June 12-14, 2009 - Vintage Dive Gear Rally

LIDA staffers and members scored a big assist at Brownstone Quarry this weekend, in a supporting role to Bob Rusnak and the Northeast Diving Equipment Group’s "Vintage Dive Gear Rally". Like a well oiled machine, the team put approximately 50 divers in the water over 3 days in a variety of heavy gear, from the U.S. Navy Mk V to vintage hardhat gear from China and the Soviet Union. Divers also enjoyed recreational dives all around the site, exploring, interacting with the fishies, and hunting for artifacts. Many thanks to all of the folks from LIDA who came to help, you make us look good!

May 30, 2009 - Kickoff Dive at "Rusnak's Beach"

If ever there was a perfect day of diving and socializing, this was it. Picture perfect weather, a beautiful dive site and the company of 100 of our closest friends made for a day that we will always remember. The site has come to be known as "Rusnak’s Beach", as it was made available to us by longtime supporter Bob Rusnak, who you all know from the Historical Diving Society and his vintage diving gear events. LIDA provided the BBQ and refreshments, including our now world famous "Corn the Long Way", and participants enjoyed a day of non-stop diving and feasting that lasted well into the night. Once again, many thanks to all who participated, we couldn’t do it without you!

May 28, 2009 - Underwater Treasure Hunting

Our May seminar presented a topic that brightens the eye of every diver...treasure! Local diver and treasure hunter Mike McMeekin brought both his treasures and his tales with him, as he told us amazing story after story of his adventures and finds. Mike discussed the various equipment used for treasure hunting, and even more important, the strategy required to successfully locate treasure. Research is the most important part of treasure hunting, which may be less glamorous, but is what yields the most success. Mike described his treasure hunting activities that focus on our local shores and depths, as well as his experiences fossil hunting in South Carolina's Cooper River, hunting for Spanish Gold as part of Mel Fisher's project in Florida, and land based treasure hunting near old hotels and farms. After the presentation, Mike had two tables full of treasures for everyone to see and touch, including shark's teeth, civil war uniform buttons, buckles, musket-balls, and hundreds of coins and rings. Our thanks to Mike for a great presentation.

If you are interested in Treasure Hunting, visit Mike at Treasures Unlimited in Bellmore or Patchogue.

April 25, 2009 - Scoutwalk

In what has become an annual tradition, the Long Island Divers Association teamed with Swim and Scuba Dive Center of Rockville Center to participate in Scoutwalk, an event hosted by the Theodore Roosevelt Council of the Boy Scouts of America. LIDA staffers, joined by Russ Lusterman, representing Swim and Scuba, established a major presence at the event, with coordinators declaring our scuba themed display the crowd favorite. Attended by over 4000 Scouts and their families, Scoutwalk represents a major opportunity for LIDA to present local scuba diving opportunities to outdoors oriented folks, and this year was no exception. Capitalizing on an idea of LIDA Vice-President Barry Lipsky, LIDA introduced a new scuba dunk tank, giving participants the opportunity to experience the thrill of scuba diving without ever having to leave dry land. And experience it they did, with hundreds of kids lining up to search for treasure and sunken U-Boats. Many thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to make this an incredibly successful event.

April 23, 2009 - Taking Competition Quality Underwater Photographs

Our April seminar kicked off the 2009 LIDA Seminar Series with a presentation on basic underwater photography by acclaimed underwater photographers Mark Snyder and Larry Cohen. Using their own photographs, as well as ones submitted by attendees, they demonstrated the techniques used to get the best possible results. They showed how following some basic, simple rules can turn a fair image into a potentially competition winning shot. Then, using the most simple tools, they showed us how to easily edit our photographs, to take a good image and make it into a great image. The presentation was well attended by both novice and experienced underwater photographers, and everyone came away from the event excited to get in the water and shoot. Our sincere thanks to Mark and Larry for taking the time out of their busy schedules, and their continued support of LIDA.

See more about Larry at www.liquidimagesuw.com.
See more about Mark at www.starknakedfish.com.

April 12, 2009 - Seascapes First Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Led by Seascapes Staff Instructor Laurel Brenton, local divers staged an Easter Egg Hunt in the chilly waters of the Great South Bay near the old Oak Beach Inn location. The Long Island Divers Association was there to join in the fun, with approximately 10 divers scouring the bottom for the brightly colored eggs. Seascapes USA generously provided prizes and gift certificates for all of the participants.

March 27-29, 2009 - Beneath the Sea

LIDA once again participated at the Beneath the Sea consumer dive convention in Secaucus, NJ with a booth promoting Long Island diving. The event was well attended, and many people stopped by the booth to find out about the year's planned activities, sign up or renew their membership, to introduce themselves, or just to say hi. There was a mix of old faces and new ones, and everyone seemed excited about the upcoming dive season.

