Last year David celebrated is 100th dive in a year with a BarBQ at the lake. Well as things have a way of doing around here, David decided to make it an annual event! So, on Sunday 25 September from 10:00 to 4:00 David and some friends will be diving and cooking BarBQ at Mammouth Lake. The cost of the event is only $10.00 but here is what you will receive:
You will still need to pay the admission at the lake but just think of the door prizes you could win. And yes you can bring other beverages of your own, just remember that your last dive is the one before you drank that adult beverage.
Last year we had a great turnout so we would like to make this year’s barBQ even bigger. Come join David and your fellow diver’s for a fun day at the lake!
If you have any questions, please contact David or Ashton.
Oceanic Ventures and Club Aquarius are once again a sponsor of Trashfest We are sponsoring TEAM TRASH and we are looking for a few more divers to join our team of 8 divers who will join 400 other divers in scouring the Comal river looking for trash and prizes. If you have an interest in joining TEAM TRASH, please contact Ashton. As a member of TEAM TRASH, you will receive a free Oceanic Ventures t-shirt, specifically made for divers and have your admission to the event paid. Be sure to let Ashton know you want to participate since the team size is limited. The fee to join the team is free to Club Aquarius members and $8.00 for non-members. Remember, space is limited!
TrashFest is the nation’s oldest underwater cleanup campaign bringing together scuba divers to improve the quality of the Comal River in New Braunfels, Texas. The Comal River became famous when Ripley’s Believe It or Not featured it as the shortest river in the world. The 2.5-mile Comal River is one of the largest springs in Texas with 8 million gallons of water flowing through every hour. The water is pure, clear, about 73° – 85°F year round, and attracts thousands of tubers and tourists each year. After the tubing season winds down, divers from all over Texas and beyond gather to pull cans, shoes, sunglasses and other assorted trash and debris out of the river.
Since the first clean up in 1974*, more than 10,800 volunteers have removed more than:
While cleaning up the Comal is the events top priority, TrashFest also:
This year, TrashFest will be held on Saturday on October 1, 2011.
Registration will be held at the Comal County Fairgrounds, and the trash weigh-in and collection will be at Prince Solms Park in New Braunfels, TX.
The 2011 Dive Around Texas is about to come to an end! However, you still have time to get your dives. The basic rules are simple:
SPECIAL RULE FOR 2011: Because of the current conditons at many of the Texas diving locations as a result of the drought, you can still qualify for the Dive Around Texas if you have at least 12 dives from at least 2 different locations. Please make sure to get your dives validated by Oceanic Ventures.
You still have time to complete the dives. We have 2 upcoming dive dates with Oceanic Ventures staff:
So, you have no excuse to finish your dives and enter the contest.
Send your spreadsheets to Ashton for inclusion in the Oceanic Ventures group submission (we are sending someone to the BarBQ to collect the prizes so even if you cannot attend the BarBQ, you can still win prizes!)
I am not sure where the summer has gone. We have been busy teaching new students to dive, upgrading the skills of our previous students and traveling. It seems there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done.
We want to congratulate our new divers for completing their course and entering the realm ofNeptune. Our new divers are featured in the video below as well as some of our other divers who completed classes such as Night and Limited Visibility Diving, Deep Diving, Search and Relocation, Navigation, Advanced Buoyancy Control, Technical Deep Diving, Advanced Recreational Trimix, Open Water Side-Mount, and the Principles of Technical Diving.
Other Places We’ve Been
Over the past few months you might have seen our divers in Grand Cayman for Inner Space (Oceanic Ventures is a continuing sponsor), Cozumel, Isla Mujares, the British Virgin Islands, St Croix, Utila, Little Cayman, the Dry Tortugas, the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador as well as our local favorites like 288 Lake, the Blue Lagoon, and Mammoth Lake. It has been an action packed season so far and we are not finished yet!
It is not too late to hop into the water and become one withNeptuneunce again. We have some fun adventures coming up and continuing education course are filling up the calendar so there is no excuse to stay dry!
So here is our photo thank you and remembrances of our season so far. Please tell me what you think….
Today’s post comes to you from Thomas A. Mackey, PhD, ARNP-BC, FAAN, FAANP with UT Health Sciences
It’s the savvy traveler who packs light. Who wouldn’t want to board a plane with only carry-on luggage? The trick is to find that perfect balance between taking essential preparedness items and breaking the bank with airline charges for checked baggage. Let’s review some essential travel items and what to leave at home.
