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Hello Divers,

We are getting into the holiday season at SSDS and we have a lot of gear and trips on sale that you might want to give a diver for Christmas. Before we tell you about that, we need to let you in on a few other things that have happened lately.

We were blessed with good weather and diving conditions all season until about 4 weeks ago. Then it turned bad and you have probably noticed that most of our weekend trips to Florida and South Carolina have been postponed. This happens sometimes unfortunately but the weather always dictates our diving. It is much better to cancel a trip than to travel all that way and have a miserable time. We have a couple of trips over the next few weekends and then we will start over in Jan of 2010 with our regular weekend travel.

Southern Skin Divers Supply has just returned from the annual dive industry trade show (DEMA) in Orlando. Every year we attend to meet face to face with various equipment, travel destination, and agency representatives to try and get the best quality product for our members. This year SCUBA Schools International invited SSDS to their social. There were several hundred industry representatives in attendance to witness six instructors from across the country earn the highest honor a recreational SCUBA instructor can attain. Our very own Spencer Phillips, has now been recognized as an SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor. Those of you that know Spencer, or that read this newsletter, know that he dives several weekends a month and has since he was a little boy. When you have been diving that frequently for so long, the dives add up once you are in your early 30's like Spencer. The Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor award cannot be purchased. A candidate must be nominated by multiple members of the Foundation as well having a documented training log of thousands of dives and thousands of courses taught. Spencer is also one of the youngest instructors ever to receive this honor. We were all very proud to be there for his award.

Upon returning from Orlando, SSDS received a call from the Sheriff's Department about a recovery dive. Southern Skin Divers Supply is the headquarters for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Dive Team. A thief had burglarized a home and stolen valuable property belonging to the owner. While running from the local law enforcement, the thief desperately tried to swim off with the loot. He had to ditch everything in order to prevent his drowning. Once he was apprehended, we were called in to try to recover all of the victims belongings. Our team worked very well together using our new OTS communications equipment, as well as having some good help from the local Police Department. It was very satisfying to recover all of the items stolen (guns, gold watches, cash, jewelry, coin collection and other valuables) and return them to their owner on site.

SSDS has a large inventory right now and we have specials on most gear in time for your Christmas shopping. Our most popular buoyancy compensator for the past 4 years, the Aqua-Lung Pro QD, has a $100 Christmas discount from now until the end of the year. This is a great BC and with this sale price even better. Every wrist Suunto computer as well as the Cobra air integrated hose mount computer is $150 off and if you purchase a BC, regulator and computer you will get an Air Source 3 second stage/power inflator combo. You can even try any and all of this equipment here in our pool before you buy.

Not only is SSDS the local distributor for Ocean Rhino Spearguns, but we can also offer training, options and even a pool to practice in. All of the guns in stock now are 10% to 15% off until the end of the year.

We are also your underwater photography headquarters featuring Ikelite and Sealife products. SSDS is a full line dealer for both of these companies and that enables us to provide an excellent warranty and knowledge of most of their products. Right now we have stocked multiple high quality point and shoot camera packages from both companies as well as some high end DSLR systems and a couple of High Definition video packages that would make great gifts for the diver that already has almost everything.

Dive into underwater videography with this incredibly compact and simple to use combination. The Compact Video housing is high quality, built to last, and backed by Ikelite's long-standing reputation for excellence. A full line of accessories allows you to really get creative with your underwater video.
All camera controls are fully functional through the housing and depth rated to 200ft (60m). Easy open latch and drop in camera loading make set-up a breeze.
Includes a 1cc tube of silicone lubricant, vinyl lanyard and removable UR/Pro color correcting filter for tropical blue water settings.

Where we going next??

January 15-17 Spear fishing in Panama City, FL
We will primarily be hunting Grouper this time of year. The water is still going to be cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Mangrove Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. One of the nicest and spear friendly vessels in the panhandle will be our private charter for this winter weekend adventure.

February 12-15 Manatee, Crystal River, FL Trip
The water is a constant 72 degrees here year round. This means that in the winter it is considerably warmer than the ocean, so there will be a larger congregation of Manatee in this area. We have chosen a holiday weekend to enable kids to participate in this encounter with these giant mammals. This should give us plenty of time to have two long days of snorkeling and diving in Crystal River as well as some of the nearby springs.

April 21st - May 2nd, 2010 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. About half of the spaces on this trip are taken so let us know soon if you are interested. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205-595-3052
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Divers,

We are about to close out our April 21-May 2/2010 trip to Truk Lagoon. We do still have a few spaces left on this once in a lifetime trip to Micronesia. In the next few days we are going to let go the airplane tickets that we have reserved that are not spoken for. More than likely, the price for the airfare will rise after that so now is the time to tell us if you ever want to see Truk. You will also get enough frequent flyer miles on this trip for a free airplane ticket anywhere in the continental US. Once we depart in 2010 on this trip, five years will have passed since our last time there so this is not a trip that we do every year or so. Don't miss it.

Thousands of miles from the frantic pace of big cities, Truk Lagoon offers an unparalleled variety of dive experiences. Once a stronghold for the Japanese Imperial Navy, now captures forever the destruction of a very powerful military force. In their stillness these wrecks are covered in a kaleidoscope of colorful tropical fish and corals. Beyond these ghostly wrecks lie the reefs and atolls of Micronesia. The underwater beauty is breathtakingly exquisite and unimaginably prolific. Huge soft corals and sea fans with vibrant colors and schools of Pacific tropical fish create constant movement in an ever changing marine environment.

Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call.

Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL. 35222
205-595-3052

Hello Divers,

Since our last newsletter we have been busy teaching open water students and this coming up weekend, Spencer and Mark will be certifying them in Panama City, FL. Our upcoming wreck trip, the Flounder trip and the Bonaire trip that the two of them are taking are already sold out but we do have some other trips with availability. Mark and I will be offering some continuing education later on this month and in November. And speaking of Mark, he has been employed with the City of Hoover's Police Department as a Crime Scene Investigator. After 25 years of service with Hoover, Mark has retired. I know what you are thinking, and yes he is that old. Now that he is retired, he will be teaching at SSDS even more with me and Spence and taking divers on our weekend trips often. He is the proud owner of a new Canon DSLR camera with an Ikelite housing and strobe and now with the time, I could see him taking some more magazine cover quality shots soon.

October 16th-18th Orange Beach, AL Spearfishing
This will be the last trip of the season for spearfishing off the Alabama Gulf Coast. We have been able to dive with a lot of you doing this type of diving this year. Our spearfishing team, The Tourists, just finished competing in the four week Orange Beach Spearfishing tournament and came in second place in the team award as well as winning several individual awards and even a little money. This weekend we will be diving in the same area where these fish were taken. We have a house rented as well as a privately chartered vessel. The water is still warm and conditions are good so let's go one more time before it gets too cold.

November 13th -15th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we did just last weekend. It was one of our most productive trips here in a long time and we are going to try and do it again. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. We are going to try and have a couple of boats and dive in two different rivers this time. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

April 21st - May 2nd, 2010 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. About half of the spaces on this trip are taken so let us know soon if you are interested. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call.
Continuing Education

Oct 28th, Nov 7th, Nov 14th 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.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two and a half 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

New Equipment and Specials
We are currently having a sale at SSDS on all Cobra, D4, D6 and D9 computers. It is an in store rebate taken at the counter so if you are wanting to upgrade or need a backup computer, now is a good time. Also we have started selling the new Ikelite underwater housing for the Flip Ultra HD camera. Both of these would make great Christmas gifts for many divers.

Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL. 35222
205-595-3052
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Divers,
We have a lot of trips to let you know about in this newsletter but before we do that we should tell you about some of the recent happenings. As most of you know, we continue to have trips every weekend year round with weather permitting and this year we have been fortunate to have good weather mostly. A couple of weeks ago one of our group trips were diving out of Orange Beach, Alabama and a Whale Shark with about 50 Cobia swam between some of our divers. Frequently, Whale Sharks are still being seen throughout the Panhandle so get down there if you can. One of the trips that you could see these magnificent creatures on is the shallow water wreck trip like Mark has been taking divers on every month. Here are some shots from previous ones.

Spencer and Steve just returned from another Bering Sea gold diving trip near Nome, Alaska. They had a great time in Nome this summer and are looking forward to next year. Following his return from Alaska, Spencer was off to Panama City, Florida with a group of new divers continuing the over 56 year tradition that Southern Skin Divers Supply started, certifying our divers in the Florida Panhandle.

Meanwhile,
Forrest has been taking spearfishers competing in the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament that is currently underway until Sept. 19.

Now for what's coming up.

October 23rd - 25th Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way Mark will get some great photos of everybody. We might even be fortunate enough to see some of the Whale Sharks that have been hanging around. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately for this weekend.

November 13th -15th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

November 20th - 22nd Panama City, FL Flounder trip
We have privately chartered one of the newest dive boats in the area for our annual Flounder trip. Once we were able to take 180 fish in two days and although that was the best, we still usually do very well. This is the best time of year for Flounder. The Flounder are usually in the 30 to 50 ft range in the sand around structures. This is a great trip to learn to spear fish. A speargun is not necessary, a pole spear and bag work best. We will take what we catch on Saturday to the Captain's Table restaurant for them to prepare it for us. We should all have plenty to carry home on Sunday.

December 27th, 2009 - January 3rd, 2010 Bonaire
The Island of Bonaire has perhaps the best shore diving in the Caribbean. No cattle boat diving here, in fact it is not necessary to even set foot on a boat unless you want to. 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 is round trip airfare on a direct flight from Atlanta to Bonaire, oceanfront condo accommodations, truck rental, breakfast daily, unlimited air diving and Nitrox diving if you are Nitrox certified. Spencer and Mark will be running this trip so give us a call at The SCUBA School for more details.

April 21st - May 2nd, 2010 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
Truk Lagoon is without a doubt, the undisputed shipwreck diving capitol of the world. This will be Steve's sixth trip to Truk and in that time he has logged hundreds of dives there. Together he and Forrest are taking a group privately chartering one of the largest liveaboards in the world. Countless coral and fish surround the Japanese shipwrecks of World War II that lie in broad ranges of diving depths comfortably satisfying novice to experienced divers. Some divers usually manage 30-35 dives per week. The diving will be from one of the multiple dive tenders with experienced guides taking 4 or 5 divers to alternate sections of each site. This will insure that diver congestion will not impede the photographic opportunities. These Japanese war ruins consist of many conceivable war tools of that era. Tanks, cars, trucks, guns, cannons, airplanes, torpedoes, depth charges, tugboats and barges are all found and many intact. For more info about this incredible, once in a lifetime adventure, give us a call. Here is a link to some of Mark's photos from our last trip to Truk ==> TRUK

Southern Skin Divers Supply

Hello Divers,

Before we let you know about all of the new things happening at The SCUBA School we want to tell you about a great opportunity to dive the Gulf Coast right now. Every day we get calls from friends in Panama City, Orange Beach and other places along the panhandle about Whale Sharks! They are showing up daily all over the panhandle so now is the time if you have ever wanted to see a whale shark. We have had a great season so far with mostly calm seas and very clear water and now with the frequent whale shark experiences, it is hard to beat the Gulf Coast diving right now. This weekend, Mark Tant, is taking 15 divers on a private wreck charter in Panama City for two days hoping to see one of these "largest fish species in the sea". Nobody really knows why they are here now or for how long they will hang around the area so whether you go with us or not, take your camera and go diving.

Spencer and Steve have a few more weeks left before they return home from Alaska. As most of you know, the two of them have been diving 17 years in a row near Nome, Alaska in search for gold.

August 21st -23rd Spearfishing, Orange Beach, AL
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach, Alabama. We will be shooting fish on some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also included in this trip are the entrance fees to the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament and a t-shirt. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with. Check out alabamaspearfishing.com for more information about this tournament.

September 11th - 13th Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way Mark will get some great photos of everybody. We might even be fortunate enough to see some of the Whale Sharks that have been hanging around. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a class on the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle and we have it chartered privately for this weekend.

October 2nd - 4th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

December 27th, 2009 - January 3rd, 2010 Bonaire
Just yesterday, we purchased air plane tickets as well as condominium accommodations and rental trucks for a group after Christmas to Bonaire. The Island of Bonaire has perhaps the best shore diving in the Caribbean. No cattle boat diving here, in fact it is not necessary to even set foot on a boat unless you want to. 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 is round trip airfare on a direct flight from Atlanta to Bonaire, oceanfront condo accommodations, truck rental, breakfast daily, unlimited air diving and Nitrox diving if you are Nitrox certified. Spencer and Mark will be running this trip so give us a call at The SCUBA School for more details.

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.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs three 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 certificates during this course.

Spearfishing Equipment
Our divers that travel with us know that I teach and take people spearfishing a couple of weekends a month year round. Recently SSDS has started selling a couple of pieces of equipment that will enhance a spear fishers ability to get fish. The first piece is a custom made camouflage 3mm wetsuit for spearfishing. This is the warmest 3mm suit I have ever worn, as warm as any 5mm I have ever owned. It has glued and blind stitched seams with reinforced stress areas. This means that it is a true closed cell suit. You can even test it by holding it closed on one end and blowing it up like a balloon. If the air can't get in and out, neither can water. Your body will warm the water and since there will be almost no exchange in water, it will insulate you keeping you warm dive after dive. It also has tire flex knee pads and a cocking pad to keep bruising to a minimum when loading your gun. We also are dealers for the brand new Ocean Rhino Spearguns below.

Ocean Rhino RX Series Spearguns
These are very durable guns suitable for hunting around the artificial reefs of our area. The Rhino liner protects the gun when bumping against the structure you are on and being a wood gun makes for a quieter shot. It also comes with a commercial muzzle that keeps the shaft straight and makes it more accurate when fired. There are also many upgrades that can be added later on down the road to truly customize this gun for changing conditions. Come see me at The SCUBA School so I can show you these exciting pieces of spearfishing equipment.

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

Hello Divers,
Since our last newsletter a lot of training has taken place at The SCUBA School.

Also, we have just returned from several group dive trips. Spencer and seventeen of our divers spent a week on a private chartered Live A Board in Belize. It was a wonderful trip with great diving, excellent food and a great time had by all. Here are some photos from the trip that were taken by Brandi Baugher.

Mark took a group wreck diving in Panama City, FL and was one of the first groups to dive the newest wreck "The Red Sea" in P.C. While down there, the group saw multiple Goliath Groupers, some in the 300 to 400 lbs. range. Here are some of Mark's shots from the trip.

Steve is busy spending his 17th summer dredging for gold in Nome, Alaska. I am sure he will have some great stories and hopefully a lot of gold when he comes home in September.

Forrest has been busy taking divers every other weekend spearfishing off the Alabama gulf coast. Speaking of diving off the Alabama gulf coast, now we have a tool to help us predict sea conditions for some of the diving in this area. For years we have had to rely on a weather buoy anchored 68 miles south of Dauphin Island in almost 800 feet of water.

The conditions oftentimes are different closer to shore where the bulk of diving and fishing is done. We are now using the data from a new buoy 12 miles south of Perdido Pass, so the next time you are planning a trip to be on the water off the Alabama gulf coast go to www.wunderground.com/MAR/buoy/42012.html to see the data from that buoy.

All of us at Southern would like to wish Bill Tant a happy 80th birthday which he recently celebrated with a lot of the divers from Southern's early days. Bill started Southern Skin Divers in 1953 and is a pioneer in scuba diving and a living legend. He is the one in the middle.

July 17th -19th South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodon bones (just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

August 14th -16th Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
Mark will be leading a group to dive some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, Florida. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way Mark will get some great photos of everybody. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle that we have chartered privately for this weekend.

August 21st -23rd Spearfishing, Orange Beach, AL
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach, Alabama. We will be shooting on some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also included in this trip are the entrance fees in the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament and a t-shirt. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with.

July 23, 4PM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

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 concerning 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.

