Christmas Hours and Specials

Merry Christmas Divers!

Come by this week for our big Christmas Specials!  We will be open from 9am until 6pm Tuesday through Friday and from 9 until 4 on Saturday.  We do have gift certificates if you are not sure what to get for that special diver in your life.  Also, we have some great prices on several hot items! 

From now until the end of the year all of our new SeaLife DC 1400 packages are 15% off! You won't be able to touch this price anywhere and you will also get a camera class for free with Mark Tant with the purchase of any of these packages here. This new 14-megapixel camera combines diver-friendly design and six underwater color modes for sharp, colorful photos and HD video - underwater or on land.The SeaLife DC1400 is the easiest digital camera to use underwater, EVER. The camera features five widespread “piano key” controls, a large shutter button, and a fingertip-control lever that allows scrolling through menus or zooming in and out without releasing your grip from the camera.

All of our Suunto Cobra series computers (the Cobra and the Cobra 3) are 15% off and all of the wrist computers come with a free transmitter.  This is a $450 item so if you or a loved one is considering an upgrade to an air integrated dive computer, it is a great time to do it. All of these specials are good until the end of the year.

Many of you have already purchased one of our custom made headlights. These are the heavy duty lights that we designed and have been selling the past few months. They have a great warranty and have been no trouble so far on our Artifact, Fossil and Bering Sea Gold dives! Since those are harsh diving environments that should tell you that they are made for it.

The AquaLung Air Source 3 is a high performance second stage/power inflator.  Diving with one eliminates the need of a traditional Octopus enabling you to streamline your secondary air source.  We asked AquaLung to design one that had quick disconnect capability which would enable a diver to install a Dive Alert air horn.  They did and now it is the only one available here at SSDS.  These are 50% off until the end of the year too.

For the past 20 years, my Dad Steve, has been diving and hunting for gold along the Bering Sea near Nome Alaska during the summer months.  Dad has published his book covering years 2004-2012 of his adventures in Alaska.  This is a good book for anyone that is interested in gold, Alaska or the adventure that comes along with it.  My Dad's gold camp has been featured in American Digger Magazine, on The Outdoor Channel's Prospecting America and Gold Fever and the BBC's Arctic with Bruce Parry as well as others. Several of our divers have learned how to find gold themselves from Dad while staying with him in his camp. We have copies of his book here at SSDS for purchase or you can e-mail us if you want one.

Trips

January 5th & 6th Panama City Spearfishing 

Forrest has taken groups the several weeks on some Flounder trips and we are going this weekend for Triggerfish, Amberjacks, Red Grouper in addition to Flounder.  The vessel that we charter for this trip has an enclosed area that is great for getting out of the weather and hot water to put in your wetsuit.

January 18th - 20th, 2013 Crystal River, Rainbow River manatee trip

This weekend we will be doing two days of diving and snorkeling with the Manatee in Crystal River as well as drift diving down the Rainbow River. These giant Mammals enjoy the constant 72 degree water temp during the winter time, making this the best time of year to see them. Kids and non divers are welcome to come on this one.

June 8th - 15th, 2013 Turks and Caicos Liveaboard

What would make a better Christmas present than an all inclusive 5 dive a day Caribbean trip on board your own private vessel. I had the opportunity to dive with this operation in September and it was one of the best overall crew, boat, food and diving I have been on. It also is a piece of cake to get to Provo from Birmingham or Atlanta. We are taking deposits and still have a few of the spots available.

Bill & Mark Tant with students at Morrison Springs

Spencer, Forrest & Emily Phillips with another group, same place, almost 40 years later.

Forrest Phillips

Southern Skin Divers Supply

4515 5th Ave South

Birmingham, AL   35222

205-595-3052

Dive Newsletter

Hello Divers!

Just in time for the Holiday Season, SSDS, has a lot of new items for that favorite diver on your list.  From now until the end of the year all of our new SeaLife DC 1400 packages are 15% off!  You won't be able to touch this price anywhere and you will also get a camera class for free with Mark Tant with the purchase of any of these packages here.  This new 14-megapixel camera combines diver-friendly design and six underwater color modes for sharp, colorful photos and HD video - underwater or on land.The SeaLife DC1400 is the easiest digital camera to use underwater, EVER.  The camera features five widespread “piano key” controls, a large shutter button, and a fingertip-control lever that allows scrolling through menus or zooming in and out without releasing your grip from the camera.

From now until the end of the year with every purchase of a wrist computer, SSDS will throw in a free transmitter.  This is a $450 item so if you or a loved one is considering an upgrade to an air integrated dive computer, it is a great time to do it.

We also have just received a new shipment of our custom made headlights.  These are the heavy duty lights that we designed and have been selling the past few months.  They have a great warranty and have been no trouble so far on our Artifact, Fossil and Bering Sea Gold dives!  Since those are harsh diving environments that should tell you that they are made for it. 

