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Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

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Archives for September 2020

September 29, 2020 by Eric Keibler

Chef Recommendation – Strawberry Oat Bars

I have heard some comments that all I recommend are high sugar deserts. Well that is probably right but I went out and found a posting from Martha Stewart entitled 17 Smarter Dessert Recipes That Are Great for Everyone, Including People with Diabetes There were some very interesting ones and this one caught my eye, It could be done with any fresh fruit or even with frozen strawberries. Maybe you might want to give it a try. Here is the recipe from Martha Stewart…

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

  • 1 1/2 cups pitted dates
  • 1/4 cup raw macadamia nuts
  • 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
  • Pinch sea salt
  • 1 cup strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

Directions

Instructions Checklist

  • Step 1 Pulse dates, nuts, oats, and salt in a food processor until combined.
  • Step 2 Press the date mixture into the bottom of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.
  • Step 3 Mash half the strawberries and spread on top of date mixture. Top with remaining strawberries. Slice into rectangles.

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: Chef Recomended, dessert

September 29, 2020 by Stefanie

Dive In Saturday – October 5, 2020

The location has changed but the fun remains! Join us up at the Beautiful Blue Lagoon, Lagoon II, on Saturday October 5 for our monthly Scuba Dive-In! This is your opportunity to grab your dive buddy and come scuba dive and explore Lagoon II. This is the perfect time for you to work on your navigation skills or your buoyancy.

Eric has some instructor candidates but there is plenty of room to set-up your tarp with your buddy and enjoy the day! So, come diving and have some fun!!!!!

If your are interested and need more information contact Eric or Dive Mom!

Filed Under: Dive In Saturday, Local Diving Tagged With: Dive-In Saturday

September 28, 2020 by Carl Strange

New Zealand – Auckland

We spent another day running around trying to get ourselves organized. The big event was a visit to a riding school to sign Rebecca up for a weekly horse riding lesson. Like most girls her age she is absolutely nuts about horses. Horse riding is popular in NZ and we’re in the part of the country where there are lots of clubs and schools.

There are five or six other beginning girls in her class so she should do fine. One fun activity is called, “Own a Pony Day”. They start at 8:30 in the morning heading out into the field to catch their own pony. They lead it in, saddle it, go for a ride, come back for brushing, combing, hoof picking, etc followed by a BBQ lunch. The afternoon is spent with more “horseplay” and another long ride before they go home at 4:30. She will have had six weeks of lessons by then and it will be time to learn just how much trouble a horse can be.

Carl Strange Avatar
Carl and his wife Karen set-off on a journey around the world on-board their sailboat S/V Enchante. Along the way, they had a lot of adventures and in Aruba, a new member of their crew was born. Now a family of three with Rebecca’s birth, they sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific experiencing life along the way.

Filed Under: Sailing

September 21, 2020 by Carl Strange

New Zealand – Orcas in Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island

A note from Karen: Today’s science project was to go out in the dinghy and observe a small pod of killer whales, also known as Orcas, that came to play in the lagoon. When we got too close, Rebecca reassured the nervous adults that killer whales in the wild have never been known to injure man. (She has a book on dolphins and whales.) We questioned her for further facts and found out that they could hold their breath for an “astonishingly long time” and swim really fast. Asked to qualify those terms, she came home, dug out her book and wrote a report. She then gave an oral presentation–complete with pictures to enhance the telling–and enlightened all the adults.

How about that for real live science applications?

We spent the next few days towing a windsurfer board  behind the dinghy.  At first Rebecca was a bit tentative.  Now she says she is going to stand up next time she tries.

Carl Strange Avatar
Carl and his wife Karen set-off on a journey around the world on-board their sailboat S/V Enchante. Along the way, they had a lot of adventures and in Aruba, a new member of their crew was born. Now a family of three with Rebecca’s birth, they sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific experiencing life along the way.

Filed Under: Children, Sailing Tagged With: Sailing

September 14, 2020 by Carl Strange

New Zealand – Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island

For the most part, Great Barrier Island belongs to the “Crown” – that’s “public property” in Texas.  The Great Barrier Island lies about 40 nautical miles east of Auckland – the City of Sails.  It’s a large island with a few settlements, a tiny Post Office, a store that receives a delivery of fresh produce on Tuesday but can be counted on for good wine all during the week, and lots of beautiful bays for anchoring.  It’s far enough from the mainland that it’s not crowded with Kiwis except for the holidays.   According to the local boats we’ve met, the isolated anchorages we’ve been enjoying will have up to a hundred boats crowded into them during the New Zealand Christmas Holidays.  That will be summer here – time to enjoy diving, gunkholing, beach BBQs and generally fooling about in boats.  Our plans are to make the best of this off-season then head for the marina and big city lights of Auckland during the holidays.

