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We gather at 6:00 p.m.. Afterwards, we hold our “formal” meeting covering CLUB business and member trip reports, followed by our great door prizes.
We meet at TGI Friday’s, which is located at 8955 International Dr, Orlando FL 32819 (phone 407-903-9556). It’s easy to get to via Interstate 4 or the Beachline, between Sand Lake Road and the latter.
NewsOctober 2012
October Meeting
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB
Little Cayman Adventures by Terry Keeney and Chuck Brown
See ‘Little Cayman’, page 9
At our regular Lockheed Martin Dive Club meeting on October 9th at TGI Friday's on Inter-national Drive, Chuck Brown and Terry Keeney showed-and-told us about their experiences diving Little Cayman this year.
Chuck and Terry each have over 800 dives in Florida and the Caribbean. Much of that experience has been behind a still or video camera. They have been producing videos of their underwater travels together since 2005. During that time, the scenes have included the Turks & Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Belize, Bonaire, and Cozumel.
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’October 2012 2
President Mike Gracey 407-356-5752
Vice President Mike McCleskey 407-808-6453 Secretary Nancy Wileden 407-971-8525
Treasurer Al Wileden 407-971-8525 Director at Large Al Wileden 407-971-8525
Board of Directors Bill Barney 407-356-6921
Bill Paskert 407-356-2290 Darrell Seale 817-308-9764
Your Club Leadership
President's Column
Committee ChairsActivity Gary Comstock 407-694-3490 Camera Art Beaulieu 407-888-5775Communications Bill Paskert 407-356-2290Equipment Bill Paskert 407-356-2290Meetings Open Membership Al Wileden 407-971-8525Merchandise Carol Comstock 407-694-3490Safety and Training Darrell Seale 817-308-9764Webmaster Bill Paskert 407-356-2290
Greetings fellow Dive Club members! Wow, where has the summer gone? As I write this
month’s column it is the end of September. We’ve done a lot of great diving this season, and since we live in the best state in the union for pursuing our sport, there’s still a few more weeks (some might say months) of diving before the water starts cooling down. Best of all, the tropics are calm and the weather looks to be holding.
So get out and dive; I for one, want to see Al have to fill another tank!
A lot has happened since my last column in Au-gust. Foremost among the events was our First Annual Picnic at the Sportsmans Club on Lake Sheen. Over thirty Dive Club members, family, and guests were in attendance. This year the heavens did not open (much) and we stayed dry, except for those fortunate enough to accompany Gary on a 3-hour tour. I jest; they didn’t become castaways, but rather just a bit damp.
There was plenty of food and fun, and I think it safe to say that everyone enjoyed themselves. I can’t wait to see the hidden GoPro video!
Our September meeting showcased Mary Solomon, who introduced us to underwater digital photography with a wonderful presentation. Mary put into layman’s language how to select the right camera equipment for your needs and the basics of how to use it. She followed up with some of the most breathtaking underwater shots I’ve seen. The group was spellbound, and we went well over our usual time. No one minded!
Darrell’s NITROX class was held the last Sunday in
August, and he introduced us to 11 newly certified par-ticipants at our last meeting. Congratulations to all who took the time to further their underwater education. I am certain they will enjoy the increased bottom times!
Make sure to put this month’s meeting (October 9) on your schedules. Our presenters are the acclaimed videographers Chuck Brown and Terry Keeney, who will be showcasing their spectacular visuals and hilarious scripting of the Club dive to Little Cayman earlier this year. The video stars LMDC members and the staff of the Little Cayman Dive Resort shot on location in, under, and around one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. You won’t be disappointed!
Don’t forget to bring in or send to Mike McCleskey your entries for the Photo and Video Contest. This is the first year the competition has included video, and we’re very excited. Be the first on your block to take home bragging rights! Look for more details in this month’s newsletter.
Finally, Nancy is now taking reservations for the fabulous end-of-year Holiday Brunch on December 2nd. This year’s brunch promises to be even bigger and better than ever. Nancy has reserved the large banquet room at Dubsdread Country Club and has a fabulous menu planned. Of course the event would not be complete without our exciting gift exchange. See this newsletter for details. Don’t miss out; send your check to Nancy today!
