We still have a couple seats left for Turks and Caicos in January aboard the luxurious Aggressor.

If we don’t have your favorite desti-nation on there please let us know. It’s never too late.

Hope to dive with you soon,

~ Patti

Howdy Divers,

First we had months of rain that we thought would never end and now we have our normal Texas August with temps above 100 degrees. I don’t think the weather make any-one happy and certainly not every-one at once. The weather has only slightly slowed us down this summer. Mostly from having the extra fun on Sunday afternoon of lake week-ends. That wasn’t the case last weekend at Lake Travis as we had over 30 students getting certified. There are plenty of opportunities to learn more before the water turns cooler. Clear Springs is sitting at 85 degrees, Blue Lagoon is pushing

90 while Lake Travis is the chilliest at 81 degrees. Come play with us

Watch the website in the next few days as we post the 2008 trips that folks have asked for. We will have the usual Cozumel (Jan, Feb, Jun, Aug) and lots more like Belize, Bonaire, Akumal, Grand Cayman, Little Cay-man, Roatan, Utila, and the BVI. Right now we have spots available to dive the newest salt water site in Texas—The Texas Clipper. Once A&M Galveston’s training vessel it lies in South Padre Island waters just wait-ing for us to come play. We will be there Sept 14-17. Please call to book before the slots are gone

Can you believe it’s August already?

Specialty of the Month— That Little Yellow Rectangle

The last few months we have been catching up with the rain, and now summer has decided to hit us hard. Well not really hard, it’s a normal Texas August, but it sure seems hot after the cooler weather we were hav-ing. The good news is the local water-ing holes are nice and warm. Clear Springs is has great visibility. Great diving is at hand.

A lot of you are familiar with the little yellow rectangle. If you see it, you will immediately thing of National Geo-graphic. When you think of National Geographic, you think of nature, the environment and exploration. Their mission has been to take you to the exotic places and show you what it is about. Come to think of it, isn’t that what diving is all about also? Well, as you may know, about four years ago PADI and National Geographic formed an alliance, and out of that we now have a couple programs, the National Geographic Open Water Diver Course and the National Geographic Spe-cialty. Wouldn’t you know, Septem-ber’s specialty of the month is the Na-tional Geographic Diver specialty.

So what does it take to get this spe-cialty? First you must go to a National Geographic Dive Center. This is a PADI 5 star dive center (or above) that meets even more requirements. We hap-pened to be the first National Geo-graphic Center in North Texas. We not only took on the challenge, but

embraced it. Next you will get a DVD and an Almanac with a knowl-edge review. You will then do 2 dives. There is some flexibility in how the dives are performed, and we decided to arrange them to give you the most bang out of them.

The first dive concentrates on buoy-ancy. That is the biggest thing that we all work on with diving. In order to be gentle on the life, or keep from stirring up the silt on the bottom, you must have good buoyancy. How about making good safety stops, again good buoyancy. Do you want to take good picture or get closer to the little creatures; good buoyancy is the answer again. How is your air consumption? Could it be better? Buoyancy control is the main factor on this one as well.

Now, remember that biggest bang, this dive also counts toward your PPB and AOW certifications. How’s that for a deal.

The second dive is about exploration. It is meant to make you more obser-vant about what is around you when you dive. What are the keys to exploration? One big one is naviga-tion. How can you explore if you don’t know where you are going or where you have been. The other is the observation side. We will teach you both for this dive. You will be asked to navigate a shape (say a

Class Schedules & Trips—at a glance:

WEEKEND:

AUG 4-5 LAKE TRAVIS

AUG 18-19 TERRELL

SEP 1-2

SEP 15-16

WHERE TO:

AUG 18-19 FLOWER GARDENS

OCT—WAKATOBI

JAN —TURKS AND CAICOS / COZ /

FLOWER GARDENS

FEB—COZUMEL

MAR—AKUMAL / FLOWER GAR-

DENS

APR—BELIZE

MAY—GRAND CAYMAN / BVI /

FLOWER GARDENS

JUN—COZ / FLOWER GARDENS

FEB 2010—PALAU

Inside this issue:

August 2007

Volume 6, Issue 8

G E T T I N G Y O U T H E R E … S T A R T S H E R E !

International Scuba

square, triangle, or dodecahedron (ok, maybe not that one)). As you are navigating, we want you to take notes. At each corner, sketch out what you see. Is there anything unusual or interesting. Maybe a nest, feeding station, a bunch of juvenile fish, or something that shouldn’t be there at all? You are now paying attention to what is around you, and are able to com-municate that back to someone after your dive. After all what is the use of exploring if you cant share your adventure with others.

