6/27/09 7th Annual Venice Beach and Birthday Dive Bash

[joystershell]

Okay slackers! We're here. Who's supposed to be bringing the beer? H2Andy has made an appearance, Aristakat is taking divers out to the boneyard. The weather is here, wish you were beautiful.
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[safyrewulfie]

I had everythign packed and ready to go, and in the middle of the night I got sick. I m up now and feeling better but I know the party is almost over sigh.

 

[safyrewulfie]

Im checking the NHC web page looks like we may have a storm in the Gulf to deal with by tomorrow. So I am guessing the whole week is shot for diving now. Ugh. My life sucks. I wanted to just dive on my days off......

 

[bdrannik]

ScubaBoard Gallery - 6/27/09 7th Annual Venice Beach and Birthday Dive Bash

Had a great time.. Viz. at boneyard was much better than expected - 5' to 8' with
the occasional 10'.. Thanks to Capt. Jamie for showing up and battling the waves.
Unfortunately my tooth finding skills were defective today..

A few examples - surf is up:

And some others..

 

[scubafool]

It was great seeing everyone again, and meeting a few new people.

Maybe next year the water won't be so salty, and will be safe for freshwater fish like myself to dive in.

Thanks to everyone who worked to get the food and tables and shade set up.

 

[safyrewulfie]

Im really sorry I missed it all. Sigh. I feel bad about the samiches. Send me an address and let me send some money. Instead of having a fun time, I got stuck mowing the yard and getting chewed up by fire ants.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I'm too exhausted, from having a good time today, to say too much (KBeck is fast asleep)

I really want to thank Aristikat, Capt. Jamie and fossilbabe for being there. We really appreciate it. (didn't want to wait in order to thank them)

We had a great time with a lot of great people. All the old gang was there and some new faces too. It was fantastic to see everyone! We truly had a wonderful day.

I'll post more tomorrow. It's time for bed...

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Whoo hoo!!!
Good stuff! SB conchs know how to have a good time... even the temp conchs! We had folks from Virginia, GA, and Tallahassee show up! Thanks Jamie for pulling the boat in at the last minute. We (I) really appreciate your efforts and kindness! Glad you got to hang out on shore for a while with us. Bob, thanks for all your help on and off the boat. Babe, thanks for the cleaning the fossils lessons. Mike, thanks for being my buddy. Next time we will find "the big one." Krista, the sandwiches were a hit. No mess, 1/2 the garbage. CT, you rock with the tables. Nice. Kris, I hope your birthday is awesome! Dennis, Roxanne, Andy, David, Pete, Dan, (not the Dan end!), Walter, Joyce, Marvel good seeing ya'll again! Cluck Buster, looking forward to diving with you soon! Congrats Nancy on your first meg! Brent, thanks for being the "photographer!" And thanks to everybody else that I didn't mention, ya'll were an important part in making the day a success! Looking forward to doing it again soon... Am thinking maybe in July sometime...

 

[KBulla]

Yay! What a great day! Thank you to everyone who showed up to help make another fantastic Conch gathering! I'm glad so many people got to dive after the weather was making it look like it would be a dry birthday bash. As always, it was wonderful to see everybody. WildBill, 'Fool, loved seeing you guys!! So glad you could make it. I'm not even going to try to list everyone... The Bulla Boys had a great time with Mason and Dakota, had a great time in the surf, and loved seeing the baby octopus! The sandwiches were a perfect solution, and we had very, very little trash this year. Happy birthday to Walter and Mike and anyone else celebrating with or without us. Can't wait 'til next year!

) Kris

 

[KBeck]

Wow, where to start......
Well, for all you deserters, it turned into a pretty darn good day!! Nice breezes kept us all cool, surf was manageable and viz was just perfect for collecting!!

That said, it truly was a great, relaxing day among great friends and dive buddies. Greatly enjoyed hanging out with everyone and catching up!!! Jim and I did two dives, about 1 1/2 hour each. My second became my first official solo dive...who'd have ever guessed I'd be that comfortable in low viz!! Viz really was a good five + feet around the concrete blocks, and along with plenty of teeth, I got to enjoy plenty of small hog fish and other fish following me around looking for snacks; several big ol' flounder who tried to stare me down with their googly eyes (Sorry I couldn't bring any back for you Nancy--I don't carry a knife!), and even a baby Sea Robin I got to observe for a while.

Jamie and crew, thanks so very much for bringing the boat out in a maybe/maybe not situation--never heard if anyone found any good stuff, but I bet it was a good trip to the boneyard either way! It was good to meet you and I'm glad you were also able to hang out and mingle for a while too!

Congrats to Nancy on that gorgeous Meg--I think you may have had the find of the day!

Thanks to everyone for the "community spirit" of helping with hauling stuff---every time I turned around people were helping grab gear and haul stuff for everyone--thanks everyone!!

Also, huge thanks for all who contributed to the food $ jar--I really only intended to just have a few of us driving from other places to go in together to make things simpler.....but they certainly seemed to work out! And, I only just yesterday realized that Jim, who provided the nifty table setup, purchased all that just for the event, so much of that was shared with him as well.
You guys are too generous!!

I'll see many of you again soon at ITK; if not, come out diving again soon!!