Darrell "Ax Man" Passenault

The 2011 Underwater Hunter of the Year is under way. Darrell “Ax Man” Passenault got things started this year with his lobster catch. Darrell and his dive buddy Trea “Not There Yet” Stevens hit the water early in February near Deerfield Beach, Florida. Somehow Darrel got Trea to take his picture without Trea being in it and BAM! 25 points for Darrell. Sorry Trea you must be in the picture with your catch in order to collect points.

Clay “Quiet Man” Eunice from Waycross hit paydirt on his first ocean dive. Clay spotted an anchor while he and Regina were diving on the “open sided barge” with Offshore Dive Charters. Clay and Regina did not have a lift bag so Clay marked the find and on his second dive lifted the anchor to the boat with a 25lb lift bag. Way to go Clay.

This tournament is open to all divers and you do not have to be present to win. Just email us a picture of you and your catch or find. Click here to see 2011 rules.

Last year’s winner was Brian “AC/DC” Coggin of Blackshear, GA.

 Air and nitrox tanks are available for rent at dive shop rates.

 Boat leaves the dock at 7am Saturday morning and 8pm Saturday night. Contact Regina or me for more details.  As always drinks and snacks will be provided.  Fresh fish for lunch.

• All Georgia DNR/Florida FWC laws must be followed
• Diver must stay within recreational dive limits
• Weigh-in does not have to be at Waterdog Scuba Dive Shop (honor system)
• Send weight along with photo of you and catch to waterdogscuba@bellsouth.net for entry
• Fish must be gutted before weighing
• Dates for the tournament are 01/01/11 – 12/31/11
• There is no deadline for entry
• Hunters may enter tournament at weigh-in
• Points will be awarded by fish weight
• Hunters can enter one fish in each category
• If a hunter brings in a larger fish, the larger fish can replace the previous entry in that same category
• Bonus points will be awarded from the list below

FISH CATEGORIES:

1 point for each pound – maximum of 20 points per fish

• Grouper (any legal species)…open dates only
  
• Greater Amberjack
• Flounder
• Sheepshead
• Snapper (any legal species)…open dates only
• Cobia
• Spade

BONUS FINDS:

• Lobster  – 50 pts.  (awarded one time)
• Retrieved Anchor  -  50 pts. each (anchor must be left at Waterdog Anchor Pile)

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

This would be a good trip to make that last push for the Under Water Hunter of the Year for 2010.

Bring your “C” card speargun and lobster bag.

Call or email us to hold you spot.

Make plans now to join us for another exciting trip with Capt. Dan of Off Shore Dive Charters.  We will leave the dock at Morning Star Marina @ 7am on Saturday September 11^th for a nearshore dive trip.  A hot meal will be provided, if we shoot some fish, and as always a good time with friends.  This is a 3 tank dive.

 Call or email us now to hold your spot. 

Cost $100-$125…according to dive location

Tanks rental $12 for 80cf air

Nitrox and 120cf steel available upon request, but order early.

 $50 deposit holds your spot.

Let’s start with 3 new instructors. Regina, Chad Puckett, and Scott Fowler finished their SDI Open Water Instructor evaluation with flying colors. I also finished my Staff Instructor Trainer qualification. We are looking forward to adding more students in more places to the ever growing list of “Air Suck’n Dogs”.

Shannon McAteer of Richmond Hill, GA conducted an Advance Nitrox course in August. Four of us, that’s right including me, took the class. Man did I learn a lot more about Nitrox and the use of O2 in diving. I have a new out look for tec divers and the use of O2 in nearly every dive. This stuff is great if you like to dive 70’-130’. It cuts down on your surface interval without pushing NDL and PO2 limits. With this in mind we now have O2 at the shop for Nitrox mixing including 100% for those who are Advance Nitrox certified.

Speaking of certification we have taken the leap into online learning. We now offer Open Water Diver, Computer Nitrox Diver and Dive Master online academic classes. Call the shop, and Regina will provide you with an online login number, and you’re off and running with your next dive adventure. We also have Public Safety Diver classes online.

Public Safety Diver (PSD) has also hit the Waterdog Scuba shop in full force. We trained 15 PS Divers representing 3 different agencies. Appling County SO, Milan VFD and Jeff Davis VFD all participated in a 6 day course. We will offer more PSD classes next year. Training will include full-face mask and under water communication.

We have also taken on some new lines of dive equipment. Ocean Reef full-face mask, XS Scuba, Highland (tec) and Zeagle (tec/rec) have all been big hits for our divers this year. We also have a new full 2mm camo wet suit that has taken off with the spearos.

We have made many trips with Capt. Dan of Off Shore Dive Charters. Bobby Sears and Capt. Dan placed in the top 10 in a spear tournament this year. We will be booking more trips with Capt. Dan before the year is out, but don’t wait on us. Capt. Dan dives year around and 6 divers make a trip. So call him and setup your next trip.

We also made a new friend with our northern neighbors across the river…Savannah River that is. The Cooper River in South Carolina is full of artifacts and fossils, easy diving with no waves, and shallow water. Even though there are lots of sharks teeth there are no sharks…dang, I am still looking for my first shark.

Lots of our divers have been participating in our Annual Underwater Hunter of the Year contest. We have lots of photos to post, but we don’t want to give away the leader. Keep sending in those pictures, and we will let you know who wins at this year’s Shrimp Boil in November.

For those of you who are interested in upgrading your certification, look for upcoming classes. A Rescue Class will be held this September and a Dive Master Class in October. Remember you can always work on your Advanced when you make dives with an instructor at the springs or in the ocean.

Dive Safely…Dive Often!

Send in your pictures to be entered in this years contest.

SEA YA and BE SAFE

2009 WINNERS

RULES

• All Georgia DNR/Florida FWC laws must be followed
• Diver must stay within recreational dive limits
• Weigh-in does not have to be at Waterdog Scuba Dive Shop (honor system)
• Send weight along with photo to waterdogscuba@bellsouth.net for entry
• Fish must be gutted before weighing
• Dates for the tournament are 01/01/10 – 11/30/10
• There is no deadline for entry
• Hunters may enter tournament at weigh-in
• Points will be awarded by fish weight
• Hunters can enter one fish in each category
• If a hunter brings in a larger fish, the larger fish can replace the previous entry in that same category
• Bonus points will be awarded from the list below

FISH CATEGORIES:

1 point for each pound – maximum of 20 points per fish

• Grouper (any legal species)
• Greater Amberjack
• Flounder
• Sheepshead
• Snapper (any legal species)…open dates only
• Cobia
• Spade

BONUS FINDS:

• Lobster  – 50 pts.  (awarded one time)
• Retrieved Anchor  -  50 pts. each (anchor must be left at Waterdog Anchor Pile)

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!