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!

This weekend, for the first time in the twelve year history of the Lehigh Valley Sportsfest, participants had the opportunity to discover the magic of scuba diving.  This event, held each year in the Allentown area since 1997, has steadily grown in size and scope, with nearly 10,000 competitors and 100,000 spectators gathering this year at the festival.

This annual festival of sports and games, started with 16 events as the Allentown Sportsfest, and has grown now to over 100 different events, changing it’s name to the Lehigh Valley Sportsfest to more accurately reflect the regional involvmenet.  Indian Valley Scuba, and the International Association for Handicapped Divers, was asked by the Sportsfest founders to bring a Discover Scuba program to this years event.  We set up the IVS rolling DSD show at Cedar Beach Park, a massive pool/park/nature area, right near the center of the city of Allentown. 

On Saturday, they were lined up and waiting as we pulled the truck & trailer into the pool area.  By the end of the afternoon, over 45 divers had been briefed, geared up, and taken on tours, culminating in some basic skills training, paving the way for our next wave of certified divers!  Channel 69 News was there sharing the event with their viewers, and IVS-staffers Mike Gusenko, Ray Graff, Brad Creveling,  Barb White and Dave Valaika had their hands full, running non-stop without a break until finally closing the pool down at 7:00.  After that it was back to the shop, filling tanks, and getting ready for tomorrow!

Sunday was as beautiful a day as Saturday, with even larger crowds, more fun and another 55 divers getting wet and blowing bubbles for the very first time.  Lin Gusenko, Leslie & Carlie Adams, Butch Loggins, and Katie Chin joined the crew today, making it an even more fun event - what a great bunch of folks we had on both sides of the Discover Scuba program today.  By the end of the weekend we had taken over 110 divers in, went through nearly 90 tanks of air, and planted more than our fair share of smiles across the Lehigh Valley.

Look for us to be back next year! 

Over fifty IVS divers gathered this weekend on the shores of our local quarribean, Dutch Springs, for a perfect weekend of diving, laughing & grilling!  Training was first and foremost on both days, with Open Water, Rescue Diver, Digital Underwater Photography, Adaptive Scuba, and Dry Suit classes all carefully choreographed under the IVS pavilion.

The face of IVS-Savannah, Randy Rudd, was in town to conduct one of his phenomenal digital underwater phtopgraphy programs, and he had eight eager and willling students lined up and ready to capture the watery world in a brand new way! 

The Dueling Drysuits Demo Trailer was hopping both days, with lots of divers trying out drysuits from Whites and Waterproof.

Lots and lots of certification programs were completed, too many to list here, but boy does it prove the learning never stops at Indian Valley Scuba! 

This marks our 10th weekend at Dutch this season already - this is starting to grow on us!  The family of IVS divers and friends gets bigger all the time, and what a great way to meet old friends, make new ones and get some dives in these weekends are. 

Team IVS is popping up like the gopher in the carnival game this weekend, with simultaneous diving, grilling & drysuit demo’s at Dutch Springs and Bainbridge Sportsmen Club. 

We started off Friday at Dutch, setting up the big tent and grille, and getting the Dueling Drysuits Demo weekend going.   Wei & Chris from Washington DC journeyed up to dive with us, and eleven divers test-dove our suits on Friday, alternating between the Whites Fusion and the Waterproof Draco’s and Aquila’s.  Lots of great experiences, lots of smiles, and some new friends!

Saturday Donna Raleigh, Jarred Rogers, & Frank Gabriel, along with a big gang from the ScubaBoard Dive NY group, represented IVS at Dutch while John Glodowski & Dave V hauled the demo trailer to Bainbridge Quarry for our first ever visit to this dive site.  Located in Lancaster County just southeast of Harrisburg, we could not have been more impressed by the friendliness of the staff and all the divers we met there.  So unpretentious, no egos or other acts of silliness.  Instructors and divers alike lined up at the Dueling Drysuits pavilion to learn more, get a chance to try our suits, and even to talk about our Poseidon rebreathers which we were diving today. 

About a dozen divers tried our suits, and every one came back smiling and asking when we were coming back - very cool indeed.  The longest distance traveled award goes to John Jannone, who drove in from the Pittsburgh area to dive with us and try a Fusion!  John G & I got a couple of dives in after escorting some of our demo’ers, and finally it was time to call it a day, pack it up, and head back to the Center of the Scuba Diving Universe, Harleysville.

Sunday a.m. I drove the demo trailer back up to Dutch and we spent a glorious July day doing demo’s, talking about drysuits, diving and of course grilling!  Donna Raleigh flips a mean spatula on the grill, and we enjoyed her efforts, including the fajita’s, wraps, grilled corn-on-the-cob, and of course burgers & dogs.  Mike Parzynski brought out some carnivore delicacies, including chicken and steaks, marinated and delicious!  The ScubaBoard Dive NY gang, led by ScubaSam, Hobo Diver, CJM, Letter Boy, OhmDiver, Betty Rubble, ParzDiver, Dbuggy66, QRPC, and the rest, added an even greater element to the day - so cool to spend a Sunday diving and meeting new friends! 

