Merry Christmas Divers!

Merry Christmas Divers!

So far, 2015 has been a very busy year for travel here at SSDS and we have just slowed down enough to write you a newsletter. Like you, we are getting ready for the holidays but we will be back taking you diving right after the first of the year. From now until the end of the year all handheld flashlights are 20% off. We have a very good selection of Tovatec, Sea Life, Ikelite and Pelican lights and this special is good on anything in stock. All other merchandise is 10% off until Jan 1.

Some of the newer gear that we have in right now includes Lavacore wetsuits, Nautilus Lifeline Marine Radios,Tesoro Land and Underwater Metal Detectors, Spare Air kits and the best selection of Pelican coolers anywhere!

We will be closed here Christmas Day, the day after Christmas and New Years Day. The rest of the time, it's business as usual. 

The following are some of our upcoming trips and classes. In case we don't see you, we want to wish all of you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Trips
January 2, 3 and 9, 10 Panama City, FL Spearfishing
If you have seen the pictures in years past where our groups will take enormous Amberjacks, it is during this time of year. In addition to Amberjack, we have been waiting for Triggerfish, Scamp and Red Grouper to come back in season and they do on Jan 1. The boat rides are shorter than usual since these fish come closer to shore in the winter time. The vessel that we privately charter has an enclosed heated area to warm up and a hot water shower. Both are a must for cold water diving.

Feb 5-7 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 and a couple of dives in one of the Springs. 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.

March 26-April 2 Bonaire
Spencer has booked several condos on the Caribbean Island of Bonaire for our Spring Break trip. This Island is known as one of the top shore diving destinations in the world. It is also excellent for photography and one of the few land based trips that we offer where you can do up to 5 dives per day if you desire. In addition to the oceanfront condos, our package also includes use of a four door truck for your entire stay, unlimited air or Nitrox tanks and round trip airport transfers.

Dec 27/2016-Jan 8/2017 Philippines Atlantis Dive Resort
Next years New Years trip to The Philippines is already selling out fast! We are down to just a few spaces. Mark has already been on this trip once and loved it so much he booked rooms at both of the Atlantis properties for this adventure. Here are a couple of pics he took while he was there.

Continuing Education
December 19, 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 19, 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
www.ssdsupply.com

Steve Phillips with Spencer in Nome Alaska August 2015. Gold Dredging cleanup

Brand new video from the Alaska adventure. Spencer cleaning up his accumulated concentrates from this summer's gold adventure in Nome Alaska. Be sure to watch till the end & see the local wildlife ;)

See it all here on YouTube

Steve Phillips with Spencer in Nome Alaska July 2015. Gold Dredging cleanup

Brand new video from the Alaska adventure. See it here on VIMEO

More relic preservation videos - Good Stuff

Steve has just posted some additional videos on relic preservation & they're getting better all the time. In his newest series, he takes an artillery shell all the way from the ground-dug condition until it's museum-grade display quality. These videos are both educational & informative, shedding light on a critical, but often neglected, step in the relic hunting field. 

I'm glad he's doing these videos so that the knowledge is passed forward to others, and that they can properly preserve artifacts for future generations' enjoyment & research.

You can find his YouTube channel here - stay tuned!

Steve's new YouTube channel

Here's a fun video on Vimeo about the guys & the shop. Steve has also created a new YouTube channel to show some of his relics & adventures. Recent postings include his cast CS buckle and Confederate land mines & hand grenades. He's also posted a great video about preservation of iron relics.

Be sure to subscribe to Steve's new channel as he updates it all the time:

Steve's YouTube Channel

Cast CS Plate

For Valentine's Day I found a really nice plate in Mississippi. It's been about ten years since I found a CS Plate & I think this makes about eleven total CS plates that I've found. I haven't looked on dry land in many years, and decided to get some hard exercise to get in shape for my gold dredging in Alaska this summer. Heath Jones and I walked and dug for three days before I got lucky. By the way, people always ask where something was found, so I took the photo on top of the book that I used for research of the site. 

