Wonderful News

Ryan and Brian got engaged in Akron on Friday. Brian took her to a restaurant and had the server bring her a present. Inside was a Coach purse. Ryan said, "How nice" and Brian said, "Look inside." The ring box was in the purse. She opened the ringbox up and Brian got down on one knee to propose. Someone in the restaurant shouted, "What did she say?" and Brian said, "She said yes." At which point, everyone in the restaurant clapped and cheered.

The Happy Couple

Diving at Portage Quarry near Bowling Green

Landon and I dove at Portage Quarry Friday and Saturday. This is an old limestone quarry and there is some limestone mining equipment still in there. Someone put a mirror on the side of the scale hopper, so here is a picture of me taking a picture of me.

Elaine, Brian, and Me


On Monday, Brian came down to meet with me and asked permission to marry Ryan. Of course, I gave him my permission and blessing. We were so happy. He actually proposed to Ryan Friday night, but more details about that will be forthcoming.

Portage Quarry Diving This Weekend

Portage Quarry is south of Bowling Green. I will go there for a night
dive on Friday and several dives on Saturday.

Sigh, summer is flying by.


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Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean

Joe's Tug Dive Video

I wanted to give someone a preview of Key West as they will be going there.

Night Dive

I made my first night dive in over thirty years Saturday night at Gilboa Quarry. It was a very strange and surreal experience. You are swimming at 20 to 30 feet in pitch black water and the only things you can see are within your flashlight beam. Strangely enough, I found it very exhilerating, yet relaxing at the same time. The water temperature was 75 degrees, so we were quite cozy.

Underwater photography is different at night. I snapped a whole bunch of pictures, but only these two actually came out. I learned you have to be at arm's length or closer to get a shot or your flashpoint will be out about a yard and your further away subject will get lost in the background.



Still, beside the disappointment of my other pictures not looking good, I am so glad I did this Night Dive and hope to do another soon.

Never Know What You'll See at Gilboa

This little fellow was wandering along the bottom at 25', so I took his picture.


Update today: Lisa4516 and Ber Rabbit at the ScubaBoard Forum have posted the backstory on the Gilboa Gnome. His name is Cyril and he has been roaming in Gilboa since 2003. Click here for more information.

Ryan and her boyfriend, Brian.

Elaine and Ryan's Excellent Tampa Adventure

Last week Elaine and Ryan vacationed to the Tampa St. Petersburg area and stayed at the Trade Winds Grand Resort. Here are some of their photos.

Check Out My New Wheels

I went to Lowes and bought this Stanley oversized heavy duty
toolbox. It will be perfect for hauling and storing my
scuba diving equipment.


Nice handle, like hauling your luggage around in an airport.


Lots of room for the gear. The only thing that won't go in is the tank.


By the way, Akona and DAN sent me some nice stickers for decorating.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Week

Canton is very busy this week as the Hall of Fame festivities are on in full force. I went to the airport yesterday to pick up Elaine and Ryan as they returned from Tampa. I was wondering what sports celebrities may be flying in and I sat down next to one.

This is Gail Midyett. Her father is Bob St. Clair who played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 50s and 60s. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. Gail was in town to be with her father and sister and take in the events. I was thrilled to meet her and I asked her what's it like to see her father on those NFL Films highlight shows.

Gilboa Quarry Dive Trip

On Sunday, I traveled to Gilboa Quarry in Northwest Ohio to dive. This was my second trip there, so I did not do video as I did that last time. Here are some photos:

This is the plane



Here is my dive buddy, Landen, inside the plane


Lastly, here is the huge helicopter right in front of the plane

Portage Quarry Dive

I traveled to Bowling Green Ohio on Saturday to dive Portage Quarry. It is a large fresh water quarry in northwest Ohio and my dive buddies were Kevin and Denny. It was a beautiful 80 degree summer day and I am glad that we went as summer is flying by. I wanted to take video, but the visibility was too bad. However, I did take still pictures and the visibility was pretty good by the underwater silo.

On top of the silo is the underwater memorial to Jacques Costeau


This was a very powerful and emotional moment for me and for a second or two, I forgot about being underwater in the quarry.


I felt very awestruck and humbled. Growing up, I watched the Costeau TV National Geographic Society specials and he had an influence on me getting into diving.


Kevin and Denny

Barbados Dive Photos

Not me, though I wish. When I was in Fort Lauderdale, one of my dive buddies was Katherine from Barbados. I sent her photos of our Fort Lauderdale dives and she sent me these photos from her weekend Barbados dive.

Fort Lauderdale Vacation Video

Terrific Fort Lauderdale Restaurants

An Evening Cruise

Turtle Nesting

There were quite a few of these on the beach

Fort Lauderdale Vacation Pictures

Here are some pictures of the Pelican Grand Resort,
our private beach, and beautiful Fort Lauderdale Beach

Fort Lauderdale Reef Dive Photos

After each deep wreck dive, we did a twenty to thirty
foot reef dive. Here are some typical photos of the
reefs off shore of Fort Lauderdale.

Fort Lauderdale Dive Photos

These photos are taken at the Hog Heaven wreck.
It is about 70 feet down. The visibility was
about 30 feet and water temperature was 85 degrees.
Nice dive.

Plyler's Graduation Party

We traveled to New Castle, Pa. to celebrate the Plyer's graduation
party for their daughter Sarah. Here is a picture of four of the
college roommates.

Returned from Fort Lauderdale. Wish we were still there. Pictures and video will be posted.

Stay tuned.