Csaba, Niki & Sylvia Lorinczy visited us, and enjoyed the Aqua Park for the afternoon.  It was a busy afternoon of demo’s and finally we packed it up and headed home, back to the grind, until next weekend!

Today marked the inaugural appearance of the latest and greatest Indian Valley Scuba consumer program - the Dueling Drysuit Demo Program! Our spanking new trailer, chock full of drysuits and everything you need to dive them, showed up bright and early Saturday morning, and from the level of activity, we’re pretty sure it was a big hit!

And, to make it an even mo’ special weekend, Bob & Sally Stitzinger, assisted by Larry Gould and his wife, prepared and served up about 40 pounds of delicious BBQ ribs, fixings and everything else - plus 3 gallons of lobster bisque, just full of the 11 lobsters I caught earlier this week - mmmm, mmmm, good!

Our Dueling Drysuits program is sure to be a hit to divers near and far, giving them the opportunity to test dive, at no cost, two different brand drysuits the same day!  No waiting for the manufacturers annual Demo Day appearance, then having to remember what one felt like and trying to compare it wih another.  We bring out two different brands each week, and you can dive to your heart’s content!  And the best part is the cost - FREE!

Yes, free - what else would you expect from the gang at Indian Valley Scuba? Our mission - to grow the IVS dive family, one diver at a time.

The rest of the weekend was a smashing success, with open water certifications, dry suit certifications, AOW dives, and more fun, laughter, and great food then the next ten shops!  In light of the recent tragic events in Tinseltown, we saw plenty of hollywood tribute dives to Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, with big-haired moonwalkers on the platforms - now if we had only known TV pitchman Billy Mays died today, we could have Oxycleaned the pond in his honor, and taken care of any visibility issues!

Memorable quote:  Steve Holak, is credited with “What?  Bev is diving??  All we need now is Roy!” 

Look for us back in force, July 11th & 12th, with great food, a trailer full of drysuits, demo digital cameras, and more!  And we might even make a surprise appearance this holiday weekend!

Team IVS headed out today for some lobster hunting off the coast of New Jersey.  We sailed with Capt. Al aboard the Sea Lion, seven hearty souls with a common goal…lobster in the pot!  The day started off a bit overcast and raining, but more importantly there was no wind.  The affect of this was apparent as we cleared Manasquan Inlet - the Atlantic was flat as far as the eye could see.

Our first location was the wreck of the Mohawk, and early ‘passenger liner / cruise ship’, sailing from New York to Jacksonville and onward to Havana, Cuba.  It collided with another vessel on a crystal clear cold night in January, 1935.  Nineteen souls died, primarily from exposure, before the rest were pulled from the sea as the vessel slipped beneath the waves.  Originally it went down on it’s side, but six months later a summer storm uprighted it, Speigel Grove style.  In fact, with the depth at 80 ft to the sand, the masts were actually sticking up out of the water, and this is how it remained for until the Army Corps of Engineers cut it down by wire dragging it to allow safe passage over the wreck.  

All was good until WWII, and with the U-boat activity up and down the eastern seaboard, the Coast Guard was taking no chances.  German submarines were known to take advantage of structure on the bottom to hide alongside, masking their presence, so every time an anti-sub vessel would pass the Mohawk, they’d throw out a depth charge or two for good measure.  Although no U-boats were ever discovered, you can imagine the damage this caused to the remaining wreckage.  Today the site looks a bit more like Fred Sanford’s backyard than a ship, but you can figure out enough of the pieces to know you’re diving on a wreck. 

So we located the site and our able first mate Jen dropped down to tie into the wreck.  We followed as soon as the hook was set, and got right to work on our mission.  Watching most of the guys bear left, I opted for  a right turn at the anchor, dropped down low, fired up the canister light, and got down to business.  One, two, three bugs in the bag….good start….keep looking…four…..more….all keepers, being careful to gauge them right there and ensure they are legal before putting them in the bag.  Kicked up a nice flounder, lots of sea bass and blackfish there, sea robins walking about on their fins, and all the other typical Jersey sea life.  The water temp was 58 degrees, allowing me to dive without a hood and with light gloves, better to shove my arm in the holes to snag my objectives!  I was wearing a Whites Fusion, and this suit is fantastic with it’s form-fitting design.  Even with a medium weight undergarment on, I was able to dive with no weights other than my double steel 100’s.  The viz varied, but at times was easily 60 to 75 feet - Nice!

We got back up to the boat, and I had six bugs for my cooler.  The others did not score so well…OK..they were skunked!  So we talk a little about technique during our surface interval, and get them pumped up to do better on dive #2.  Because this wreck site is quite large, we opted to stay for our second dive on the same spot.  Four more bugs in my bag, and two for Matt Yaroch and his dad - way to go guys! 