My Dad, Steve, has published his book about his adventures each Summer diving for Gold in Alaska.  Dad has a gold camp on the Bering Sea near Nome Alaska and has been featured in American Digger Magazine, on The Outdoor Channel's Prospecting America and Gold Fever and the BBC's Arctic with Bruce Parry as well as others. Several of our divers have learned how to find gold themselves from Dad while staying with him in his camp.  We have copies of his book here at SSDS for purchase or you can e-mail us if you want one.

Southern Skin Divers Supply will be the first SCUBA School to turn 60 in 2013 and we just got in our new 60th Anniversary t-shirts.   These are the same comfort colors that we have been selling for a few years and with the same logo on the front that you see in the black and white photos of Bill and Bob Tant on our wall at The SCUBA School.  They also feature a 60th Anniversary Seal on the  right sleeve and come in men's and ladies sizes.

Trips

Dec 8th & 9th Panama City, FL Flounder trip  

Forrest has taken groups the past couple of weeks on some Flounder trips and we will have one more before the season is over.  These are great trips to take juniors on since it is usually shallow water and a speargun is not necessary.  Fresh flounder is great to eat and they are plentiful right now!

December 29th, 2012-January 5th, 2013, Utila Honduras Our Dive the New Year In trip this year will be on the Honduran Island of Utila. We have taken a couple of really good Liveaboard trips to Utila the past two years but this year we have decided to privately rent the entire La Guna Beach Resort! Not only will we be celebrating the New Year but we will also be the first SCUBA School ring in the big 60! We still have some spaces so come join the fun. Our package includes all meals, 3 boat dives each day, unlimited shore diving and snorkeling, horseback riding and kayak use, and Nitrox use for the week.

January 18th - 20th, 2013 Crystal River, Rainbow River manatee trip  This weekend we will be doing two days of diving and snorkeling with the Manatee in Crystal River as well as drift diving down the Rainbow River.  These giant Mammals enjoy the constant 72 degree water temp during the winter time, making this the best time of year to see them.  Kids and non divers are welcome to come on this one.

June 8th - 15th, 2013 Turks and Caicos Liveaboard What would make a better Christmas present than an all inclusive 5 dive a day Caribbean trip on board your own private vessel.  I had the opportunity to dive with this operation in September and it was one of the best overall crew, boat, food and diving I have been on.  It also is a piece of cake to get to Provo from Birmingham or Atlanta.  We are taking deposits and still have half of the spots available.

Continuing Education

December 1st, 9:30 am at The SCUBA School

Enriched Air NITROX 

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving, reducing the potential risk of decompression sickness?  Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de-saturation times will be reduced.  In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

December 1st, 12:30 pm at The SCUBA School - Spearfishing Clinic

Those of you that are enrolled in the NITROX Course might want to consider the Spearfishing Clinic that starts immediately afterwards. NITROX works well with most of the spearfishing that we participate in. Forrest, who teaches both of these courses here at The SCUBA School, is ranked among the top competitors in the Alabama Spearfishing Association as are several of his former students. In this class you will learn skills necessary to participate in and become a successful spearfisher.


Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL   35222
205-595-3052

Dive Newsletter

Hello Divers!

Since our last newsletter, a lot of exciting things have happened around here at SSDS.  The Gold Divers have just returned from their annual Bering Sea Dive Adventure in Alaska.  As most of you know, my dad Steve Phillips has a Gold Diving Camp near Nome, Alaska and for 20 years now has spent his summers diving for and teaching others how to dive for and find Gold. My brother, Spencer, grew up doing this with Dad and he spends one to two months each summer there as well.  Just this week they, (along with others from SSDS) were the featured divers on The Outdoor Channel’s Gold Fever show. If you want to see it or record it they will be replaying it Saturday October 27th at 5 am, episode #256.  Dad has been keeping a dive journal from his time each year in Alaska compiling a book of his experiences.  His book is finished and any of you that are interested in owning a copy should let us know.  One season of his Alaska trip is featured in the October issue of American Digger Magazine. American Digger is a publication dedicated to the hobby of responsible recovery of Artifacts for enjoyment and Historical importance.  We also sell copies of American Digger here at SSDS.

 

Southern Skin Divers Supply is now the SCUBA School for Marion Military Institute, Alabama’s Military College.  Each semester SSDS instructors will teach at Marion a new group of Cadets Openwater Diving.  Following their training the Cadets will be taken to Panama City Florida for their checkout dives just like we have been doing for almost 60 years.  Once the checkout dives are completed the new Openwater Diver Cadets will have the option of having private Continuing Education classes taught on site at MMI like Enriched Air Nitrox and Spearfishing.  Here are Spencer, Mark and Joseph Weber with the first group of newly certified divers from MMI at Morrison Springs.