At the show, as in past years, LIDA opened up the registration for the upcoming 2009 Aquawoman dive. We are pleased to announce that the event was completely sold out, and a waiting list was established. This overwhelming response is a testament to the popularity and success of this 28 year old annual event, and the women who participate. LIDA is proud to continue to sponsor the dive and support the diving women of Long Island.

This year, LIDA introduced a completely new booth design, with a fresh look and cleaner focus on the many facets of our activities. LIDA would like to extend its most sincere appreciation to Aaron Hirsh, who gave generously of his time and considerable talents to design the new booth, all its graphics, and to help in securing the materials.

Our artifact display, which is always a big attraction, was expanded to include a third cabinet, allowing us to show more items contributed by local divers. LIDA would like to thank Pat Rooney, Captain Dan Berg, Captain Ed Slater, Jeff Bachman, Mike McMeekin, Bill Gambrill, Bob Auteri, and Janice Raber for lending us their prized artifacts for display at the LIDA booth. We would also like to thank our Vice President Barry Lipsky, for building and donating the cabinet.

We would like to thank all the staff and volunteers for their hard work in setting up, running, and breaking down of the LIDA booth. Finally, our thanks go out to the members of the Longi Island Divers Association, whose continued support enables us to spread the word and promote Long Island diving.

March 28, 2009 - WDHOF Induction of Randi Eisen

On Saturday night March 28th, our own Vice President Randi Eisen was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame. WDHOF Members are the pioneers, leaders, innovators and world record holders throughout the international diving community. There are currently one hundred and forty-six Members in the Women Divers Hall of Fame, hailing from twenty-nine U.S. states and Territories and eleven countries worldwide. Randi's well deserved inclusion in such a distinguished group is a result of her many years of dedicated to the diving community, as well as her achievements as a technical diver and technical diving instructor. LIDA is proud to have Randi as an Officer, and we congratulate her on this distinguished recognition.

September 5, 2008 - The 2008 LIDA Film Festival

On Friday night, September 5th, divers from all around the State converged on the Hofstra University Theater in Hempstead, NY for the 22nd Annual LIDA Film Festival. This sold out event was the culmination of the 2008 dive season, and is one of Long Island's premier diving events each year. This year, the Film Festival featured five spectacular photo and video presentations covering a wide variety of subjects and locations:

Mark Snyder - Bending Light - Stunning imagery and music combined to highlight the diverse species of the Maldives and Indonesia, Mark's work is truly a fresh look at what can be done with a camera and multiple strobes underwater. His use of light is truly unique, making his photos pop from the screen, and will not soon be forgotten. Mark's work has taken him all over the world, and his acclaim has grown, and we appreciate that he took the time to bring this made-for-LIDA presentation home.

Suzanne and Glenn Rankin - Island Reflections - Suzanne and Glenn joined us for the second year as presenters at our Film Festival, showing their beautiful video accompanied by Glenn's own original music compositions. This original, made-for-LIDA presentation compared tropical species to their local Long Island counterparts, and showed the diversity of marine life that can be seen right here off our shores. Their knowledge of marine species combined with stunning local footage, which was hard to distinguish from the tropic footage, proving that diving our shores is just as beautiful and diverse as any tropical destination.

Jim and Pat Stayer - Shifting Sands & the Shallow Wrecks of Whitefish Point - Joining us all the way from Michigan, widely acclaimed divers, authors, and film producers, Pat and Jim showed their presentation of the shallow wreck diving in the Whitefish Point area of Lake Superior. Their amazing footage of such intact and preserved wrecks had even the most die-hard reef divers itching to wreck dive, and the wreck divers, well, they were at the edge of their seats. Pat and Jim are the recipients of too many awards to list for their activities in the field of maritime history, shipwreck preservation, and of course, diving film productions, and their presentation left nobody wondering how they earned their reputations.

Captains Maureen and Stephen Langevin, and Bjorn Kils - Pioneers of Northeast Wreck Diving - The NJ based Dive Voyager team brought their historical documentary to the Film Festival, for a look back to the seeds of local wreck diving. The video presentation was narrated by four of the true pioneers themselves, Mike DeCamp the "Father of Northeast Wreck Diving", Captain Steve Bielenda "King of the Deep", Captain Paul Helpler, who discovered many of our local wrecks, and Gene Geer, early scuba instructor and ocean environmentalist. The documentary chronicled their diving adventures, the early equipment they used, and how they endured hardships to pave the way for growth of the sport and the dive sites we have today. This was a great look back to a time that most divers have never even known about, through a wonderful production by the Dive Voyager team, who we hope to see more from in the near future.