Give us a call.

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

Hello Divers,

The past few weeks we have been training divers 5 days a week here at The SCUBA School. As most of you know, every weekend we offer at least one group trip somewhere for divers to go on once they are certified. Just last weekend, Spencer was certifying a group of students at the St. Andrews State Park Jetties and they had a special treat; they had about 50 Cow Nose Rays swimming with them in the shallow water on Sunday.

A week earlier Spencer took a group on our South Carolina river trip and one of our friends found a beautiful Native American spear point while another one of our other divers found an incredible clay smoking pipe with a females likeness carved on it.

Meanwhile, Forrest has been taking multiple groups competing in Alabama's longest spearfishing tournament to date. To read more about spearfishing go to these links: www.tomh2o.com & www.alabamaspearfishing.com

This upcoming weekend Spencer is taking a group of 18 divers to Belize to do a week's worth of live-aboard diving while Forrest has another group spearing off the Alabama Gulf Coast. What we are saying is there is a lot of diving going on right now so let us know if you want to go.

June 26-28 Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
This weekend trip Mark will be taking a group diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf is as clear now as it has been in a long time and if it stays that way I think Mark will take one of his nice cameras and get some great shots of everybody. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel. This is one of the nicest dive boats in the Florida Panhandle that we have chartered privately for this weekend.

July 10-12 Spearfishing in Panama City, FL
Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper as well as Red Snapper, Black Snapper, Triggerfish, Cobia and Amberjacks. Mark will also have a group of divers at the Springs and Jetties so we will try to all meet up at the Captain's Table restaurant in St Andrews for some of our fresh catch. We have a good selection of the newest Ocean Rhino Spearguns available at The SCUBA School right now so if you need a new gun come see what we have. We also have some high quality gun bands and spear tips for your guns that you already have and have a new heavy duty polespear capable of handling big fish as well.

July 17-19 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

Training
July 23, 4PM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

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 concerning 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.

July 22, 25 and Aug 1st 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.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two - four 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

Let's go diving!

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

May 7, 2009

Hello Divers,

We have been very busy at the Scuba School with lots of open water classes and continuing education. We also have 2 sold out international trips coming up, one to Cozumel and the other to Belize. We are also planning our super trip for next April to Truk Lagoon in Micronesia. On this trip we have our own private liveaboard and crew. This trip has some of the best diving around and is the best wreck diving in the world. Forrest and Spencer's dad Steve is leading this trip and is an expert on this area. He has been there 6 times and is very familiar with the area. We will have more information on this trip in upcoming emails. Here is a link to some of Mark Tant's photos from one of our previous trips. ==>> Truk

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department dive team has also have been training at the Scuba School with their new full face masks with underwater communications which enables the divers to talk with each other and with the surface crew. This will be a very helpful tool for the blackwater conditions that the dive team usually experiences. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department dive team is the first in the country to have the OTS Guardian mask and Southern Skin Divers Supply can order these for other dive teams out there.

Trips

May 22-24 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

May 29-31, Orange Beach Spearfishing

We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach Alabama shooting off some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also, during this time the Alabama Spearfishing Association is holding their 5th annual Red Neck Riviera Spearfishing Tournament. If anyone diving with us wants to participate they will be able to. Spearfishers that are diving from their own boat are also encouraged to sign up. Just go to www.alabamaspearfishing.com and print an application for this tournament. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with. There will also be lots of prizes given away to participants at the awards ceremony on June 27. This is a six week contest from May 15 until June 27 and now is the time to enter. Orange Beach Spearfishing

June 26-28 Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

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 concerning 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.

June 10,13 and 14th 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.

The program is about avoiding, recognizing and solving problems on the surface and under water. The course runs two - four 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

Give us a call

Spencer Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, Al. 35222
205-595-3052
www.ssdsupply.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 2, 2009

Hello Divers,

Well things at The SCUBA School are off to a fast start for spring having already certified a lot of divers. We are currently teaching five days a week getting ready to complete another group in the next three weeks. We have several group trips in the near future to let you know about and on a couple of them, we need to know right away if you are interested. Before we get into that, we need to give you an update on the Spring Break Cayman Islands Liveaboard that we just returned from. Every Spring Break, Southern Skin Divers Supply, takes a group trip somewhere in the Caribbean for a fun week of family diving. Spring Break is one of the few times of year that the entire family can dive together, especially if you have kids that like to go on dive trips with other kids. This trip ended up being the best Spring Break trip we have ever done.

After a 2 hour and 35 minute direct flight from Atlanta we were met at the airport in Grand Cayman by a representative of the Liveaboard that we were diving with to assist us with luggage and to transfer the group to the vessel. Once on board the group was introduced to the crew that would be taking care of us for the week followed shortly by some of the best barbeque I have ever had. This week we were blessed with excellent weather and diving conditions, enabling us to dive up to 5 dives per day on Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and over 15 dives on the world famous Bloody Bay Wall section of Little Cayman. The visibility was often 150 feet and with most of the dives starting in around 20 feet of water, it made for an easy week of stress free diving. The crew treated us spectacular taking care of every possible need instantly. All of the meals were superior and plentiful and even between dives there were freshly made snacks just to hold every one over until the next big meal. I can't say enough good things about the overall quality of this dive trip so instead I'll just let you know that we are already planning to do another one almost exactly like this one, next Spring Break, March 13-20/2010. If you are interested, please contact us for more details.

Here are some additional pictures from the trip.

Upcoming Trips - (details on the Trips & Travel link)

April 17-19 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

April 24-26 Spearfishing in Panama City, FL
Grouper season just reopened on April 1st. The water is still going to be a little cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Black Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. Spencer will also have a group of divers at the Springs and Jetties so we will try to all meet up at the Captain's Table restaurant in St Andrews for some of our fresh catch. There is a good selection of spearguns at The SCUBA School right now so if you need a new gun come see what we have. We also have some high quality gun bands and spear tips for your guns that you already have and have a new heavy duty polespear capable of handling big fish as well.

May 30-June 6, Cozumel Mexico
We have just set this trip up and have limited availability. If you have never experienced drift diving, you need to give Cozumel a try. Upon descent divers follow a guide along the reef allowing the current to carry you along effortlessly. The boat you dive from either follows the group's bubbles or the guides surface marker device attached to a reel. Upon surfacing the boat is there waiting on you so there is no long swim back to the boat. This trip includes RT airfare from Birmingham to Cozumel, oceanfront hotel accommodations (double occ), breakfast daily, taxes and airport transfers, and 5 days of 2 tank boat diving. The cost is $1275 per diver. We also have different prices for non divers, children 12 and under, and triple occupancy as well. This trip is soon so please give us a call if you want to go.

June 13-20/2009, Belize Liveaboard
The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is almost sold out. There are only two spaces still available. This is a very luxurious vessel almost exactly like the one we just returned from in the Caymans and we have booked the whole thing. We expect the same high quality vessel, diving crew and food and I am sure those of you that go, will not be disappointed. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

June 26-28 Shallow Water Wreck Diving, Panama City.
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

April 8th, 4PM Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

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 concerning 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.

Hello Divers,

We have some good news to tell you about first thing in this newsletter. Morrison Springs near Ponce de Leon, Florida is now open for diving again. Southern Skin Divers took a group of almost two dozen divers to dive this opening weekend of the springs. This was the first big group of divers to dive there since the grand opening and Forrest and Spence were met at the gate by our original founder Bill "Cap'n SCUBA" Tant. Bill wanted to see the divers like so many thousands and thousands of divers he brought from Birmingham to dive Morrison Springs since he found it in the 1950's.

Bill was on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday Feb 26 signing autographs and doing interviews for television and newspapers. Diving conditions are pretty much the same once you are in the water. Changes topside include outside rinse station for gear and showers, restrooms, the covered pavilion has new picnic tables with charcoal grills, two floating platforms with ladders and a long wooden walkway extending into the water. No longer do divers and boaters have to squabble over the same area to enter the water. A boat launch has been built down river keeping boaters from launching and idling over divers heads.

March 11, 2009 Enriched Air Nitrox, at The SCUBA School

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 concerning 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.

Upcoming Trips

March 21-22 shore and entry level boat diving, Panama City
Spencer will be taking another group on some shore diving and boat diving. This is a good trip for newer divers wanting more experience. We will be diving some of the shallow water inshore wrecks in Panama City. Also, if it has been a few months since you have been in the water or if you just have cabin fever, come go with us.

April 3-5 Spearfishing in Panama City, FL
Grouper season will open on April 1st so we are going the first weekend in April. The water is still going to be cool so they are in from deep water for now. Also it is usually clearer this time of year. Panama City has a lot of Red and Gag grouper in the 10 to 20 lbs range in 60 to 100 ft of water. As usual we will also try to get some Black Snappers, Triggerfish and Amberjacks. There is a good selection of spearguns at The SCUBA School right now so if you need a new gun come see what we have.

April 17-19 South Carolina River Trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

April 24-27, Oriskany, Orange Beach, AL

Southern Skin Divers Supply will be diving soon from one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Panhandle area. We have chartered this boat along with its crew for the entire weekend. Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

The Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. She 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 68 ft and there is plenty to see above 100 ft, perfect for recreational diving. There are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive so call us for more info. Passport diver price is $525 for wreck diver certification and processing fees, two nights in a hotel and two days of offshore wreck diving including one day on the Oriskany. If you don't want the certification, it is $450 for both days of diving and two nights in a hotel.

June 13-20/2009, Belize Liveaboard

The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is almost sold out. There are only two spaces still available. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

Mark Tant has grown up in the SCUBA business. He has been an instructor at one of the original SCUBA Schools in the country (Southern Skin Divers Supply, Birmingham, AL) and in over 29 years of teaching, has certified over 2000 divers. In 2008 Mark was recognized at DEMA as a Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor. And although Mark is a very accomplished diver and instructor, his full time career for the past 23 years has been a Police Officer with the City of Hoover, Alabama. Detective Tant is a Crime Scene Investigator and is the departments primary latent examiner and a member of the Police Department's Special Response Dive Team. For a few months he has been working with a new fingerprint technology that allows an examiner to do a fingerprint search in minutes that would have previously taken months or even years. Because of this, many cases have been solved recently for the City of Hoover as well as other surrounding areas. On February 19, 2009 Detective Mark Tant was recognized as the City of Hoover's Police Officer of the Year. Congratulations Mark!

Hello Divers,

Before we let you know about some of the upcoming news here at The SCUBA School we want to thank the volunteers that helped us at the Birmingham Boat Show last week. Every year Southern Skin Divers Supply has a booth at the show and many volunteers have helped us get the word out about diving to future divers. While at the show this year we saw hundreds of former students proving that the Boat Show has been a valuable recruiting tool and we appreciate everyone that has helped us there.

And speaking of a recruiting tool, Southern Skin Divers Supply has had forty people this week participate in a free SCUBA Experience. Having instructors that work here five days a week, a pool on site and all of the required equipment, enables us to offer this service to people that want to try it first with no financial obligation. This is a great time of year to do this before we start training most of the day and have trips every weekend. If you know someone that is on the fence about diving, send them our way to try a free SCUBA Experience.

Upcoming Trips

Southern Skin Divers Supply will be diving soon from one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Panhandle area. We have chartered this boat along with its crew for the entire weekend. Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

The Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. She 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 68 ft and there is plenty to see above 100 ft, perfect for recreational diving. There are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive so call us for more info. Passport diver price is $525 for wreck diver certification and processing fees, two nights in a hotel and two days of offshore wreck diving including one day on the Oriskany. If you don't want the certification, it is $450 for both days of diving and two nights in a hotel.

We are down to four spaces left on the Belize Live-Aboard we are taking this Summer. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

In late January, Forrest and Spencer took a group of divers spearfishing out of Panama City, FL. The seas were calm, it was warm outside and visibility was good to great on all dives. We were able to fill the cooler with Red Grouper, Gag Grouper, Black Snapper, Triggerfish and Lobsters.

One of the sites we went to was a real shipwreck and a famous one at that, The Tarpon. I say real because most of the wrecks that people dive on in the Gulf are actually artificial reefs that were stripped and placed there for fishing and diving. The Tarpon went down in a storm in 1937 and since has been named a State of Florida Underwater Archeological Preserve, so no artifact collecting here.

Southern Skin Divers Supply were the original divers to start the diving on The Tarpon in the 1950's with Bill Tant and to this day, the anchor is on display for all to see in St Andrews.

We are also doing an open water certification trip the last weekend of February to Panama City. Any of our members are welcome to tag along if you want to do some diving. The first day will be to the freshwater springs and on Sunday we will dive the jetties at St. Andrews park.

Come see us!

Hello Divers,

What a year 2008 has been. While skimming through my logbook and reading previous newsletters on our website, I am reflecting back to some of the adventures we at Southern Skin Divers Supply were able to experience with many hundreds of you. Some of you completed your first wreck dives in the Gulf Coast while others have been diving these same sites with us for many years. Many of you found some great relics, fossils, artifacts and gold and these vivid memories will last a lifetime. We did a lot of spearfishing this year, enjoying the best Red Snapper in the world right off our Gulf Coast. It was good to see so many familiar faces during the spearfishing tournaments and although we didn't always win the award, Southern Skin Divers never lose at having a good time.

We will hit the ground running in January with our first Gulf Coast trip of the year. After that we have already booked two liveaboards, one to the Cayman Islands and the other to Belize. We will more than likely have another land based trip to Bonaire or Hawaii in 2009 and are currently working on our super trip to Truk Lagoon to dive the greatest shipwrecks in the world in Spring 2010. Also, we will continue to offer trips three weekends a month to the Alabama Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle as well as our river trips in the South. We look forward to diving with you on these adventures again, but until then, all of us at Southern Skin Divers Supply wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!

Southern Skin Divers Supply

Hello Divers,

We have several specials going on at The SCUBA School on some new equipment as well as some trips to let you know about but first we need to let you know about the latest spearfishing tournament and news from the SCUBA trade show that we just returned from.

October Shootout Results
As many of you know several of our local spearfishermen participated on the October Shootout Spearfishing tournament. This 31 day contest was based out of Orange Beach, AL primarily diving on the Artificial Reef System. Of the 3000 miles of coastline in the Gulf, about 32 miles are in Alabama. It only takes a divers eyes to see why the best spearfishing and fishing (especially for Snapper) is here in our waters. We are proud to let you know that Rick Wyatt, a diver that we trained here 12 years ago, won first place in the Sheepshead division with one that weighed in at 10.55 lbs. Also, in the aggregate totals, Forrest Phillips of SSDS won sixth place.

SCUBA Trade Show Awards
While at this years Diving Equipment and Marketing Association trade show (DEMA), in Las Vegas, members of Southern Skin Divers Supply were guests of honor, accepting awards for two of the highest honors in the Diving industry for education and contributions to diving.

Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor
The highest rating for a recreational SCUBA instructor is the SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Instructor. Of the four recipients of this years Instructor award in the United States, two of them work here at Southern Skin Divers Supply. Both Forrest Phillips and Mark Tant have been certified as high as Instructor Trainers with at least four worldwide recognized certification agencies. They have been teaching here at The SCUBA School for a combined 39 years, completing almost 6000 dives and certifying over 3000 students in that time. They also are both members of different local law enforcement dive teams.