The Lionfish Invasion is becoming an epidemic.  For years SSDS has taken 35 to 40 trips annually to dive off the Gulf Coast of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.  I don’t know anyone that dives down there as much as SSDS.  Three years ago I started seeing a few small Lionfish.  They have been along the Carolina Coast down to the FL Keys for over 15 years but they are now in our waters.  I have been diving in the Gulf the past 6 weekends in a row and it is now common for me to see several hundred in a day.  Without trying too hard, I can kill 20 to 40 per dive, and do most days.  We need to start trying hard.  A Lionfish Killer (a small pole spear) is very inexpensive and easy to carry.  Whether you bring them to the surface or not, please start poking holes in them.  They taste great and I indulge on them a couple of times a week but some divers might not want to risk getting stung by their poisonous spines.  No problem.  Just knock them off of your spear after you poke them.  I do this all the time to the small ones and let the Triggerfish, Snappers and Eels finish them off.

 

Upcoming Trips

Panama City Flounder Trip - Oct.  27th/28th, Nov 3rd/4th & 17th/18th
This is the time of year we usually do best at hunting flounder. These trips start next weekend and we still have room on them. The dives for flounder are relatively shallow enabling us to have plenty of time underwater. Experienced spearfishers and those new to it will both enjoy the opportunity to harvest a lot of these tasty fish. Due to the shallow depths of these dives, Juniors are welcome on these trips. A gun is not necessary, only a pole spear and fish bag. We usually take up to 100 each day so everyone gets to take plenty of fish home to enjoy. Again the SCUBA School is privately chartering one of the nicest dive vessels in PC. It also has hot water showers and an enclosed area to warm up between dives for when it is cooler above and below the surface.

South Carolina River Trip - November 16th-18th
This will be another artifact/fossil diving adventure to South Carolina on one of our boats. Most of the diving will be done near the Beaufort, South Carolina area. Just last weekend Spencer returned from running another trip with the gang over there.  The new guy to this type of diving found a large 5 inch complete Megalodon Tooth his first day.
 

Utila Honduras - December 29th - January 5th, 2013 
Our "Dive the New Year In" trip this year will be on the Honduran Island of Utila. We have taken a couple of really good Liveaboard trips to Utila the past two years but this year we have decided to privately rent the entire La Guna Beach Resort! Not only will we be celebrating the New Year but we will also be the first SCUBA School to make it 60 years old in 2013! We still have seven spaces so come join the fun. Our package includes all meals, 3 boat dives each day, unlimited shore diving and snorkeling, horseback riding and kayak use, and Nitrox use for the week.

 

Continuing Education

November 10, 9:30 am at The SCUBA School
Enriched Air NITROX 

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving, reducing the potential risk of decompression sickness?  Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de-saturation times will be reduced.  In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

November 10, 1:00 pm at The SCUBA School - Spearfishing Clinic
Those of you that are enrolled in the NITROX Course might want to consider the Spearfishing Clinic that starts immediately afterwards. NITROX works well with most of the spearfishing that we participate in. Forrest, who teaches both of these courses here at The SCUBA School, is ranked among the top competitors in the Alabama Spearfishing Association as are several of his former students. In this class you will learn skills necessary to participate in and become a successful spearfisher.

November 3, 9:30 am at The SCUBA School, Underwater Photography

Mark Tant is teaching another Underwater Photo Course.  Those of you that purchased a new Sealife DC1200 or DC1400 or one of our DSLR Packages can take this course for free!  We also have a good selection of new SeaLife cameras, strobes and lights and pre owned DSLR equipment from Ikelite.  

 

Equipment Specials   

 

 

 

 

From now until the end of the year with every purchase of a wrist computer, SSDS will throw in a free transmitter.  This is a $450 item so if you or a loved one is considering an upgrade to an air integrated dive computer, it is a great time to do it.

  

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052

 

Dive Newsletter

Hello Divers!

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to put another newsletter out to you. We have been taking groups diving every weekend for the past couple of months, usually more than one trip each weekend. As you can see, we are keeping this pace until the end of the year. As this update is being written, Mark is on another Panama City wreck trip, with a dozen of our divers in Panama City, FL. Spencer boards a plane tomorrow for seven weeks of Gold diving with our Dad Steve and some of our other divers in the Bering Sea near Nome, Alaska. Meanwhile Forrest is holding the fort down at SSDS getting ready to start taking divers spearfishing again in a few weeks.

And speaking of Spearfishing. We know that not everybody is into being in the water while fish are being hunted for various reasons. We do have plenty of other types of diving where you won't see divers with spearguns. One thing that I hope we all can get on board with is the killing of the invasive Lionfish in the Gulf of Mexico. I saw my first Lionfish off the Coast of Alabama not quite three years ago and they were very small then. Now I sometimes see over one hundred a day and they are getting huge! The only known predator they have here are SCUBA Divers. We will continue to see our bigger fish for a while but the juveniles will get taken easily by these Lionfish.

Please start killing Lionfish if you are in the Panhandle area. A small polespear designed just for Lionfish is inexpensive. If you want to eat them, you will need some gloves, a bag and some type of shears to keep their poisonous spines from infecting you. Here are a few of them that I took last weekend.