Well dive fans, I’ve rambled on long enough for one column. Until next month, be safe and dive oftenWell fellow divers, that’s all for now. Stay safe and dive often!
Mike
October 20123LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’
Lockheed Martin Dive Club 2012 Activity Schedule1201015
Date Event ContactPartici- pants
Deposit Amount
Cut-off Date
Total Cost
Mar 10
PARADISE SPRINGS
&lunch in the woods
LOCKHEED MARTIN eventAl and Nancy Wileden
407-616-6270, [email protected] $30 March 10
$30 includes
lunch
Apr 7
OYSTER REEF RESTORATION
Indian River Lagoon
LOCKHEED MARTIN eventMike Gracey407-356-5752
Un- limited N/A April 2 Free
Apr 14 JUPITER DIVE CTRReef and wreck
LOCKHEED MARTIN eventMike Gracey407-356-5752
12 $55 April 1 $55
Apr 28-May 5
CAYMAN ISLANDSLittle Cayman
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Grace Hampton
407-737-8999 [email protected]
10 $500 Until full $2,300estimate
May 12, optional
hotel 5/11
VENICEShark Teeth Dive
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Bill Barney
12 $60 May 1
$60, incl 2 tanks
and wgts
Jun 8-10
KEY WEST EXTRAVAGANZAVandenberg and
reef dives
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Marie Frank
12 max $100 Until full
$415, incl
diving, hotel, shuttle
to Duval St
Jun 9-10 JUPITER DIVE CTRReef
KSC BARRACUDAS eventSharon Kennedy
[email protected] $50 TBD $200
Jul 21BLUE HERON
BRIDGEShore dive
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Mike McClesky407-273-6655
6-12 $0 TBD $0
Jul 25 & Jul 26
RIVIERA BEACHLobster diving
KSC BARRACUDAS eventJohn Lawlor
321-459-3374 [email protected] $65 per
day TBD $65 per day
Aug 3-10
CANADIAN WRECK TREK
St Lawrence RiverWreck Trek
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Gary Comstock
10 or 12 $325 Full $1700
Aug 11-12
DANIA BEACHSteve’s Reef
KSC BARRACUDAS eventGinger Ballou 10 $50 TBD $250
Aug 18WALT DISNEY
WORLDDive Quest
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Trevor Campbell
(407) 234-7147 [email protected]
12 FILLED FILLED FILLED
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’October 2012 4
Nancy Says:
Mark Your Calendar!Just a reminder that December 2nd should be
on your calendar for the annual LMDC Holiday Brunch. This year promises to be as memorable as previous ones with the event taking place at the His-toric Dubstread Country Club. Some of you may have already purchased your zany, fishy gifts for the ever-popular gift exchange, but if not there is still
time to find the one item that will be the envy of everyone and cause chaos to break out once again during the rapid, heated, no-sympathy stealing of gifts that has occurred dur-ing previous events. Look for the flyer in this news-letter for more details.
1201015
Date Event ContactPartici- pants
Deposit Amount
Cut-off Date
Total Cost
Aug 24WALT DISNEY
WORLDDive Quest
LOCKHEED MARTIN eventMatt Spears
[email protected] FILLED FILLED FILLED
Sep 1-3 BOYNTON BEACHHoliday Inn Express
KSC BARRACUDAS eventPhil Stasik
[email protected] $100 TBD $300
Sep 8-15 BONAIRE IBuddies
KSC BARRACUDAS eventMax Farley
321-452-1435 [email protected] $300 TBD TBD
Sep 8-22 BONAIRE IIBuddies
KSC BARRACUDAS eventMax Farley
321-452-1435 [email protected]
12 $500 TBD TBD
Sep 15
LMDC CLUB PICNIC Orange
County Sportsman’s Club
LOCKHEED MARTIN event TBD 30-50 $0 Until full $0
Sept 21WALT DISNEY
WORLDDive Quest
LOCKHEED MARTIN eventMatt Spears
[email protected] FILLED FILLED FILLED
Oct 6-7 ISLAMORADAHoliday Isle
KSC BARRACUDAS event John Lawlor
321-459-3374 [email protected] $100 Cancelled $300
Oct 18-25
COZUMELHotel Cozumel
KSC BARRACUDAS eventLen Shaffer
[email protected] $100 TBD $800
Nov 13
LMDC PHOTO CONTEST
T.G.I. Fridays I Drive
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Mike McCleskey
Open FREE N/A FREE
Dec 2 Sunday
LMDC HOLIDAY PARTYBrunch
LOCKHEED MARTIN event Nancy Wileden407-971-8525
40 $30 Nov 27 $30
• Animals moved to an unnatural environment or risky location
• Animals being fed (especially with artificial food from divers)
• Marine life being touched (e.g., coral polyps, seahorse tails)
• Divers exhibiting poor buoyancy control.