More about that biggest bang thing, they way we organize this one you can count the dive toward both your Navigation Specialty and the AOW navigation dive. Not bad.

Once you complete the course you will get a card that is very unique. It is a National Geographic Diver card. It looks different than any other certification card. It could get you invited to join on National Geo-graphic expeditions with people like Sylvia Earle. What an oppor-tunity of a lifetime that would be.

Don’t forget that this month’s spe-cialty of the month is Wreck Diver. Its not too late to sign up.

Happy Diving, Brian

Specialty of the Month 1

Our Stars 2

Milestones 2

Oriskany 3

New Toys—DX1G Camera and 4 Manta Ray Fins

CD Corner— 5

Creature Feature — Gold Face Toby 5

Scuba Diver Stephen Cobb Garen Powers

Open Water & Open Water (White Belt) Chad Webster Leighton Webster Tye Arnett Celeste Pyle Joey Wheeler Josh Babb Richard Bennett Ron Gleaves Jenny Gleaves Jeff Munson Bill Parkinson John Benka Melissa Guerrero National Geographic Open Water (Green Belt) Sherry Marsh Jamie Wuistinger Courtney Wuistinger

Advanced Open Water Diver Ryan Sellers—Adventure Cindi Smart Amy McKinley Adam Rodriquez Tim Casey

Enriched Air Harry Doe Patricia O’Connor Mary O’Connor Paul O’Connor

Emergency First Re-sponse Jeremy Shelby John Love Brian Brewer

Rescue Michael Zimmermann John Love Brian Brewer Oxygen Provider Brian Brewer PPB Randi Walter Greg Walter Tracy Dennis John Benka Mark Grover Deborah Kurtz Darrion Simmons Josh Babb Joey Wheeler

Navigator Cindi Smart

Deep Cindi Smart Brian Brewer

Wreck Tiffany Barmore

Search & Recovery Tom Barton Matt Lopez

Equipment Specialist Deleena Black Christine Jackson

Digital Photo Mark Grover

Project AWARE Ho Lee

Drift

Amy McKinley

Boat Ho Lee

Night Kay Tidemann Cindi Smart Chris Simmons Sylvia Gomez Deep Kay Tidemann Cindi Smart Amy McKinley Tom Baggett

Page 2

International Scuba Volume 6, Issue 8

Our World of Divers Continues to Grow

Milestones—number of dives recognition

40 Dives 100 Dives Tom Baggett 150 Dives

200 Dives Dave Allen

10 Dives Austin McCord Jamie Wuistinger Courtney Wuistinger

20 Dives Tonni Shook 25 Dives Cindi Smart

300 Dives

350 Dives

400 Dives

500 Dives

600 Dives

700 Dives

Don’t forget to email us your milestones—remember you are working hard!

Naturalist Instructor Alicia Pol Ho Lee

Assistant Instructor Bonnie Jones Pat Lynch Jeff Rudolph Sylvia Gomez Chris Simmons Josh Racca Chuck Webb Daryl Harris

The light dawn rain gave way to a calm over-cast after our 55-minute ride. We were the only boat in sight. Just four divers and one huge wreck – the USS Oriskany. Cool!

The aircraft carrier (pronounced o-RIS-kuh-ny), launched as WWII ended, served in Korea and Vietnam. Hollywood cast her with Van Johnson (Men of the Fighting Lady, 1954), William Holden (The Bridges at Toko-Ri, 1954), and Robin Wil-liams (What Dreams May Come, 1998). But on May 17, 2006, she became a living memorial, resting upright in the sand 20 miles south of Pensacola. At 911 feet long, 157 feet wide, and over 150 feet tall, she’s the largest ship ever sunk as an artificial reef. (For a brief history, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oriskany.)

I’d booked the trip through MBT Divers. Most Pensacola dive shops run scheduled charters through independent captains and most boats are small (six or less divers). I was a last minute “walk on” with Capt Ron of the Pensacola Dive Company.

Two tech divers in our foursome planned a sin-gle dive to penetrate the hull and hangers be-low 130 ft. Ben (my buddy) and I followed a more typical recreational plan: two dives to the carrier’s island (control tower). A 30% Nitrox

mix would allow a brief visit to the flight deck (130 ft) without compromising safety. Currents on the wreck are usually light and visibility runs at least 60 ft.

For the first dive Ron met us on the flight deck. We entered the island’s base through a star-board hatch. Working our way in slow circles upward, we explored cabins, crew stations, a head (with its facilities intact), stairways, flight control tower, and the bridge, emerging near the radar mast base at 60 ft. In a year the wreck hasn’t accumulated much growth, but sea urchins have flocked to a new home. Large octopi snug-gle in beam ends. Arrow crabs are holding con-ventions in the companionways. We returned to the line for a slow ascent.

