Wes and David made a dive and lived to tell the tale. Stay tuned for a few photos of the event. Aloha,
Date:
Sunday August 3rd, 2008 Wow what a turnout. I think we set a turnout record today even though it was overcast. Jim Klyman figured we had about 30 or 32 people and one dog. There was plenty of great food and we had 3 grills as well as a great shade system that Jim and Carey concocted! Wait a go guys. (If you ever get stuck on some desert island someplace you'd better have Jim along because he can improvise and engineer anything.) The sea conditions were awesome - very calm/flat and the clarity was terrific. 5 divers took the plunge and we saw turtles galore as well as two mystery fishes with spiny fins. I took a real lousy photo of the fish with the spiny fins so Carey when I post it up you will have a great challenge identifying it. Our first dive lasted for an hour and 5 minutes. Josh and I did a second dive after lunch which lasted 55 minutes. A number of people went snorkeling and kayaking as well. Andrew
Date:
Sunday June 1st, 2008 What a great SCUBA Sunday! A good turnout, great weather, lots of good food and company. Bobby and I will miss you all as we are moving back to the mainland at the end of this month. It's been a great year here and who knows, we might be back in a year or so. Take care everyone! Lynn & Bob ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Yes it was another great beach day. 6 divers took a plunge into the sea and 14 people plunged their teethe into some ono grinds. Carey gave me an awesome intro-kayak tour out into the wild blue while Lynn & Bob paddled their own craft as well. Great fun great, ono food and great friends. Yes Lynn and Bob we all will miss you guys too. Andrew
Date:
Sunday May 4th, 2008 Glorious
day! good clarity, sun (saw rains go by, had some sprinkles, but
not even a downpour (which downtown DID get!) Pam, the tide swing was noticable when you looked at the pools & such (in the morning there were more rocks then I have ever seen ... could almost walk out to the rocks without getting your feet wet! but no big currents or anything, the water was actually a little warm. 3
divers went in & saw the most giganticist green I have heard
of. Carey
Date:
Sunday December 2nd, 2007
Meeting
Number 11 With such a meager response online I figured no one would be at Scuba Sunday....boy was I surprised by our turnout! New people joined in, lots of our old friends. Food was abundant as always and the weather even cooperated. WOW So... even though I had to leave you all to do a little business, thank you all for coming and sharing another fun day. This club is sthe BEST. Pam Just another day in P A R A D I S E !!
Meeting
Number 9 Uquestionably my BEST HILO SIDE DIVE EVER was today. It was a little rough and tumble, poor visibility..... awesome! Like the old challenge I am used to in San Diego. We had 12 divers... probably the first time we had more divers than bbq-ers.... but the food was wonderful. Jane surprised us with another Gourmet Delight... shrimp rolls.... bob cooked all kinds of stuff on the BBq I never saw, and I got chocolate brownie cupcake thingis. There was tons more I didn't tasts, except Andrew's deviled eggs, which I consumed with full lust! Anyway, GREAT day. Thanks to all our new dive friends for joining us and we hope to see you next month. Diver Dan: It was so fun to figure out where I knew you from. This New Diver (to our club) was on the boat in San Diego when the captain lost me on a night dive....or did I lose the boat? That's still open to debate but I can't believe I met someone in Hawaii who knows "THE LOBSTER LADY"... Heheheheh Thank you everyone for a wonderful day. Pam
Kona
Scuba Camp We had a total of eight people turn out for the SCUBA camp and it was a lot of fun. On Friday we set up camp on a beautiful 5 acre property about 2500 feet in elevation on the slopes of the Hualalai volcano. After setting up camp five of us went down into Kona and enjoyed a tasty dinner at "Quinn's Almost by the Sea" restaurant. Saturday we all headed down to the Honokohau Harbor and met at 5 O'clock to set out with Ocean Eco Tours for a two tank boat dive. Our first dive was at Skull Cave. While investigating the various underwater lava tube caves we were treated to a view of a six foot white tip reef shark which came cruising by. He made a few passes as he checked us out as well. Our second dive was at the location of the famous Manta Ray night dive off the Kona Coast. The conditions were perfect and about 20 Manta Rays showed up for the event and stayed with us from the beginning of the dive to the end. It was quite an awesome experience watching these large marine animals swimming in swoops and circles as they collected up mouth fulls of plancton. After the night dive we all headed back to our camp site for the night's activities. We built a great campfire and enjoyed a tasty meal created from the contibutions of all. It was great fun siting around and being entertained by different people's stories. Sunday we had a nice slow start. Bob cooked a wonderful breakfast then we broke camp and made our way off in different directions. Hazen and I drove to the Place of Refuge (Two Step) and did one final dive before heading home. Andrew
Wow, what a GREAT weekend we had. Camping was fun, the manta's were abundant and the food kept us all happy :). Special thanks to each who participated because everyone brought something special to the trip: Scott
(and Jane) for some great nosh... yum! Also, special note of thanks from me personally to Scott, Andrew and Hazen for providing extreme entertainment on their lilikoi gathering adventure.... Oh,
I just had so much fun!
