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

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

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From the Highlands to the Islands – A Tasting Event

Scotch GlassRecently, David Morris and I were sipping on a special glass of uisge beatha, which was a recreation of the spirits carried by Shakelton on his Antarctic expedition when we both had an idea.  Wouldn’t it be fun to do a Scotch whisky tasting?  We did a bourbon tasting last year so it seemed only natural to shift our attention to Scotland.  So, David being the resourceful person that he is came up with a plan and voila we had an event.

With a little more thinking, refinement and an ambassador or two,  we have assembled a really fine event that will be a real treat for our Club Aquarius members and our guests.  On February 23, we will be hosting Andrew Hyman, from Whyte and MacKay, who will be leading us on a tour of Scotland through our palettes.  He has promised to bring us a selection of Whisky from The Dalmore Distillery and the Jura Distillery.  To make this event even more special, we will be in the Whisky Bar of the Royal Oak Bar and Grille which is located at 3100 Westheimer.  As Ann would say, this bar is decorated in old world stuffy so it is an appropriate location for our event.

If you are in the area or plan on being here, please join us for this special event.  In order to bring enough whisky and hors d’oeuvres, we need to know you are coming.  Please email us and let us know you will be joining us on 23 February 2012 at 7:00.

RSVP

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Andrew Trent Speaks at Club Aquarius

Drew Trent and Ann Keibler

What a fun presentation Drew Trent, Vice President of Oceaneering’s Engineered Solutions Group, made at our Club Meeting last evening. It was a full house at the Black Labrador with no vacant seats available. For those of you who were not there, Drew spoke about a variety of topics including what his group does and their particiation in the BP incident in the Gulf. While he did not give a lot of particulars, he did talk about things his group and the ROV group did to help coordinate and bring a positive conclusion to that incident.

 Of course, Drew also talked about his past life as a saturation diver in the North sea and his love of diving and sailing. He had photographs from these adventures as well as his early courses with Oceanic Ventures. He even recounted how a mixed gas dive supervisor was forced to take a series of diving courses beginning with the Principles of Technical diving through Trimix.

 It was fun getting together with so many people to talk about diving and to have such an entertaining speaker. You can see photographs from the event by clicking here.

 Don’t forget to put next month’s meeting on your calendar (23 February 2012). The topic is From the Highlands to the Islands – A Scotch Tasting Event .

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Diving Rebreather Event Planned in Houston March 29 – April 3

PRESS RELEASE: Oceanic Ventures and InnerSpace Systems are hosting a weekend of rebreather events March 29 – April 3, 2012. The program will include lectures, pool demos of a new recreational rebreather, the Pathfinder, and a benefit dinner with keynote speaker Leon Scamerhorn, CEO and founder of InnerSpace Systems.

PAthfinder RebreatherThe rebreather demonstrations are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.  The benefit dinner will include a raffle, door prizes, and photo program of rebreather diving around the world.  All proceeds of the event will benefit Oceanic Ventures Foundation.  The focus of the event will be to help the Bonaventure Boys home in Grand Cayman.  Grand Cayman has been the leading destination for rebreather divers with the first rebreather only event, Zero Gravity in 2000 and was later replaced by Inner Space with Dive Tech, which is celebrating its ninth year in 2012.  There will be also be a silent auction and giveaways during the event.

Eric Keibler, Managing Director and Director of Education for Oceanic Ventures says, “rebreathers are the latest trend in diving enabling divers to discover the underwater world in relative silence without disturbing the fish.  This allows you to get closer to the fish and other creatures.  Photographers find them to be a wonderful tool and a enjoyable way to go diving.”  According to Ann Keibler, President of Oceanic Ventures, “this is a fun event that will allow divers to experience what it is like to dive silently underwater with no bubbles while helping out children.”

Details of the event will be announced soon.  You can contact Ann for more details.

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David's Annual BarBQ at the Lake

Chef David In-Between Dives
Chef David In-Between Dives

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:

    • A cylinder of air (must be picked up from Oceanic Ventures)
    • Some of David’s famouns grilled treats
    • Really cold water (bring your own cup or bottle – we are trying to help reduce the bottle trash in the world)
    • Some really fun diving
    • Door prizes!

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.

 

Please RSVP if you will be attending.

 

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Dive Around Texas 2011

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:

    • Dive in 4 different Texas diveing locations
    • Log at least 3 dives in each location for a total of 12 locations before September 30, 2011
    • Enroll in the Dive Around Texas Program with Oceanic Ventures
    • Receive a Dive Around Texas T-Shirt with your paid registration ($25.00)
    • Get an invitation to the free Recognition BarBQ in San MArcos Texas on October 2
    • Have your dives validated at Oceanic Ventures
    • Submitt a spreadsheet with your dives to Oceanic Ventures
    • Be eligible for some really great prizes donated by the sponsors

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:

  • September 17-18 Blue Lagoon with Wade Sparks and Vernon Dittrich
  • September 25 Mammouth Lake at David’s Lake Party and BarBQ

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!) 

Please RSVP to Ashton if you would like to attend the Bar BQ ASAP.

 

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Scuba Diver's Social and Birthday Party!

Oceanic Ventures is having a party! If you did not know it, Oceanic Ventures turned 20 in December and we wanted to have a party to celebrate! Join us on 19 January 2011 at 6:30pm for a very fun party and pig roast.  Tickets are required and must be purchased in advance.  We would love to see all of our old friends and our new friends as well.  Bring your favorite diving photographs from your Oceanic Ventures trip.  Details are on the party page or contact Ashton for more details.
Bring a non-diving friend and show them how much fun we can be out of the water.
I hope you will join the Oceanic Ventures Staff at the party!