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simonbeans
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Posts: 1035
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 2:00 pm
First Name: Allan
Location: Rochester NY

Once upon a time . . . .

Sat Sep 12, 2020 11:13 am

A short video of past events and memories.
https://vimeo.com/113178710
Check out my website: www.vintagescubastuff.com

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ScubaLawyer
Master Diver
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Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:25 am
First Name: Mark
Location: Laguna Beach, CA

Re: Once upon a time . . . .

Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:33 pm

Very cool Allan!
"The diver who collects specimens of underwater life has fun and becomes a keen underwater observer. .. seek slow-moving or attached organisms such as corals, starfish, or shelled creatures." (Golden Guide to Scuba Diving, 1968) :D

swimjim
Master Diver
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Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:28 am
First Name: Jim
Location: Belgium WI

Re: Once upon a time . . . .

Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:40 pm

A very nice video with a little from everything. I was at a lot of those events and remember them fondly. Alexander Springs in particular was my favorite. I had such a good time there over several Sand Dog's. It was a great place to try stuff that I had worked on during the winter months. My Aunt and Uncle joined me at one of those events and got to meet a lot of the participants.
Doing the Sea Hunt recreations at Silver Springs will always be special to me. Talk about hallowed ground! To be doing that was an honor. Thanks to all, especially Bryan who took a lot of time and energy to set that up. I would have never had the patience for that. Not even close! The Sea Hunt recreations were awesome. A special thank you to Roger Van Frank and his better half for saving my bacon with some Advil on the Sunday at Sea Hunt 2016. My back was fried from all the diving that weekend.
As I sit here in 2020 and my health has slipped some. Arthritis has taken it's toll and I can't do near what I used to diving wise. I do look back upon what I have done though and I feel very fortunate that I have been able to do what I have done. I have met a lot of good and interesting people in my travels. I am blessed in that regard.
For those of you you new to VDH and the old timers.. create events and keep on attending them. I'll never forget Sand dogs, Legends events and Ice Wursts! What really makes the community are the get togethers and diving at the events. The Fortune Pond Fall colors Classic in Crystal Falls Michigan is coming up and I will be putting my money where my mouth is so to speak.. I'm making the chili! Come on up! See you soon.

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couv
Master Diver
Posts: 453
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:26 pm

Re: Once upon a time . . . .

Sat Sep 12, 2020 10:42 pm

A well put together piece. Thank you.
A sincere THANK YOU to all at VDH who make this wonderful resource available and to all the thoughtful contributors.

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Drado
Master Diver
Posts: 682
Joined: Mon Feb 07, 2011 6:11 am
First Name: Eduardo
Location: Manila, Philippines

Re: Once upon a time . . . .

Mon Sep 14, 2020 8:11 am

That was a moving video, Allan. To the community, I may not have met most of you in person, but I’ve always vicariously enjoyed the events as shown through photos and videos. Also felt a connection at the dedication for Fred considering that I now have one of his Dacor regulators.

I am very proud to be part of this community.
_______________________________
Ed

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SurfLung
Master Diver
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Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 2:03 pm
First Name: Eben
Location: Alexandria, MN
Contact: Website

Re: Once upon a time . . . .

Mon Sep 14, 2020 9:47 am

- Nice video Allan. I recognized some divers and others were before I got here... I shared it to my Facebook page.

- Ditto to what SwimJim said... The comments on our get-togethers hit home with me. This Summer I've been doing alot of my vintage diving by myself in the lake out front. Its a heck of a lot more fun when Rich (50,001 Questions) comes over to dive with me. And, n spite of the Covid limitations, we've managed two trips to Fortune Pond and a mid-week day trip to Wazee. That one was kind of amazing... 4 hours drive down, did three dives, and then drove 4 hours back home! That was FIVE of us... Ron brought a new guy Brian... And our old friend Tom came... And me and Rich. Not a lot of time for visiting and showing off gear... But it still was really great to get together.

- Once this darned Covid panic levels out, we should have some kind of Homecoming event for our Vintage diving community. Somewhere with good visibility and time to visit and maybe eat some good Italian food with lots of Chianti... :roll:
SurfLung
The Freedom and Simplicity of Vintage Equipment and
Vintage Diving Technique are Why I Got Back Into Diving.

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Vintagediver
Master Diver
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Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:28 pm
Location: Benzonia, Michigan

Re: Once upon a time . . . .

Mon Sep 14, 2020 10:00 pm

Great video Allan; I really enjoyed it and it sure stirred up some fond memories . It seems like only yesterday when there I was an 11 year old boy setting in the living room of our home in Redford Township, Michigan in front of the TV; which itself was in it's days of infancy. It was 1958 and this new show came on; an underwater adventure series, and it had this guy on it that had this contraption on his back that allowed him to breathe underwater. Yep; Sea Hunt and Mike Nelson just planted the seed in me that would turn out to be one of my greatest blessings to become a scuba diver just like that guy on TV. Never back then in 1958 in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought that 58 years later I would in fact be diving at the very site that so inspired me all those years ago.

I obviously had many years of diving earlier in my life growing up and into my adult life; which have their own set of very fond memories and friends and dive buddies. Yeah this was when I was diving that now cherished vintage equipment that was brand new state of the art equipment then. Now here I am years later making new memories and new friends diving that same great equipment. I won't name names because I'm sure I'll forget and leave somebody out and I don't want to do that but I feel indebted to many of you who have worked so hard and provided much of what we now have today to be able to still participate in vintage diving. As far as this era of equipment and diving goes I feel very fortunate to have been able to participate back when this equipment was the new state of the art, and now years later with a great group of friends who share the same interest of diving this great ole gear that so inspired so many of us.

I'm 73 now and there's been a lot of water under the bridge and as much as I hate to admit it I've slowed down some this past couple of years and don't get in the water as much as I used to; but the passion is definitely still there and I'll continue to dive whenever I can. It's been a great ride with many fantastic memories and hopefully I'll see some of you in the near future to create more. Come to think of it; yeah we're all pretty blessed to have our sport / hobby / addiction, and most of all each other. Safe diving to all of you! Thanks for this thread Allan!
The friendship of many has been inspired and created while together we've explored beneath the waves the wonders of God's creation.

NAVED Member #137
Member of The 2016, 2017 Sea Hunt Forever Dive Team

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Herman
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Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:45 pm
Location: Raleigh NC

Re: Once upon a time . . . .

Tue Sep 15, 2020 7:16 am

Great video Allan, lots of memories flooded my mind. I agree with Ebon, we need to plan a big blowout when this covid mess ends
Herman

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