Marine life should never be stressed or endan-gered for the sake of a photo or video.
Total of six entries per member, and a maximum of two per category
All photos and videos must have been taken and edited by entrant and since October 2011
Digital images may only be:• Color corrected• Adjusted for lightness or darkness• Cropped• NO OTHER DIGITAL MANIPULATION AL-
LOWED – Nothing added, nothing taken away• EXCEPTION: Extreme Photoshop category:
Anything goes
Submit images in JPEG format.
Submit videos in WMV, MOV, or MPEG for-mat. A minimum of 50% of the footage must be live video taken underwater (as opposed to still shots). Maximum length of video submission in-cludes any introduction and/or credits.
By submitting the entry, the competitor certifies that he or she has created, composed, and made the original submitted photo or video and agrees to give Lockheed Martin Dive Club rights to use the work.
All entries were due to Mike McCleskey prior to October 12. Entries could be emailed to [email protected]; snail mailed to 1814 Billingshurst Court, Orlando FL 32825; hand delivered to the Octo-ber 11th meeting, or any other arrangements we could come up with. Call me at 407-808-6453 with any questions. Winners will be announced at our regular meeting in November.
Don’t miss out on the fun! Start going through your old photos and videos now and pick a few to enter . . .
Mike
Photo and Video ContestPer our somewhat annual habit, we are mak-
ing plans for our Photo Contest. The results will be presented as the program at our regular Club meet-ing on November 13. The deadline for entries was at our preceding meeting on October 9. This year, we will be including video categories for the first time, so those of you that have been testing the Club's new GoPro camera, take note. As usual, we will have fabulous prizes, and winners will earn the never-end-ing respect and adoration of your fellow Club Mem-bers. There are categories for everyone - the experts and the novices, so do not feel like you shouldn't participate. Here are the rules and categories:
Photo Categories:• Underwater - Close-up and small critters• Underwater - Normal, wide-angle, large critters,
and scenes• Underwater - Pictures of divers• Topside, Diving Related - Sunsets on dive trips,
boat scenes, etc.• Rookie - For anyone that has never entered or
has not won an award in the past 2 years• Extreme Photoshop – Anything goes
Video Categories:• Edited Video Presentations - 4 minutes or less• Un-edited Video Shot - No cuts, no music, no
editing; 1 minute or less.
Rules:
This is a photography and videography contest, not a Photoshop, digital imaging, video production contest. Imaging and editing software has become a necessary tool for processing images and videos, but it is not a substitute for good photography and videography. All entries will be judged on: 1) tech-nical image quality (lighting, exposure, and focus); 2) difficulty; 3) composition; and 4) overall impact. The value of UW videography will weigh more than computer-generated graphics and animation.