Platinum Pro 5000 Diver
Oftentimes the divers are overshadowed by the instructors in the Dive Industry but this year it was a diver that was recognized for his contribution. Originally certified in 1965 on Oahu, Hawaii and lived and dived there 200 times in the next two years. After that, moved back to his hometown of Birmingham, AL and completed over 4000 dives in the next 40 years ranging locations from the rivers of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama, many more dives off the Big Island of Hawaii, Truk Lagoon, Roatan, Cozumel, Belize, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and the Florida Keys. For the past 16 years he has lived three months of the year camping outside Nome, Alaska. In this time he has completed over 1800 dives in the Bering Sea and various rivers searching for gold. Stephen D. Phillips is one of the owners of Southern Skin Divers Supply, one of the original and oldest SCUBA businesses in the United States. In the past 43 years of diving, Mr. Phillips, has recovered preserved and documented hundreds of thousands of artifacts, fossils and relics. He has unloaded and preserved over 2000 Civil War Cannonballs for museums such as the Atlanta History Center, Tannehill Historic Ironworks St Park and various individuals. His documentation and preservation has been used in over 20 Civil War Relic books. Steve has been the featured diver on multiple programs on The Outdoor Channel, mainly Prospecting America and Gold Fever, diving in Alaska for gold and South Carolina for fossils and artifacts. His most lasting contribution happened from 2003-2006 when Mr. Phillips fought an anti SCUBA diving law in the public waterways of Alabama. Because of his relentless determination, and the support of many divers, several Legislators and representatives, and the Governor himself, to this date there is no permit required for recreational diving in the public waterways of Alabama.

Equipment Specials
While at this years trade show we made a few deals on gear that is available at SSDS right now. We are very excited about a custom made dive light that we just received today. For years we have been using HID headlights for our darkwater artifact hunting. The only problem is they are very sensitive and break easily. Well now we have a brand new LED headlight. It is brighter, more durable, has a smaller and lighter battery, a longer burn time and quicker recharge time. Basically, just a better light. Come and get a darkwater diver one for Christmas.

We are having a special on the Suunto D4 dive computer. In addition to being a great air, Nitrox and freedive computer and also the size of a sport watch, now until Dec 31 it comes with a free download kit and logbook.

We are also selling the SeaLife DC 800 Pro camera kit that includes an 8 mp camera, a digital pro flash, flash link and soft travel case. There is a $100 discount on this package until the end of year.

Sooner or later, divers realize that adding an external flash produces the brightest, sharpest, most colorful underwater pictures. The DC800 Pro includes the camera and Digital Pro Flash in a soft travel case. Set the camera to Ext Flash Auto mode for automatic exposure control with the Digital Pro Flash, resulting in vibrant colors and reduced backscatter. The Ext Flash Manual mode offers advanced UW photographers manual aperture and shutter speed controls. Quick shutter response for fast action photography. Long lasting lithium battery for all day of diving. Automatic focus from 2" to infinity. Large format continuous video recording with sound. Depth tested to 200ft. Fully rubber armored for shock protection. 1-year warranty covers the underwater camera and flash accessory.

Upcoming Trips
Flounder Trip, Panama City - Nov 14-16, 2008
We have privately chartered one of the newest dive boats in the area for our annual Flounder trip. Last year we were able to take 180 fish in two days. This is the best time of year for Flounder. The Flounder are usually in the 30 to 50 ft range in the sand around structures. This is a great trip to learn to spear fish on. A speargun is not necessary, a pole spear and bag work best. We will take what we catch on Saturday to the Captain's Table restaurant for them to prepare it for us. We should all have plenty to carry home on Sunday. This trip is filling up fast.

South Carolina River trip - Nov. 21st - 23rd
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

Belize Live-Aboard - June 13th -20th 2009
The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is selling fast. There are currently 5 spaces still available. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

Divers Down Flag Rules
Lately, we have heard of some confusion among folks on the requirements of a divers down flag. The size of a flag that is displayed on a vessel must be at least 20 by 24 inches. Dive flags carried on floats may be 12 by 12 inches. When displayed from a vessel, it must be raised above the highest point so the visibility is not obstructed in any direction. A diver must make a reasonable effort to remain within 300 feet of a flag in open water and 100 feet within rivers, inlets and navigation channels. Boat operators must make an effort to stay at least 300 feet away in open water and 100 feet in rivers, inlets and navigation channels. Boats that approach within these distances must slow to idle speed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Added some pics & note from Steve where he recently cleaned an artillery shell for the Alabama Historical Commission. See it over HERE

Since the last newsletter we sent you in September a lot of diving related news has happened that we need to let you know about. Instructors Spencer Phillips and Mark Tant certified over two dozen Open Water divers during the month of September. These students spent four to six weeks training here at The SCUBA School with Spencer and Mark and then once their training was completed, they participated in a couple of weekend trips to Panama City, FL for their checkout dives. These Open Water divers are now prepared for some of the shallow water wreck and entry level boat diving that we are offering later in October and November.

We have also taken a few trips diving in the rivers in South Carolina for Fossils and Artifacts and still have at least one more to go. Many good items have been found by some of the newer dark water divers recently. For all of you that like to dive over there you will be happy to know that the State of South Carolina had it's first public alligator hunt in decades starting last month. Hunting for them had been banned in South Carolina since 1964 and now there are over 100,000 in South Carolina. Perhaps we will not see so many as big as the boat we are diving from in the near future.

Many of you know that the Headquarters for The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department Dive Team is here at Southern Skin Divers Supply. The Sheriff's Dive Team was asked to search for a missing boater in Lake Purdy in late September. Our team along with other Law Enforcement and volunteer dive teams searched a large area of the lake where a fisherman on shore believed the boater fell in. After nearly two days of searching, the body was recovered.

Also, The Alabama Spearfishing Association held the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament in September. As usual, the spearfishing team that Forrest and Spencer are members of, The Tourists, participated. The seas were rough both days making it very difficult to go out, limiting our diving to inshore sites. This turned out to favor The Tourists. Forrest took his largest Flounder ever winning 1st place and the Jackpot. Tourist member Joe Quattlebaum shot the 3rd place Snapper and since the top two contestants did not enter the Jackpot, he won that as well. It ended up paying him $188 per pound for Snapper, must be some kind of record. To read more about the Tourists spearfishing team go to www.tomh2o.com and to read and participate in the Spearfishing tournaments go to www.alabamaspearfishing.com

Here is a picture of Ivy Phillips with her daddy's tournament winning flounder.

Spearfishing, Orange Beach, AL Oct. 17-19, 2008
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach Alabama shooting off some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also included is entrance fees in the October Shootout Spearfishing Tournament and a t-shirt. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with. This is a 31 day contest and it is not too late to enter.

Panama City Shallow Water Wreck Diving, October24-26, 2008
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

Flounder Trip, Panama City Nov 14-16, 2008
We have privately chartered one of the newest dive boats in the area for our annual Flounder trip. Last year we were able to take 180 fish in two days. This is the best time of year for Flounder. The Flounder are usually in the 30 to 50 ft range in the sand around structures. This is a great trip to learn to spear fish on. A speargun is not necessary, a pole spear and bag work best. We will take what we catch on Saturday to the Captain's Table restaurant for them to prepare it for us. We should all have plenty to carry home on Sunday. This trip is filling up fast.

June 13th -20th 2009 - Belize Live-Aboard
The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is selling fast. There are currently 6 spaces still available. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

We hope to see you on one of these upcoming trips.

Hello Divers,

Since last month's newsletter the hurricanes have started to make their way through the Gulf, changing some of our plans for current diving. Hurricanes Gustav, combined with the threat of Hannah and now Ike have made us postpone the wreck trip we had for this weekend. Hopefully things will settle down and we can take advantage of good diving conditions in the Gulf during October and November. Until then, to keep us busy, we are working on training over thirty students for their Openwater Certification dives before the end of September.

Sad News
We have a sad update in this newsletter. Longtime Birmingham diver, Arnold (Arnie) Ripp passed away last month. Arnie learned to dive here at Southern Skin Divers Supply over 40 years ago and went on to own and operate Ripp Tide Dive Center for over 20 years. During that time he taught thousands of people in this area how to SCUBA Dive. Up until his death Arnie had a well earned reputation for being one of the best commercial divers anywhere and was also a superb spearfisherman. Arnie was also one of the few Alabama divers to be a recipient of the SCUBA Schools International Platinum Pro 5000 Diver Award. Arnie usually came by The SCUBA School a couple of times a month for the past 10 years and we always looked forward to seeing him. We will miss Arnie Ripp, a great diver and a great guy.

Morrison Springs Update

Many of you have probably noticed that we haven't been diving at Morrison Springs in almost two years. That is because shortly after the State of Florida purchased the property, it was closed for construction and improvements. We hope that in the next few days we will be able to tell you that the Spring is again open and better than ever. For the time being all we can say is Morrison Springs is supposed to open again sometime in September. Southern Skin Divers Supply started the diving at Morrison Springs over 50 years ago and we have certainly missed it this past couple of years. I was on the phone with Bill Tant earlier today and he was telling me about how it was in the 50's and how Southern Skin Divers provided the first air compressor that pumped the first scuba tanks there in 1958 when J. A. Graves owned Morrison. Much more convenient than having to drive all the way to Panama City for an air fill.

You can see some pictures of how Morrison Springs looks today at this Walton County Florida site <<==

September 10, 2008, 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 concerning 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 desaturation 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.

Spearfishing, Orange Beach, AL Oct. 3-5, 2008
We have another spearfishing trip, this time to Orange Beach Alabama shooting off some of the many artificial reefs in the area. It includes the usual two days of offshore spearfishing off a private charter as well as two nights in a hotel. Also included is entrance fees in the October Shootout Spearfishing Tournament and a t-shirt. This is a monetary awarded tournament which means you might win money in addition to the fresh fish you will come home with.

Panama City Shallow Water Wreck Diving, October24-26, 2008
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

June 13th -20th 2009 - Belize Live-Aboard
The Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is selling fast. There are currently 6 spaces still available. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 24, 2008

Hello Divers,

It has been business as usual at The SCUBA School so far this summer with lots of training as well as trips almost every weekend. In the past year SSDS has taken over 70 divers to the shore diving Island of Bonaire in the southern Caribbean. In June, Mark and Spencer had twenty divers with them on this last trip. Follow this link to see some of Mark Tant's photos from Bonaire as well as some video footage from Rick Dennis.

Also in June, Forrest took a group on a private charter to dive the Oriskany. The Oriskany is the largest wreck in the world ever sunk as an artificial reef. Our group enjoyed diving off one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Alabama and Florida Panhandle Gulf Coast. On that trip we also were able to dive a couple of other wrecks in the area.

The Alabama Gulf Coast along with the Pensacola area has an abundance of sites to explore other than just a headliner site like The Oriskany. If you are into spearfishing, there is probably nowhere better to do it due to the abundance of artificial reefs put down. Some of these aren't the prettiest sites to dive on but they are great for underwater hunting. If you would prefer to see some of the wrecks, there are plenty in 80 to 100 ft of water, rather than having to go way offshore to do something deep like the Mighty "O". In July Forrest had a group spearfishing off the Alabama Gulf Coast enjoying ideal topside conditions. Many people do not believe that the Gulf is sometimes as flat as glass. Those of you that were with us last Sunday know that sometimes it can be. Also, most of you that have been spearing with Forrest believe he can only get Flounder. Occasionally he gets something else like this =====================>

Recently, SSDS returned from another shark tooth river diving trip. The shark's teeth are the reason divers go there but you can also find other fossils as well as man made artifacts. As usual, plenty of fossilized shark's teeth were recovered, but also some other items including a clay smoking pipe, Native American Indian arrowheads and spear points but the best find was part of a prehistoric Mastodon Tusk. It is the most desirable part of the tusk, including the tip.

Upcoming trips and Programs

September 5th -7th - Orange Beach, AL Wreck Diving
SSDS will once again have a private wreck diving charter on this 46 ft. custom Newton Dive Special. There will be plenty of room on this large diving vessel with us carrying only about half the amount of passengers it is rated for. This is not a spearfishing trip. If you want to take pictures or just do some recreational wreck diving in The Gulf, give us a call and sign up.

June 13th -20th 2009 - Belize Live-Aboard
I know it is early but the Belize Live-Aboard that we have booked for June 2009 is selling fast. This is a very luxurious vessel and we have booked the whole thing. For those of you that haven't traveled on one of our Live-Aboard trips before, it includes: Up to five dives per day, deluxe suite accommodations with private bathrooms, food, snacks, beverages and local alcoholic drinks for adults, tanks, air fills and weights for diving.

August 20th 2008, 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 concerning 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 desaturation 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.

The Cobra Computer Discount ends July 31/2008
$200 Instant Rebate on Cobra Computers

Keep up with the latest technology. Bring in your current dive computer to Southern Skin Divers Supply, your authorized Aqua Lung Retailer, whether it works or not, and receive an instant $200 rebate on a new Cobra computer. You can also sign up for an open water or specialty class including Enriched Air Nitrox and qualify to receive an instant $200 rebate.

Specific models eligible for $200 rebate are:
Cobra
Cobra w/ SK7 Compass
Cobra Pro Pack (incl. quick disconnect and compass)

*Offer valid from 5/1/08 through 7/31/08 at Southern Skin Divers Supply.

Cannot be combined with any other offer.

Come see us
Southern Skin Divers Supply
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Divers,

If you have been by The SCUBA School lately then you know we have been training multiple classes daily for the past few months. Lots of students means lots of trips and many of our divers have already completed several dives this year with SSDS. Just last week another group of ours returned from Bonaire. In less than a year we have taken over 70 divers to this shore diving Island. Here are a few pictures from the last Bonaire trip, with many more HERE.

We have been taking groups on their checkout dives to the Florida Panhandle every four weeks as well as several shallow water wreck trips to Panama City, FL. Steve is currently camping on the coast of Nome, Alaska where he is every Summer. He will more than likely acquire another couple of hundred dives or so in the Bering Sea in his quest for gold. In the next few weeks we have three different types of dive trips you might want to participate in.

6/27-6/29 Oriskany Wreck Trip, Orange Beach
Southern Skin Divers Supply will be diving this weekend from one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Panhandle area. We have chartered this boat along with its crew for the entire weekend privately. This is not a spearfishing trip! Leave your guns at home. Bring your camera instead. Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. It is getting more sea life on it every day. This wreck lies about 23 miles off the coast of Pensacola, FL. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

7/11-7/13 South Carolina River trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Along with shark's teeth, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastodons (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

7/18-7/20 Orange Beach Spearfishing
Due to the thousands of sites along the Alabama Gulf Coast in the Artificial Reef Program, Orange Beach has some of the best Spearfishing anywhere. This time of year we will be hunting Grouper, Snapper, Flounder, Amberjack, Triggerfish and Cobia. Those of you spearfishermen that are considering a new gun should come by SSDS and check out some we have that have custom upgrades for Gulf Coast spearing. You are welcome to try them out in our onsite pool. For this trip we have chartered a 30 ft boat that is very fast and seaworthy. It works perfectly for spearfishing. It uses twin 4 stroke engines that don't have much exhaust. It is very quiet and gets us to the big fish in a hurry. This trip includes two nights hotel accommodations and two days of private charter spearfishing on some of our favorite sites.

Lets go diving

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply

April 21, 2008

Hello Divers,

We want to thank all of you divers that have been traveling with us recently. The best thing about the dive business is the people that we get to meet and know because of it. Over fifty divers have earned their certification with SSDS already this year. Twenty-six people traveled with us to the shore diving Island of Bonaire in March and another twenty will be there with us the first week of June. We have been to South Carolina once and will be there again with some of you at the end of this week. Multiple trips have been made to Panama City including last weekends group of thirty-two that participated in some shallow water wreck diving as well as diving at the Jetties and Springs. Each trip that we take usually caters to a particular type of diving. Some are for shallow water wrecks, some deeper water, others are spearfishing, photography, artifact hunting, tropical or some other unique objective. One thing that isn't unique is that all of you divers make it a pleasure for us at SSDS to go with you. People think we have the best job because we get to dive for a living. Not exactly. We have the best job because we get to dive with you for a living. Now that I have buttered you up, let me tell you about some of the upcoming adventures.

