Starting a Scuba Club in Fredericksburg

[Briny Liney]

That would be cool. I'd definitely be game for an underwater photography specialty!
And don't worry! We will definitely keep you on call!
I was thinking if I could find a one or two more people you could possibly do all the classroom and pool work before our spring break then you could bring them along with the rest for spring break? Or would that be too many people? (I know Jeremy probably won't need lessons and I'm still assuming that you're going to refer Blake so he can dive in Mexico?)

We should be able to get a school issued van for the trip down to Florida if you're interested in riding in that clunker.
Leslie and I are going to get van certified so we can share the driving burden. I'm excited already!

 

[mheaster]

I am game to do the classroom work and pool work (is there possibility of pool there at UMW?) and then do a couple more people's OW Dives in March!

I'd probably drive down (I like taking too much equipment). Gives me enough room to take TANKS so we won't have to rent so many.

The UW Photography Specialty may wind up being locally next summer (not sure if my friend John will be up for Florida or not? He "may" if we follow you guys on down to Key Largo after the Florida Springs portion. He absolutely loves Key Largo! We always dive with Island Ventures Dive Charters Key Largo Florida Keys Scuba Diving when we go down there. The owners are a husband/wife team (Ann & Darrell Stadler) and are Great People!

I sent an email to Blake about a referral but never heard anything back from him? I asked him to try to determine who/where his family was going to dive with so I could contact them to make sure the Referral went smoothly but have heard nothing back from him.

All his training so far has been fully documented in the Blue Dive Log he purchased. I will be happy to also forward a copy of any/everything he needs for a referral.

 

[Briny Liney]

I will have to look into the pool.
Good call on the tanks.
Hm. Sounds like I won't be around for the summer stuff but I know the rest of them will be in the area so that would be good.

And, honestly, Blake not e-mailing you back does not surprise me. I haven't seen him since we had dinner at Panera.

 

[psuscubaguy]

I'm coming into this thread a little late, but I am the instructor and long time member for the Penn State Scuba Club (Nittany Divers) which has been around since the early 60's.

The best advice I can give you is to stick with it. We have seen both feast and famine in membership and activity over the years. One of the things that has kept the club going is the locals. We have several university staff people who are club members along with the club's advisor. This helps to ensure that there are always some people around. It's also important to not over work these people so they don't become burned out and leave.

Our two biggest attractions is our offering of affordable gear rentals and a wide range of courses. These can both be tough as you start out, but partnering with your local instructors and dive shops is definitely a good way to go. Just don't forget them as you grow larger. We are, for all practical purposes, a dive shop (without the selling of equipment) but we have an excellent relationship with our local dive shops because we try to avoid taking business from them and also direct our gear purchases to them instead of online retailers.

Please feel free to PM me and I would be happy to provide more information, answer questions, etc. You can also check out our web site by googling "Nittany Divers" (I'm new and not allowed to post urls) for information and ideas that may help you.

Good luck!

 

[vtminter]

I know that you already have a guy who does the ow stuff and I don't know what specialties. But I will be back in town in February, and I can add EFR, O2 provider, search and recovery. Possibly nitrox and gas blender if they lds will let us get time in the fill station. I can teach those specialties so if there is interest I would love to help out.

 

[mheaster]

We just got back from our Florida Springs trip yestersday. We had a great time. Nice to get in the water again in the dead of winter! Water temp was 72 degrees (as it always is!). Air temps were a bit cool but it warmed up the last day to mid 60's!

I just wanted to see if you guys wanted to maybe get together in near future to try to plan Spring Break trip to finish your certification Dives and then you could go on to do some additional Diving in various spots in Florida the remainder of that week.

We could finish the 3 certification dives in 1 or 2 days. My choices of locations would be Devil's Den, Blue Grotto and then Ginnie Springs.

A follow-on excursion might be the Crystal River Manatee Snorkel and a Rainbow River Drift dive and then possibly on down to Key Largo for some beautiful shallow reef diving!

Let me know when a good time might be to meet with as many as you might be able to gather together.

When do you have your next Meeting Set up for?