Entries exhibiting the following behavior will be disqualified:
• Divers visibly damaging the environment (e.g., gear dragging or kicking up sand)
• Animals with signs of stress (e.g., puffed puffers, inking octopus)
October 20125LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’October 2012 6
Lockheed Martin Dive Club Holiday BrunchSunday, December 2
Dubsdread Country Club, The Florida RoomBring a wrapped, ocean- or fish-related $15 gift per person for our
Unbelievably Exciting Gift Exchange!Fruit & pastries at 11:00 am
Brunch at 11:30 amMembers and guests: $30
Price includes one free drink!Menu:
Eggs Benedict, Scrambled Eggs, French Toast or Pancakes, Crisp Bacon and Sage Sausage, Chicken Vin Blanc, Garlic and Parmesan Baby Red
Potatoes, Green Beans Almandine, Dinner RollsMimosas, Bloody Marys, juice, coffee, tea
Dubsdread Country Club 549 West Par St Orlando FL 32804www.historicaldubsdread.com
407-650-0100Contact:Nancy [email protected]
407-971-8525 or 407-616-6272 (cell)Or send a check to her at:564 Pleasant Grove Drive Winter Springs FL 32708
Reservations due by November 27, open October 1
October 20127LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’
Little Cayman, from page 1
The underwater experiences around Little Cay-man are renowned for the dives at Bloody Bay Wall and Jackson’s Bight. The reef at Bloody Bay Wall comes to within 20 feet of the surface. The shallow depth makes for bright reef scenes with abundant fish at the top of the wall. The vertical wall allows divers to also explore deeper territory while the shallows are still in sight. The Jackson’s Bight por-tion of the reef has tunnels and crevices for divers to explore.
Terry and Chuck’s video of this year’s trip to Little Cayman borrows from a 1939 movie . . . ‘over the rainbow, down the yellow brick road’ to an encounter with ‘Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!’ Continuing down the yellow brick road, they finally reached the Emerald City. They led a spir-
ited competition that had divers searching for indigo hamlets, yellow jacks, lionfish, ruby (slippers) brittlestars, and more. Even though they had calm seas, sunny weather, great visibility, fantastic food, and exceptional camaraderie, “there is still no place like home.”
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’October 2012 8
LMDC Club PicnicSeptember 15, 2012
We watched the weather with a cautious eye in the week preceding the First Annual LMDC Picnic. As you may recall, last year’s highly anticipated picnic was rained out. Fortunately this year the forecast was favorable, and the day dawned with nary a cloud in the sky. Of course that did not last, . . . but I get ahead of the narrative.
Gary and Carol Comstock were the first to ar-rive and had their boat in the water by 9 AM. Run-ning late as usual, I was there around 9:30 with the jet ski and picnic supplies. By that time, Carol had the signs deployed and the pavilion was beginning to look like there was a party going on.
Bill Paskert arrived soon thereafter, and with great flourish the Club dive flag was hung and it was officially picnic time! We decided to use the club GoPro camera and hung it in the rafters to cap-ture the festivities. I have not seen the video, but I’m sure there is some footage suitable for viewing! Stay tuned…
In short order, the group began bringing in their food and contributions to the feast. Soon the tables were overflowing with tasty treats. There is no way I can list all of the delicacies that everyone brought, but suffice it to say there were myriad different sal-ads, side-dishes, and deserts for everyone to sample.
October 20129LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’
Picking up with the weather I spoke of earlier, the clouds built up that morning, and relatively quickly a large storm cloud drifted by to the north of the picnic site. Before we fired up the grills, Gary loaded up his boat with some hardy volunteers and set out on a lake tour. We passed them on the jet ski while heading back. Luck of the draw; we missed the rain and Gary, along with his entourage, found it. Interestingly enough, it never did rain on the picnic!
We lit up all three grills, and soon they were covered with hot dogs and hamburgers. In short or-der, the group was feasting. I’d say a hush fell over the crowd, but it wouldn’t be true; I mean, can you imagine us being quiet?
The Sportsman’s Club provided a wonder-ful venue for our group - a nice covered pavilion, plenty of picnic tables for us to spread out on, and several game choices for the kids. Althea was even able to borrow the Lockheed Martin Management Club’s bag toss game, which was enjoyed by sev-eral spirited groups of players.
I think I can speak for the group and state that a great time was had by all participants. As is usual with our group, everyone pitched in to help, which was much appreciated! Special thanks to Nancy Wileden, Carol Comstock, and Althea Stearns who organized the whole affair. Kudos to Gary Com-stock, Bill Paskert, Shawna Hyde, and all the others who helped to set up; and the Browns and the usual cast who helped pack up. The First Annual Lock-heed Martin Dive Club Picnic was the best one yet. We’ll definitely do it again next year!
