UBS Dive Center Scuba News December 2003

Hi everyone!
I hope that this newsletter reaches you all well and happy and that you all had a wonderful Year. We all at UBS wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. This is the second of my newsletters to keep in touch with all our friends, family and dive buddies, keep in touch and we hope to see you all again soon.

If you have any ideas of things that we should include in the next newsletter drop us a line, or if you have any questions that we may be able to answer just e-mail them to us.

[  WHAT'S INSIDE  ]
- Summer Specials Now Running All Season
- Congratulations!
- GPS Coordinates
- NEW! Mail Order Program
- Tony's Tip : Buoyancy Control
- What's Been Happening at UBS
- A New Idea In Renting Day Trip Boats
- Your Pictures

Summer Specials Now Running All Season

Here is a copy of our new special prices that we are running this year throughout the season. You will find that we are not only providing the best rental equipment in the BVI but also the best service and now at the best prices. Have a look at all the things we are offering for free !!!!! We all like free !!!!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to all of you that completed a dive course with us this last year. We had loads of fun teaching and meeting you. Keep up the good work and continue your dive training. Hope to see you again in the BVI's!

Junior Scuba Diver
Christina Fuller
Junior Open Water Scuba Diver
Daniel Rawenel
Scuba Diver Certificates
Nancy Ross Monet Baker
Open Water Certifications
John Perozzi Bruce Campbell Diana Fryer Pat Kelly Rhonda Lucas Kiki Lawrence Sara Cook Simon Dalkin Joan McNeil Jill Fratkin Daniel Fratkin Bill Macneil Marshall Clarke Asha Clarke Daniel Clarke Chris Caudill Debra Caudill Anthony Ross Scott Socqust Sarah Flanagan Ramin Moussaui Violet Lily Gerontis John Baker Erin Smith Betty Coulter	John Hanyak William Breetz Raghau Sharma Mirjam Larx Elizabeth Newin Roman Galeavo Eric Thielscher Andrew Palmer Nolan Jensen Ton Jensen Richard Piccer Jill Koellhoffer Garth Koellhoffer Rhonda Garland ** Andrew Towler ** Malia Baker Misha Baker Jena Hamilton Tim Dawson Tammi Dawson Frank Atherton Ellyn Atherton Jan Iandola Bill Iandola Austin Hartley	Joel DiGirolamo Josh DiGirolamo Scott Mogelof Melissa Coy Bruce Coy John Radak Nicolas Jordan Arthur Haski Todd Shneck Julle Mattimore Mike Mattimore Tammera Mattimore Lea Scheer Cid Quintana Efrain Deliz Elizabeth Delanoy Edward Miller Marie Miller Stephen Glendening Shayla Glendening Chris De Stefanis Daniel Scully Erin Scully Charles Labambard Beatrice Evans
**Special Acheivement Award goes to Rhonda and Andy. Rhonda completed her open water course even though she has no mobility with her legs, due to Spina Bifida. Good job!
Advanced Open Water Diver Certifications
Keith Audette Deborah Schlouch Stacy Schlouch	Robert Zarum Kerry McMahon Travis Joern	Jamie Joern Doug Waldron Max Tonconogy
Deep Diver Specialty Course
Mandy Wilson Miranda Curtis
Night Diver Specialty Course
Mandy Wilson
Dive Master
Ian

New! Mail Order Program

Following the last newsletter in which I offered used BCD's for sale, I received requests for new BCD's and regulators to be offered as a kind of mail order program. I am going to see if it works and if it does then I will keep the web site up dated with products that you can buy from us on line or over the phone. I can only offer Genesis and affiliated manufactures products. I am a 4 star Caribbean dealer so can get stuff at a far better rate than US stores. So here is a list of some of the equipment I can send to you. Each newsletter I will offer another set of products from accessories and gear bags to computers and reg's. All shipping is included, I just need your full postal address and if it is a gift please let me know so I can be unobvious on the outside of the box!!!

