We called it "The trip that almost didn't happen!"  That pretty much sums up the start of this trip as we found very late on the evening before our departure that our outbound flight from Kansas City was cancelled and we had no way to make our connecting flight.  After nearly four hours on the phone with the airline, we were rescheduled on an alternate airline at a later time and though we arrived about 12 hours late, we did make it to Bonaire.

The trip was blast.  25 of us descended on Bonaire and the healthy reef system surrounding Bonaire and Klein Bonaire.  Over the next week, each of us completed up to 10 boat dives and several shore dives.  The weather was exceptional (no snow all week), and the visibility was 100' or better.  Several members of the group completed training during the week with 3-5 specialties per person and one couple completed their Advanced Open Water certification.

In addition to wonderful diving, we had some wonderful evenings, dining in a series of great restaurants near the property.  We stayed at the Divi Flamingo which is very close to downtown so we had easy access to food, shopping, and diving.

Many thanks to those who attended.  We have a slideshow of the trip at the shop if you would like to see some of the pictures.

Join us on Saturday November 14, 2009 between the hours of 10:00am to 4:00pm for our fall tent sale!

 

The weather started to cool down on us a little the past few weeks as we officially enter the fall season, but that didn't stop the divers at TD Scuba from swooping down to Beaver Lake this past weekend for another fun-filled weekend for sun and water!  We had several Open and Advanced Open Water divers as well as a group of fun divers and PADI pros.  The weather was sunny and in the low 80 degree range all weekend.  The water was a nice cool 72 degrees, and the visibility was a fantastic 25-30 feet.

The group at TD Scuba had two great days of diving, completing the training for all of our Open Water students and an Adventure Diver as well as completing the professional certifications for four of our Assistant Instructor candidates.  In addition, two of our IDC Staff Instructors completed the final requirements for their Master Instructor ratings, so congratulations to Warren Zeller and Andrew Statler on achieving this new rating.

TD Scuba is planning to head back to Beaver Lake on October 24-25 and again in early November.  We still have plenty of diving and diving-related events scheduled for the next few months, so come join us for some fun and adventure!  If there is something you'd like to do, but don't see it on the schedule below, contact TD Scuba and we will be sure to get a course scheduled!

October 3, 2009 9:00am - PADI Equipment Specialty (sign up now, the class is filling up!)

October 17-18, 2009 - PADI Open Water Classroom/Pool

October 24-25, 2009 - Beaver Lake (Underwater pumpkin carving)

November 7, 2009 - PADI O2 Provider, DAN O2 Provider, EFR/EFR Refresher

November 14, 2009 - TD Scuba Tent Sale

November 14-15, 2009 - Beaver Lake (Underwater Christmas Tree Decorating

December  4-6,2009 - EFR Instructor Course

Congratulations to the following divers who completed the PADI Assistant Instructor course over the weekend. The course was held on three weekends over a four week period culminating in a final checkout at Beaver Lake on September 26, 2009.  These students met all the requirements and came through with flying colors!  

Tracy Kadlac – Tracy has been a Divemaster with TD Scuba for the past year.  After getting married in June and a recent honeymoon in Jamaica, Tracy jumped right back into the classroom and joined us for the Assistant Instructor program.  In a period of 4 weeks, Tracy completed all the requirements for Assistant Instructor.  Congratulations Tracy!

Terry and Lisa More – Terry and Lisa are two long-time divers of TD Scuba who took the plunge this year and completed their PADI Divemaster certification in August.  After completing the Divemaster certification, they both enrolled in the September course for PADI Assistant Instructor and completed the final requirements on September 26, 2009.  When they haven’t been working on their AI requirements, they have been taking vacations, attending Chiefs games, and Lisa has been in school, so they have been busy!  Congratulations to Terry and Lisa!

Patrick Thiedke – Patrick is a relatively new diver at TD Scuba.  Patrick started diving with TD Scuba in July of this year.  Patrick was in the process of completing his PADI Divemaster certification and over the months of July and August completed all the required skills for Divemaster so that he too could join the September Assistant Instructor course.  On top of all the extra work to complete Divemaster and Assistant Instructor, often times working around his on-call schedule at work, Patrick received a promotion at work and has been in the process of a transition.  Oh, and did I mention that Patrick is also going to school?  Congratulations Patrick!  Way to stay with it!

It was Pirate Weekend at Beaver Lake this past weekend!  TD Scuba loaded up the scuba gear and the pirate gear and headed down to Beaver Lake with 15 Open Water Students, 3 Advanced Open Water Students, 10 Fun Divers, 3 Assistant Instructor Candidates, 5 Divemaster candidates, and 5 instructors.  With over 40 people in and around the water, we had one of our biggest and most successful weekends of the year.  All the Scallywags and Pirates were into the treasure chest all weekend, pulling out prizes, completing training, and generally having a great time.