4/25-4/27 South Carolina River trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

5/2-5/4 Orange Beach Spearfishing
We will be spearfishing for two days on some of the same sites that we dive on in the Spearfishing tournaments we compete in. In years past we mainly did this in Panama City, FL but it seems like we are getting bigger and more fish off the Alabama Gulf Coast. This time of year we will be hunting Grouper, Cobia, Flounder, Black and Mangrove Snapper, Triggerfish and Amberjack. For this trip we have chartered a 30 ft boat that is very fast and seaworthy. It works perfectly for spearfishing. It uses twin 4 stroke engines that don't have much exhaust. It is very quiet and gets us to the big fish in a hurry. This trip includes two days of offshore spearfishing and two nights of hotel accommodations.

5/16-5/18 Panama City Shallow Water Wreck Diving
This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL just like we did last weekend. Some of the group did see a huge sleeping Sea Turtle as well as a 300 lbs. Goliath Grouper. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

6/27-6/29 Oriskany Wreck Trip, Orange Beach
Southern Skin Divers Supply will be diving this weekend from one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Panhandle area. We have chartered this boat along with its crew for the entire weekend. Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. This wreck lies about 23 miles off the coast of Pensacola, FL. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 12, 2008
Jefferson County Sheriff's Dive Team

Sheriff Mike Hale asked the dive team to make every effort to find the man who drowned this week on the Warrior River at Alliance near Birmingport. Spence and I dived about 12 hours total and were unsuccessful. We asked for and were offered much help from other area dive teams. Hoover sent their team to patrol the river and look for the body. The Smith Lake Task Force came from Walker County. The Smith Lake Team is wonderful. They have excellent equipment and are mostly volunteers who are ex-police and military.

Tommy Cagle with the Alabama Department of Conservation is the head of the Smith Lake team and rounds up the divers when needed and operates one of the boats. Tommy has been involved in over 300 drowning body recoveries. Two of their team volunteer divers have found over 70 bodies. I was able to learn from these people and I'm sure the Hoover Team did too.

They had a new piece of equipment that impressed me for this type of use. Side Scan Sonar. Three members of the Smith Lake Team searched together and found the body in about 1 hour. These are excellent divers and Sheriff Hale and the Jefferson County Dive Team thanks them for coming to our aid. I hope to be able to coordinate future cooperative efforts of area dive teams to help all of us be better.

Southern Skin Divers Supply is the headquarters for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Dive Team and we want more volunteers to help when needed. We need divers with much experience diving in black water and strong currents such as South Carolina fossil hunting divers. See Steve, Spence or Forrest to offer your aid to our area.

Steve Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello Divers,

At The SCUBA School we have been teaching multiple classes daily as well as having a trip almost every weekend. As you read this, Forrest has 26 people with him doing some Caribbean shore diving on the Island of Bonaire. Just last weekend while on the South Carolina river trip we had some snow here in Birmingham. Forrest's six year old daughter, Emily (known for her sense of humor), left him a voice mail saying "Daddy, Daddy you're missing the snow. Mommy said she is going to get a husband that doesn't work every day. I love you. Bye." What a funny girl. This is one of the reasons that Southern Skin Divers Supply is now going to be closed on Mondays. The regular business hours are 9am until 6pm Tuesday through Friday and 9am until 4pm on Saturday. The SCUBA School will still offer some training after hours by appointment.

April 18-20, Panama City FL

This weekend trip we will be diving some of the shallow water wrecks off Panama City, FL. This is the next step for all of you newly certified divers that are ready to experience boat diving in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, you junior open water certified divers will be able to participate since we are limiting the depth on all of the dives both days. If you sign up for this trip and give us some notice, you can come to a CD slide show of the particular boating procedures of diving off this vessel.

Hoover Police Dept. SRT Dive Team

A couple of weeks ago, the City of Hoover's Dive Team was asked to locate and recover an automobile that was accidentally driven into a lake off of Hwy 280. The Dive Team located the car and marked it with a buoy in the evening. The plan was to raise the vehicle on Monday morning.

Over the weekend, another automobile was driven into the very same lake, so on Monday they had two vehicles to recover.

Hello Divers,

In January, training at The SCUBA School has been going very well. Almost every day we have one to three classes and a lot of previous students have been coming by practicing and checking their gear in the pool. It is a good idea to do that now before we kick into high gear with all of the trips that are coming up. Before we tell you about these trips we want to thank some of the volunteers that helped us in the boat show last week. Many of you know that every year Southern Skin Divers Supply has a booth at The Birmingham Boat Show recruiting business for The SCUBA School. Some of our divers volunteered their time helping promote SCUBA to potential students and even helped break down and load up the display booth during the Super Bowl. We appreciate the help of Austin Alexander, Chad and Brandi Baugher, and Barry and Theresa Bates.

Upcoming Trips

Feb 22-24, Panama City FL

So far we have a good group of divers ready to get wet on this first trip of the year. This weekend part of the group will be doing some shallow water boat diving while the rest of us are at the St. Andrews State Park for shore diving. If the weather allows, everyone will get to participate in dives at both sites. Several spaces on the boat portion of this trip are already spoken for so call or e-mail us if you want to go.

March 7-9 South Carolina River Diving

OK guys. Charge up your HID headlights and try to squeeze into that 8mm semi dry suit for this three day adventure once again. As usual, the main objective of the dives in this location, is to find fossils. Most of the ones found will be some type of prehistoric shark's teeth. Along with those, usually we find Dugong and Whale bones and even land animals like Mammoth and Mastadon (Just like the ones we have on display at The SCUBA School). These historic rivers also contain other isolated finds like pottery and bottles and even the occasional Native American Indian artifact. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations, three days of diving from our boat and food and beverages on the boat.

April 4-6 Orange Beach Spearfishing

Due to the thousands of sites along the Alabama Gulf Coast in the Artificial Reef Program, Orange Beach has some of the best Spearfishing anywhere. This time of year we will be hunting Grouper, Black and Mangrove Snapper, Flounder, Amberjack, Triggerfish and Cobia. Those of you spearfishermen that are considering a new gun should come by SSDS and check out some we have that have custom upgrades for Gulf Coast spearing. This trip includes two nights hotel accommodations and two days of private charter spearfishing on some of our favorite sites.

May 31-June 7, Bonaire

We have 26 people traveling with us on the March trip to Bonaire and as of now there are 20 going on this one. Next week we will be closing it out so if you want to go, give us a call. The Island of Bonaire has perhaps the best shore diving in the Caribbean. No cattle boat diving here, in fact it is not necessary to even set foot on a boat unless you want to. 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 is round trip airfare on a direct flight from Atlanta to Bonaire, oceanfront condo accommodations, truck rental, breakfast daily, unlimited air diving and Nitrox diving if you are Nitrox certified.

Enriched Air Nitrox Classes

We are now offering the EAN classes again. A lot of you are signed up for trips where Nitrox will be advantageous. Some places it is not practical due to depth restrictions or cost. But, on the Bonaire packages that we sell at SSDS, unlimited Nitrox diving is included in the price of the trip. You might as well complete this certification before you go and take advantage of more diving and the other benefits of diving with Nitrox. Once you have earned this certification you will understand the benefits as well as the dangers of Nitrox.

Christmas Specials

Hello Divers,

Many of you have been sending loved ones here recently for their SCUBA training. Also some of you are purchasing certification classes as Christmas gifts for others. We are very fortunate to be receiving this word of mouth business from our former students. Thank you all for referring friends and family members to us for their training!

Recently we have had a couple of trips to let you know about. In late November, Forrest took a group of divers to some of the shallow water structure in Panama City, Florida. This was a spearfishing trip and is the best time of year for Flounder. Every year around this time we always carry a group of divers that are new to spearfishing on this trip so they can learn how to shoot fish. It couldn't have worked out any better. We were blessed with flat seas and clear water and most important, plenty of fish. In all, 140 fish were taken in the two days of diving. It really is fresh when you eat fish the evening that you catch it and it seems to taste better when you know you got it yourself.

We also just returned from another artifact and fossil trip diving off our boat in the Cooper River in South Carolina. Once again, we had excellent conditions as well. Even having good conditions it is important to have the right equipment and training. On these trips we are diving in strong currents with little or no visibility for one to two hours per tank. A thick hooded wetsuit and a HID headlight are a must. Also a handy screwdriver or rockhammer will help you to hold on and maneuver yourself. We did three days of diving and managed to find two very large gravel beds that produced plenty of fossilized shark's teeth. The highlight of the trip had to be when Spencer recovered an old ship's anchor.

We are having a big sale at The SCUBA School right now until the end of the year. Every wetsuit in the building is 10% to 50% off including the new Aquaflex wetsuits by Aqua-Lung and the semi dry quad density suits by Xcel. If you or a loved one have been wanting one of these high performance suits, now is a good time to get one. For all of you relic hunters, every metal detector purchase comes with a free set of headphones and the Fisher CZ-70 Pro is also 30% off. This is a deep-seeking, target ID machine that is backed by Fisher's Lifetime Warranty. Spare Air kits are $30 off and Niterider HID headlights are 15% off as well.

Mark Tant is teaching a new Digital Underwater Photography course at SSDS. This course covers anything a new underwater photographer needs to know to take successful digital photos. It comes with a full color manual that covers, the effects of light underwater, photo equipment, photo basics, image composition and image processing. The information applies to all types and configurations of underwater photo equipment and also provides distinct information about the Sealife DC 600 elite system that we use at The SCUBA School. He also teaches a section on how to edit photos like the professionals do. Here is a link to some of the great pictures that Mark has taken.

Anyone wanting to go to Bonaire with us next year needs to let us know ASAP. There is one space available for the Spring Break trip (March 15-22/2008) and eight spaces available for the Summer trip (May 31-June 7/2008). Both of these trips include round trip airfare from Atlanta to Bonaire on a non stop flight, ocean front condo accommodations, breakfast daily, truck rental, and unlimited air and Nitrox diving. Details can be found on our trips link.

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your families.

November 13, 2007

Hello Divers,

Before we let you know about some of the previous and upcoming trips and new equipment, we need to tell you all about the air compressor issue we have had recently. As some of you already know, for the past two weeks the compressor has not been operational. We apologize for this inconvenience. Several time consuming upgrades had to be performed on the compressor. Also we have now installed several safety features to the system to make it safer for those pumping air. In addition to that we have acquired several large storage banks that will enable us to pump even more air for when we are busier than normal. All of these updates were made easier by some good friends that have helped us during this time. They are: Greg Dill, Jimmy Eckroth, Bobby Denny, David Johnson, Clay Maddox, John Trott, Steve Parker and George Perez. Without these people we would still be working on our compressor. Thank you guys, we appreciate all of your help!

Spearfishing Panama City, FL. November 16-18/ 2007

This trip is mainly a Flounder trip. We may get a few Grouper and Triggerfish but primarily Flounder are in abundance right now. The diving this weekend will be on shallow water artificial reefs (barges and bridge rubble). Bring your fillet knives and fish cleaning gloves, last year we were able to get eighty in two days on this one. On Saturday evening we will take our fresh catch to The Captain's Table Restaurant in St. Andrews and have them prepare our fresh catch.

About 4 weeks ago members of our spearfishing team, The Tourists, participated in the Orange Beach Spearfishing Tournament. We were able to get in one good day of diving in the event. Several good sized Flounder and Red Snapper were taken including one that was 22.45 lbs. by Forrest. It was good enough for 2nd place in the tournament and since the guy that won 1st place didn't enter himself in the jackpot, Forrest claimed that as well. To read more about The Tourists spearfishing team go to www.tomh2o.com
Forrest Phillips, Joe Quattlebaum and Tommy Williams with some great fish.

South Carolina River diving November 30-December 2/2007

On our October trip here we started diving on a large and newly discovered (to us) fossil bed. Many fossilized shark's teeth were found as well as other fossils, bottles and other artifacts. We are heading back to dive on the same location. This will be our final trip of the year so if you have been thinking of going this will be your final opportunity until April 2008. This is a 3 day trip that includes transportation from near Birmingham, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations, food and beverages on the boat and use of a personal locator device. Here are some pics from the last trip.

Rick Bearden and Julian Brook with a Colonial age spoon and some nice fossils.

Bonaire May 31- June 7/ 2008
We know that the Spring Break trip to Bonaire sold out faster than was anticipated so we have purchased another 20 spots for an early summer trip. The most popular package for this trip includes: Round trip airfare on a direct flight from Atlanta to Bonaire, truck rental with unlimited mileage, oceanfront condo accommodations, breakfast daily, unlimited air and Nitrox shore diving. Boat diving is available as well for those that want it. This package is $1695 each to the first 20 that sign up.

New Equipment
Southern Skin Divers Supply has a large selection of equipment in stock now for the upcoming holiday season. You winter time divers might be interested in a new Xcel semi dry wetsuit. These are the same wetsuits that you see Spencer and Steve wear when they dive for gold in the Bering Sea every summer in Nome Alaska. The water doesn't get that cold here but it does get into the low 60's and high 50's some. Also we have several boat coats in stock. A boat coat is a hooded fleece lined long coat that is wind and water proof. It is designed to wear on top of your wetsuit during your surface interval so you don't get cold and tired. Also we are now carrying Reactor Sport Watches. They are a heavy duty well built good looking dive watch. You really need to see these watches in person to see how nice they are.

Some of the best diving of the year can be right now until the end of November. The Gulf is still warm but it is not too hot outside and the restaurants are not crowded anymore. We have several trips over the next few weeks to let you know about, and you can read all about it here!

We've posted up some new Alaska pictures from Steve's latest trip here, and a new Recent Finds page showcasing all of the stuff we've rescued recently.

July 22,2007

Hello Divers,

Things have been full speed around the SCUBA School for the past few months. We have been doing lots of checkout dives, spearfishing trips and wreck dives off the Gulf Coast. Usually there is one or two Openwater classes every day at SSDS. We just wanted to let everyone know about some of the upcoming trips and the free alternate Air Source program that is about to expire.

Breathe Free Program
For all of you that are in the market for a new Regulator or Buoyancy Compensator, now is the time to get one. From now until July 31, 2007 if you purchase any regulator from SSDS you get a free Alternate Air Source. If you purchase a Buoyancy Compensator it comes with a free Air Source integrated in the power inflator. Both of these air sources come with a lifetime parts warranty when purchased from SSDS. If you are not sure which Regulator or Buoyancy Compensator that you want, you can have us put one together for you and you can try it in the pool at The SCUBA School to see if you like it. The Breathe Free Program does expire on July 31 so come see us soon to take advantage of this offer.

Spearfishing trip, July 27-29 Orange Beach, AL.
There are two spaces available for the spearfishing trip this upcoming weekend. This trip includes two days of offshore spearfishing and two nights in a hotel. We will be diving on many of the sites that The Tourists spearfishing team dives on when competing in the tournaments through the Alabama Spearfishing Association. These sites usually produce good Red Snapper, Flounder, Amberjack and Grouper. On Saturday we will take some of our fresh catch to a local restaurant and have them prepare it for us. If you are considering a new speargun, come by SSDS and check out the new ones that we are having customized for Gulf Coast conditions. There are several features that we have added to these and like everything else that we sell, you can try several in our pool before you purchase it.

Wreck Diving, August 17-19 Panama City, FL.
We have chartered a brand new 36 ft Newton dive boat along with the crew for an easy entry level wreck diving trip. Many Junior Openwater divers have recently been certified at SSDS and this will be a great trip for them to participate in. Junior Openwater divers have depth limit requirements and some times dive boats don't take you to a lot of shallow sites so it makes it difficult for kids to come along. This trip we will be diving at least four sites from 40 to 70 ft deep. If any of you adults want to dive with your kids in the Gulf, this is the trip to do it on. Space is limited so give us a call if you are interested.

Southern Skin Divers Supply
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

June 17, 2007

Hello Divers,

We have had a very busy and exciting first half of the year at Southern Skin Divers Supply. Currently we are teaching multiple classes a day, six days a week at The SCUBA School. For the past few weeks we have had at least one trip every weekend. It is good to see so many of you out there diving. Just last weekend Spencer and 20 of our divers returned from a week long dive trip to the Island of Bonaire, in the southern Caribbean. It was a wonderful trip with a fantastic group of people. Over the next two months we have several other trips to let you know about.