Ed Jameson - The Underwater World of Samson the Frogfish - The grand finale was the unique and stunning 3D imagery of Ed Jameson, an innovative underwater photographer who has designed and built his own equipment for capturing 3D underwater images. A widely acclaimed worldwide presenter, Ed has won numerous awards for his work, and his presentation for us was nothing less than spectacular. His images jump off the screen in full three dimensional representation, as we follow the Frogfish "Samson" across the reef and meet a variety of his "friends". A truly one-of-a-kind presentation, we appreciate the time and effort Ed took to come to Long Island and take us on a trip into Samson's 3D world.

The presentation were followed by the reception, where divers had the chance to meet with the presenters and one another to discuss the presentations, local diving stories, and catch up on friendships. Many door prizes and raffles were won by the participants, and the Winners of the 1st Annual LIDA Photo and Video Contest were awarded. There was plenty of food, wine, beer, and soft drinks, and the party continued well into the early morning hours.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the presenters, who put so much effort into bringing us their wonderful presentations, as well as all of the LIDA staff and volunteers whose efforts made this event so successful.

September 25, 2008 - Spearfishing Long Island

Our September seminar welcomed Matt Sasso, veteran local diver of more than thirty years, who presented the world of Spearfishing as only someone with a deep passion for the sport can. His presentation comprehensively covered the sport of spearfishing, including equipment types and selection, techniques for both novice and experienced spearfishermen alike, safety considerations, dive site selection, local game laws and regulations, and even recipes for preparing the catch, as a packed audience listened attentively. Perhaps the most telling sign of the success of the event was that the Q&A session lasted for over an hour, and even overflowed out of the building, as we exceeded our time in the facility. Matt's presentation was both interesting and highly informative, and we have no doubt that the local dive shops would be taking orders for spearfishing equipment in the near future. Our thanks to Matt for his entertaining presentation, and his continued support of LIDA and the local diving community.

See more about Matt at www.spearfishingextreme.com.

August 2, 2008—Annual Aquawoman Dive

On Saturday, August 2nd, eighteen local woman divers boarded Captain Bill Reddan's Jeanne II dive boat in Sheepshead Bay, and headed out to dive the wreck of the Stolt Dagali, as the 27th annual Aquawoman Dive got underway. The details of the adventures they had, as they celebrated 27 years of local woman divers' accomplishments and prominence in the diving community, have not been revealed, as we know, what happens on an Aquawoman dive, stays on an Aquawoman dive, but everyone agrees that a great time was had by all. The Landlubbers Party at the dock that welcomed the Aquawomen home went on for quite some time, as divers of all genders celebrated the women and their diving accomplishments.

For more information, photos of the event, articles, and historical information, please visit the Aquawoman web site.

July 26, 2008 - 4th Annual Ken & Jean Marie Memorial Dive

On Saturday, July 26th LIDA sponsored the 4th Annual Captain Ken and Jean Marie Jastrzebski Memorial Fundraiser Dive at the Ponquogue Bridge. The diving community once again came together to honor the memory of two very special people who meant so much to so many of us. Once again, the turnout was amazing, as close to 100 divers from all over Long Island and surrounding areas joined to honor and celebrate the lives of Ken and Jean Marie. It was an awesome sight to see so many divers at once diving the Ponquogue Bridge. Conditions were decent, and everyone had a nice dive. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and soft drinks provided by LIDA welcomed the divers back from the depths, accompanied by a diverse array of side dishes, salads, and deserts donated by many attendees. The most significant food of the day was the strawberries and cream, a reminder of Jean Marie's favorite snack to provide divers on the boat at the end of their dives, which anyone who had ever dived with them will remember fondly. Our special thanks to Freddie Hughes who organizes and runs this event every year. It is LIDA's pleasure to assist her in any way we can, but credit for the event and its success belongs completely to her.

July 22, 2008 - Antarctica: My Experiences at the Bottom of the World

Our July seminar welcomed Marine Biologist Marianne McNamara back to the NUMC Amphitheater for an amazing photo-documentary of her two month research expedition to Antarctica. Marianne is no stranger to LIDA, she ran our hugely successful Marine Identification dive, she presented at our Amazing Local Marine Critters seminar, and she is a LIDA member and a local diver. This seminar promised to be entertaining, but what was delivered was simply spectacular. Marianne told stories from her adventure accompanied by her spectacular images, telling the story of what it was like to visit one of the world's most pristine and remote wildernesses. Our most sincere thanks to Marianne for another wonderful presentation, and her continued support.

