Ramblings - Nova Diving

A blog dedicated to the ramblings of a scuba diving instructor.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Get Together and Pool Night

On January 23, Nova Diving will be meeting a SeaVentures in Fairfax for a get together at 6:30 PM. There will be food and friends so come and stop by. For previous students, there will be a pool session you can go to at 9:00 at the George Mason Pool. Cost will be $10.00

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Scuba Gifts - winter Holiday Edition (Christmas) Part1

Sometimes it is hard to buy for people. I know that I find it hard to buy for some people. So I have decided to come up with a list of items you can get for you scuba friends. (p.s. if you want to buy something for me let me know and I will provide you with my scuba list)

The traditional knife

I used to love dive knives. Unfortunately, most of the ones I like are no longer made (I don't know why). But realistcally, you don't need a big knife as you will never use it. A small one will do just fine. That being said, I don't like most of the small knives on the market. The Oceanic Spinner looks interesting, I will have to see if I can find it to review it. Until then, my favorite knife right now is the Z Knife.

I currently use the Z knife in red. The only problem with it is that it rusts. I think I am going to try the OMS one because it is titanium so it won't rust. This is what I would give as a gift for someone who does not have a knife.

http://www.omsdive.com/cuttool.html

Dry Box

Everybody needs a dry box. Whether it is to keep you save a dive kit (and wallet) dry while you are one a boat, or a near indestructible box to hold you camera during traveling. I recommend a pelican case. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, are water proof deeper then you will probaby go, and have a great warrenty. That isn't saying there aren't other good brands out there, I just happen to like Pelican.

http://pelican.com/case_category.php?CaseSize=%&New=%

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Store Front

Students have often asked me if they could be a T-shirt or some other item with the NovaDiving logo on it. It was really expensive for me to go the printer and get them to order a shirt at a time. I found some place that will do it much cheaper and students don't have to go through me. They can now go to http://www.cafepress.com/novadiving

I am still adding things to the site. If you do have an idea for something you want I will happily put it up there, just let me know.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Movie - Sharkwater

So a student told me that there was a new movie coming out about sharks. He sent me some info and I am just now getting around to finding out more about it. It looks to be an environmentally conscious film about preservation of sharks. Below is the synopsis and the preview of the movie (fast forward about 30 seconds).

Sharkwater synopsis (from www.sharkwater.com)

For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth.

Driven by passion fed from a lifelong fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas.

Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world's shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

In an effort to protect sharks, Stewart teams up with renegade conservationist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Their unbelievable adventure together starts with a battle between the Sea Shepherd and shark poachers in Guatemala, resulting in pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges, forcing them to flee for their lives.

Through it all, Stewart discovers these magnificent creatures have gone from predator to prey, and how despite surviving the earth's history of mass extinctions, they could easily be wiped out within a few years due to human greed.

Stewart's remarkable journey of courage and determination changes from a mission to save the world's sharks, into a fight for his life, and that of humankind.

Preview

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Oct Pumpkin Carving

Recently my students went out to get certified and also to participate in the Pumpkin Carving contest. Below is the video slideshow of the event. Enjoy

Monday, October 29, 2007

The 400 year old Clam

The quahog clam (insert Family Guy joke here) is suspected to be the longest living animal in existence. The clam is was found off of the coast of Iceland and is suspected to be between 405 and 410 years old. It now enters the Guinness book of world records beating out a 220 year old clam.

Link from Science Daily

Friday, October 26, 2007

Gadgets - DPV's

For those of you who don't know, a DPV is a Dive Propulsion Vehicle. More commonly known as a scooter. I really want one. But the one that I want is out of my price range for now. That, and I don't really know what I would do with it once I got it.

Anyways, this is a video of what diving with a scooter should look like.

This is a video of some guy trying to develop a new scooter. Its a little sad.

Labels: dpv, scooter, scuba diving, testings, video

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