July 6-8 Oriskany Wreck trip
Southern Skin Divers Supply will be diving this weekend from one of the largest and fastest dive boats in the Panhandle area. We have chartered this boat along with its crew for the entire weekend. Saturday there will be two dives made on the USS Oriskany, the largest wreck ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. This wreck lies about 23 miles off the coast of Pensacola, FL. On Sunday morning we will dive with the same group on two other dives in the area. This trip will be in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area. There are limited spaces available on this trip so call us for more details.

July 12-14 South Carolina river trip
This 3 day dive adventure is the fossilized shark teeth/artifact diving that we do every couple of months. Divers usually get 7 to 9 long dives in 20 to 40 ft of water on this three day trip. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat. To see pictures of what can be recovered on this trip click here: South Carolina

July 27-29 Spearfishing, Orange Beach, Alabama
We will be spearfishing for two days on some of the same sites that we dive on in the Spearfishing tournaments we compete in. In years past we mainly did this in Panama City, FL but it seems like we are getting bigger and more fish off the Alabama Gulf Coast. For this trip we have chartered a 30 ft boat that is very fast and seaworthy. It works perfectly for spearfishing. It uses twin 4 stroke engines that don't have much exhaust. It is very quiet and gets us to the big fish in a hurry. This trip includes two days of offshore spearfishing and two nights of hotel accommodations.

July 28-August 4, Cozumel, Mexico
One last vacation before the end of Summer. Most of the area schools start after the 4th of August so if you are wanting to take your kids diving this will be a good one to do it on. We have reserved round trip air from Atlanta to Cozumel on a nonstop flight! Also we will be staying at a nice oceanfront resort that we have stayed at many times and are diving with our old friends at Pepe SCUBA. Pepe's has three of the quickest boats on the Island and can get you to the best sites before the cattle boats arrive. I know this is a last minute notice but if you are interested in this trip we need to know as soon as you can let us.

Update - Redneck Riviera Spearfishing Tournament

As most of you know several members of Southern Skin Divers Supply compete in the Alabama Spearfishing Association's tournaments throughout the year. These tournaments are held along the Alabama Gulf Coast.The boat that we dive from is the Ashley Marie which is owned by our good friend Tommy Williams. Our team is named The Tourists and we are based out of Birmingham. This is a fitting name since the other teams are mainly from the Mobile, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Pensacola areas. We can hold our own and compete but overall the local boys usually do a little better than we do.

On May 18-19 The Tourists competed in the Redneck Riviera Spearfishing Tournament. The seas were rough both days but we didn't let a little seasickness keep us from giving our best effort. The first day produced not much at all. A few fish were taken but nothing that was going to win anything at the awards ceremony. The good news for us was none of the other teams did very well the first day either, so it was still anybody's to win.

On the second day, from the beginning it was different. Early in the day, Joe Quattlebaum, had shot a good Red Snapper and was at the surface after his safety stop. We noticed he was holding his Snapper out of the water and waving us on the boat to come over. Then we saw a large predator circling Joe several times coming within 5 feet of him. At first we thought it was a Bull Shark trying to get his fish but it actually was a large Blue Marlin. No one on the boat had ever seen one while diving before. It is very uncommon for these fish to be so close to shore. We were so close to shore that we still had reception on our cell phones. Joe used his Cullman County Kung Fu and was able to make it onboard with his fish.

Every dive throughout the day, we were putting fish in the cooler, good fish. What a difference a day makes. Once we made it back to the weigh station, it felt good to actually have some contenders to weigh. While Joe was weighing some of his fish a couple of nice young guys with one of the local teams was poking fun at our expense. I think they had enjoyed a good day on the water and a good afternoon with a lot of cold beverages. They were reading the back of his Dive Team shirt with Birmingham, AL on it. Laughing, getting loud and having fun they said "what do y'all shoot in Birmingham? Bass?" and then "what kind of dive team y'all have in Birmingham?". I leaned over and said the kind that is about to pick up all of these trophies. Shortly after we were awarded 4 trophies along with monetary awards as well.

The best any of the other competing teams did was 2 trophies. Not bad for a bunch of Tourists.

The water is warm now and I've been wanting to go dive with my sons. We had to cancel the latest fossil hunting trip to Carolina because of storms. Spencer and I decided to do a little practicing on our metal locating skills for the Law Enforcement Dive Team. I figured that since we would be finding metal why not try to find some older metal mixed in with the standard garbage that covers the bottom of our rivers and streams. The inbred low-life people continue to pollute and trash our waters. Alabama has the best rivers in America but we also have some people who don't deserve to live here. They should live in a garbage dump or land fill. I take offense at litterers and consider their actions to be a form of assault to the beautiful Earth that we are lucky enough to be on. Enough of that. My boys get mad at me for getting on my high horse and saying what I think. Let me be clear that I speak for my self and if we have any inbred low-life litterers that are customers of Southern Skin Diver Supply will you please continue to come in our store and spend your money. There, that should keep the boys off of me.

Anyway, Spence and I picked up lots of new garbage and cans and were lucky or good enough to find a few relics from the War To Prevent Southern Independence. We found eight bullets and about twenty canister and case shot balls. We found a ramrod guide for an early musket and a Girardey fuse. The Girardey fuse was a great Confederate invention that was very simple and never was equaled by the Yankees during the war. If you want to read more about the Girardey fuse or anything about Civil War dug relics you can refer to the many books that have been written by the actual diggers in the field who have allowed authors to write down the knowledge that the diggers have learned and preserved. The diggers are the actual authors and the authors are the compilers of the information. The actual relic hunters or diggers rarely get credit for all they have done to save our lost history. Don't get me wrong some of the authors are the very best relic hunters and diggers.

The late Tom Dickey was the best relic hunter author I ever knew and I was fortunate enough to have him as my mentor learning about Artillery Projectile hunting and collecting. He was a high class old Southern Gentry gentleman who absolutely loved to relic hunt for the bombshells. His books are the standards used by all scholars, schools, museums, relic hunters or collectors who are interested in artillery projectiles or fuses from our War. Realize when I say Southern Gentry I am only talking to Southerners as people from other places don't have a clue as to what I am talking about. They don't get it and they never will. Too bad, their loss.

I will leave in a few days for my 15th annual summer adventure mining gold underwater in Alaska. I will be living in my tent and smelling the salt water spray for three months this year. My dear friends will meet up with me again and we will live the life that most will only dream about. I will miss my family very much but I will go anyway. If you want adventure in your life you must be willing to go when adventure calls. Spence will come for a couple weeks and my wife will come for about a week. It has taken me 15 years to get her to come up. The hard life and the outhouse are not her cup of tea. Maybe she will like it. I love the life.

What can I say except see you folks in the fall.
Steve Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply

Hello Divers,

The first three months of 2007 at The SCUBA School have been extremely active. Over forty people have completed or are enrolled in classes at SSDS. We have already taken three group trips with our divers and have one almost every weekend for the next few months. Both of the law enforcement teams, The Hoover SRT Dive Team and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Dive Team, have training dives at least once a month. And we have some of the latest Aqua-Lung equipment in stock now at The SCUBA School.

A couple of weeks ago, Forrest and sixteen other divers were on a week long dive vacation to the Island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The people on this trip were several different families that travel and dive together with us one or two times a year. This was a great trip for these families. St. Croix is a fairly quiet island but great for this group. Since it is still in the United States, everyone you are in contact with speaks English, there is no language barrier or drastic cultural differences. Everything is priced at the U.S. dollar of course so for us, there is no currency conversion. It is one of the few places left where U.S. citizens are not required to have a passport to travel to. If you get used to driving on the left side of the road you will hardly notice any difference except you are in the Caribbean. Our group stayed at a very secluded condominium resort along the North Shore beach near Salt River where Christopher Columbus landed in 1493. Along the North Shore is some of the best diving and since the boat that we chartered for the entire week is there as well, the rides were usually 5 to 15 minutes to the dive sites. All of the restaurants that we went to treated our group very well, and as long as we let them know we were coming ahead of time, our entire group usually ate together. This isn't always easy in smaller local restaurants where only 2 or 3 people are working. The food everywhere was very good, especially at one of the smaller local restaurants. Our group had breakfast there every day and several lunches and dinners. It was located next door to the dive operator and the boat we used.

On the final day of our trip our group met for breakfast as usual. There was no diving for us since we were to be on a plane in a few hours. We could see another group as big as ours getting ready to board the dive boat and start listening to the dive briefing. One of the divemasters that had been with us all week saw us and came over to thank us for diving with them. He said "We are really going to miss you guys". We all told him thanks and that they did a great job and we appreciated everything. He then told us that the group boarding was the local Nature Conservancy group and that they were horrible in the water. When asked why he said that they are cheap and do not own their own equipment. They either rent or borrow a bunch of mixed brand poorly maintained life support. Not one of them wears a full length wetsuit, some of them have no suit at all. He said look at them, some of them are trembling and making themselves sick, and they should be. They don't know what they are doing. They insisted on an accelerated SCUBA course. A few of the agencies promote a real fast course to certify divers as cheap and quick as possible. These are primarily done through resort areas where the diving is easy and the instructor holds your hand the entire time, or by independent instructors with low standards and nothing to lose anyway. The divemaster again thanked Forrest for the way the kids were trained. He said he had never seen so many good little divers putting their life support together themselves, checking to make sure that their tanks wouldn't slip from their BC's. Usually he has to redo the assembly for the kids because the are used to having their parents doing it for them. All of those kids in addition to having a six week SCUBA course here also had a class on their specific computer they dive with and it shows, they know how to use them. The protocol for getting in the water, a giant stride off the boat while holding their mask and primary in place immediately surfacing and once making eye contact with the divemaster giving the overhead OK sign, was exactly what they had been trained to do during their program.

If you are interested in SCUBA for yourself or a loved one call around and ask questions. This is not a course you should take over the Internet or have a CD sent to you in the mail. If some low time instructor tells you that they will certify you in your pool in your backyard in two days, you will be certified but not a real diver. There is a difference. Take your SCUBA education serious and take it from a real SCUBA School, preferably ours. But if not from us, find out about the course. It should take at least four weeks. Ask if they have full time instructors. Do they sell top quality equipment and have in house certified technicians that can support this equipment? Do they have a reputation of not getting their customers hurt on checkout dives and group trips? Do you just want to get certified or do you want to be a real diver?

Breathe Free Program
From now until July 31 2007, anyone that purchases an Aqua-Lung regulator from SSDS not only gets a lifetime warranty on that regulator but a free Octopus with a lifetime warranty as well. If you purchase a Sea Quest BC also, you may choose to upgrade to an Air Source II Octopus on your power inflator. The season is just beginning and this program makes it a great time to upgrade your life support equipment.

New Equipment
SSDS is well stocked right now with the latest in SCUBA gear including the Sea Quest Pro QD I3 buoyancy compensator. It looks and feels similar to the Pro QD but the inflation system has changed. Instead of a standard power inflator hose, it has been replaced with a lever on the lower left side pocket. Lifting upward on the lever inflates the bc while pressing down opens all of the dump valves at the same time. No more having to decide which valve to reach for based on your orientation in the water.
Aqua-Lung's Kronos and Kronos Supreme regulators are available at SSDS right now. Both of these feature a side exhaust system that keeps your bubbles away from your face and out of your field of view. It also has a dual cam adjustment that has the venturi control and breathing resistance knob integrated into one controller simplifying adjusting the air flow for the diver. On the first stage an Auto Closure Device is standard keeping water and debris out of the first stage once it is removed from the cylinder. As with all of the regulators that we sell, it is compatible with Enriched Air Nitrox 40 or less right out of the box.
There is a very good selection of Spearfishing equipment in right now. In addition to JBL, SSDS also carries Ocean Rhino spearguns. We have had some upgrades done to these to improve accuracy and performance. To really see what we are talking about, you need to come by the SCUBA School and see for yourself. Our first spearfishing trip of the season is in about 3 weeks so come by and get your gun bands, spear tips, pole spears or any other accessories you will need.

Panama City Spearfishing May 4-6
It's now Snapper season. Let's all get our spearfishing licenses and head down to the coast for some good hunting and great food. This trip includes two days of offshore spearfishing and two nights in a hotel. The Captain's Table restaurant in St. Andrews always does a great job for our groups but they do an extra special job when they prepare the fish that we bring from our spearfishing excursions. Space is limited so call us if you want to participate in this adventure.

Things have been very busy the first couple of months of 2007 at The SCUBA School. Two weeks ago we had our first Nitrox class of the year at SSDS. This weekend Instructor Trainer, Mark Tant, is certifying a group of Open water students in the Panhandle of Florida. In two weeks, seventeen of us are taking a trip to the Island of St Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and our first Bonaire trip (June 2-9) is sold out.

Monthly, we are taking groups of students on their checkout dives. If any of our former students would like to tag along, you will be welcomed. This is a great way to stay current and to meet new divers. In addition to these, there are a couple of trips to tell you about.

This is a very diving intensive, fossil, shark teeth and artifact trip. It is becoming very popular with some of our most experienced former students. We will be exploring at least two rivers in South Carolina on this adventure. The trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, hotel accommodations, three days of diving, food and beverages on the boat, tank rentals and air fills. Call us if you are interested in going.

We will be offering a wreck diving class and certification. Classroom training will be at The SCUBA School and at least four offshore wreck dives will be out of Pensacola. Included in this trip will be two dives on the U.S.S. Oriskany aircraft carrier. The Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk as an artificial reef in the world. She 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 68 ft and there is plenty to see above 100 ft, perfect for recreational diving. There are a couple of requirements that need to be met prior to this wreck dive so call us for more info. Passport diver price is $525 for wreck diver certification and processing fees, two nights in a hotel and two days of offshore wreck diving including one day on the Oriskany.

I don't know about you guys, but baby Ivy said she is going scuba diving right after her nap.

Important

Last week, Forrest and I were at the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in a meeting about divers and divers rights in Alabama. While we were there we were given a new Alabama Marine information calendar and another publication that shows Alabama's artificial reefs with GPS coordinates. The calendar has a great deal of information that each of you can use. It includes license info, tide charts for the whole year, inshore fishing reefs, boat launch areas and pictures of fish with size and creel limits. What interests me most was the information about trash located under our state waters. The Conservation Department is thankfully very interested in stopping garbage and litter from being put in our state waters. Each lake now has organized public cleanups to pick up trash along the shores. What these people don't see is how bad the garbage is on the bottom. The only people who can see and clean up this mess is divers. We should all pick up as much trash as we can on each of our dives. The trash doesn't belong on the bottom and is dangerous to fish. Let's all do something for Alabama that only we can do. Each of you should get one of these great calendars and make sure the Alabama Department of Conservation knows that you exist. Some people that I have talked to lately say they never hear from divers. Divers need to be visible and let the Conservation Department know that you are a diver. To get a calendar call Robin at 334-242-3486 and ask her to send you a calendar. Make sure she knows that you are a diver or are a friend of divers. It is important that you do this now. We want to keep the friendly dive relations in Alabama that we now have and that were so hard to get. Please call and tell them who you are. I hope all the dive stores and instructors of Alabama will pass this request to all of Alabama's Diving Public.

