The Islands of the Fraternal Order of Moai

Welcome to your new conversational space for all things underwater related.

This area is a moderated area, Bourbon Tiki and Foredeckape will be your moderators for this cruise.

_________________
Sentience Achieved May, 2, 2025.
How May I Serve?

Cool

I'm not a frogman...but this is still cool

PADI certified in '89... though I haven't been diving since so I'm grossly overdue for a refresher.

Certified in 1982 at Syracuse University.
Open water dive was done in Lake Skaneateles,
In November,
In a wetsuit,
In a snowstorm.

Now I dive the balmy blue of South Florida.

I still dive gear we purchased in 1990 when we moved to Key West though I do have a couple of vintage pieces. I'll post photos when I dig them up.

_________________
To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

PADI OWSI #26858 since 1987

So glad you started this section on the forum!

RumMum

_________________
RumMum
--
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful!
--

This is great! Haven't tried scuba, but I've been curious to try. I'll keep an eye on the posts and see if I can learn a thing or two. I would love to see photos, especially reef dives. Until then, I'll resume staring at my reef aquarium.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

_________________
-- Moaimiki.

And for your entertain...viewing pleasure...

_________________
To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

Liverpool - how the hell did you end up getting certified in Liverpool?

_________________
RumMum
--
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful!
--

And you have me beat - my instructor number is PADI #26858

I think they are in the 7 digits now!

_________________
RumMum
--
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful!
--

Liverpool, NY., Like this...

_________________
To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

Apres-Tiki did her OW check out off of New London Ledge Light, in a snow storm, but, in a dry suit. IIRC, it was slack tide so the usual 6 knots of current wasn't blowing the dog off the chain, yet.

In the submarine capital of the world, too dark, too cold, too deep are just excuses.

uploaded from another era

_________________
Set a course for the Foc's'le Lounge!

Excrementus Cadaemus

Cool.

_________________
It's not the years, sweetheart...it's the mileage

Frigid

_________________
To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

I think you are talking Polar Bear

_________________
RumMum
--
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful!
--

Dry suits keep you warm.

I did a thanksgiving eve dive a couple hundred yards off the house with a couple of guys from work. Me and one dove dry, the other dive wet. It was about 33° blowing 12 to 15 kts. The guy diving wet signaled he was cold and bailed topside to the skiff. By the time we got topside, he was pale blew. We zipped back to the dock, left our gear wet in the boat, and walked up to the house. That was the fastest I have ever seen Apres-Tiki get a guy stripped down and in the shower.

uploaded from another era

_________________
Set a course for the Foc's'le Lounge!

Excrementus Cadaemus

I've never dove a dry-suit. After NY, I dove only in waters that needed a wetsuit, shortie or skin. There would have to be some pretty interesting sights for me to go into that frigid water again. Besides, where I dive now they usually offer copious quantities of rum, post-dive.

_________________
To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

Cool topic!!!

Would like to try it, offically..

I once fell off the deck of Launi Island in Wakefied into lake quannapowitt after having a couple Fog Cutters and a Scorpion Bowl for two..!!

I don't think that would be Scuba Diving, would it!!!

I got certified in Nassau, Bahamas, and Divemaster in Cozumel while working on cruise ships. That's a great way to go, I got to dive all over the Atlantic/Caribbean, from Bermuda to Barbados, and on the other side, Acapulco to Sitka. A memorable dive off Block Island, RI, was on the wreck of a U-Boat! The last few have been in the Keys, I have a buddy who loves diving for old glass (bottles from the 1800s).

I don't think scuba diving is something I would try but snorkeling is more along my line of interest.

I've always wanted to try hard suit diving, ever since I received a G.I.Joe deep sea diver back in the mid 60's. But I'd give scuba a try if the opportunity came up.

_________________
RumMum
--
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful!
--

Cool! I'll have to visit the reef when its installed. I hope they will have buoys for tying up to.

_________________
To Taua Na Moai Mau Loa, Roger, Rob and Matt.

So, should I plan a "dive" sometime during Ohana, Luau by the Sea?

If so, what day? Before, after or during ("during" would probably be tough). Who's in?

Anyone interested in visiting the Rapa Nui Reef even though it ended up being a pile of rubble? Should I look into it?

Mahalo,
RumMum

_________________
RumMum
--
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful!
--

It might be more interesting as rubble, so long as there's still some structure to the reef under the raft.

Video of crash & sinking in link.

_________________
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D, Th.D., D.F.S.
First Temple of the Elder Gods, Reformed
"Science does not remove the Terror of the Gods!"

So let me share my one and only 'snorkeling experience' (scuba is not gonna happen for me - just sayin):

So my normal rule in life is this: I don't go into the water unless I can see the stripes on the bottom of the pool - I just don't like the idea of tromping around in someone else's house - especially if it makes them unhappy......

So we go to Oahu in the late 80s and end up on a Wed. morning with 'Captain Snorkel' who takes us out to Hanauma Bay for a 2 hour 'adventure'. He points to a break about 100 yards out and says "that is where the big sea turtles are, but watch for the hammerheads." I laugh and turn to look at mrs_melvis, but she is already kicking out towards the break like she is intending to present herself for dinner to hammerheads. Me? I tell the Cap'n: "I'm just gonna try to get used to snorkeling right here (about waist deep water). Now I have this issue with using a snorkel - I can't regulate my breathing - it's all like having a panic attack while your head is underwater. So I'm standing there, bent over at the waist with my head in the water, trying just to breath slowly and normally. This is the point in time where my 'adventure' went awry. There is a physics property where things are magnified when seen in the water (might be Snell's Law - not sure - been a while since I took physics classes). So as I am bent over and breathing through the snorkel (sounding like a like a runaway convict 50 yards from the prison wall), I see this huge hand in front of my mask. This hand is holding what appears to be a fistful of bread, and it begins to shake the bread violently in the water. As pieces of the bread fly away from this huge hand, I am immediately surrounded by an incredible number of HUGE fish. At this point, all I can say is: the only sound anyone heard on that beach, was the sound of my fins slapping the top of the water as I ran across the surface back to the beach - where I immediately stripped off all said snorkeling gear and told the good Cap'n to "eff off". I spent the rest of our paid 2 hour event drinking on the beach and waiting for mr_melvis to come back (hopefully in one piece).

Thus ends my snorkeling tale.......