November 2009 >> Archives
Caribbean Diving – No Passport Required
| In this issue... | Meet the staff |
You deserve a break!
All rooms 20% OFF published rates
1 - 14 November
*** ASK FOR the "INTERNET SPECIAL" RATE when making your reservation ***
BEST Tiki Bar in the Florida Keys (maybe the entire world...)
Live music 7 days a week (band schedule.)Monday is LADIES NIGHT 2 for 1 drink specials 4 - 7 pm
TACO TUESDAYS - a locals favorite!
see MORE...Food & Bar SpecialsJoin us for THANKSGIVING DINNER November 26th
GOT GIFTS??
We do! Hats, shirts, drink coozies, air fill cards and MORE.
We can help you S-T-R-E-T-C-H your dollars and still get great stuff for everyone on your "been nice" list.
Not sure what to get? We have GIFT CERTIFICATES in any amount you wish.
Looe Key Divers in the News - FKCC students do a "wet lab"
Seven students from the Florida Keys Community College's Underwater Photography class went in search of underwater images on Looe Key reef. They, and their instructor Douglas (Rudy) Rudolph, did three dives aboard the Kokomo Cat II dive boat on October 25th. Several others from FKCC joined the fun too - including Provost Dr. Randy Charles.
Check out the FKCC
Underwater Photography Classphoto by Douglas Rudolph
Learn to dive in your jammies
PADI now offers ONLINE instruction for
That's right - do the classroom work at your convenience, from the comfort of your home.
- Open Water Diver
- Advanced Open Water NEW!!
- Enriched Air Nitrox NEW!!
Learn more about
Just in time for your HOLIDAY shopping...
REBEL Regulator CLEARANCE SPECIAL!
Get the Rebel 12 1st and 2nd stage with the Rebel Octo for $269Add a Mission SPG for $69
Meet Peggy - she does it all!
Talk about versatile - Peggy works on the dive boat as First Mate, in the dive shop, at the hotel front desk and in the Tiki bar as bar back and service bartender. Obviously, she's got lots of energy and patience (plus smarts and a good sense of humor!)
Listen closely and you'll hear just a little of her Boston accent. She grew up there, then moved to Vermont where she installed snow making systems and did specialized snow making for snow mobile races, including the famed Rock Maple Racing Snocross events.
Even then, she loved the water and spent time sailing. She bought a 26 foot Pearson sailboat that she lived aboard for 2 1/2 years, sailing it from Salem MA to Daytona Beach FL. About a year ago, she came to Key West for a friend's wedding - and never left.
When she's not working (at everything she does), she enjoys diving and lobstering in the beautiful Florida Keys.
Gear Meister answers your gear questions...
Winter divers "Chill NOT!"
The transition from fall reminds us that the weather – and the water – is beginning to get cooler. So for the next few months, I’m going to discuss the "ins and outs" of thermal protection from just your swimsuit at one end of the spectrum to drysuits at the other.
You’re Getting Warmer (maybe) …
We can stand around in 70F (21C) degree air temperatures all day long and be quite comfortable. However, a half hour submerged in the same temperature water will leave most people shivering with the onset of hypothermia in which the body can not generate enough heat for the amount of heat being lost. Amazing fact: most people will eventually become hypothermic in water less than 94F (34C).
Why? Two reasons. First, water is much denser than air; the molecules are closer together. So water can transmit heat much faster - up to 20 times faster- than air. The second reason we lose heat in the water is that everything in nature strives for balance. Since our body temperature is 98.7F (37C), we are usually swimming in water of a cooler temperature. The water and our body temperatures try to become equal. In other words, you’re trying to heat the whole ocean with your body. That’s a battle you’re going to lose!
The heat that our body is able to generate comes from two main sources: metabolism and movement. Our metabolism creates a little internal furnace by transforming the food we eat and digest into chemical energy for our cells and heat to keep those cells operating at the optimum temperature. Sitting on the sofa doing absolutely nothing will generate a certain amount of heat, known as our basal rate, our baseline, if you will. When our body is moving, it burns additional calories to keep our cells fed and generates additional heat. The more you move, the more heat you generate (up to a point.)
In the water, we can only move so much or we become fatigued and burn through our air faster. And we can’t generally eat and drink underwater so we can’t add fuel to our fire. The only thing left for us to do is to preserve the heat that we do generate. This is where wet suits and other types of "thermal protection" can help.
Choose wisely (and warmly)
Choices for thermal protection range from nothing to a 6 or 7 mm wet suit to a drysuit. It all depends on on how much body heat the diver needs to preserve. The colder the water, the more protection needed. Of course, your personal susceptibility to feeling cold and the temperatures you’re used to also comes into play. Here in the dead of winter in the Florida Keys, we may see water temperatures as low as the mid-70’s F(25C), which may have us wearing a 5 or 6 mm wetsuit with hood! At the same time, visitors from the northern United States or Europe are happily diving in 3mm wetsuit or even a shorty. It’s all in what you’re used to. And remember, you can always make yourself cooler in a wetsuit by letting in water, but it’s difficult to make yourself warmer, so err on the side of warmth when making your selection of thermal protection.
Need some guidelines? Typical temperatures and the corresponding protection required look something like this:
82F(28C) and above no protection needed, lycra, swimsuit, etc 77F(25C) – 82F(28C) shorty wetsuit or wetsuit jacket 68F(20C) – 85F(29C) 2-3 mm full wetsuit 45F(7C) – 70F(21C) 5-7 mm full wetsuit, hood, gloves, booties 30F(-1C) – 70F(21C) Drysuit with appropriate thermal undergarments, hood, gloves, booties As you can see, there are no definite cutoff points for switching from one level of thermal protection to another. These are general guidelines and allow for individual preferences.
Dive smart. Dive warm.
Hypothermia is serious business and can sneak up on divers, even in "warm" water. Remember your thermal protection.
Gearmeister Archives
Underwater Navigator
Make your sense of direction legendary!
Be the diver everyone wants to follow. When everyone’s buzzing about a reef or checking out a wreck, they’re having a great time – until it’s time to go. Then they turn to you, because as a PADI Underwater Navigator, you know the way back to the boat.
Underwater navigation can be challenging, but in the PADI Underwater Navigator Specialty course, you master the challenge.
What you learn
- Navigation patterns
- Natural navigation (without a compass)
- Compass navigation
- How to “mark” or relocate a submerged object or position from the surface
- Underwater map making
- How to follow irregular courses with the Nav-Finder
- Dive site relocation
- How to estimate distance underwater
Prerequisites
You must be:
The Learning Materials You Need
Accurate navigation is based on thoughtful preparation. With that in mind, PADI’s Navigation crewpak includes everything needed to complete the Underwater Navigation specialty. The manual and DVD preview the navigation skills you’ll practice with your instructor both on land and underwater. Use the Nav-Finder to track where you’ve been and chart the most direct route back to the boat or shore.
Schedule your class now! Call Looe Key Dive Center 1-800-942-5397
or contact us by e-mailMore info about this specialty at PADI.com
Trumpetfish, Aulostomus maculates
These long, thin ambush hunters are adept at changing colors to blend in with their surroundings. You may see them aligning their bodies with sea fans, sea whips, or branching corals, where they wait to suck in unsuspecting prey with their trumpet-like mouth. They are typically 1-2 feet (30-60 cm) but they can get as large as 3 feet (92 cm) and they are found all along the reef as deep as 80 feet (24 m).
photo by Will Fox