Checking my personal biological meter, I recognize I am a quart low on nitrogen, so Capt. Al offers to make a third dive on another location.  We motor over to the “120″ wreck, and we’re down to only two of us plus Jen making this one.  This is an old unidentifed wooden sailing vessel, and it has some fantastic lobster habitat on it, as well as fish life.  The problem is that the habitat is all through the wooden timbers and deck planking, giving the lobsters a huge advantage with being able to slip around a corner of far enough down a hole to be beyond the reach of the hunters.  Missed a few, but still managed to get one more in the bag, bringing my daily total to 11.  The rest of the team accounted for another 2 - what’s wrong with this picture??      

Finally it’s time to call it a day and we sail on back to the Brielle Boat Basin.  Hugs & handshakes, and I head home to boil up my bounty - we’ll be serving it up at Dutch Springs this weekend!

Dutch Springs is officially open! And who but IVS would brave the frigid waters right away? Six of our divers headed up for opening day to do some dry suit diving in the 42 degree chilly water. The first dive went smoothly, with everyone warming up just by gearing up. They swam around for about 20 minute, making sure everyone’s buoyancy was right and practicing Tech skills. It was after they got out that the cool air really got to them. But thanks to Csaba Lorinczy, they had a nice and toasty RV to warm up in. Green tea, donuts, and some fun company made warming up between dives fun and easy. Soon everyone wanted to get back in the water.

In the second dive they went out a bit further in the water, exploring the tanker and the bus before coming out again. Once again, everyone huddled together in the RV and tried to get the feeling in their fingers back. On the third dive, they picked up a stray diver with no one to dive with and introduced him to the IVS crew. By the end of his dive, he seemed eager to hook up with IVS again!

So congrats to all the men (and woman) that didn’t let some cold water stop them from diving. Everyone had a great time, and almost all earned the ADC (All Dives with Csaba). Dave was sorely missed!

It was time for our last official visit of the season to Dutch Springs this past weekend, and Mother Nature helped us confirm why we don’t schedule any more weekends there later in the season.  It was a bone-chilling 39 degrees each morning, with a little breeze just to add the thrill of knowing you are about to go swimming in that weather.

Well Team IVS managed to suck it up and rise to the thermal challenges and we showed up in force, occupying about ten tables on the student side of Dutch.  It looked like we owned the place, as IVS divers outnumbered everyone else on shore and below both days!  We got our dives in, spent a lot of time warming up around the grill, and had a great time.

Randy’s digital photo class had a great day, none of the gear iced up, and our Savannah-based instructor confirmed exactly why he lives in Georgia!  Brrrr!

On the way home we figured a quick stop at Gregory’s Steakhouse was in order, and headed on in to the home of the 128 ounce steak!  As we sat around the table and enjoyed a few cold ones, we heard more than a few y’alls, and yessir’s coming from the table behind us.  Well one quick glance at all the camo clothing, and you’d of thought that Randy and our own former Tennessean Bev had died and gone to hillbilly heaven!  Turns out that Robbie, Patrick & Leland were in town for some early PA deer hunting and they were abmazed how Team IVS thought of everything, including packing a few of our own rebels in, just in case!

Well a few drinks led to a few hours of chatting, exchanging stories, and swapping catfish and ‘possum recipes, and before you know it, Bev was modeling camo hats and whooping it up with Randy and the good ‘ol boys - we knew it was time to head on out!  And to make a note to check the parking lot for pick-em-up truck gun racks and trailer hitch bulls balls next time before we stop! 

It was our next to last trip of the season to local watering hole Dutch Springs this weekend, and the weather certainly made it clear to us why this is the next to last trip of the season for us - it was 47 degrees this morning!!  And windy!  My hands are so cold I can’t even type this!

In spite of that, we had a great turnout, spent more time in the water than the cold air, and kept the soup and hot chocolate pots going all day on the grill!

When are we going back to Key Largo???? 

Team IVS, Canadian version, spent last weekend doing another major Project Aware cleanup on the Trent River in Trenton, Ontario.  Nine intrepid souls showed up and managed to haul 737 lbs of trash & garbage out of the river, in less than one hour of diving!   The bootie included a couple of bicycles, a shopping cart, some tires, hundreds of bottles and cans, and lots of smaller things.  Needless to say, the river bottom looks a lot better, and the fish were thankful!   It was a great day, with the air and water temp in the low 70’s.  Some of the crew included IVS-North MSDT James Cormier, assisted by his lovely bride Peg, and Patrick Muldoon with his kids Patrick Jr and Beatrice.  Muldoon is an 8th grade teacher and has asked Jim to come give a Project Aware presentation at his school and to schedule another cleanup day as an environmental project for his class - way cool, eh?  Check the IVS website for the cleanup photos!