Bless Their Hearts.
Steve Phillips 

Absolutely Alabama: Southern Skin Divers at myfoxal.com

Earlier this year, we had Fred Hunter and the Absolutely Alabama channel 6 team come by Southern Skin Divers Supply to film Forrest and Spence for an episode. Forrest gave a tour of the Scuba School and what we do. Spence took Fred on a scuba experience in our pool to get him interested in becoming a diver. Here's a link to that episode that was broadcast in December.

Absolutely Alabama: Southern Skin Divers

Dive Newsletter

Hello Divers!
We have all kinds of things to tell you about but first, be sure to turn on The Outdoor Channel this Sat, Nov 1st at 11am. This will be the season premier of the show Gold Fever, episode "Treasure Keys". The stars of the show, Tom and Kia Massie, flew all the way from California and Alaska to Birmingham to let SSDS teach them how to dive. We put them through their paces just like we have done the rest of our students for over 60 years now. Much of the program has Forrest and Spencer teaching the hosts here at The SCUBA School as well as their certification dives in Panama City, FL. We also make a special visit to Bill Tant's "Captn SCUBA House" in St. Andrews Marina. This will also be the first time that the rarest of all dug relics has been filmed on a Nationally Televised Show. Steve recovered and preserved this artifact and goes in to detail about what it was used for during the War Between the States. We know that the Massie family could have gone anywhere to earn their certification and we are very thankful that they chose to do it with us!

Last month we also had Fred Hunter and the Absolutely Alabama channel 6 team come by Southern Skin Divers Supply and film Forrest and Spence for an episode that will be broadcast in December. Forrest gave a tour of the Scuba School and what we do. Spence took Fred on a scuba experience in our pool to get him interested in becoming a diver. Be watching for this show also.

TRIPS
November 8,9 and 22,23 Panama City, FL Flounder trips
If you have seen the pictures in years past where our groups will have one to two hundred Flounders in a day, it is during this time of year. It is hard to beat the table fare of a fresh Flounder and the water is not too cold yet either. The boat rides are short and usually shallow depths . This is great for new spearfishers and very experienced ones alike. A speargun is not necessary, a pole spear and goody bag work much better. Again, SSDS, has privately reserved this vessel too.

January 31, Feb 1 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.

March 28-April 4 Cayman Islands Liveaboard
The New Years trip to the Bahamas is sold out and we are down to 5 spaces available on our Spring Break trip to the Cayman Islands. This is a very luxurious boat with great food and world class diving. This boat consistently is our best overall vacation dive trip and is the one we have used for several years.

Holiday Equipment Specials
SSDS is the best place for the absolute best coolers on the market, Pelican Coolers. We have every size and color they make including the brand new 20 qt model. They will hold ice for up to 10 days and come with a Lifetime Warranty. We use these like crazy on our spearfishing trips. Those of you that have a hunter, fisher or drinker on your Christmas list and don't know what to get them, come see us! Also, from now until the end of the year all of our wrist computers come with a wireless transmitter at 50% off!

Continuing Education
Dec 6th, 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.

Dec 6th, 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.

Upcoming Alaskan Crew Opportunities:

Click these links for detailed info......

Steve and Spencer's Alaskan Adventure 

and

Dredging in the Bearing Sea

Give us a call at the Scuba School if you are ready to go diving on any of these adventures.

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

"Absolutely Alabama" Visits

Fred Hunter with Fox 6's "Absolutely Alabama" was at the Scuba School early in October filming a show. That's going to air later this year & we'll keep you posted as to when. Thanks Fred!

Diving with Dolphins

Check this video out over on our Facebook page.

More pics from Alaska & the Gulf

Spearfishing Update..........

Hello Divers!

We are still taking at least one group trip a week here at SSDS.  Last week several members of our Spearfishing team, The Tourists, competed in the 38th Annual Alabama Open Spearfishing Rodeo.