In terms of documents for foreign travel, you’ll find it well worth the space to pack a copy of your passport. These documents are much easier to replace if you have a copy available. If you are traveling to a country that requires yellow fever vaccination, take the record with you; otherwise leave the record at home safely filed away with other health records. Consider wearing medical alert jewelry to identify any serious medical conditions such as: serious allergy to penicillin or bee stings, insulin dependent diabetes, or severe asthma.
There are many packing lists and prepared travel kits for first aid that are very comprehensive. The advantage of purchasing a commercial travel kit is there is usually a large variety of supplies in small quantity allowing the traveler to cover a number of contingencies with a fairly compact package. Travel kits usually have a small first aid reference giving instructions on how to treat a broad range of illnesses and injuries and how to use the supplies in the kit.
One important thing to remember about a travel kit is that up-keep is required. Many of the unit dose medications contained in the package have an expiration date. These will need to be replaced along with any other items used on the last trip prior to traveling again. Small quantities of unit dose medications are readily available but tend to be expensive. Consider this in your decision to purchase a travel kit.
For the adventurous traveler who will be in remote places with exposure to outdoor hazards, a travel kit is well worth the investment. Many travel kits are tailored for specific adventure style travel including: salt water marine, rock climbing, backpacking, and kayaking. These kits not only have supplies you need like a snake bite kit and the reference manual is specific to the hazards you are likely to encounter.
For travelers who will be within an hour of emergency medical care or you are on a hosted vacation where the tour guide has first aid training and a kit, convenience would be the only reason to purchase a travel kit. Pack a small complement of the first aid items that you keep around the house. Remember, “common things are common” and pack for the first aid issues that commonly happen to you at home like minor cut and scrapes, blisters, headaches or body aches, nasal congestion and allergies. No need to carry the whole package, just pack enough to manage the event without disrupting the itinerary in search of treatment for a headache.
The one item anyone traveling outside of the U.S. should take along is treatment for diarrhea. It’s not a pleasant topic but the fact of the matter is that diarrhea is the most common illness experienced by travelers outside of the U.S. Unfortunately, diarrhea can strike without warning and could make it difficult go out in search of a pharmacy. Don’t leave home without a box of over-the-counter anti-motility medication such as Imodium AD. Ask your primary care prneuder for a prescription antibiotic to take with you.
Speaking of prescribed medications, don’t forget to get your routine prescription medications filled well in advance and pack these in your carry-on luggage. If you have life saving rescue medications such an epi-pen or an asthma inhaler, take an extra along in case of loss, mechanical failure, or any number of other calamities. Do not pack them in checked luggage. Carry them on the plane with you. It could make the difference between a life and death situation and a mere hassle.
Mosquitoes and insects are more than a nuisance. These can carry serious diseases such as malaria and dengue fever. Insect repellent can be purchased in individually packaged towelettes. This is a compact way to carry insect repellent without risking leakage during the flight. Look for an insect repellant brand that is greater than 30% DEET and plan to apply every 4 hours while mosquitoes are out, especially dawn, dusk and after dark. Bathe every day and you should have no risk of toxicity.
Another measure for insect control is to spray all of your clothing with permethrin spray. The spray can be purchased in the outdoor section of stores as tick repellent or in the pharmacy section of the store as lice treatment for furnishings. Before you leave, spray your clothing (no need to spray under garments) with a light spray as if you were spraying on starch before ironing. Allow the spray to air dry and pack your clothing. The permethrin will last multiple washings on the clothing but will not stain or have an odor. Do not spray permethrin directly on the skin because it can be a skin irritant. Treating your clothes with permethrin is an added measure for mosquito prevention and will deter chiggers, gnats, and flys.
Last on the list is an important hygiene product that might keep you from becoming ill by transferring germs from environmental surfaces to your eyes, nose and mouth, and that is alcohol based hand sanitizer. It is sold in convenient packaging in small bottles or as spray pens. There is no reason to be obsessive compulsive about it, just use a little on your hands before you eat and when you know that your hands are dirty. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth during the day along with the hand sanitizer use for good solid prevention.
Your healthcare prneuder is an excellent resource for travel preparedness. Depending on the location and style of travel, you prneuder may recommend additional medications for treatment of bacterial diarrhea or malaria prevention. Your prneuder is also an excellent resource on required and recommended vaccines for travel. Call your prneuder today or come see us at University of Texas Health Services (713) 500-3248. We prneude travel health services to hundreds of patients every year. Happy travels!
Thank you to Susan Parnell, MSN, MPH, CIC and Thomas A. Mackey, PhD, ARNP-BC, FAAN, FAANP
