Commentary

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	The Legends Weekend If you missed the Legends of Diving Weekend August 8-10 at Portage Quarry - Shame on You. It was a wonderful time and an opportunity to meet some great people. For photos from the weekend click here.
	Videolights Column November 2008
	Videolights Column September 2008
	Videolights Column August 2008
	Videolights Column July 2008
	Videolights Column May 2008
	New Frog Fish Found
	*Team Scuba is Here*
	*Airport Security*
	*Travel Tips from Tahiti*
	Interesting Link to NOAA's Aquarius Undersea Lab

New Frog Fish Found

My friend Andy in Indonesia sent me this link. The divers at Maluku Divers think they have found a new species. Check it out at their web site.

Maluku Divers

Team Scuba Is Here

For a lot of the years that I was in the diving business I, along with a lot of other divers, struggled with the problem that our sport was not very well known among the general public. I cannot tell you how many times I would say that I owned a dive store in Columbus Ohio and people would get this strange look and then say "Scuba Diving in Ohio?" And at the same time I was always campaigning among other industry professionals that diving needed a public image and a public hero. Now, finally I think someone has done something about it. DAN, NAUI and Dive Training Magazine have united in the sponsorship but not one but two NASCAR vehicles.

For more exciting news about Team Scuba and to view the racing schedules go to:

Airport Security
Airline Travel These Days

I was reading a thread on the Scuba Forum about the issues with the TSA and air line travel and wanted to reply, but there were about a two hundred posts and I decided mine might get lost. So here are my issues.

I am all for safety in air travel and I appreciate my government trying to protect me but:

I flew to Oregon in September of 2006. Normally for a week to visit my brother and sister-in-law I would have taken just a carry on bag. Because this was shortly after the incident in London and all fluids were being banned in carry on bags on planes, I needed to check my bags. I found that ¹⁾ I took more stuff than I normally would because my checked bag was bigger than my carry on would have been and ²⁾I hated the process of waiting for my bags.

I flew to Tahiti in October 2006. My travel companion and I pooled our supply of toiletries, etc and put them in a checked bag. This worked out “OK” because we also had dive bags which we had to check.

When I flew to Orlando in November 2006 for the DEMA show some of the “rules” had been relaxed a bit and I was “allowed” to take small sample sizes of shampoo and stuff onboard the plane. But because I was also taking DAN Instructor courses prior to DEMA and knew I would probably have a lot of books to bring back. I checked a bag so I would have luggage to carry stuff back in. So to avoid hassles at security I put all my toiletries in that checked bag. When I check in on line Continental had a big notice on their web site encouraging people to carry on stuff. It seems that there were so many people checking bags that the baggage handlers were now becoming overloaded.

So when I flew to Nassau in December I had a carry on bag with a zip lock bag full of toiletries etc. In that bag I had a bottle of baby oil (it was a 4 ounce container that was about half full). Well the TSA relieved me of that container in Columbus “because the container – not the continents - was larger than 4 ounces”. They also severely questioned a small travel size refillable container with shampoo and another with crème rinse. When I stopped in the ladies restroom on the other side of the security check there was a mother changing a baby’s diaper. You guess it – she had not a 4 ounce bottle of baby oil but a full size 8 ounce one. She was allowed to carry this through because it was for the baby. I should also mention that I had a full tube of toothpaste (larger than 3 ounces) that went right through (see a note about this later on).

When I left Nassau for a flight to Miami later that month, the nice lady at TSA in Nassau discovered my tooth paste tube (about half empty by this time) and informed me that I needed to put it in my plastic bag. Because it would not fit in the bag I originally had, she gave me a Gallon size bag for everything and sent me on my way.

Well I drove from Orlando to Ginnie Springs and back so there were no TSA issues to deal with on that part of the trip.

When I checked in at Orlando after my trip to Ginnie Springs the TSA relieved me not only of the tooth paste tube (which at this point had about two brushings worth left) but also took the gallon sized bag (they did let me put the rest of the stuff back in the quart sized bag). They also tried to take away a half empty tube of Eucerin (a skin moisturizer) but I successfully argued that it was necessary for a dry skin condition (they had already confiscated the baby oil that I used for the same purpose back in Columbus, if you remember). In that same carry on bag I had an empty water bottle which they did not even look at, much less question.

I am going to Mexico City in January of this year and am torn. I really do not need to check a bag – everything I need will fit in a normal carry on bag but I am going to be there for two weeks and I really would like to have my own shampoo and baby oil. I know that I am not going to some place where I can’t but this stuff, but chances are I will be able to buy the same brands and preferences – and if I do they will probably be in larger sizes than I need. So I will probably end up checking a bag just so I can have my own shampoo with me.

Now, I know these TSA folks think they are doing their job, but there needs to be some constancy here. I have trouble figuring out what two squirts of tooth paste had to do with national security and why can a mother bring on baby oil and an adult who uses it for dry skin can’t.

I don’t know if there really is a solution to this, but one idea I have is for a new perk the airlines can add. How about instead of all the non-relevant and expensive duty free stuff they try to sell us on the plane – they sell some stuff that is useful like shampoo, crème rinse and toothpaste.

Travel Tips From the Experts at Dive Tahiti Blue
Lime: A Natural Antiseptic. Should you encounter any coral cuts, blisters etc., the best way to prevent an infection from forming is to apply fresh lime juice to the cut.

This site was last updated 11/24/09