Trips

Gulf Coast of AL Spearfishing

Sept 29th - 30th and Oct 6th - 7th
Spearfishing off the Gulf Coast of Alabama is second to none. We have an incredible Artificial Reef Program that was started almost 60 years ago, and also have some natural reefs that provide a healthy habitat for fish life as well. In addition to big fish, we also get lobsters like this one that Joe took a few days ago with us.

Wreck Diving on The Oriskany
Sept 29th - 30th 
Mark will be leading this group to dive on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. We have privately chartered this vessel as usual so there will be only wreck diving on this trip.

The Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. She was put down in May 2006 and now rests in 212 ft of water approximately 23 miles offshore. The top of the tower starts at about 80 ft. This is a deep, and big site and there are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive so call us for more info.

South Carolina River Trip
October 19th - 21st
This will be another artifact/fossil diving adventure to South Carolina on one of our boats. Most of the diving will be done near the Beaufort, South Carolina area. Lately, we have been finding larger Megalodon Teeth than we ever have including Spencer, just last weekend, finding his largest.

Please read about this trip HERE for more info about this type of diving. 

Panama City Flounder Trip
October 27th - 28th, Nov 3rd - 4th & 17th - 18th
This is the time of year we usually do best at hunting flounder. We will have at least three trips on weekends in late October through November. 

The dives for flounder are relatively shallow enabling us to have plenty of
time underwater. Experienced spearfishers and those new to it will both enjoy
the opportunity to harvest a lot of these tasty fish. Due to the shallow depths of these dives, Juniors are welcome on these trips. A gun is not necessary, only a pole spear and fish bag. We usually take up to 100 each day so everyone gets to take plenty of fish home to enjoy. Again the SCUBA School is privately chartering one of the nicest dive vessels in PC. It also has hot water showers and an enclosed area to warm up between dives for when it is cooler above and below the surface.

Utila Honduras 
December 29th - January 5th, 2013 
Our "Dive the New Year In" trip this year will be on the Honduran Island of Utila. We have taken a couple of really good Liveaboard trips to Utila the past two years but this year we have decided to privately rent the entire La Guna Beach Resort! Not only will we be celebrating the New Year but we will also be the first SCUBA School to make it 60 years old in 2013! We still have some spaces so come join the fun. Our package includes all meals, 3 boat dives each day,
unlimited shore diving and snorkeling, horseback riding and kayak use, and Nitrox use for the week.

Continuing Education

August 18, 9:30 am at The SCUBA School

Enriched Air NITROX 

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving, reducing the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de-saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

August 18, 1:00 pm at The SCUBA School
Spearfishing Clinic
Those of you that are enrolled in the NITROX Course might want to
consider the Spearfishing Clinic that starts immediately afterwards. NITROX
works well with most of the spearfishing that we participate in. Forrest, who
teaches both of these courses here at The SCUBA School, is ranked among the top competitors in the Alabama Spearfishing Association as are several of his former students. In this class you will learn skills necessary to
participate in and become a successful spearfisher.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052

Alabama Dive Law

It’s time to update the public on what happened this year in the Alabama legislature with House Bill 54. This is the bill that was to clear up some confusing words in the Alabama Underwater Cultural Resources Act. Representative Jim McClendon did a great job getting our bill through the two committees in the House and passed on the House floor with a very large majority supporting HB54 in the public interest. HB54 went to the upper House, the Senate, and bogged down as usual. Senator Cam Ward took charge of our bill and with Rep. McClendon’s help got our bill moving with much difficulty due to much opposition by the elitist professional archaeologists and the colleges that teach archaeology programs. These people see their money threatened by the public. Preserving history does not enter the picture except by the amateurs who are not being paid. I along with Kevin McCauley and Ronnie Hyer made many trips to Montgomery and met with most of the Senators. As always, there was much confusion about what our bill would do. Our opponents are masters at blowing smoke and yelling fire. My job was to count heads of Senators who would commit to support HB54. We had a strong majority of committed Senators so we would win when the bill came to the floor for a vote if we could get it there. Several amendments were added to our bill that really didn’t hurt anything or limit the public from finding isolated finds that are not cultural resources. After much effort HB54 was passed out of the Governmental Affairs Committee and went to the Rules Committee. Sen. Ward and Sen. Waggoner got the bill out of Rules and on the special order calendar to be voted on in the Senate floor. Time was running out and opposing Senators started delaying tactics which they are all masters of. Republican Sen. Ben Brooks of Mobile who we had met with and had never told us that he opposed our bill, threatened to filibuster HB54 when it was first brought up on the floor. This caused Republican Sen. Whatley of Lee County (Auburn) to have our bill carried over and not voted on. This is a tactic used to kill a bill. An intense campaign of writing and calling by Kevin McCauley helped Senators Ward and Waggoner get our bill up once again for a final vote on the last day of the session. At this time Senator Brooks and several democrat Senators said they would filibuster HB54. Senator Figures had told me twice that she supported HB54, but she stabbed us in the back. She is a nice and pretty lady, but she should have had the backbone to do what was right for the public and not to serve the bureaucrats and colleges who have created so many of the problems that face Alabama. I am very disappointed in Senator Figures. I am also disappointed in Democrat Senator Linda Coleman of Birmingham. Senator Coleman has supported us in the past and represents the area in Alabama where we have the strongest support and no opposition. She let down the people of her district. I don’t know why she turned on the public except that she answered to Democrat Senator Hank Sanders of Selma. Selma continues to be the most racist city in Alabama. HB54 has nothing to do with racism. The other Democrat Senators that were going to filibuster HB54 are Senators Singleton and Ross. HB54 was supported by people who love history and wanted to preserve all history, warts and all. We don’t want our history to be flavored, colored, or interpreted to be politically correct, or anything but the truth. 
HB54 died without being voted on in the last hours of the session.