Mike Gracey
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’October 2012 10
September Meeting
Digital Underwater Photography by Mary Solomon
At our regular Lockheed Martin Dive Club meeting on September 11th at TGI Friday's on Inter-national Drive, Mary Solomon talked to us about digital underwater photography.
Mary retired from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as a Lt Col after 26 years in the Air Force. She is an engineer, and spent most of her career working Space Launch for the National Reconnais-sance Office.
After Mary retired, she turned from space to her other passions -- SCUBA diving and underwater photography. She was PADI certified in 1985, and bought her first underwater camera (Nikonos IV) before she bought her first set of SCUBA equip-ment!
Mary became a Divemaster in 2007, and has been working as a Divemaster for American Divers International (ADI) since then. She started work-ing sales at ADI in 2009, but she has been an ADI customer since 1994 and has literally traveled and dived all over the world with their travel program. Recently, she traveled with Cathy Church and took several of her seminars, and her photography has undergone a definite change since then. She finds it fun and challenging to capture the wonders of our underwater world.
During her presentation, Mary briefly discussed digital photography, and the differences between a "point & shoot" underwater camera systems and a digital SLR system. She also covered some basic tidbits on how to take better underwater photo-graphs. Finally, she shared some of her favorite photos with us, and answered all of questions.
October 201211LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’
LMDC ConnectionsWe have a telephone voicemail account. Got a
question about the CLUB? Want to let us know that you’ll be attending a CLUB meeting? Just call (407) 306-5020 and leave a message!
Check out all the great dive information on our CLUB home page at: www.martindiveclub.org.
Editor’s CornerThanks for all your help. You've been great at get-
ting articles to me by the 15th of the month. Please get them to me in one of the following ways:• Call me at (407) 356-2290 and sneaker-net
your text and graphics on disk to me at MP-93• E-mail at work: [email protected];
or at home: [email protected]
Disney's EPCOT DiveQuestSeptember 21
Everyone arrived early for the dive, excited to get going. Quite a few of the divers were brand new to the Club that became members when they found out how awesome the EPCOT dive would be. Most of the divers had not done this dive before. Some of my friends, coworkers, and neighbors were in the group.
Two of my group were concerned about equal-ization. Fortunately, both had no issues whatsoever. I and the dive master reassured them that the vis-ibility is so great (200+ feet) and depth so shallow (25 feet to the bottom) that anybody having troubles could easily stay at a lower depth and still see ev-erything.
The five sharks we saw were very active, and people really seemed to enjoy (and maybe worry a little) being able to “play” with them. A very large
and beautiful ray happily swam about at various depths, and we saw two very nice large sea turtles. There was an incredible array of aquatic life visible during the dive. One of my favorites is swimming into the middle of a large school of fish with crystal-clear visibility.
Another favorite experience of quite of few of the divers was interacting with the dry Disney EPCOT restaurant guests on the other side of the underwater windows. We entertained them and they entertained us – win-win! My wife Joan, though not a diver, was willing to follow us around a little from outside the aquarium and take lots of photos that we shared with the whole group.
The Disney greeter, Chris, was fantastic (again), and the whole experience was awesome. Everyone really enjoyed their dives!
Matt Spears
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUB ‘News’October 2012 12
Upcoming EventsOct 9 Meeting: Little Cayman Adventure - Chuck Brown and Terry KeeneyOct 18-25 Dive Trip: Cozumel - Matt SpearsNov 13 Meeting: Photo and Video Contest - Mike McCleskey
LOCKHEED MARTIN DIVE CLUBMP-933173 Battersea Way Winter Park FL 32792(407) 306-5020www.martindiveclub.org
2012 Air Fill Challenge (AFC)
We have managed to fill the air tanks way above the goal of 3000 psi. There is currently 3600 psi in the tanks. Thanks to all the contributors who have been out diving and helping our fellow diver at Peacock Springs.
Since he has expressed his desire to do an extended dive, he asked if we could fill a “pony bottle” for him.
I have added one to the chart, and we certainly can help fill it to at least 3000 psi. Right now, it’s empty!
So let’s get out there and Dive, Dive, Dive!
Remember each dive you do contributes 5 psi to the tanks and 60, 140, 240, and 400 psi gets you a gift card to TGIF’s.
Al Wileden