On top of that, we could not have asked for a more beautiful weekend.  The sun was out, the temperature stayed in the mid-80s, there was a slight breeze, and visibility in the lake was 30 feet.  With the help of our TD Scuba staff, we were able to work with all our students both in and out of the water.  Our surface stations gave students an opportunity to practice their compass skills, equipment setup and breakdown, and how to log their dives.

In addition to all the certifications by our Open Water and Advanced Open Water students, Jack Reynolds was able to take several of our students out for some fun dives at Starkey's Island and the Foundations.  Many thanks to Jack for offering the use of his boat this weekend!

Finally, I would like to congratulate several individuals who completed some of their dive professional requirements.  We had three students complete the requirements this weekend for Divemaster.  Lisa More, Terry More, and Patrick Thiedke completed the performance requirements to apply for their Divemaster ranking.  We also had three professionals who completed the requirements for Assistant Instructor.  Ed Boles, John Monson, and Liz McInnis all completed the requirements to receive their Assistant Instructor ratings.  Congratulations to all six of them!

This weekend could not have been successful if it weren't for the great staff of TD Scuba.  The Instructors, DMs, and DMCs all played a huge role in making this weekend a hit.  A big thank you to all of those folks. 

Our next weekend at Beaver Lake will be September 26-27.  It is the Project Aware weekend and we look forward to seeing everyone down there in September!

We had a great weekend at Beaver Lake on July 25 and 26.  With a large group of students, a trailer full of air & equipment, and a small contingent of staff, we made our way down to Beaver Lake this past weekend and spent some quality time in the rays and the water while working with our students who all successfully completed various levels of scuba training!

The water temperature was between 76-78 degrees down to 30 ft.  With the great visibility we had (20+ feet most of the time), our students experienced the wreck of the USS Mazda, the remnants of an aircraft cabin, a jet ski, boats, and several of our students participated in our golf ball hunt.  Students who found and collected 5 golf balls are eligible to recieve discounts on certain training or equipment purchases.  Details are available at the shop.

In all, we had 16 students who completed their Open Water training, 2 students completed the training for the scuba diver rating, 3 students completed Advanced Open Water training, and 5 students completed their rescue diver training.  Fun was had by all and the weather was fantastic.  We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to all the great divers who joined us this weekend.  Without you, we wouldn't have a reason to be here!

I would also like to take this time to thank all the wonderful staff who helped make this happen.  We had six instructors and an equal contingent of Divemasters and Divemaster candidates who worked really hard to keep everything running smoothly.  From setting up the site and facilitating the distribution of equipment to the filling of tanks and the eventual clean-up, the staff was able to keep the entire weekend productive and enjoyable for all.

I hope to see you all very soon.  Please join us at our dive club meetings on the second Tuesday of each month.  We will also be having a dive club picnic on Saturday August 8 at 6:00pm at the Centenial park in Blue Springs.  On August 22, we head back to Beaver Lake for our annual Pirate Weekend.  Sign up for the Pirate Weekend today and join us for our dive club events.

 

In May of each year, a group of Dive Professionals from around the area descends upon Branson, MO to develop a new group of Scuba Instructors.  In May of this year, Course Director Ernie Miller with a contingent of IDC Staff Instructors (Andrew Statler, Adam McDowell, Chuck Russel, Patt Swanson, and Sam Rutherford), lead an Instructor Development Course (IDC) and hosted an Instructor Examination (IE) that resulted in the successful development of several new PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors.  Among those was our very own Justin Ricketts who graduated the IDC and passed the IE with flying colors.  Congratulations to Justin!  Look for him at several upcoming TD Scuba education events!

In April of 2009, the staff of TD Scuba headed to Branson, MO to support the DUI Dog Days at Table Rock Dam.  DOG stands for DUI Owners Group and is extended not only to owners of a DUI dry suit, but those who also try out a DUI Dry Suit at DOG Days.  DOG days is a great way for divers to try out a dry suit and the cost of the event is $15/day.  Nearly 100 people tried on dry suits at DOG days this year.  Next year's DOG days is tentatively planned for Beaver Lake and we'll be there again!  If you didn't get to make it to DOG days, you can still try one on.  TD Scuba has several DUI Dry Suits in our rental stock and you are invited to stop by the shop and try one on!  They are available for rental as well and if you are interested in purchasing one of these suits, please stop by the store or contact Andrew Statler who can talk you through some of the options for purchasing these great suits!