After an hour surface interval, we descended a second time. Now we concentrated on the exter-nal populations of the wreck. Yellowtail Snapper and Jacks schooled along the island. Spotfin But-terflyfish, Tangs and juvenile Queen Angelfish grazed the open deck. Seaweed Blennies played sentry in the deck stanchions. A 4 foot long barra-cuda circled just beyond arm’s reach. A juvenile Blue Tang even declared war on my gloved hand. (That Fish ID course was worth it, Patti!)

Old Glory and the POW/MIA flag furled and unfurled slowly in the current at the yardarm. Bottom time exhausted, Ben and I headed slowly up.

By 2:30 we were back at the shop – and straight into a Barcelona film documentary about the

Oriskany’s impact on tourism. (Somewhere in Spain my face is famous.) Wasn’t unusual. Earlier this spring MBT Divers had hosted charters for divers from as far away as Korea and Brazil!

Souvenirs in hand, I returned to great ac-commodations (with an MBT discount) at Suburban Lodge Extended Stay, a mere half-mile from the dive shop.

Since my wife and daughter don’t dive, we continued exploring Pensacola’s other at-tractions. Down the road at NAS Pensacola are the lighthouse and forts. The National Museum of Naval Aviation (free admission!) needs its own day! (I know because my wife reluctantly accompanied me early one after-noon and had to be dragged out as they shut the doors!) Then there are great beaches, super restaurants, the historical districts…

You know, I think I need to go back. Real soon.

By Tim Ralston

Page 3

Volume 6, Issue 8

The Oriskany—live and up close

The world’s most advanced compact digital underwater camera system!

Sea and Sea has done it again with the intro-duction of the all-new DX-1G. Sea and Sea has earned the reputation of bringing innovation and performance to the compact underwater camera with its DX camera line. For years now divers wanting to take digital underwater pic-tures have had to decide between the versatility and professional features of an SLR along with its hefty price tag or the limited features and adjustments of a point and shoot system. The DX-1G camera system puts an end to any com-promise. Some of the pro features include:

� 10.01 Mega Pixel resolution

� Manual Adjustment

� Vibration Correction

� Shutter Response - .1 second

� Exceptional Macro Capabilities of 1cm

� RAW, RAW+ JPG Modes

� Large 2.5” TFT liquid crystal display

� Manual Focus Mode extra control for extreme conditions low light or macro

� Compatible with SDHC memory cards up to 4GB

I can’t wait to get my hands on it to play! I have a feeling this is going to be the camera that sets the standard for all point and shoot underwater cameras. With a retail price of $1,049.00 for the camera and housing, the price of the DX-1G puts it within most people’s budgets. The mega fea-tures make it a no-brainer for the serious photog-rapher, as well as hobbyist. If you think point and shoot cameras are just toys, take a look at Scuba Diving Magazine’s Photography contests recent entries. All of the winner’s pictures were beautiful and closer to SLR quality than previously imag-ined.

Greg Gephardt, our fearless Sea and Sea Sales Rep, has helped to secure a DX-1G for us from the first batch arriving sometime this month. You can bet this is going to be on top of every diver’s wish list come holiday season. We have data sheets available, with all the sexy details, for those that enjoy drooling over the specs. You can bet we’ll have our photo guru, George Vin-cent, give the DX-1G a shake down and report to you his findings.

Stay tuned for more info!

Page 4

Volume 6, Issue 8

New Toys—DX 1G Sea-n-Sea Camera

New Toys—Mantaray Fins

APS Mantaray Fins You might have seen either Brian or me diving with a strange looking set of black fins. Those fins are called the Six Gill fin and carry the Deep Outdoors label. I have fallen in love with the performance and features of the fins, but many divers believe they were only good for tech diving. There is no doubt they are great technical diving fins, but recreational divers can benefit from the radical design also.

Recently, I began to see ads for a very familiar fin called the APS Mantaray fin that looked exactly like the Six Gill only in COLORS! I de-cided to call the number to find out what the deal was with the blatant copy of my beloved fin. The gentleman that answered the phone, John Wagner, explained that he in-vented the fin and wanted to get the fin into the recreational world where divers want a selec-tion of colors other than black. The fin is now available in a cool, translucent, Aqua Blue, a pearlescent, Caribbean, and the unique, bold White Lightening. In addition to adding a few colors, the strap post was redesigned to hold a fin strap more securely.