Now I want to explain why we have opposition and who they are. The colleges that have Archeology programs are defrauding students and parents by telling them that professional archeology is a viable profession. It is not. Archeology is a great hobby and a good minor in college, but is not a profession except for a very limited few. There are no jobs for these kids that major in archeology and the colleges need to quit pretending that there are. They cannot expect to fleece or extort enough monies from the public to support the professional archeologist wannabees. The public has a right to pursue their archaeological hobbies on their own public lands and waters. The rights of the many (the public) are more important than the rights of the few (the academic elite). More important than either of these groups are the rights of the individual. One of the senators that I spoke to this week said he just did not care about our bill one way or the other. I won’t mention his name because I have hopes that he will become a good senator. A half second after he said that to me I jumped down his throat and said that he should care. I said there are 100,000 divers in Alabama and they care. Anyone who is an elected legislator should always care or should not be there.
We did not need HB54 to pass for divers to legally dive and find isolated finds in Alabama. All we were doing is trying to make our confusing law easier to understand. We already have legal rulings that divers can dive anywhere in Alabama waters and can find isolated finds on underwater state lands. The only exceptions are inundated lands like TVA on the Tennessee River or Alabama Power lands. Even there, the TVA or Alabama Power only owns the inundated lands. The original navigable stream belongs to the state (the public). You can dive and find relics and artifacts in all original navigable streams. Certain historic shipwrecks are cultural resources and are off limits to any recovery of relics. These ships are what the original law was written for in 1999 and you must be permitted by the Alabama Historical Commission to do any type of salvage on these ships. Permits are not issued except to their cronies. The other exception is any burial ground that is underwater. As it should be, it is illegal to rob graves under federal and state laws. The only people who legally rob graves are professional archaeologists, and I wish that activity was stopped. I don’t want my ancestor’s graves molested by these professional ghouls. There are no Indian burial mounds located in the original navigable streambeds of Alabama. The mounds that are underwater are on  inundated lands that do not belong to the state and are off limits. Indians never buried their dead in an original navigable stream, and that is the only place that this law concerns.

You can get copies of all letters and laws at Southern Skin Diver Supply webpage. www.ssdsupply.com Print pages from this link and carry with you on your boat. http://www.ssdsupply.com/success.htm Please obey all dive and boating laws. Make sure your boat has all required dive flags and equipment. If anyone is unduly harassed by law enforcement or archaeologists please let me or my sons know. We will help if possible. Phone 205-595-3052.

Thanks for reading this long message.

Steve Phillips

www.ssdsupply.com

Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have.

The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.

Thomas Jefferson

Dive Newsletter

Hello Divers!

Since our last newsletter, we have enjoyed very good dive conditions on many trips, including an awesome vacation on board the Cayman Aggressor Liveaboard during Spring Break! Spencer had 17 of our divers on one of our best trips yet. Having good conditions enabled the divers to get all the diving they could handle on Grand Cayman and along the world famous Bloody Bay Wall of Little Cayman. These Liveaboard trips that we do several times each year really are the way to go if you want to see as much as you can under water (usually 5 dives a day).

Spencer and Mark have been very busy training many openwater students the past month or so and just certified a large group last weekend. Forrest has had his hands full teaching Enriched Air NITROX  students and the Spearfishing Clinic that he does each month. The Artifact and Fossil South Carolina dives that Spence takes divers on every few weeks are going better than ever. On almost every trip, several of the divers will find a personal best Megalodon tooth in addition to prehistoric whale teeth and even Sabre Tooth Tiger bones.

So what we are saying is we have a lot going on so let us know if anything in this update is of interest to you.

Trips
June 2-9 Hawaii, The Big Island on a Live-Aboard ! 
We only have 4 spaces left for a week of diving along the Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. As with all of our Live-aboard trips, you will get the same great service, diving, gourmet dining and accommodations. Unlike other places in the Pacific and Caribbean, many underwater animals that are found in Hawaii are only found in Hawaii. This Island is also home to the best night dive in the world, The Manta Ray Night Dive!