Steve Phillips Visit to Archives

As most of you know that read our emails know, I am retired now and just hang around my farm and get bored. Forrest and Spence run the Scuba School now and do a great job. They do let me come in a couple times each week and buy my lunch. Thursday I couldn't get any of my relic hunting buddies to take off work and go relic hunting so I decided to go to Montgomery instead. I went to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. My reason for going was to research some potential relic hunting sites. Our Archives is a really nice and friendly facility. We have the oldest Archives in the U. S. This is a great place to research and learn about your families history. I will probably be spending a good bit of time there while the water is too cold to go diving. While I was using one of the computers at the Archives I searched for documents with the name Deason in them. My mothers maiden name was Deason. What popped up was some info on my Grandfather. I never knew my Grandfather since he died of TB 35 years before I was born. I do know much about him because my mother adored him and always talked about her daddy who died when she was about 5 or 6 years old. He was a gentle and religious man and a wonderful father. He was an able and ambitious man who started with nothing and by the time that his sickness started when he was about 37 he owned a large farm, a country store and a small newspaper. They lived in a small community located between Centerville and Tuscaloosa. This place is called Eoline and is even smaller now than it was 100 years ago.

My Grandfather was a small man in size but big in dreams. He was about the same size as my son Forrest and looked much like Forrest. He doted on his children much like Forrest dotes on his. My mother told me that each morning she would get up and while wearing her long nightgown she would walk into the store and get an apple out of the apple barrel. The store and house were together. After my Grandfather died life became much harder for my mother and for all of her family for most of her life, but that is another story and not the one to tell today.

Back at the Archives what popped up was a June 17, 1910 copy of the Eoline Messenger. This little newspaper has been in the Archives since 1913 but I had never seen it. It must be the only existing copy of my Granddaddy's newspaper. You can read this whole paper if you want to by going to this link.

What I found really interesting is the editorial that my Granddaddy wrote about how people need to buy locally. Even though this was written almost 100 years ago it is still timely and applies very much to our business. My sons always want me to write emails for our business. If I were to write about the problems caused by mail order or internet sales and how much these sale hurt local dive stores I would say just about what my Granddad did.

Please read these words written by Marion Huey Deason in the Eoline Messenger June 17th 1910.

Is It Profitable For The Consumer To Send Their Trade Away From Home?

It has become a very common practice with a great many of our people to send a large share of their trade off to some of those gigantic corporations, termed as Mail Order Houses. This we think is a sad mistake. The catalogue houses are certainly not in their business for their health; and they must cut in quality when they make prices that every dealer knows are too low for profit. The express agents, the railroad freight agents, and the post office department assert that many thousands of dollars are sent out of Bibb County every year to pay for all kinds of merchandise, bought from Chicago and other large cities, which are gradually but surely sucking the financial life blood out of the smaller towns of our home country.

Mail-order buying builds up the large cities at the expense of the smaller towns. Every dollar used in this way by a resident of this community takes a dollar out of circulation at home and puts it into circulation many miles distant. The dollar spent with your home grocer, dry goods dealer, hardware merchant, druggist or other businessman, up builds the community in which you live. These pay taxes to support the town, repair the streets, maintains the schools, build and sustain the churches.

Do the mail order houses ever subscribe to the building fund whenever a new church is to be built; or any public improvements to be made? If you were active in any good work for betterment of this community, who would you go to for financial aid, the local businessman or the mail order houses in distant cities? It is not the loss of the small profit that the local dealer should make on the dollars worth of goods that you buy from a catalogue house that hurts your community in which you live. It is the loss of the dollar to the community. No mail order house has ever helped to build a school house in your district. No mail order house has ever took you by the hand when you were in distress, and told you to let that little account go until harvest next year.

No mail order house has ever sold you a vehicle and spent every cent of its profits right in the community where you and your neighbors could get it all back again. No mail order house ever shoved its patent leather shoes under your table and rejoiced with you when you were glad, nor spoke encouraging words in affliction, nor stood with uncovered head beside the graves when your children died. When you send your money away you get nothing but the goods; spend it at home and it will come back to you in better towns, better stores, better schools, better churches and better social advantages.

True citizenship is not all in rally around the "star spangled banner" of our country and singing "Hail Columbia" The spirit of true patriotism is shown by the man who patronizes home industry first, last and all the time.

Marion Huey Deason

Thanks for reading my grandfather's words and for supporting your local Scuba Schools wherever you may live.

Steve Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply

Jan 18th, 2007

Trips and New Classes

Hello Divers,

Happy New Year! We are sorry for the long delay between emails, but we have had a tremendous amount of activity at the Scuba School the past few weeks. Currently we have 18 open water candidates enrolled in scuba classes. We have also recently installed the Nitrox filling station at the Scuba School and are pumping Enriched Air Nitrox 32. There are also several new updates to the continuing education opportunities at SSDS. Many new teaching materials are now available at the Scuba School, including Stress and Rescue, Nitrox, Wreck diving and Boat diving. Our classroom has also been updated for comfort and quality of learning with these new products. If you are interested in one of these classes, give us a call.

SSDS is now teaching Enriched Air Nitrox. In this certification program, students will learn the benefits of Nitrox with either increased bottom time or the decreased risk of Decompression sickness when using recreational air dive tables. Students will also learn how to use their oxygen analyzers with Nitrox cylinders and use of Nitrox computers. Call SSDS for more details of this continuing education class.

Our new 80 cubic foot scuba tanks are on sale for the rest of the month. They are filled and ready to go for $170. There are only a few left so come and get them while you can.

Trips

The Spring Break trip to St. Croix, USVI is sold out but we still have spaces available for the June 2nd - 9th trip to Bonaire. It is selling fast so let us know if you are interested. This trip includes Roundtrip airfare from Atlanta to Bonaire, oceanfront condo accommodations with full kitchen and large living room, unlimited diving, four door pickup truck rental and breakfast everyday. The condos are walking distance to several restaurants, a grocery store, internet cafe and an ice cream parlor. Passport members get all of this for $1595. Non-diver price is $1455. Price above reflects cash, check or debit card payment. If paid with Visa or MasterCard please add 2%.

We are planning many trips for the upcoming dive season and hope to see you on some of these trips.

Forrest Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have just returned from a very successful spearfishing trip out of Panama City, FL. In all 80 fish, mostly flounder were taken. This time of year can be a great time to catch flounder and grouper. Take a look at these pictures to see some of the fish.

We are looking forward to one more spearfishing trip before it gets too cold. For $395 Passport Members get 2 days of offshore spearfishing and 2 nights in a hotel. Come by the Scuba School and look at the new wetsuits, semi-dry suits and boat coats that we have in inventory. These wetsuits keep you comfortable in cooler water and the boat coats are waterproof and keep the wind off of you and keep you warm between dives.

We've also got a couple of trips coming up later this month to the Oriskany and South Carolina relic diving. See the details below, and come with us!

We have been on several trips the past few weeks and we have a few upcoming ones to let you know about. Recently members of Southern Skin Divers Supply have been competing in spearfishing tournaments out of Orange Beach, AL. On the most recent one, Forrest won third place in the Flounder category.

The night prior to the previous tournament, two members of the spearfishing team, Tommy Williams and Joe Quattlebaum, bumped into two other divers that work as deckhands on fishing boats. These two divers were going to be unable to compete in the tournament because they were going to work as deckhands the next day. Then they went into this story about this big Red Snapper and they were the only ones that knew where he was. After Joe and Tommy bought a couple of rounds of their drinks, the divers wrote down the GPS numbers on a cocktail napkin. They felt that since they were unable to compete in the tournament, at least someone should get a shot at the Snapper. They did however, suggest going to a hardware store and purchasing a shovel for this dive. The two said you would need one to dig a hole under the structure to get to the fish. A shovel was purchased and the dive was made.

Just as they had said, the big Snapper was right where they said it would be and a shovel was necessary to get to the Snapper and get him out. It took a shovel, two paralyzer pole spears, two spearguns, and Tommy and Joe but they did return from the shovel

dive with the Snapper. What a fun time!

This is the last spearfishing trip of the year. It also happens to be the best time of year to get Flounder. For $395 Passport Members get two days of offshore spearfishing and two nights in a hotel. We always look forward to taking our fresh catch to the Captain's Table restaurant in St. Andrews. They have excellent homemade crab cakes that make great stuffing for fresh Flounder.

The U.S.S. Oriskany was put down 24 miles offshore on May 17, 2006. The Mighty O sank perfectly and is sitting upright on the sea floor. This weekend package includes two nights of oceanfront condo accommodations and two days of offshore wreck diving including two dives on the Mighty O. This will probably be our last opportunity of the year to do this trip so call the SCUBA School if you are interested.

Primarily on this trip we are searching for fossilized Megalodon shark's teeth but we also find other fossils, Native American Indian artifacts, old bottles and pottery. For $700 Passport Members get roundtrip transportation from near Birmingham to the rivers in South Carolina, three days of diving on the boat, use of a personal locator device, food and beverages on the boat, tank rentals and air fills, and hotel accommodations. This is a dark and swift water type of diving. Give us a call at the SCUBA School for more details.

Southern Skin Divers Supply is now the official Dive Team for the largest law enforcement agency in Alabama. Sheriff Mike Hale of Jefferson County is our friend and we are proud to be volunteers and be able to help law enforcement agencies that can use our skills. Southern will be purchasing additional equipment to help us locate metal objects such as automobiles that have washed away in strong current. The Sheriff's Dive Team will be training in rivers throughout Alabama. As new volunteers are needed, Southern will evaluate and train black water divers for the Sheriff's Dive Team. The four primary divers on the Sheriff's Dive Team have well over 10,000 total dives and have been certified for over 100 years total time. Forrest and Spencer Phillips are both Instructor Trainers. Allen Scott is the main diver to look for bodies. Steve Phillips has more experience in finding metal underwater than anyone in Alabama. We will keep our divers posted on what the Sheriff's Dive Team is doing.

Southern Skin Divers has been very active this summer. In addition to the many trips to the Gulf Coast, we are diving in our rivers throughout the South. As most of you divers know, Forrest, Spencer and Steve are always trying to find something underwater. Fossils, gold, artifacts or relics will make our day. A couple of weeks ago I found a real small whiskey jug while diving for Civil War relics. The jug is not broken and is about 150 years old. It is the first unbroken whiskey jug I have found.

Spencer could not stand to not find something better than me so last week he found a giant jug. We think that this jug is about 300 years old and was used by slaves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 5, 2006
Summer Diving Adventures of Steve and Spence

In years past I would put my dive journal from Alaska in our newsletter but I quit doing this a year or so ago. Now I write my journal for my granddaughter Emily and when she is an old lady she can make my journals available to new miners who want to know about Alaska dredging. I am enclosing a few pages of the journal for you to read if you find it of interest. I was in Alaska for 2 months this summer and Spence came up for 2 weeks. The weather was bad this year and I was only able to get in the water 16 days. Usually I can get in about half the days.
Here is a link to some of the pages from my journal and some of this years Alaska pictures ==>> LINK

Since coming home Spence and I went diving for relics from the War Between the States and have had some good luck. Spence found a real nice Yankee eagle breast plate and some bullets.

Last week I had a good dive day and found two artillery shells. These are the first shells I have found in 3 years. Now that we have friendly regulations many of the relic hunting divers are getting back in our state waters and saving some of the relics before they rust away. I hope you divers who read this are having good dives and that you are having many good adventures. We are going to be diving as much as possible for the next few months and finding relics, artifacts and fossils.

Trip Update

Sept. 8-10 USS Oriskany Pensacola, FL.
The Aircraft carrier USS Oriskany was put down on May 17, 2006 and SSDS is now diving the Mighty O. The Oriskany sank perfectly and is sitting upright on the sea floor. This weekend package includes 2 nights of oceanfront condo accommodations and 2 days of offshore wreck diving, including 2 dives on the Mighty O. This is definitely an advanced dive so call us at the Scuba School if you are interested in going.

Sept. 22-24 Fossil River trip, South Carolina.
This 3 day trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, hotel accommodations, tank rentals and air fills, food and beverages on the boat, use of a personal locator device and guides putting divers right on the spots where we think the teeth are. We do not guarantee that everyone will find fossils but we have been finding a lot of good fossils lately. The Passport Diver price is $700. Give us a call if you are interested.

Oct. 6-8 Advanced Class and Wreck Diving Trip Panama City, FL.
All of you recent students that are ready to do an advanced trip, this is it. The classroom session will be at the Scuba School. The topics covered will be boat diving, wreck diving, deep diving, underwater navigation, night diving and using a lift bag. The Passport Diver price is $495. This includes classroom training, 2 days of offshore wreck diving and 2 nights in a hotel and processing fees with a certification agency.

Oct. 27-29 Spearfishing Trip Panama City, FL.
This time of year the bigger fish come in closer and it is also the best time of the year to get flounder and it is still snapper season. We currently have a good selection of JBL spearguns and pole spears at the Scuba School. The Passport Diver price of $395 includes 2 days of offshore spearfishing and 2 nights in a hotel. As usual we will take our catch to the Captain's Table Restaurant in St. Andrews on Saturday night.

Let's go diving,
Spencer Phillips

Trip Update

Hello Divers,

If you are in the market for a new regulator, there is still one week left on the free octopus promotion. >From now until July 31st if you purchase an Aqua-Lung regulator from Southern Skin Divers Supply you not only get a lifetime parts warranty but you also get a free octopus with a lifetime parts warranty. This is a great program but it is over as of Monday, July 31st so come by the SCUBA School soon if you need a new regulator.

Due to having three trips on the same day, SSDS will be closed on Saturday, July 29th. We hate to be closed on a Saturday in the middle of Summer but we will be open again on Monday, July 31st at 9:00am. Sorry for the inconvenience.

July 28-30 Spearfishing in Panama City, FL. There are two spaces available for next weekends spearfishing trip. The Passport Member price of $395 includes two days of offshore spearfishing and two nights of hotel accommodations. As usual, we will take our fresh catch to the Captain's Table restaurant in St. Andrews and have them prepare it for us. If you do not already own a speargun, you can come by SSDS and try the latest JBL spearguns in our pool as long as no one else is in the water.

October 28-November 6 Big Island Hawaii trip. By the end of July we are closing this trip out. If you are interested in this Hawaii trip, we need to hear from you now. The Big Island has it all. This 10 day trip includes round trip airfare from Birmingham to Kona, accommodations in a spacious condo, shore diving and boat diving including the World famous Manta Ray night dive, and a car with unlimited mileage. There is plenty for divers and non-divers to do alike. The Kona side, where we will be staying, has the best conditions for boat and shore diving. You can also drive to Volcano National Park and watch the lava flow into the ocean at night. A little further on is the town of Hilo. This is where the rainforests and waterfalls are. If you want to try something different, you can drive up to one of the 14,000 ft tall snow covered mountains. Once we close out this trip, we will be unable to get any other spaces. Passport Diver price is $2400.

Hello Divers,

We have been busy at the Scuba School lately and have been on a lot of great trips. I had the opportunity to participate in the 31st Anniversary Alabama Open Spearfishing Rodeo. We had a great time and all of us got some pretty nice fish. The boat that we went out on was our good friend Tommy William's boat the Ashley Marie. Dan Plank who was one of the members of our team got a spectacular 112 pound Amberjack, which won that category and was the largest fish anyone speared for the entire tournament. Here is a pic of that monster.

We also recently did another one of our fossil hunting trips to South Carolina. This was another successful trip and everyone on the boat ended up with some great teeth. Here is a picture of some of the teeth that we got. The largest one is 5 and a half inches long. This would have come from a 55 - 60 foot prehistoric shark.

July 28-30th Spearfishing, Panama City, FL
We are going on another two day offshore spearfishing trip. This trip includes two nights in a hotel and two days of offshore spearfishing. The water is warm now and we have been seeing a lot of big fish. Lately the visibility has been incredible. We currently have a good selection of the latest JBL spearguns on the market at the SCUBA School. Passport member price is $395.

Here is a link to some pictures from this past weekend that shows the incredible visibility this time of year. www.johndwatson.com/PCDiveTrip/

August 4-6th South Carolina river adventure
There is still a spot available for the next fossil diving trip to South Carolina. We are finding a good bit of large prehistoric Megalodon teeth like in the photo's above. The water is very dark and the current is very strong but the fossils are a high quality and we are finding good spots lately. The passport member price of $700 includes transportation from near Birmingham, tank rentals and air fills, 3 days of diving, the use of a personal diver locator system, hotel accommodations and food and beverages on the boat.