Many of the best Spearfishers along the Gulf Coast enjoyed perfect conditions during this contest, and on one of our dives we had a giant Manta Ray swim with us for about half an hour.   Many good fish were harvested by our group.  

Here are photos of Forrest's third place winning Amberjack and Joe Calvert's third place winning Grouper.

Alaska Update

Our Cabin

A lot of our crew is busy gold-finding in Alaska right now where the current temperature is 46 & highs in the 60's - sounds pretty nice compared against what we have here at home! Steve & Spencer have sent us some new pictures & a video. If you're interested in knowing more, or just want to talk about adventures, you can contact Steve at 205-672-9310.

Here's a video of one of Jimmie's clean ups.....two weeks worth here on ===>>Vimeo

Spence brought me some sweetener for my coffee

The ravens ripped into one of my boxes and stole 30 candy bars

Our inland camp on the Casadepaga River, 60 miles from Nome

One of our claims on Lower Willow & Ridgeway creek where we dredge gold

A friend flew in to visit us

A bucket off of a bucket line dredge that was at my claim

Spence, Jimmie and Rob caught Grayling for supper

We eat good

Spence at our containers in town with a muskox

Spence on an old bucket line dredge near one of our claims

Spence got into a few nuggets one day

Fish stabbin'

Look what we did last weekend!   Stabbin' Fish

Feb. Newsletter

Hello Divers!

During the past 4 years, SSDS has averaged 50 group trips a year and we are off to a quick start this year with another 50 or so this planned in 2014.  So far this year we have already taken divers on check out dive trips, Liveaboard diving in Belize, Spearfishing in Panama City and a couple of Manatee trips.

On our last Manatee trip, we took 25 divers to Crystal River, The Rainbow River and Weeki Wachee Springs.  This is a great time of year to escape the cold and dive in water that is about 73 degrees and we saw around 100 or so very affectionate Manatee.  Check out this video by our friend Shaun Stancil who is using the brand new SeaLife DC1400 underwater camera.

This is a great, inexpensive and easy to use photo system that has optional modeling lights, strobes and lenses.  As you can see it also takes excellent HD video!  We have several of these packages on sale at SSDS.

Here are some trips we have coming up with spots available.  Call us quick because they are all selling out fast.


Trips
March 8, 9 Panama City, FL Spearfishing
Spencer will be leading this group on some of our best dive sites for spearfishing this time of year out of Panama City. When we do these sites we generally bring back several hundred pounds of fish each day. We also have a very nice boat chartered with an enclosed area great for changing and getting out of the wind.

March 14-16 South Carolina River Trip
We have had some great trips recently finding fossilized shark's teeth and other artifacts with some new spots and diving from our new boat! Spencer will be leading a few hearty souls on this trip.We generally do three or four dives a day on this swift/blackwater diving adventure. Bring your boat coats and thick suits for this one.

April 27, 28 Wreck Diving on The Oriskany
Forrest will be leading this group to dive on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. We will be diving two days, one on the Oriskany, and the other on two additional wrecks. If you want to kill lionfish on this trip you may. No spear guns allowed and no other fish will be killed, just lionfish. The Oriskany 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 big, deep site and there are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive, so call us for more info.

May 2, 3 and May 31-June 1 Spearfishing in Orange Beach and Pensacola, FL
We have a couple of boats going out during some of the tournaments with the Alabama Spearfishing Association and the Gulf Coast Lionfish Coalition.   Our Captains put you on very good fish during these contests with Amberjack, Cobia, Triggerfish and Red Snapper (June 1) being targeted.

May 17, 18 Panama City, FL Wreck Diving
Mark will be leading this group on some of the inshore wrecks of Panama City. There are plenty of them, and this is the next step for new divers to take in their training. Good divers are always learning and this is a great trip to do it on. Also, Junior Divers can participate too, since the dives are relatively shallow. Like all of our trips, SSDS, has privately reserved this vessel.