Orange Beach, AL Spearfishing

May 19, 20 and June 2, 3, 9, 10, 23, 24 and July 21, 22 and Aug. 11, 12
These trips are selling out FAST! Some of these will be during Red Snapper season and also during the Alabama Spearfishing Association's Red Neck Riviera Spearfishing Tournament. This is a great tournament and spearfishing off the Gulf Coast of Alabama is second to none. Now is the time to start getting ready for spearfishing season. To find out more about this and other ASA tournaments, visit their website.

August 4th & 5th Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading this group to dive some of the wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately.

December 29/2012-January 5/2013, Utila Honduras
Our "Dive the New Year In" trip this year will be on the Honduran Island of Utila. We have taken a couple of really good Liveaboard trips to Utila the past two years but this year we have decided to privately rent the entire La Guna Beach Resort! Our package includes all meals, 3 boat dives each day, unlimited shore diving and snorkeling, horseback riding and kayak use, and Nitrox use for the week.

Continuing Education
We have always had a lot of new divers in our classes here at The SCUBA School, but this year is a very good time for a new diver to enroll in one of our Continuing Education programs. 

For every student that gets certified here in 2012 and takes a ConEd course, they will be entered for a chance to win a free trip on board the Cayman Aggressor! This is the vessel that Spence just returned from. It is an excellent boat with a very good crew and one of the best destinations in the Caribbean. Every time a new diver takes a new ConEd course, they are entered, so the more classes they take, the better their chance is to win.

May 12, 9:30 am at The SCUBA School, Enriched Air NITROX 

Have you ever dreamed of having longer no-decompression limits to take pictures or explore a wreck? Did you ever want to be safer while diving concerning the potential risk of decompression sickness?

Nitrox is the key. Due to the reduced fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas, your body will have less work and the de- saturation times will be reduced.

In your ENRICHED AIR NITROX program you will learn all the necessary rules for planning dives with Nitrox and using Nitrox in a safe way. An
important key point in the entire program is analyzing your own tank prior to any Nitrox dive.

June 23, 24 Stress and Rescue Course
Stress is a major contributor to rescue situations and diving accidents. Through this course you will learn accident prevention, as well as how
to handle problem situations if they occur.

Mark Tant will be teaching this program about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two - four days in which you will participate in academic and in-water sessions in the pool and in the open water. As a prerequisite for certification you will also earn CPR & First Aid certificate during this course.

DIVER STRESS & RESCUE SPECIALTY COURSE Content:

* What Is Stress?
* Stress In Diving:Causes And Prevention
* Detecting And Dealing With Stress
* Accident Management
* Skills Needed To Deal With Panic And Rescues
* Conditions That Complicate Rescues

News

• The Alabama Spearfishing Association's Tournaments start in a couple of weeks and it looks like the first one is going to be a good one. This is the eighth year for the Red Neck Riviera and this year in addition to the monetary awards and trophies there are almost $5000 worth of prizes to be one as well. Due to the over zealous restrictions on certain fish, this will be the only tournament where Amberjack and Red Snapper will be in season. If you like these fish, make arrangements to get down there some time between May 18 and June 9! For more info on this contest go to their website.

• Those of you that are in the market to upgrade your old dive computer can take advantage of a special we are offering at SSDS. From May 1 through July 31, you can trade in any dive computer to us for $100 to $175 off a new computer. Just bring us your old computer.

• For years we have trained and participated in heavy duty diving. Our Law Enforcement Dive Team students, Artifact Relic and Recovery Divers and our Gold Divers in the Bering Sea near Nome Alaska need certain equipment that is suitable for harsh conditions. One of these pieces of equipment needed is a well built, reliable headlight. For my Dad, Steve, this has been his primary type of diving for over 40 years. When he returned from his annual Alaska Gold Diving Trip last season, he let me know that his headlight had given him too much trouble. He was given permission to either build a new light himself or have it built to his specifications. Most divers do not dive the way that our black water/recovery divers do. We recover Fossils and Relics and mine for gold underwater in Alaska. Our previous lights are too fragile for the hard use that we put them through. They also have too many bells and whistles that are just something else to break. We just need our headlights to work when we go diving. Dad found a manufacturer that would do what he wanted for a change. We now have heavy duty head mounted lights that should be very tough and less trouble. They should withstand being dropped or hard use. They come not in a cardboard box but in a padded carrying bag with everything you need to operate and maintain your light. The manufacturer offers a 1 year warranty on their components but that is not what we want. Southern Skin Divers Supply is the oldest SCUBA School in the country and are now the largest dealer for this type of light.Since we are we have some clout with our suppliers. SSDS will double the manufacturers warranty for the lights that we sell. Since these lights are built to Steve's requirements, we don't expect much trouble anymore and we are willing to give this extended warranty. By the way, the new lights are less expensive than our previous lights. Thank you for your support of Southern Skin Divers Supply.