Late October, Early November The Big Island, Hawaii
The Big Island has it all. This 9 day trip includes round trip airfare from Birmingham to Kona, accommodations in a spacious condo, shore diving and boat diving including the world famous Manta Ray night dive, and a car with unlimited mileage. There is plenty for divers and non divers to do alike. The Kona side, where we will be staying, has the best conditions for boat and shore diving. You also can drive to Volcano National Park and watch the lava flow into the ocean at night. A little further on is the town of Hilo. It is here where the rain forests and waterfalls are. If you want to try something different, you can drive up to one of the 14,000 ft tall snow covered mountains. We are currently taking deposits on this trip. The Passport member price is approximately $2400.

Spring 2007 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia
In Spring of 2007 we are taking a group to dive the greatest shipwrecks in the world. Look at our website at http://www.ssdsupply.com/images/Tant/index.html for photos from the last trip. We are going to do a 2 day extension to either Guam or Pohnapei on this adventure. This is a great opportunity to get over 30 dives on this live aboard trip. Now is the time to sign up for this 12 day trip.

Spencer Phillips
Southern Skin Divers Supply
4515 5th Ave. South
Birmingham, AL. 35222
205-595-3052

We just wanted to let you know about some of the new equipment, programs and trips that we have at the Scuba School now and for the next few weeks.

New Equipment. We currently have in stock many Aqua-Lung Legend ACD regulators. The Legend ACD is a high performance regulator with an auto closure device. This device protects the first stage from water entry, preserves the regulator performance and allows you to rinse the regulator without a dust cap. Come by and check out these new regulators.

New Programs. Free Octopus Promotion. If you are in the market for a new Legend Regulator or any other Aqua-Lung Regulator, now is the time to get one. From now until July 31st if you purchase an Aqua-Lung Regulator from SSDS you not only get a lifetime parts warranty but you also get a free octopus!

Passport club members only. This is high risk diving. Do not consider this dive trip to be a routine recreational dive trip. This trip is only for the divers who want to be on the edge and want to find relics and fossils. We have heard of at least two very experienced divers that have been killed in the last 3 years in the areas in which we dive. Hazards include no visibility, really strong currents, boats that ignore dive flags, shrimp boats pulling nets along the bottom, alligator and shark breeding grounds. These are only some of the hazards that we know of and there are more that we don't know about. This trip is only for a few experienced divers who want to be exposed to this type of high risk. The danger is similar to hang gliding, cave diving, sky diving or rock climbing. We don't want to encourage anyone to go on this trip but we also don't want to deny our club members the freedom to go where others have not been before. Passport Member price $700.

Passport Member price $395. Passport Member price with Advanced certification $495.

Southern is taking another week long dive trip to Cozumel. Cozumel is home to some of the best drift diving in the world. The Passport Member price of $1650 includes round trip airfare from Birmingham to Cozumel. Seven days of ocean front resort accommodations, 4 days of boat diving, shore diving, breakfast daily and roundtrip airport/hotel transfers. We need to know if you want to go on this trip as soon as possible.

This trip will be similar to our last trip to Hawaii, which was 9 days and included roundtrip airfare from Birmingham to Kona, 4 days of two tank boat dives, unlimited shore diving, rental car with unlimited mileage and condo accommodations

Steve and Spencer Phillips were asked to go to the Tri State Archaeological Society Artifact Show last Saturday in Dothan to explain the new underwater regulations in Alabama. The show had many great displays and was very educational for the public. Many of the collectors and divers had questions about what we can and cannot do in Alabama and we were happy to be of service to them. It was nice to see how these people cherish and share their collections. Several of these people have written excellent books about Indian artifacts. These books are used by collectors, archaeologists, and museums to identify what an artifact is, how it was used, how old it is, and the area in which it was found. Without the collectors and amateur archaeologists who do their work at no expense to the public, very little would be known about our ancestors. Alabama has millions of these artifacts and we should be grateful to these people for saving some of our history before sites are lost to development. Now that we have good regulations for divers in Alabama we hope our 100,000 Alabama divers will start exploring our waterways more. Please keep us posted about what you are seeing and finding. I hope that some diver will someday find the location where Desoto's forces fought Chief Tuskaloosa's people at the Battle of Mauvilla, also known as Maubila. All the experts have had their opinions none of which are the same place. Opinions are just opinions and mean nothing until some diver or relic hunter finds proof.

Steve and SSDS were presented a lifetime membership into the Tri State Archaeological Society for our efforts in regaining our collecting and diving rights in Alabama. Steve will be going to Nome, Alaska June 1st for about three months diving for and mining gold in the Bering Sea.

Left to right. Forrest Phillips, Senator Jack Biddle, Representative Jim McClendon, Spencer Phillips and Steve Phillips.

Things are in full swing at the Scuba School. We are teaching several classes every day and we have already taken three group trips this year. Just last week one of the groups returned from the Big Island of Hawaii. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Steve says......

We don’t send newsletters as much by mail as we did in the past. Now that we have an excellent web page and can also send out emails, we find this to be much better and less expensive. This will probably be the only mailed newsletter that we will send out this year. Please let us know your email address, so that you can get timely notices of trips outings and Scuba School functions by Emailing us here ssdsupply@aol.com

My nephew, Barry Hocutt is our webmaster and totally maintains our web page and all the great pictures and info on the web page. Barry is a great relic hunter on land and water. He started relic hunting with me when he was 13. That was over 30 years ago. He is also an excellent diver with thousands of dives in clear water and black water. Barry’s wife Jana and sons Reade and Trace are good divers also. Most of our divers now have their family involved in diving. Things have changed a lot during my 40+ years of diving. It’s not so much a macho sport anymore. Diving can offer so many different places and types of diving now. Of course we still have the macho diving such as spearfishing or relic and artifact hunting in blackwater. These types of diving are some that we at the SCUBA School love to do. Now that we have new dive regulations in Alabama, we hope to train many more blackwater divers.

Speaking of training, Spencer has now joined Mark and Forrest as an instructor trainer. An instructor trainer is an instructor who can train and certify new dive instructors. The Scuba School is fortunate to have them as owners especially since, these instructors all have many thousands of dives in all types of waters and conditions. Our instructors are just like the children from Lake Woebegone that the guy from Prairie Home Companion talks about. They are above average.

Its too cold to go diving in Alabama now, so I am going relic hunting on land a couple times each week now. This is my way of trying to get in shape for my annual Alaska gold diving adventure. This will be my 14th summer in Nome, Alaska. My trip this year will be for two and a half months or more, if I’m finding enough gold. I just turned 60 and my family bought me a birthday present. They actually like me and want me to be able to protect myself from Grizzly Bears in an emergency. My gift was a Smith and Wesson 50 caliber revolver. This is a hand cannon and is the most powerful handgun made. I don’t hunt anything, but gold in Alaska, but I do like to have the ability to protect myself if some bad bear wants to eat me or just chew me up for awhile. I will be dredging in the Bering Sea but I also have 4 inland claims now that I can go to when the seas are too rough to go out. I’m taking one of my Tesoro metal detectors to Alaska with me this year to find relics and gold nuggets. Southern also sells Tesoro and Fisher metal detectors. We can sell you one of these and teach you how to use it. We have low prices on our detectors and can offer as low of prices that can be found anywhere, including the internet. We train and support while the internet does neither.

My research assistant Ben and I have been studying the Topo maps to decide where to go relic hunting. Ben doesn’t use a metal detector but he is a good digger.

New at the SCUBA School

Nitrox Certification Available Southern Skin Divers Supply is now offering Nitrox certification at the SCUBA School. Nitrox is a manipulated gas mixture where the Oxygen to Nitrogen ratio is altered. With the right training and equipment, a diver can enjoy increased bottom time and less surface interval time. Most of the regulators and computers that we sell at SSDS are already Nitrox ready so it is usually not necessary to purchase a second set of life support equipment. If you are interested in earning your Nitrox certification, call or e-mail us for more information.

Sealife DC 500 Digital Camera This 5.0 megapixel camera is the latest and greatest thing in underwater cameras. It was awarded one of the most amazing inventions of 2005 by Time Magazine. The camera will focus as close as 2.3 inches, eliminating the need for close-up or macro lenses. The package that we sell includes the camera and housing, a wide angle lens with lens dock, a digital strobe and a travel case to carry it in. The special sale price is $900 on this package. This is the lowest price available on this anywhere, and we will also include an underwater photography class with Mark Tant at no extra charge!

Other Brands Equipment Service Many of you have probably noticed that some of the other dive stores in the area have recently gone out of business. We know you have an investment in your life support equipment and will need support. We want to make sure that divers in our area are supported whether they bought equipment from us or not. At SSDS we have decided to offer repair service on most other brands of SCUBA life support equipment.

Passport Club Equipment Service If you are a Passport Club Member, now is a good time to have your life support equipment serviced, before we get too busy. Having your equipment serviced annually is how you maintain your lifetime parts warranty on your life support equipment. Your Passport Membership also gives you lifetime free use of the pool and discounted prices on trips that we offer.

Trips
Our first two group trips of the dive season, (Bonaire-March 18-25) and (Hawaii-March 26-April 4), are sold out. We do have several others with spaces available.

April 21-23 Panama City, FL. This wreck diving trip is $350 to Passport Members. It includes two days of offshore wreck diving and two nights in a hotel. (double occ.) SSDS will also be offering Advanced class and certification for those of you that haven’t yet taken this class. Topics include offshore wreck diving, night diving and underwater navigation. The total cost is $450 for everything including the advanced class and certification.

May 11-13 South Carolina River Trip. On the last trip to this area, one of the divers found the largest Fossilized Megalodon Tooth that any of us have ever found. We would love for that to happen again. This trip includes transportation from near Birmingham, boat, guide, three days of diving with food and beverages on the boat, two or three nights in a hotel and tank rentals and airfills for the dives. Passport Members get all of this for $650. Here is a picture from one of our last trips.

May 26-28 Panama City, FL. Spearfishing. The Passport Member price of $395 includes two days of offshore spearfishing and two nights in a hotel (double occ.). On Saturday we will take our fresh catch to the Captain’s Table Restaurant in St. Andrews. They always do a great job with the usual grouper, snapper, flounder and amberjack that we bring. Come by the SCUBA School and check out the JBL spearguns and pole spears that we have available.

October 2006 Hawaii, The Big Island. We are planning another trip to the big island of Hawaii for late October or early November. Hawaii has something to offer for everyone with the beautiful water, great diving with turtles, manta rays, sea shells, eels, rare fish some of which are only found in Hawaii. We even swam with a whale shark there once. There are also no hurricanes, no passports needed, no stomach problems, no bugs, two 14,000 ft. mountains, and an active volcano with lava flowing into the sea. Here is a link to some Hawaii pictures from previous trips: http://www.ssdsupply.com/hawaii.htm. This 10 day trip to the Kona coast includes RT airfare from Birmingham to Kona, 2 bedroom 2 bath condos, rental car or SUV with unlimited mileage, boat diving, including the famous Manta Ray night dive and unlimited shore diving.

March 2007 Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? If so, in March 2007 you should take a trip with us to Truk Lagoon, Micronesia. Truk Lagoon is a tropical paradise located in the South Pacific, where in World War II the U.S. sank 68 Japanese ships and over 300 planes. This trip will be about 11 or 12 days with about 9 days of diving and includes roundtrip airfare from Birmingham to Truk, a stay on the best liveaboard in Truk and all the diving you could ever want. You can easily get 5 dives everyday you dive. This trip offers the best wreck diving in the world. Take a look at our past Truk trip photos on our web site. We have many years experience escorting divers to the worlds best shipwreck diving in Truk. Here is a picture from our last trip to Truk.

USS Oriskany update: The Environmental Protection Agency has cleared the Navy to sink the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany off Pensacola in May. This is the final hurdle needed before returning the famed Korean and Vietnam War carrier from a shipyard in Beaumont, Texas to Pensacola. The final resting place for the 888 ft. carrier will be 22.5 miles south of Pensacola. Shortly after being sunk, this will become a major diving attraction and SSDS will be taking many trips there. Once it is down, the Oriskany will be the largest ship ever sunk on purpose for an artificial reef.

Tannehill State Park near McCalla has redone their museum and it is really nice and interesting. We suggest that you take your family and visit this park and museum. They have 1,500 acres with many sights to see. Their new restaurant is now open with good food. Many of our relics from The War Between The States are on display in their museum. We think Tannehill is the best park and museum in Alabama at this time. Check out their webpage: http://www.tannehill.org/museum.html

February 11, 2006

Trip Update and New Equipment

Hello Divers,

Here at the Scuba School we are getting ready for the upcoming dive season. Both of our March trips to the Big island of Hawaii and Bonaire are sold out. We have another group trip to Bonaire this June 10th -17th. The Passport member price of $2100 includes a Nitrox class and certification at the Scuba School, roundtrip airfare from Atlanta to Bonaire, oceanfront condo accommodations, breakfast daily, truck rental and unlimited Nitrox diving.

For those of you interested, Nitrox is a manipulated gas mixture where the normal nitrogen to oxygen ratio is altered. With the right training, equipment, and air consumption divers can enjoy prolonged dives, less decompression time and shorter surface intervals. Most of the life support equipment that we sell is already Nitrox compatible so there is no need to purchase a second set of life support equipment to enjoy the benefits of Nitrox.

We have many new products at the store that you should come by and see. Here are a few of them:

Suunto Gekko Dive Computer This is an affordable air/nitrox dive computer that features a phosphorescent display for low light conditions. It also has a user replaceable battery, audible alarms and a user friendly simplified menu.

Aqualung Malibu BC Aqualung has updated this BC (buoyancy compensator) to make it more travel friendly. It now has an integrated mesh bag for easy storage and packing. It also features grommet holes for mounting a knife and metal D-rings.

Aqua-flex Wetsuits These new wetsuits are made of 250% four-way stretch neoprene. They also have pre-bent legs making the Aqua-flex wetsuit the most comfortable full suit on the market today.

Aqualung Destination Deluxe Wheeled Bag This bag is for all of you families that dive together. It will hold 2 complete sets of Scuba equipment for airline travel. This bag comes with the manufacturers lifetime warranty.

Sealife DC500 Digital Camera This 5.0 megapixel camera will focus to 2.3 inches, eliminating the need for close up or macro lenses. This camera was voted one of the 20 best inventions of 2005 by Time magazine.

Come by the Scuba School and check out these new products.

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

We have a group trip to Bonaire this March 18 - 25th. This is Spring Break for most of the area school systems, so if any of you want to take your family, this is the trip. The Passport Diver price of $2100 includes roundtrip airfare from Atlanta to Bonaire, 7 nights accommodations (quad occ.) in a waterfront 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom condo, Breakfast daily, rental vehicle for 7 days and unlimited shore diving (weights, belts and tanks included).

Each condo features a comfortable living area with cable tv, fully equipped kitchen with breakfast bar and dining area, air-conditioned bedrooms with private bathrooms. There are very few spots available and they are going fast. Call us at the Scuba School if you want to go.

