This weekends program for Dutch Springs focused on Peak Performance Buoyancy, and specifically, how to get the lead out!  The face of IVS North, Jim Cormier, came to town to conduct the program, and we have 14 participants working with Jim over the weekend on buoyancy skills, trim, and …………….

The team lost a total of 54 pounds of lead, with Pam Schools dropping enough (7 #) to give Jim C a much-deserved smooch of appreciation!  Most of the other guys settled for hand shakes, but Jim appreciates the ………. 

This past week saw quite a variety in diving for Team IVS.  Wednesday we headed out on the Venture III to dive the wrecks of New Jersey.  Dave West, Keith Beaver, Matt & John Yaroch and I headed down to  Belmar and joined Paul & Ruth Hepler for a great mid-week day of diving.  Conditions heading our were clear and flat, with all the makings of a superb day on the ocean. 

Our first location was the Notheast Sailor, and we dropped in for about an hour of bottom time on this 75 ft. deep old wooden wreck.  Lobsters were everywhere, but pre-school must have been in session, as they were all too short to be legal.  Stiill a great dive with good conditions and decent viz, probably 30 ft or so.  The thermocline was right at 45 ft, with water temps in the high 60’s above and high 50’s below. 

Stop #2 was the Rockland County,  an old intact tug sunk as part of the artificial reef program.  Nice dive, good viz again, and Dave W and I managed to snag four legal bugs on this one!  Another 40 minutes of bottom time, and we headed up the line, only to find the weather deteriorating fast.  That ruled out a third stop for the day, as we headed in through the pouring rain and called it a day.

Saturday we headed up to Dutch to rinse the gear and enjoy a day with Donna Raleigh and the Buxmont Dive Club crew.  The day was perfect and we had about 30 IVS divers join us during the day.  This was also open water presentation day for our Instructor Candidates, and they did fantastic!  The class consists of Carlie & Leslie Adams, Rob Tennille, Bill Bobowicz and Sue Mendez.  Congratulations to each of them for completing the requirements for PADI Assistant Instructor today!  Next week we’ll be working to get each of them ready for the upcoming PADI Instructor Examination, and have them join the ranks of PADI instructors worldwide!

And now that the gear was clean, what better way to celebrate than to take it swimming in the ocean again!  Sunday morning we headed back out on the Venture III and joined the Buxmont Dive Club crew for a morning 2-tank charter to visit some intact wrecks offshore, including the Ventura and Travis Stevens, both part of the Shark River Artificial Reef system.  Another fantastic day of diving on the water, with clear skies, ultra flat seas, no current and decent viz once again.      

Another weekend and another great chance to get wet in a local way, at Dutch Springs, of course!  It was another checkout weekend and Dueling Drysuits Demo day at the local quaribbean, and it started off as one fine looking weekend for sure!

Saturday we had about 35 IVS divers in the camp, and Sunday found the total for the weekend up over 50!  How cool is it to have so many of our diving family stop by, get a dive or two in with old friends, make new ones, grab a burger, and plan the next dive trip!  And we made even more new friends as the popularity of the Dueling Drysuits demo program continues to grow!

Saturday’s weather was perfect, and with grille-mistress Donna Raleigh in charge, no one went hungry or unsatisfied around the food table.  On Sunday we have Jerry Melissen take over the grille meister duties, and again, the bellies were filled, the smiles were wide, and the IAHD-Americas contribution jar was nicely filled!!  Thank you everyone for supporting our cause. 

Sunday morning the rain came down…and down…and down…….what a torrential storm we experienced.  Lord knows how much rain we got, but we sure got it in a hurry!  But what comes after the rain - you guessed it, a beautiful sunny afternoon to cap a great weekend of diving!

Congratulations to Meghan Grant, Mike Weiderhold, Wyatt & Chuck Brumm, and Paul Haverfield, on completing their National Geographic Open Water certifications! And Rich Seier, who completed his Advanced Open Water & Drysuit Specialty certifications! Wow!