We’ve been anchored off Smokehouse Bay for the last few days.  Back in the 50’s a Kiwi family had the dream of developing their waterfront property into a location that would be enjoyed by cruisers.  To insure the land would be available to all who came they deeded it to the Crown Trust.  Over the years people have cleared the natural spring, built a water reservoir, piped water down to the beach, built a bath house with a large sunken tub, plumbed in a pot-bellied stove to heat the water, built a smoke house, added three large washtubs with hand-cranked clothes wringers, strung clotheslines for hanging wash out to dry, added a couple of picnic tables, BBQ areas and so on.  Cruisers continue to keep the place up.  It’s a delightful place to spend a few days or a couple of weeks.

Mussel farms are across the bay.  It’s a short trip to collect a hundred or so for dinner.  We’ve had piles of steamed mussels, smoked mussels in pasta, mussels tossed on the coals, and eaten as soon as they opened – we’re still not tired of mussels.  Just around the corner is a nice place to catch red snapper and we’ve been working our way through recipes including fried, grilled, and smoked.  Locals pointed out a bay where pacific island oysters can be collected a low tide, there are scallops and lobsters for the taking around 50-60 feet.  We’re surrounded by seafood, beautiful hills and snug anchorages. 

We’ll spend two or three more weeks in this area before heading to a marina in Auckland.  We bought a car last season and it’s waiting for us in the parking lot.  After a season of cruising in Fiji we have a long list of boat projects to attend to.  There are welders, alternator repair shops, libraries, internet connections, fresh vegetables, ice cream, traffic lights and all the complexities of civilization just 40 miles away.  Meanwhile we’re going to bed early, waking up to the song of the Tui bird and enjoying this bit of New Zealand.

Carl Strange Avatar
Carl and his wife Karen set-off on a journey around the world on-board their sailboat S/V Enchante. Along the way, they had a lot of adventures and in Aruba, a new member of their crew was born. Now a family of three with Rebecca’s birth, they sailed the Caribbean and the Pacific experiencing life along the way.

Filed Under: Sailing

September 8, 2020 by Stefanie

Summertime Treat – Coconut Cream Pie

We were sitting around talking in the Oceanic Ventures’ backyard (i.e. David’s Backyard) and the subject of desserts came up. Zaide mentioned a coconut pie and I just started thinking about some of the fun special coconut pies I have enjoyed around the world.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is fiji-425.jpg
Sau Bay, Fiji

There is probably nothing as special as eating a coconut pie, made from fresh coconuts sitting and watching the sunset over the Somosomo Straits in Fiji. Couple this with a nice cup of tea followed by a whisky on the deck and I am in heaven! Oh that is after a fabulous day of diving and living in a remote resort.

The funny thing was that in my email this morning was an email from “Once Upon a Chef’s” Jenn Segal with a recipe for a Coconut Cream Pie. It is a little different from the Coconut Pie in Fiji (I am trying to get the recipe or I will recreate it soon) but it looks wonderful. I can’t wait to try it (or maybe we can talk Zaide into making it for us to try!)

Maybe you should try it. Once you have your slice, sit back and remember some of your favorite dives. In your mind transport yourself to those times and as you enjoy each bite, just imagine yourself being there. Relive the experience and just be there. Now it is time for the next bite…

Filed Under: Cooking Tagged With: Recipe

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People choose their friends carefully just as they should choose their adventure partners and Scuba Diving Instructors.  Oceanic Ventures is the premier scuba dive shop in Houston, Texas, and the Southwest because of our exceptional service and our sense of adventure.  In talking with our clients and friends, people choose us for a number of reasons such as: Passion – We love what we do and we want to share the beauty and excitement of the underwater world with everyone we meet. Caring- Our clients tell us they love us because we truly care about people and strive to make their scuba diving experiences safe, fun and enjoyable. Professional – Our staff members are the … [Read more …]

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