BOUYANCY COMPENSATING DEVICES

CAYMAN BCD
Standard jacket style BCD. Great for novice and vacation divers, it's the same one that we use and are VERY happy with it!!!
Sizes from XXS to XL - Black with accented color codes.
$300.00

COBRA BCD
Jacket style BCD with rugged 1000 denier ballistic nylon construction. For divers that dive quite regularly and need extra denier for hauling equipment in and out of dinghy's, rocks and other heavy to get to sites.
Sizes from XS to XXL – black only.
$410.00

PHANTOM BCD
Heavy duty with weight integrated system. Great for all kinds of diving and a BCD that looked after will last you a long time with out much maintenance.
Sizes from XS to XXL – black and blue.
$470.00

RECON BCD
Premier of the fleet, back inflation tech BCD with 1050 denier ballistic nylon construction and weight integrated system. The Best BCD that Genesis offers perfect for heavy-duty diving and cold-water divers also of the larger divers that need or want extra lift.
Sizes from XS to XXL – black only.
$600.00

LADIES ATHENA BCD
Designed exclusively for women. Weight integrated, easy to reach pockets, double chest straps and soft backpack. Sizes from XS to medium – blue and purple
$480.00

Remember you can always order one of our used BCD's for $80.00 and if your traveling down don't chance customs, use ours while you're here!!!

Tony's Tip : Buoyancy Control

We all know that maintaining neutral buoyancy throughout every dive is the key to diving. There are many variables involved, many of them overlooked regularly.

1) Your dive tank.
The standard 80 cubic foot aluminum tank at 3000 PSI is negatively buoyant by about 4 pounds. It is positively buoyant by about 2 pounds at 500 PSI. That's a change of 6 pounds! This is why you should require some air in you BC at the beginning of each dive but should have little or none at the end of the dive.

2) Depth.
Our dive profiles usually begin at the deepest part of the dive first. We generally find ourselves in the 30 – 40 foot depths near the end of each dive. This is the "Safe" profile. It also puts us shallow at a time our tank gets "light." This combined with less wet suit compression makes it hard to maintain neutral buoyancy. If properly weighted the diver should have vented a bit of air as the dive progressed to have little or no air inside the BC by the shallow or end part of the dive.

Remember that a properly weighted diver does not automatically descend by venting the air out of the BC. Weights simply allow us to go down. They don't cause us to. 

What's Been Happening at UBS

Tony and I did manage to get a week away from Tortola in October. Our long time friends Robert and Donna came down to visit and we took a trip to Dominica. We had a great time and while there did a couple of dives. The diving in Dominica is slightly different from the BVI and we enjoyed being the guests for once!!! Dominica is an actively volcanic Island with hot gasses coming up from underground. One of the dives we did was called Champagne Bubbles, as bubbles are coming up through vents and warning the surrounding water. There is a long wall around Dominica and it was fun to do a wall dive – the coral and underwater life is the same as the BVI, but as there isn't the other islands around to protect the dive areas it can get really big swells. The island is very quiet and full of fruit and vegetables growing wild and in plantations. The island has lots of rain and the locals boast a river for every day of the year. It is well worth a visit but not for a diving trip.

Tony went up to Maryland at the beginning of December. His younger brother Jeremy graduated from Test Pilot school (US Navy) and Tony wanted to be there for the graduation ceremony. It was very cold and snowing and Tony had to wear his thinsulate from his dry suit in the evening just to keep warm.

In August, we had a great time in Portsmouth, England with all my relatives as my brother David got married. It is a great city to visit but the water was way to cold to try to ever think about a dive!!!!

A New Idea In Renting Day Trip Boats

SNORKEL AND BOAT TRIPS WITH UBS DIVE CENTER

While in the BVI some of you especially those staying in villas and hotels find that a fun day out for the family is to rent a power boat to do some island hopping and snorkeling. This can be expensive when you add up the rental cost, fuel, insurance, provisioning of drinks and snacks. Not to mention a trying day for the designated driver who feels like they are doing car pool on the water. Here is a new idea.

UBS Dive Center is offering a day of Island hopping around the BVI. You can visit a combination of Islands with stops along the way to snorkel the pristine waters and explore deserted beaches. Just like our dive service, you receive your own powerboat with Captain and guide. Also, as always all equipment is provided free of charge, which includes all snorkel equipment, sun and water floats, inner tubing and kayaks. Time frames from 9:30 am to 4 pm the all-inclusive price is $300.

Some locations to think about visiting are:
Virgin Gorda (Home of the Baths)
Norman Island (Home Of The Caves)
Salt Island and the Wreck of the Rhone
Cooper Island
Peter Island
The Dog Islands