July 19-26 Bonaire
The Island of Bonaire has perhaps the best shore diving in the Caribbean. The shore dives are clearly marked and with the unlimited diving package that we have, you may dive as frequently as you wish. Included in this package are oceanfront condo accommodations, truck rental, unlimited air diving and Nitrox diving (if you are Nitrox certified) and transfers to and from the airport in Bonaire. Mark will be running this trip so give us a call at The SCUBA School for more details.

Continuing Education

March 15, 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.

March 15, 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.

April 5, 9:00 am 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 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

Dive Newsletter

Hello Divers!

Things have started to slow down a little here at The SCUBA School. Not as many students are currently enrolled in Open Water training but we are still offering lots of dive travel right now. SSDS has taken 46 group trips so far in 2013 and we should have well over 50 before the year is over.

While spearfishing early this year, Forrest, was lucky enough to shoot a very large Amberjack. We sent a photo out in the spring and there are several pics of it on our FB page. Our friend, Archie Phillips, who is a world famous Taxidermist and long time TV Personality made us a mount of this huge fish. Come by and check it out!

Trips
November 15-17 Panama City, FL Wreck Diving
Spencer will be leading this group on some of the inshore wrecks of Panama City. There are plenty of them and this is the next step for new divers to take in their training. Good divers are always learning and this is a good one to do it on. Also, Junior Divers can participate too since the dives are relatively shallow. Like all of our trips, SSDS, has privately reserved this vessel.

November 15-17, 22-24 and 29-Dec 1 Panama City, FL Flounder trips

If you have seen the pictures in years past where our groups will have one to two hundred Flounders in a day, it is during this time of year. It is hard to beat the table fare of a fresh Flounder and the water is not too cold yet either. The boat rides are short and usually shallow depths . This is great for new spearfishers and very experienced ones alike. A speargun is not necessary, a pole spear and goody bag work much better. Again, SSDS, has privately reserved this vessel too.

January 17-19/2014 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.

March 22-29/2014 Cayman Islands Liveaboard
The New Years trip to Belize is sold out and we are down to 4 spaces available on our Spring Break trip to the Cayman Islands. This is a very luxurious boat with great food and world class diving. We have booked this boat many times over the past few years and they always do a great job.

Continuing Education
The Nitrox Course and Spearfishing Clinic have been very popular so far this year. We have room and this will be the last time we these classes are offered this year.

November 23, 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 23, 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.

Holiday Equipment Specials

From now until the end of the year all of our Wrist Computers come with a free transmitter! This is a savings of over $450.

SSDS is the best place for the absolute best coolers on the market - Pelican Coolers that come with a lifetime warranty. We have every size and color they make, and they will hold ice for up to 10 days. We use these like crazy on our spearfishing trips. Those of you that have a hunter, fisher or drinker on your Christmas list and don't know what to get them, come see us!

A True Diving Pioneer Passes - Bill Tant - "Cap'n Scuba"

Services are at Elmwood Chapel Tuesday Aug 6th

Visitation at noon, followed by the funeral at 1:00

I first met Bill in 1967 when I came home from the military. I had been a diver a few years when I walked into Southern Skin Divers Supply in Birmingham. Southern was already old compared to other dive schools. Bill, who is our partner Mark Tant's uncle, founded Southern in 1953 and his school and store has been open all these years. Many of you divers, especially the newer ones, may not have known Bill Tant or what he did for you so let me tell you. Bill created scuba diving on the Gulf Coast. He was the Man! Bill's dive school was named Bill Tant's School of Scuba and was part of Southern Skin Divers Supply. He had his own certification since his school predated all other certification agencies that now exist. Bill was the one who started the spear fishing and wreck diving that you now enjoy. Bill was the one person who started the diving in the springs of North Florida, and Morrison Springs was always Bill's favorite. The first dive operation in Panama City was based in Bill and Eloise's home in PC which is the original harbormaster's house at Old St. Andrews. There were no dive boats in the beginning and Bill was able to talk the fishing boat captains into carrying divers out into the Gulf. The Empire Mica and the Tarpon are now famous historical dive sites and both of these were developed by Bill and his divers. He was a great promoter of diving and loved the water all of his life. We were all lucky and blessed to have Bill Tant.