• We also now have a Facebook page for Southern Skin Divers Supply. This newsletter will continue to go out every month with all of the legislative issues, training, trips and equipment specials and everything else that we have always let you know about. The Facebook page will have a lot of the same info only coming in shorter statements more often. This should be particularly valuable to those wanting to know last minute availability on trips and training. Please Like us on Facebook!  

• Steve Phillips is going to be speaking at the Bainbridge Georgia SuperShow, one of the largest artifact shows in the country, to help explain the struggle to preserve and restore diving rights and collection of isolated finds. Here is a post from Kevin Dowdy that is on his ArtifactsGuide website

I am VERY pleased to announce that Steve Phillips has agreed to come and speak to any and all collectors (civil war, Indian artifacts, metal detectorists, etc...) and relate his experiences and battles in Alabama to protect collector's rights and preserve the past. For those of you who may not be familiar, Steve has led the charge to change anti-collecting legislation in the state of Alabama, and has done so with a fearless approach and "wont back down" mentality.

Steve may very well be the most knowledgeable and insightful champion for collectors, IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY! You do not want to miss this rare opportunity to hear "the rest of the story" - the story that the mass media always seems to leave out. I have never been more impressed with anyone so determined, not only to protect collectors in Alabama, but equally concerned about defending our hobby in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.

Steve will speak on Friday night, May 11th at the Kirbo Center at 7pm (E.S.T) and will open the floor for questions about his experiences with corrupt "Historical Societies", wrongful prosecution, and illegal confiscation of artifacts by law enforcement. YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!!!

Depending on response, Steve has agreed to possibly speak again on Saturday afternoon (time to be determined and announced at the show). Steve is one of the MOST EXPERIENCED DIVERS IN HE ENTIRE COUNTRY and has rescued the finest and most complete civil war artifact collection in private hands.

Spread the word - this is a chance to hear it from someone that has fought the good fight for a long time and knows how to win!

Kirbo Center - Bainbridge College - 2500 E Shotwell Street, Bainbridge Ga 39817
~~
Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply

 

Update from Steve Phillips on Alabama Dive Law

I have been going to Montgomery each week to talk to the legislators in the State House. Our bill is HB-54 that has passed the House and now has passed the first committee in the Senate. This week the Governmental Affairs Committee passed HB-54 by a vote of nine yea and two abstentions. No no votes. There are two more news articles this week that tell about what is going on:

Underwater Cultural Act Passes Out of Senate Committee

By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter


For years a bullet, buckle, arrowhead or any old item found in an Alabama waterway way was considered property of the State of Alabama. The Historical Commission so jealously guard any artifact that picking a arrowhead out of a stream could land a young boy or girl in jail.

Due to an over-zealous interpretation of the law, historical memorabilia has rotted and vanished in the muddy waters of the state.


Rep. Dr. Jim McClendon (R-Springville) has fought to see the law amended, today he passed another milestone as HB54 also known as the Underwater Cultural Resources Act, received a favorable report from the Senate Committee.


The bill was vigorously challenged by the Alabama Historical Commission, a state department created by the State’s Legislature. In the agency's view, any artifact found in an Alabama waterway is the sole property of the state.


Alabama native, Steve Phillips, a professional diver and author of many books on historical artifacts said he was pleased with the Senate's findings. Phillips is the only person every arrested and tried under the Historical Commission’s interpretation of the law. Phillips was not found guilt of the offense but was nevertheless, charged and had to defend himself at considerable expense and inconvenience. At the Senate hearing Frank White, executive director of Historical Commission asked, “The question that I have as Executive Director of Historical Commission is what is wrong with the law as it is now? If a diver wants to dive, they come and get a permit from us. They go dive, they find whatever, they bring it up. We will look at it and make a judgement decision about what is historically significant for the state of Alabama and whether it ought to remain with the state, then the diver can take the remaining finds with them.”


Mr. White’s assertion that, “...The diver can take the remaining finds with them,” has not proven to be the case. Even though not convicted the Historical Commission has yet to return Phillip’s property.


During the hearing Sen. Trip Pittman (R-Daphne), asked Director White, “ What about the idea of historical doesn't have anything to do with the value. So, you could find something that had value that didn't have historical significance and it would still go to the diver, correct, under the current law?” White answered, "Correct.”


Rep. McClendon later stated that divers have turned over artifacts to the Historical Commission and have found that those items they trusted to the commission were sold and shipped to museums out of state.


Sen. Dick Brewbaker (R-Montgomery) asked White, “From the state point of view or archeologists that work for you…sites that are underwater, what projects does the state have going on now to recover these? Are there any active ones except the one in Mobile Bay? Other than that, There is no state-sponsored recovery of these historical artifacts."


White responded that he was correct.