The only one Pam left out was herself. Without the land to camp on we wouldn’t have been able to stay in Kona over night. Her cousin has 5 acres above Kailua and it was an ideal place to gather. Thanks…..
Meeting
Number 8 We went through the channel in the rocks and it was very easy. Saw a bunch of turtles one very large. We went to the left and dove to just short of 70 feet. Absolutely no coral or aquatic life past 50' it was like a desert. We had a new member join us this week. His name is Dean and is a pilot for Hawaiian Air Ambulance. He is very experienced and made a good dive buddy. All the other typical small fish were there and I saw a nice Snowflake Eel. Scott.
Meeting
Number 7 WOW.. What beautiful day. Lots of newbies and WELCOME to you all. Food was great (especialt hanks to Mark for fresh fish, Jane for Thai/peanus pasts and everyone else who brought fresh fruit, pie, salads, drinks....and our famous Chef BBQ Bob for some good TriTip steaks and the ever needed REDONDO hotdogs. I just had the best time. Enjoyd seeing everyone. Now for the BIG QUESTION: Is anyone interested in an overnight/weekend camping and diving trip in maybe July? We had a great talk about that today and figure we should see if anyone is in... and if so, what dates are possible. Let's get a discussion going. Aloha, Pam Andrew adds: Beautiful weather and good diving conditions. We did a 2 tank dive with 5 divers going out on the first dive and 3 going out in the second. During the second dive we were awarded a special treat when a 14 foot Manta Ray came cruising by. What a sight. Of course I didn't have my camera this time. We also had a good turn out of people on the beach who enjoyed the sun , surf and of course good company and BBQ treats. Aloha, Andrew
Meeting
Number 6 We had beautiful weather but the ocean conditions were pretty rough. We had seven divers suit up and head out toward the break but only two made it. Pam and Johanna made it out into the open sea and had a great time diving with Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles as well as other cool sea creatures. The other five divers stayed on the inside of the break and explored around the shallow waters. The BBQ was great as usual. Andrew
Meeting
Number 5 Canceled because of poor weather conditions.
Meeting
Number 4 Canceled because of poor weather conditions.
Meeting
Number 3 The weather was sunny and warm with a gentle sea breeze and the sea was like glass. The conditions were near perfect. The clarity of the water allowed for visibility of up to about 75 feet. Pam, Scott and Andrew did a one tank dive that lasted about 50 minutes. We saw a number of interesting species including a lemon frog fish and a large scorpion fish both of which are quite rare. We saw several turtles as well as a host of other sea creatures. I took a bunch of pictures as well as some short video clips which can be viewed here: http://www.divehilo.com/11-05-06/ The BBQ was great and included a host of tasty items. The chicken sauté that Jayne brought was truly outstanding. We were joined by Val, a special guest who came all the way from Colorado. She will also be looking for a house to buy for she and her husband and pet dog as they plan a move to East Hawaii. Andy and Michelle expressed an interest in getting certified so that they could join us on some of our future dives. Go for it guys! Besides the dive a few people went snorkeling and swimming. Everyone talked story big time and enjoyed the good food items. Laid back was the flavor of the day and I for one had an awesome time. See you all at our December outing. Andrew
Meeting
Number 2, 2006 I am tired, I am sunburned, I am tired... did I mention tired? I also was properly chastised for losing my dive buddies AGAIN.... and in spite of all that, I had a great day... couldn't have been better, unless I had been less tired! LOL Mahalo to everyone who showed up. We all had a great time. Apparently I had more fun than I knew. While I was busy scoping a 3 foot long turtle, spinner dolphins were swimming all around me. Wooo hooooo... you gotta love the ocean in Hawaii! We had a rescue by a lifeguard.... Jenny is fine though the kayak is apparently less than well. The rocks won. We had a GREAT invitation from the local lifeguards for our next meeting. They said to invite them on over and they will give us a safety tip talk about the conditions on that day. It was pretty rough out there today. All in all everyone did great. As for our "big" announcment... we have scored the sponsorship of Big Island Spearguns, a dive shop in Hilo. Seems they are moving into the Scuba arena. If you mention that you are a member of DiveHilo Dive Club, you will receive a 10% discount on anything in the store, even clearance and sale items. Their prices are already extremely competitive so check them out. We will be forming some kind of coupon/flyer with their address information.