June 28, 2008 - Discover Local Diving

On June 28th, close to a hundred divers and their families gathered at Cedar Beach County Park to enjoy a day of good friends, food, and diving. Beautiful weather welcomed all to the beach, and kept the fun going throughout the day. Many took advantage of the opportunity to tour the Suffolk County Marine Environmental Learning Center and saw their impressive operation. The event was attended and co-sponsored by Long Island Scuba, Scuba Network, and Hampton Dive Center, and instructors led several Discover Scuba experiences for those willing non-divers who attended. The activities continued until sundown, when another great day of diving Long Island's local waters came to an end. We will surely be back to this site again.

June 12, 2008 - Diving Long Island’s Best Inshore Wrecks

Our seminar series continued featuring dive boat Captains Dan Berg, Howard Klein, Frank Persico, Bill Reddan, and Chuck Wade presenting their favorite inshore wrecks. The presentation included photos, videos, sketches and stories of dives on many local wrecks suitable for divers at all levels. Our thanks to all the Captains for an enjoyable and informative evening.

June 7, 2008 - Secret Beach Cleanup, Dive, and Barbecue

On Saturday, June 7th, divers gathered in Greenport to clean the shores and dive site of Secret Beach of light trash and refuse. Diver access to the popular shore dive site is currently managed by LIDA, and keeping the site clean for all visitors goes a long way to help keep the site accessible to divers. Following the cleanup, several dives were made and a barbecue sponsored by LIDA was enjoyed by all participants.

June 1, 2008 - The Waterfront Center’s Bay Day

On June 1st, LIDA was joined by Seascapes Dive Center of Syosset, The Historical Diving Society, and the Riverhead Foundation for The Oyster Bay Waterfront Center’s Bay Day festival on Beekman Beach. Participating volunteers set up and staffed a group of displays to promote diving to the public. Also present were author and President of the Underwater Historical Research Society, Adam Grohman, and underwater photographer Paul Mila. The combined booths welcomed hundreds of visitors to see the equipment, artifacts on display, and view the underwater videos playing, while discussing the opportunities for diving with our volunteers. The festival, an annual event, featured a wide variety of fun and interesting activities, including trips on the Waterfront Center’s tall ship, the Oyster Sloop Christeen, viewings of other tall ships and the Nantucket Lightship, an “Anything that Floats” race, free kayak trials, live music, and a variety of booths and displays. Our special thanks go to Captain Dan Berg and Adam Altman for the use of their artifacts for our display.

May 7, 2008 - Marine Critters Seminar

Our May Seminar packed the house at the NUMC Amphitheater in East Meadow, as divers came from the tri-state area to hear Marine Biologists Marianne McNamara, Tara Duffy, and the "Fish Guys" Steve Abrams and Bill Chamberlain present the many amazing local critters we have here in our local waters. This fascinating presentation was accompanied by a slideshow that highlighted many beautiful local species, as well as providing a very interesting description of the different types of marine ecosystems that exist in our area. They also presented some very important information as to how our actions impact the local marine environment, and what each of us can do to help preserve our valuable resources and minimize our impact on the marine environment. Our thanks to Glenn Butler and Ed Smith of Life Support Technologies for hosting this event, as well as Marianne, Tara, Steve, and Bill, whose continued support of LIDA and their commitment to the preservation of the local marine environment are greatly appreciated.

April 22, 2008 - Public Safety Seminar

Our April Seminar welcomed Butch Hendrick and Andrea Zaferes from Lifeguard Systems for an interesting and informative presentation on the importance of personal safety in Public Safety diving operations. Many local volunteer divers from fire departments, police scuba teams, and rescue teams joined with local divers at the NUMC Amphitheater in East Meadow, for an interesting and informative discussion of the tools and techniques used in Public Safety diving operations and a presentation of many valuable tips and tricks that benefit diver safety. Our thanks to Glenn Butler and Ed Smith of Life Support Technologies for hosting this event, as well as Butch and Andrea, for their continued support of LIDA and their commitment to Public Safety diver training and safety.

April 19, 2008 - Scoutwalk 2008

On Saturday, April 19th, the Long Island Divers Association joined Steve Scigliano, owner of Swim and Scuba in Rockville Centre, in a booth promoting local diving to Boy Scouts and their families at the Scoutwalk 2008 event at Christopher Morley Park in Roslyn, NY. Hundreds of Boy Scouts and their families visited the booth, where we had scuba units they could put on and try out, a large screen TV showing videos of local diving, and a display of local shipwreck artifacts. The Boy Scout organization took great interest in the opportunities for local diving, and exposing the future generation of potential divers to the local opportunities. Our thanks to Steve Scigliano for organizing the event, as well as to Captain Dan Berg and Adam Altman for the use of their artifacts for our display.