McClendon as said on numerous occasions, “The current law is confusing and has caused much consternation among those people who wish to retrieve those artifacts that no one else is going after. The Historical Commission, over the years, has done little to explore, retrieve or preserve these artifacts. Unless these [private citizen divers] people are allowed to do this, the artifacts will stay in the mud and continue to deteriorate and be lost to future generations of Alabamians.”


Two amendments where added to the bill. One provides that no such artifacts are recovered by the process of mechanical and/or hydraulic dredging. The other amendment came from Senate Minority Leader Roger Bedford (D-Russellville) stating, [It] shall be a Class A misdemeanor to violate the provisions of this law. This would be equivalent to a speeding ticket, according to Bedford.


Here's another article from the Tuscaloosa News:


Warning issued to Alabama Historical Commission

Lawmaker says members should not try to intervene in the legislative process

By Stephanie Taylor and Dana Beyerle, Staff Writers

###

The bills have had many articles in the newspapers, TV and radio this year. Luckily most of the reporters have spent time enough this time to understand more about what the bills do and not listen to the false claims of our professional archaeologist opponents. I was amazed at the meeting this week to hear what Dr. Frank White who is the new director of the Alabama Historical Commission said. Dr. White is a nice man but he is clueless concerning dive law in Alabama. He should study his own agency’s documents about dive laws. I have twice given him copies of what is allowed and what is not allowed concerning isolated finds underwater on state (public) lands in Alabama. The law is confusing and that is all we are trying to fix.

This is what is allowed according to the AHC and the Alabama Department of Tourism as well as the Conservation Department.

His confusion is what the current bill is trying to fix. Law enforcement officers are confused as much as Dr. White. HB-54 will take out three words (whether or not) that makes the law confusing. What is legal now will be the same as what will be when the bill passes. What we hope to accomplish is to not have confusing words cause the public to be unduly detained. No one is being arrested, because they are violating no law, but several people have been detained for many hours while the law is made clear to the law enforcement officers. Professional archaeologists have been guilty many times of claiming to law enforcement that the public is violating a law. This has been done on dry land on public and private property for many years in an effort to force contractors and individuals as well as state agencies such as the Department of Transportation to hire a professional archaeologist to give permission for any type of construction. Now they want to do the same underwater to make money for the professional archaeologists. Professional archaeologists are involved in any work done on Cultural Resources such as shipwrecks. HB-54 does not change in any way the protection of cultural resources. All current and future cultural resources are controlled and protected by the state.

I understand the frustration of the professional archaeologists. There are too many of them. The colleges turn them out by the thousands and tell them that there are jobs for them when there are very few real jobs for these kids.

Archaeology should be taught as a minor and encouraged as a real great hobby. I am an amateur archaeologist and an amateur historian. That doesn’t mean that I or millions of other people are somehow inferior to the professionals it just means that we have real jobs and enjoy our hobbies for love not money. I don’t blame the kids for wanting to be like Indiana Jones and I don’t blame the parents who foolishly spend huge sums of money on tuition in our colleges only to find that there are no jobs for their kids. I do blame the colleges and professors for misleading our kids. My three children all went to Alabama colleges and studied business or geology. They now run their own business. The colleges should concentrate on graduating students that can provide a service or trade to serve the public. What our country does not need and cannot afford are any more regulators to harass the public. We don’t want them, we don’t need them and we can’t afford them. As far as preserving history goes we amateurs do a much better and cheaper job as well as serving the public better. I am an average collector of artifacts from The War Between The States. I have helped write fifteen books to help identify relics. These books are the standard books used worldwide to identify relics from the War. I have put thousands of relics that I bought or found in public museums to serve the public. I don’t get paid for any of these services. I am also a professional preservationist of artillery projectiles. The largest collections in the south were preserved by me and my sons. Some times I charge and many times I don’t. My interest is in saving history and I know that history is not preserved by letting artifacts rust or erode away in the turbulent rivers of Alabama. I also know that divers will explore our rivers and will find isolated finds. I want these divers to not be afraid to share their knowledge with the public. We don’t need any restrictive rules about isolated finds to intimidate people. They will be happy to share their knowledge and artifacts just as I and millions of others do. We don’t need an incompetent agency to oversee divers or artifacts that they know nothing about. Whether it be arrowheads, bottles, relics or fossils, the public knows best. We write the books, we fill the museums and we don’t cost anything. We also spend a ton of personal money that the state government doesn’t have to. We are good for tourism and spend our money in Alabama businesses instead of going to more friendly states. HB-54 is supported by the Alabama Department of Tourism, the Poarch Indians of Alabama and most museums that are informed about what the bill does. We have 77,000 miles of waterways that need to be explored by our over 100,000 divers. I am 66 years old now and pretty far up the trail but I anxiously await exciting historical information that will be found by our divers (aquanauts).

Please continue to Support HB54 and forward this email to your friends and post on all interested web pages, facebook and blogs.

Help us Save Our Lost History.

Steve Phillips

Southern Skin Divers Supply

205-595-3052

www.ssdsupply.com