It was very interesting listening to John explain the evolution and process he went thru to design this incredible fin. John was an avid body surfer and free diver in San Diego and decided he wanted to develop a more efficient fin. John

has spent years studying various fin designs. In 1990, John develops his first proto type fins and in 1993, filed the first patents on his designs. The next step was to get the fins into the hands of the very people that would most benefit from a high performance fin, Coast Guard divers, Navy Seals, and local free and scuba divers. From the feedback and further tweaking, John has reached the final design for his Mantaray fin.

What makes the fin unique is that it’s shorter than most fins. This allows for better maneuver-ability in close quarters. I think of cave divers and wreck divers right off the bat, but the shorter fin is also great because you are less likely to kick your buddy or inadvertently kick a coral head. Packing these fins is a breeze due to the shorter size.

The first thing that stands out about these fins is the system of vents running along the blade, with a channel along the top. This patented dual water channeling system has proven to stabilize the fin making it much more efficient and provides a thrust of power in the opti-mum direction. An added benefit is that water is not directed down to stir up the silt on the bottom or up to disturb rust found in older wrecks. Imagine if the visibility at Clear Springs could be maintained all weekend like it is on Saturday morning. Another nice feature is that you can utilize any kick style. Many alternative

fins don’t work as well with the frog kick or other modified kicks.

The white fins really caught my attention be-cause they stand out in our local dive conditions (low to no vis) now my buddy can spot my fins from across the lake. The original idea behind the white fin was more ingenious than just high visibility. John had photographers in mind. The fin works great as a white balance slate for digital photographers.

The Mantaray fin has received numerous awards such as the Testers’ Choice Award from Scuba Diving Magazine, write-ups in Popular Science Magazine, Asian Diver Magazine, Dive Trainer Magazine, Sports Diver Magazine, and Dive Newswire. It was chosen to be exhibited at the Inventors’ Expo sponsored by the U.S. Patent Office at Disney World’s Epcot Center. It has also received nu-merous testimonial letters from divers of all types and varying backgrounds. If you see me at the lake, ask to give them a test run. I bet you’ll be hooked like everyone else that has tried them. We are now buying the fin direct from the manufacture, so we are able to offer the fin for a great price. If you stop by the shop this month mention this article and you’ll get an extra special price on the Mantaray. You’ll be the envy of all your fellow divers!

Now you see him now you don’t or better yet, Where’s Waldo.

We often swim right over scoprionfish and never notice them. Their camouflage is awesome. Some of the time we can see them as we get too close and their pectoral fins come out to display a beautiful shade of purple.

Now, don’t get to friendly with these little guys as their dorsal fin can put a nasty hurt on you or any body part that comes down on it. They will lie completely still hoping you go away but should you molest them their venomous spines will win.

We can expect them to grow from 7-14” with a max of 18” and they typically live in 5-50ft of water.

Take a look the next time you are diving at rubble and see if you can spot his eyes watching you.

Creature Feature — Scorpionfish

2540 Marsh Lane Suite 128 Carrollton, Texas 75006

Phone: 972-416-8400 Fax: 972-416-8507 E-mail: patti@internationalscuba.com

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G E T T I N G Y O U T H E R E … S T A R T S H E R E !

CD Corner — Time for a Change

Howdy Divers,

How many of us have been sitting at our desk or on a job site and wish; man could I just walk away? Most of the time this hap-pens after we’ve just come back from an awesome trip or the boss just yelled at you. Either way, the thought crosses your mind.

I am beginning to become more and more about living life to it’s fullest and if that means making changes—go for it—scary or not. I am not suggesting you throw caution or your family to the wind but can you re-evaluate where you are and where you want to do. I made the first step 6 years ago leaving the corporate world for a life of shorts and flip-flops. It’s never too late for you.

As I write this article, there are nine nervous instructor candidates taking their exams in the hotel conference room next to me. One of the candidates will be leaving the country for at least 10 weeks of fish counts and a life on an island shortly after he makes in-structor. Just so you know he isn’t a young-ster—more like you and me.

One of the requirements of him taking the job was that he be an instructor. So, voila—here he is. He has also seen the need for some addi-tional training such as EFR and some specialties.

Remember even as divers we need to have a resume ready—the more qualified you are the more likely you are to get the job.

If you remember Jeff and Casey from our original team, they are still living happily on Virgin Gorda running Dive BVI. Mike Rowe is still a happy camper running Sail Caribbean Divers with his wife Melisande. Some of you have visited them while on a diving vacation and have witnessed exactly what they do. Are you interested? I know I am and certainly Brian is ready for it!

~ Patti

Goliath

Nassau