To those of you who allowed yourselves to be rained out.. SHAME ON YOU... you should know Hilo better than that by now. At 8 it was pouring and by 10 the sun was shining, and I have the sunburn to prove it. We basically decided to keep Richardson's Beach Park as our location for a while; it has all the facilities we need for all the water sports. This gives our divers time to match up with buddies and go on excursions to find other places for a few months on non-club-event dives. All
in all, things are going extremely well and I am proud to have you
all as my Hawaiian Water Friends. Hi All! Had a great dive, talked for a while and scooted off to another shore to go bodysurfing for a while. Saw some nice stuff, was a little disappointed to come up and find the lifeguard chastising the group. I think this can be a thing to be taken well and acted on proactively. Pam, Dan, and I all talked happily and about dive safety after the dive and agreed on some methods of managing our visual ranges and pacing so as to avoid losing one another. The visibility was poor this last dive, that's why we were seperated, out failing was in how to deal with this when it occurs. Things like this are what you take for granted when you one dives with the same people/buddies for a while. We are a new club and will work through all that. I don't have a printer, but was thinking that we might make up a short ettiquite list for the club. What to do if you're seperated from your buddy, hand-signals, dangerous spots at Richardson's, alcohol policy, etc... Nothing like rules or such, we are a group of adults (kinda right!), intelligent fun-lovers. There are extremely varied levels of ocean experience amongst us. This is a great chance for everyone to learn and appreciate this wonderful ocean. I really envy the children who get to grow up here. We are group of equals, as such everyone matters. Pam mentioned some were uncomfortable with the presence of alcohol, especially since we had already warranted lifeguard attention. I had a beer, i ask if anyone is uncomfortable with one or two beers (only!) after a dive in plastic cups. I submit to the will of the group. I am somewhat uncomfortable with glass at the park and irritating the lifeguards by flagrantly violating the alcohol ban. I think a compromise can be reached. I look forward to our next dive. I saw a leg-sized stonefish (poisonous), an octopus, a small lobster (HA! Pam!), a huge school of tangs, a big group of starfish, a pair of banded-coral shrimp, and a type of corralimorph i hadn't seen in Hawaii yet. I also found a really interesting canyon filled with rocks, crashing waves, and fish. When i went to refill tanks the guy at Nautilus expressed some trepidation at a rumor that we are promoting/hunting at Richardson's. I told him that no one would probably turn away a lobster dinner, but that no one was spearing or promoting at Richardson's. I think his fear was for children and the already severely depleted reef at Richardson's. I agree with this. I told him that we were environmentalist first. I generally shoot with a camera. I, other divers, our new sponsor and the gentleman at the dive shop are all in favor of ocean hunting/gathering. But i think we can all agree that the hunting is best elsewhere where there are more things to actually go after. Lobsters are marine cockroaches and breed about as quickly. Most other game is more sensitive. I for one am not concerned and hope that others are not. Perhaps a dialogue can be started. I plan on buying more dive lights soon for our group to use (a silent thank-you for the members who have let me use their gear). If we see lobsters on our night dive, i'll take one. A legal size one, if i feel like it. I'll frisk Pam down after the dive, and make sure she doesn't have more than ten in her wetsuit and BCD. Maybe i'll eat a raw shrimp or urchin to show my appreciation of fresh ebi and uni. Lastly, i just want to say thanks to all the great folks who show up! (and even you cool ones who can't make it). As to pansies like Andrew and Mark who think it's excuesable to miss a dive! "Embolisms and broken bones? WHIMPS!" You shoulda' seen the hangnail i had getting in the water! after my hands got all raisiney it was like, twice as big! Between that and all the blood in the water from some crazy kayake, phew... You guys are gonna get it next time i see you, no hot dogs for you! ;) Chili! Where were you? I had at least three people ask me about where you were? I had to make up stories! Your energy was missed. We'll see you next time. Mahalo to all, Hazen
Meeting
Number 1, 2006 Holly Molly... what a day! We had four hard core divers that did two dives past the reefs. We had a few others checking out gear, lots of snorkeling and two or three kayaks that everyone shared. What a great time. Water sports club it is!!! Though we are striving to form a Hilo Dive Club, it is really neat that all the support people and family members can come and have water sports activities too... plus the food! Hotdogs appeared on the grill, soup in a pot, then fresh baked bread, brownies, chips and salsa, a fruit platter.... it was endless. The last of us packed up after 4 PM. Whoa.. what a day! This is the beginning of something special. Thank you Chili for all your efforts both before and during the day's activities... hauling the grill and shade/easy-up, etc.... Andrew, can't wait for you to get some of those photos posted. I must say that Richardson's offered more interest than I expected. It was a longish swim out past the surfers and the reef, but once out there we found great nooks and crannies and rock formations. I think I may have found the beginning of my seafood store.. rock scallops, if I recognized them. Will take my pry bar and a mesh bag next dive. We just might be eating good! I swam with turtles several times, saw eels, nudibranchs, lots of small reef fish. Nothing I would bother to speer but I have to wonder if there isn't a lobster and crab population out there at night.... Aloha
everyone. I had a wonderful time. Special kudos to my Hubby.. he
manned the BBQ, hauled my gear, and when we got home I was so tired
I could hardly walk, he rinsed it all down and put it out to dry.
For a guy who doesn't even swim and snorkel, he sure is a good buddy
to this diver!!! |
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Pam adds: