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Bringing Divers together in an atmosphere of
friendship to experience Fun and Exciting Diving and to expand our
Knowledge of the Underwater world of SCUBA.
Introduction: Of
the new Reef Seekers Dive Club Leader...
Hello
Fellow REEFSEEKERS,
My name is Drew Gold
and I'm excited that I have been recently appointed as club President
for Reefseekers for the upcoming year. I am looking forward to a
great year with lots of club activities!
A little about me...I am very passionate about scuba diving, and
have been since becoming certified in 1992. I grew up as a
competitive swimmer, so diving was a very natural extension for me. I
simply love
the feeling of being underwater...when people ask me, I tell them that
it's about as close to heaven as you can get on this planet...it's
also just about the only place other than outer space where you can
feel truly weightless! The sights and sounds (or lack
thereof) combine for a truly blissful experience. Shortly after
becoming certified, I decided to begin a journey in the diving
profession so
that I can share my passion for the underwater world. I did my Divemaster
training while living up in NYC in 1995, and finally got around to
doing the instructor course in 2002. I am currently certified as a
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and simply love to teach diving. I am
also a volunteer at the Florida Aquarium.
I been lucky enough to have had the pleasure of diving in
various spots around the world, including exotic locations like the
Red Sea, Fiji, and the Philippines, as well as closer to home spots
like many of the Caribbean Islands, California kelp forests, Florida,
and the Outer Banks of NC among others.
As we
move into the new year, I have set a few goals that I would like to
achieve as the club’s new President.
My
first goal is to increase the social aspect of the club. Diving is
very much a social activity and we will begin to have social meetings
every other month at different locations around the Brandon area.
These will be mostly social gatherings that will enable us to get to
know each other better. If anyone is curious about learning to dive,
this will be a great opportunity to have more informal / casual
discussions outside the shop with Divemasters, Instructors, and other
divers. We also have monthly “Try Scuba” sessions scheduled the first
Saturday of each month for these members/potential members.
February’s meeting will be held at Buffalo Wild Wings off Brandon
Parkway on Tuesday February 12th.
My
second goal will be for the club to become more active. To that end,
I am hoping to increase our local diving. We are going to try and
schedule multiple trips to places like Venice and the Peace River to
go fossil hunting, and also do other local dives like the Sugar Barge
and the Mexican Pride. For those of you that have not been diving in
some time, we will also have early season Scuba Review classes to get
you wet again. Other potential day or overnight trips include Vero
Beach or the regular haunts in the Pompano / Fort Lauderdale areas.
Let us know what you’d like to do! Always keep in mind that we’ve got
some great fresh water resources for year-round diving for the
heartier souls amongst us.
My last goal would be to increase club participation. This is YOUR
club. If there is anywhere you would like to dive, any topics you
would like to have discussed, etc, please let me know. Ultimately
this club is yours, not mine…I’m just here to help keep things
organized. Feel free to contact me with any comments / suggestions
that you may have at
drew@drewandtanya.com.
As we
begin to enter our warmer season of diving here in Tampa and the south
Florida area, it is important, as always, to discuss diving safety.
Many divers, particularly those with more experience, will tend to
ignore the initial onset of DCS symptoms, thinking “it can’t happen to
me” and will end up delaying treatment. It is vital that we can all
recognize these symptoms and know how to react, so at our meeting in
March, we’ll watch a short DAN video that covers the recognition of
DCS symptoms. This video addresses that situation as well as informs
us in a way that DAN does so very well.
I look
forward to getting to know all of you much better over the upcoming
year and as I mentioned before, please drop me a line if you have any
comments or suggestions regarding the club or any of its activities.
Bubble, bubble, bubble…
Drew
Why Join
Reefseekers?
Club Benefits (click here)
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Camaraderie
with divers and make new friends
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No dive buddy
is never a problem
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Diving
activities - novice to experienced,
travel near and far
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Leadership
- dive trips are coordinated by certified Instructors, Assistant
Instructors and Divemasters
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Promote
marine conservation PADI AWARE and REEF
projects
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Sponsored
social activities throughout the year
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Encourage diving
safety through S.A.F.E. diving
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Newsletter
published on a regular basis to keep you informed (paper & email)
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Scheduled
guest speakers at monthly club meetings
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When Do We Meet?
Reefseekers club meets the second Tuesday every month at Depth
Perception Dive Center at 7:00PM in the Class Room or at a designated local eatery. Please check our calendar for a specific month's location.
If You Have
Questions...
Please call Jackie MacLean at Depth Perception (813) 689-3483 or email
Jackie MacLean.
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