What's Up from VA

kissnerdive

Hey guys new to the rebreather world. I though this site would offer endless amounts of advice and information. I currently have a couple of dives on my dolphin. Anyone around the Richmond area that also has an interest in rebreather diving feel free to respond.

Cheers.

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"Vayos con Dios"

w ripley

You might check with the Richmond Dive Club, as they have several rebreather divers. The club is a "recreational" dive club by its charter. Contact Jim Dacey at skistowe@verizon.net for info. They had Jill Heinerth as the guest speaker last month, so you know they're into RBs.

Fergus Butler is an active Rebreather diver in Richmond, as well, and a member of this list. There was a good thread last week about rebreathers and VA that you might look at. Actually, if you put in "Virginia" in the Rebreather World "search" you might be surprised at the posts.

No problem with as many posts about VA as possible, as it just means we're getting more and more like-minded people in our state. Pretty soon we might be able to walk into any old dive shop and see O2 sensors and kegs of absorbant on the shelves. Now, wouldn't that be nice!

Glad to see your post. You might subscribe to our VBTech list for the off-shore traffic. Just go to the VBTech website and sign up. Lynnhaven Dive Center's head captain, Mark Fowler, and captain Mark Sommer are both cavers and very Rebreather friendly, letting you jump in when they anchor and surface just before they pull the hook on their normal trips (you can usually get a 2 to 3 hour dive in that way). They are also OK with solo divers, once they get comfortable with you.

I suspect Mark Fowler will be in a Rebreather by the end of the year, and since he's the one setting up the Tech schedule, I expect you're going to be seeing more and more RB divers on the boat. I took about 20 minutes after the boat was back at the dock yesterday and showed Mark Sommer my HH, breaking it down to the scrubber and going thru the electronics -- he's not going to be too far behind Fowler in going our way.

Virginia is also the home of Pete "Optima" Nawrocky, our DiveRite "guru." Pete can't say one complete sentence without the word "rebreather" slipping into it, so you have to like him. He's a great resource and has lots of Rebreather activities going on.

Hope to see you in the water.

Regards,

Bill