Steve Phillips

Panama City News Herald - Friends, family remember ‘Cap’n Scuba’

We would like to make something nice here and give Bill the credit he deserved. If you've got any good stories or memories of Bill & would like them added here, please send those to us with a note to include it on the blog (that gives us permission). Email us at ssdsupply@aol.com  Thanks!

Here are a few.............

My Dad told me yesterday that Bill had passed. 

Wow... where do I start. Bill Tant had a huge influence on the direction of my life. I took lessons from him and one of his instructors Joe Gann, aka Gainer, in about 1968 when I was 17 years old. Other divers around that time were Gordon Riggles (?), Bob Tant, aka Gas Man, Mark Slattery, Dave Abts, Sonny Aldredge. I worked for Bill on Saturdays during high school cleaning up, jamming jugs and cleaning rental gear. I was working when they set the anchor outside of the old shop and Bill and I put our initials in the cement. 

The early sixties were an exciting time in diving. There were TV programs like Sea Hunt with Lloyd Bridges, the Jacques Cousteau books and TV specials, the Navy SeaLab program, the James Bond movie Thunderball. I remember an old sponge diver movie with a very young Robert Wagner and Gilbert Roland called Beneath the 12 Mile Reef and a film about US Navy UDT called The Frogmen with Richard Widmark. 

My initial set of dive gear cost less than $100.00 which included mask, fins, snorkel, weight belt, 1 steel 72 tank (I think it was used), tank harness, life vest (there were no BC's in those days) and regulator. My first regulator (I still have it) was a U.S. Divers Mistral; a single stage, double hose regulator which cost $50.00. In fact, I never dove a single hose regulator until I was in the Navy. Equipment manufacturers of that time included Voit, Dacor, U.S. Divers, ScubaPro, and Nemrod.  

We would dive out of Panama City and Mexico Beach on the wrecks Tarpon and the Empire Mica. I can remember driving Bill and Eloise to Panama City in that huge Buick station wagon. That thing was like driving a hotel lobby down the road. Bill would be in the backseat wrestling with his 2 boxers, Cortez, the Macau, would be screeching in the back along with Dub-Duck quacking from underneath an upside down milk crate.  I once made $90.00 in about 20 minutes diving for a lost outboard motor in Lay Lake. That was a lot of money for a 17 year old kid. Plus, the guy was so happy he bought me lunch too! 

I didn't dive much in college but the interest was still there so when I was in the Navy I went to Diving and Salvage school at the old Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. My class started out with 36 people and only 9 of us graduated. I was stationed onboard a submarine rescue vessel, the USS Kittiwake (ASR-13). She was sunk off the Cayman Islands a few years ago and is now a dive site. I think it's fitting that after all the divers she supported in her career, now she serves as a training wreck for other divers to enjoy. After getting out of the Navy, I dove in the Gulf of Mexico as a commercial diver for a company called Oceaneering International. After 2 years in the Gulf, I worked in a couple of hospitals as a Hyperbaric Chamber Operator for a number of years. 

I miss diving and I will miss Bill. He was a mentor to me and someone that I looked up to as a kid. Diving was a big part of my life due largely to Bill's influence. He was truly a pioneer in SCUBA diving, underwater photography and diving travel. He was always jovial and fun loving and he lived life to the fullest every moment. Far winds and following seas my friend, you will be missed.

Please give my condolences to Miss Eloise and to Bob.
Steve Holley, Colorado Springs, CO (formerly of Leeds, AL)