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A Snapshot of Elegance | 
The Queen Mary 2 Reaches An Incredible 236.2 Feet Into The Air. | 
A Local Open-Air Taxi Offers A Ride To The Marina |
|  "Royalty" Visits Sail Caribbean Divers 
Our Course Director, Mike Rowe, meets with the QM2 Shore Excursions Manager, Jim O'Conner, on board. | On December 31, 2004 (New Year's Eve) Sail Caribbean Divers welcomed Cunard's Queen Mary 2 cruise ship. As Tortola is not a usual stop for the world's largest, longest, tallest, grandest ocean liner, it was an exciting occasion. Originally built in South Hampton England, she stretches 1,132 ft. in length and can travel with up to 2,620 passengers in her prestigious accommodations. Sail Caribbean Divers was proud to offer QM2 guests both diving and snorkeling excursions which filled to capacity. Both staff and customers had a fantastic day out on our world class reefs and wrecks. Additional Sail Caribbean Divers excursions are scheduled for the ship's return on January 5, 2005. |
A Quick Tender Into The Ferry Dock
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Smiling Group of Satisfied Divers
With SCD Staff |
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| A GREAT Trip! Dear Mike & Crew, Just a note to say "Thank You" for a great snorkeling expedition. I know one person in particular, who wants to move down to the B.V.I. and work for "Captain Mike".
Thanks again, my nephew, brother-in-law, wife, and myself all had a great time. Enclosed you will find pictures of our outing.
Best Wishes, Roger P. Sirangelo, Jr. | |
A First For the RMS Rhone  When one of a group of die-hard divers that were our guests for a week in early October surfaced from a dive on the bow section of the famous shipwreck claiming he had seen a seahorse, he was met with much sniggering, cries of "yeah sure" and suggestions that he should maybe visit an optician. However, he smugly produced photographic evidence to substantiate his claim. As far as we are aware, this is the first recorded sighting of a seahorse around these parts in many years.
| Hermit Crab Race The 6th Annual Sail Caribbean Divers Crab Race took place recently outside our fill station on Cooper Island. Hosted by Kirk Gilbert and noisily contended by the crews from various vessels in the mooring field, the winning crab romped home in just under 4 minutes.
| Gypsy Divers "The Gypsy Divers" from North Carolina recently enjoyed their second year's diving with Sail Caribbean Divers during their week at Cooper Island Beach Club. They said they had a fantastic time, diving at least twice a day with the occasional extra afternoon and night dive. We look forward to seeing them all again next year. | Dive Junkies A big thank you to the "Staley" group who dived with us during their stay at Cooper Island Beach Club. Diving different sites every day, from reefs to wrecks, they managed to clock up an impressive 18 boat dives, including 2 night dives - they even dived most nights from shore! One of the highlights of the week was a trip to The Chikuzen, which was teeming with marine life. The group of 12 from Ohio had set out to "dive, dive, dive" and that's definitely what they achieved - many of them logging 25 dives during their weeklong vacation! In fact, they dived so hard they didn't have time to drink all the beer they'd brought with them! We look forward to their next trip to the BVI |
Sail Caribbean Divers Sponsors
Underwater/Beach Cleanup of Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island  A group from Sail Caribbean Divers and their friends participated in an underwater/beach cleanup at Manchioneel Bay, Cooper Island on Saturday, September 18, 2004. By the end of the day, the intrepid gang had collected 16 trash bags full of towels, pegs, bottles, cans, silverware, crockery and other assorted items that had found their way into the mooring field from the sail boats that use it - all weighing in at a whopping 600lbs. The most interesting find was a fire hose!!!???
Last year there were more than 200 beach cleanups sponsored by scuba facilities throughout the United States. Sail Caribbean Divers, located at Hodge's Creek Marina, Tortola, is conducting this event in conjunction with PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors), The Project AWARE Foundation and the Center for Marine Conservation's International Cleanup Day. PADI's Project AWARE program (Aquatic World Awareness, Responsibility and Education) is designed to educate the public, both those who dive and those who do not, about the need to protect fragile aquatic areas. Project AWARE events take place at various times throughout the year. The month of September has been designated as Project AWARE month. During this month, hundreds of PADI dive centers and resorts throughout the world will conduct beach and underwater cleanup activities, educational seminars and courses related to these concepts. |
Kathy Stahl Gets Certified To Dive!
The staff was wonderful, and it was really fun for me to introduce Kathy to so many of my friends from my visit in May. Words just can't describe how Kathy felt to accomplish this. After the fifth surgery in June when her doctor told her she could now absolutely pursue her SCUBA certification, she was so excited, that her toes didn't stop wiggling until she stepped into the water off Cooper Island last week. And what made it really special was that after her final checkout dive she climbed out of the water onto Discovery as a diver...let's just say that there were a few tears of joy! It all just seemed to make it perfect for Kathy and as she always imagined it would be.
By all means, use any of the photos that you would like for the website...we'd be honored. Let me know if you need anything else. Sieg Stahl 
| A Note From Kathy Stahl
Good news: You have the greatest people working for you! They were awesome! I didn't know anyone when I got there, and had a ton of new best friends when I left. They were patient with their resident new diver! They made me feel so very comfortable that I just cannot begin to tell you how wonderful they made me feel. I sincerely hope that I did not make them crazy, as they were just the best to me!
The best part....coming out of the water after the 4th open water dive, and finishing my dive by climbing up the ladder onto Discovery! Of course, it took just a bit longer to climb up, as that was a new experience with a BCD, tank, and weights!!! Being officially certified and being on Discovery--man, it was just they way it was meant to be! First boat dive--off Discovery, way cool.
Best dive experience..... finally getting perfectly neutral and not being concerned about landing on top of what I was trying to show Sieg. Started with 20 lbs of weight and ended up with 16 lbs. Yeah!
Your staff, they did you proud! I can hardly wait until next August! And not only did I get to dive, but I even got Sieg to willingly snorkel, and I think he even enjoyed it!
Again, thank you for hiring such great staff They are really just the best! (Cue the music for Tina Turner's "Simply the Best"!!)
Kathleen Stahl |
New Dive Instructors Hit the Caribbean In September, Sail Caribbean Divers a PADI 5 Star IDC Gold Palm Resort in Tortola, BVI hosted their semi-annual PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC). With Course Director Mike Rowe leading the way, candidates from the USA, UK, Australia, The Netherlands and New Zealand dove into an intense week packed with 70 hours of classroom teaching, water skills presentations, and rescue scenarios. Candidates were preparing for evaluation to become Open Water Scuba Instructors and certification as Instructor Development Course Staff Instructors. After little sleep, crazy studying, and lots of laughs, the Sail Caribbean Divers team tackled the rigorous, two-day PADI Instructor Examination and passed...100%. Sail Caribbean Divers will offer the next IDC adventure in May 2005. The cost is $1,150 and reservations are being taken now! |
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