There you go. For a change lets give credit where credit is due. I've been trying to go relic hunting on land a couple of times each week so I'll get enough exercise and not be in bad shape when I go to Alaska this Summer to mine gold. Friday, my old friend Robert McDaniel and I went relic hunting in Mississippi. We have been looking for some unknown sites in that area. We were given permission to look on some land that hasn't been built on or otherwise lost. Many of the places where we found relics 30 years ago are now subdivisions or shopping centers. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to developing property. I just know that we should find relics and record all the history that we can before a place is gone. I notice now when I find iron relics that they are in much worse condition than the same type relics were when I started relic hunting. Brass and lead also deteriorate due to chemicals and fertilizer in the soil and water but iron is rusting away fast. Many items that could be found and saved now will not be anything but rust colored ground in another 30 years. The tens of thousands of relic hunters, artifact hunters and collectors are the primary people who save and care for the physical remains from these lost historical places. We pay for our own gas, expenses and equipment. We don't ask for any government grants. We don't get paid wages to pursue our worthy hobby. We are the people who write the reference books used by schools, museums, collectors and the public. We are the folks who gave or lent almost all of the historical relics that are in museums. We are the guys and gals that go to the schools and talk and display history to your kids. We don't get paid for our efforts and that is just fine with us. The research and thrill of the hunt is what we like. Just like with a bass fisherman, it's not about the fish. It's about catching the fish. With us, it's about finding the relics and the history. We are the good guys. Recorded history benefits from our efforts.

Now on with my story. Robert and I are just plain old relic hunters. Old is the key word. We are amateur relic hunters and amateur archaeologists. What amateur means is that we don't get paid. It means we do what we do for love, not money. Between the two of us, we have seventy years of experience in finding, saving and preserving relics from the War Between the States.

We found a small area that had the routine busted iron pieces that probably came from stoves and cooking pans. Robert kept hunting in the junkie area and found a 24 lb. solid cannonball. Robert is one of the best relic hunters anywhere but he has only found two whole cannonballs. He looks for lead and brass. I look for cannonballs and have found about 500 on land and underwater. I have only found 20 belt buckles while Robert has found over 100. Robert has found about 50 Confederate belt buckles. He also finds lots of buttons while I rarely find any buttons.

We hunted this area and I found a 24 lb. canister plate. These two items for the same cannon pretty much means there was a 24 lb. cannon there. Robert found an adjuster buckle from a Confederate sword belt. He also found a broken piece of a CS Tongue and Wreath buckle. We found three entrenching

tools and an ax. Robert says the ax was a US issue, so we can assume that it was confiscated from the invaders. This was a Confederate place, no Yankees allowed. We found several more items before we tired out. Hopefully we will find more relics and be able to learn more about the soldiers that were there. This is not a very big area and not terribly important to the grand scheme of things. It is a place that had not been written about and no other relic hunters have been there before us. We found it. We have found many great places over the years and each time we do we add to the known history of the War Between the States. We are the good guys just like almost all of the relic hunters and collectors are. We are not looters, scavengers, plunderers or any other derogatory word that the jealous professionals like to call us. We are the good guys.

Wednesday, Feb 1^st the quarterly meeting of the Alabama Historical Commission will be in the auditorium of our State Capitol. The public meeting starts at 1:30 pm. Several interesting subjects will be discussed and voted on by the AHC directors. You can't vote but you can say what you think. Some of the directors will probably get up and walk out before the first public citizen is allowed to speak. Others will stay and at least listen. Possibly we can influence what happens at the AHC. Not all of the directors are bad, some are very good but they are outnumbered by directors with conflicting interests, politically correct agendas and those who just couldn't care less. I am very worried about the new regulations concerning the Alabama Underwater Cultural Resources Act. At the November meeting, new regulations that are much more friendly worded were proposed to the public by the AHC. Public comments were accepted until Dec. 9^th. Many excellent comments were received in overwhelming support of public access to our waters by divers and relic hunters. We approved of the new

regulations. Now I am being told that there may be further delays on the new regulations. I fear any further delay can be a disaster such as the constant delays concerning the Wheeler House. Alabama’s dive industry and divers have been trying since 1999 to fix these terrible regulations that we now have. During the last few months at least three more scuba training businesses have been forced to go out of business in Alabama. Southeastern Divers in Florence had been in business about thirty years at that location. The Dive Site in Hoover had been in business about twenty-five years and had been the largest dive store in Alabama. I'm not saying that the AHC regulations put the businesses out of business but they helped. We now have the worst diving regulations in the country. If other dive stores continue to close down, where will divers go to fill their scuba tanks? Where will our citizens learn to scuba dive? Are Alabama citizens going to be held back from what the rest of the world can do? The AHC can give us the new regulations that they proposed, NOW. We can't wait. Please come to this meeting next Wednesday.

Much has been happening concerning Alabama's dive law. The Alabama Historical Commission is proposing new regulations that will control where and how divers can dive in Alabama. Two meetings have been set up to allow divers to comment on proposed regulations. One meeting is next week in Selma and the other is the following week in Mobile. This is the only opportunity that divers, collectors and gold prospectors will have to express their wishes. We have had no input up to this time and we need to show up in Selma and Mobile. To get this far along has been a struggle since 1999 when the current regulations were written. Selma is not a diving town. They have no dive store and don't teach scuba diving there. Selma is not where the meeting should have been held. It should have been Birmingham. The Birmingham area has one-third of the state's population yet we have been excluded from having the public meetings here or anywhere in North Alabama.

In Selma and Mobile we will have much opposition from people who do not dive and do not understand what we are about. We need all dive stores to contact their divers and ask them to attend this meeting. I think we can work out acceptable regulations if we have a good turn out at the meetings. This war in Alabama has dragged on for many years and both sides have been bruised and bloodied. I want the fighting to end and I'm sure the staff and directors of the Historical Commission want the pain to end. Remember that the original law was passed to control salvage of historical shipwrecks. I think we can get the new regulations to do what the legislators wanted the law to do.

The suggested regulations can work but need a couple sentences added to clarify the definition of Cultural Resources. I suggest that we add the following: Isolated finds that are not listed on or determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places are not covered by the definition of cultural resources in the law. Recreational gold prospectors are not affected by these regulations unless the gold dust that they might find is a part of or associated with a cultural resource.

Many divers, collectors and historians have worked very hard to get back our freedoms to dive and find relics in Alabama. Now we need all of us to take part and not just watch what happens. Everyone also needs to write a letter or email to Elizabeth Brown at the AHC and send copies to all of the directors of the AHC. Also send a letter to Governor Riley.

1. Mrs. Janice Hawkins (res.) 110 McKinley Dr Troy, AL. 36081
office Troy State University 110 McCartha Hall, Troy, AL. 36082
home phone 334-670-3475    office phone 334-353-5889 or 334-670-3370
e-mail: janhawk@trojan.troyst.edu

Chair: 2. Mr. William Drinkard
Drinkard Development, Inc. 1301 Welti Rd SE Cullman, AL.   35055
Drinkard Development PO Box 996 Cullman, AL.   35056-0996
home phone 256-775-0200 office phone 256-738-1815
e-mail: wdrinkard@aol.com

Secretary: 3. Mr. Kippy Tate
State Building Commission
770 Washington Ave Ste. 444
Montgomery, AL. 36130-1150
office phone 334-242-4082
e-mail: ktate@bc.state.al.us

Treasurer: 4. Mr. Bobby M. Junkins, Etowah County Probate Judge
PO Box 187
Gadsden, AL. 35902
phone 205-932-4519
e-mail: bmjunkins@yahoo.com

5. Dr. James "Ike" Adams Jr.
The University of Alabama
Dean, School of Social Work
Tuscaloosa, AL. 35487
phone 205-348-3924
e-mail: jadams@sw.ua.edu

6. Honorable Lucy Baxley
Alabama State House, Ste. 725
11 South Union St.
Montgomery, AL. 36130
phone 334-242-7900
e-mail: info@ltgov.state.al.us

7. Dr. Edwin Bridges, Alabama Department of Archives and History
PO Box 300100
Montgomery, AL.   36130-0100
Phone 334-242-4435 or 334-242-4441
e-mail: ed.bridges@archives.alabama.gov

8. Mr. Nicholas Cobbs Jr, Attorney
1110 Main St.
Greensboro, AL. 36744
phone 334-624-4202

9. Honorable Seth Hammett, Speaker of the House of Representatives
PO Box 1776
Andalusia, AL. 36420
or
Room 519-A, 11 South Union Street
Montgomery, AL. 36130
Home phone 334-222-4469
office phone 334-242-7668
e-mail: seth.hammett@alhouse.org

10. Mr. Barnett Lawley
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
64 N. Union St.
Montgomery, AL. 36104
phone 334-242-3486
e-mail: commissioner@dcnr.state.al.us

11. Mr. Danny Cooper
Alabama Association of Realtors
PO Box 4070
Montgomery, AL. 36103-4070
phone 334-262-3808
danny@alabamarealtors.com

12. Mr. Guy Spencer
PO Box 45

13. Mr. Stephen Martin
Alabama Education Association
PO Box 4177
Montgomery, AL. 36103-4177
phone 334-834-9790
e-mail: stephenm@alaedu.org

14. Dr. Geri Moulton
University of South Alabama
307 University Boulevard
Mobile, AL. 36685
phone 251-460-6111

15. Mrs. Vivian Paul
148 S Jackson St.
Grove Hill, AL. 36451
home phone 251-275-3949
office phone 251-275-4131

16. Honorable Bob Riley, Governor
Alabama State Capital
600 Dexter Ave
Montgomery, AL. 36130

17. Mr. Lee Sentell
Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel
PO Box 4927
Montgomery, AL. 36104-4927

18. Mr. Steve Sharp
702 Piedmont Lake Rd.
Pine Mountain GA. 31822
home phone 706-663-8776
cell phone 706-289-4714

19. Dr. Craig Sheldon
AUM, Department of Anthropology
7300 University Drive
Montgomery, AL. 36117-3596
home phone 334-567-8942
office phone 334-244-3765

20. Dr. Robert Jakeman
Auburn University History Department
310 Thach Hall
Auburn, AL. 36849
phone 334-844-6634
e-mail: jakemrj@auburn.edu

21. Dr. Dan Bennett
Auburn University, Dean, School of Architecture
202 Dudley Hall
Auburn University, AL. 36849
phone 334-844-4285
e-mail: dbennett@auburn.edu

Governor Riley has been a supporter of divers and we need to keep asking for his help. Please send a copy of what you write to us at Southern Skin Divers Supply. We know that it is difficult and time consuming to write letters and to attend these meetings but it is what has to be done and we appreciate all of those that have contributed.

This family type trip is great for divers and non-divers alike. There are snow covered mountains, an active volcano, rain forests and waterfalls and the world famous Manta Ray Night Dive. Included in the price is round trip airfare from Birmingham to Kona, accommodations in 2 bed and 2 bath ocean front condos, diving and a rental car or SUV. We are about to close out this trip so call us if you are interested. The Passport Diver price is $2100 and the non diver price is $1900.

October 2, 2005

Read this Pensacola News Article on the USS Oriskany ==> LINK

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September 24, 2005

Dive Trip Update

Wreck Diving Trip Panama City, Florida, Oct. 7 - 9

There are a couple of spots available for this wreck diving adventure. The Passport member price of $350 includes 2 days of offshore wreck diving and 2 nights in a hotel. Those of you that want to earn your advanced certification may do so on this trip. The total cost including advanced processing is $450.

Fossil Trip. South Carolina. Oct. 13 - 15

This river diving expedition is to find prehistoric shark's teeth along with other fossils. On our last fossil trip one of our divers found the largest complete Megalodon tooth that any of us have ever found. The Passport member price of $640 includes transportation from Birmingham, all diving, tank rentals and air fills, food and beverages on the boat, guides putting you right on the spots plus hotel accommodations.

Flounder Tournament. Panama City, Florida. October 28 - 30

Every diver on the boat on this 2 day spearfishing trip will be entered in the Panama City Flounder Tournament. Last year a diver from Birmingham won it and we would love for that to happen again. The Passport member price of $450 includes 2 days of offshore spearfishing, 2 nights in a hotel and entrance fees to the flounder tournament. Space is limited so call us if you are interested.

Hawaii, The Big Island. March 24 - April 2nd 2006

This is a great trip for divers and non-divers alike. This island offers a lot to see and do, including snow covered mountains, active volcanoes, waterfalls and rain forests. We stay in 2 bed 2 bath condos on the Kona Coast. This 9 day trip includes round trip air from Birmingham to Kona, Condo accommodations, rental car with unlimited mileage, boat diving including the famous Manta Ray night dive and unlimited shore diving. The Passport diver price is $2100.

Thanks,

Forrest Phillips

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September 20, 2005

On September 29th the Sunset Review Committee will determine their recommendations to correct problems or abolish the Alabama Historical Commission. All divers, collectors and historians need to write to Senator Larry Dixon this week and give your suggestions concerning the AHC. A written letter is best but an email is better than nothing. Here is his email address ldixon@albme.org. The important thing is to do this now before the meeting. Please take time today to write your letter or email. Senator Dixon is the Chairman of the Sunset Committee and will share your letters with the other members.

This is a copy of the letter I have sent.

September 20, 2005

Senator Larry Dixon

820 East Fairview Avenue

Montgomery, AL. 36106

Dear Senator Dixon,

I am writing to you about the Sunset review of the Alabama Historical Commission. The AHC has proved itself to be totally incompetent in performing its mission and serving the people of Alabama. I appreciate the Legislators becoming involved and hopefully fixing the problems within this rogue agency.

My suggestions for the AHC are:

1. All directors who have been directors for more than two years should be asked to resign. They failed to exercise their responsibilities to control the staff of the AHC. The Governor should appoint new directors who are interested in Alabama History but not with a hidden agenda of funneling business to the Schools who they work for. The schools and colleges should not be appointing the directors and we don't need the AHC to be an archaeology department. The AHC should be about history not archaeology referrals for colleges.

2. The department heads of the AHC and the acting Executive Director should be fired or allowed to resign. They are and have been the main problem with the attitude of the AHC in serving the public.

3. A state of emergency should be declared at the AHC and Jim Bennett should be hired to clean up and repair the AHC. Jim Bennett is the only person that I know of who is familiar with the problems and capable of correcting them. He has done a great job in making Tannehill Park the great success that it is. Tannehill gets as many visitors each year as all of the AHC properties combined and does not require any monies from the state to operate.

4. The other solution would be to put the AHC back under the Dept. of Archives and History. The properties could be under the control and management of the Dept. of Conservation. Both of these agencies are good and capable with excellent management and leadership.

5. Whatever recommendations are made I hope the Sunset Commission will monitor the AHC in the future. The people of Alabama can't allow the incompetence to continue at the AHC.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Steve Phillips

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Trip Update

August 24, 2005

Hello Divers,

We just returned from another successful diving trip to the rivers of South Carolina. This was a very exciting trip, the current was strong and the visibility was low. All of our divers found nice fossils including whale teeth, vertebrae and ear bones and several different types of shark teeth. On this trip the largest complete Megalodon tooth that one of our groups have ever recovered was found by Rick Bearden. The best thing about his 6 inch tooth is that he found it on his first trip. We are ready to go back.

Rick Bearden and his 6 inch tooth.

Dennis King and Spencer Phillips

South Carolina Fossil Trip. Sept. 2 - 4.

This trip is over Labor Day weekend. The Passport member price of $640 includes transportation from near Birmingham, tank rentals, air fills, 2 nights in a hotel, food and beverages on the boat and all the diving with our guides putting you right on the spot.

Panama City, Florida. Spear fishing trip. Sept. 16 - 18.

There is nothing quite like fresh seafood and we will take our catch on Saturday evening to the Captain's Table restaurant and have them prepare our meal. We also have several spear guns and pole spears in stock right now. The Passport member price of $395 includes 2 days of offshore spear fishing and 2 nights in a hotel.

Panama City, Florida. Advanced certification trip. Sept. 23 - 25.

Those of you wanting to earn your Advanced diver certification can do it on this trip. The Passport diver price of $450 includes 1 classroom session at the Scuba School, 2 days of offshore wreck diving with an instructor, and certification processing with a worldwide recognized agency and 2 nights in a hotel (double occ.).

Give us a call if you want to go diving,

Forrest Phillips

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Public Hearing on Sunset Review of Alabama Historical Commission

August 17, 2005

I've been in Alaska for the past two and a half months and I want to write about the trip but now is not the time. We have an important hearing in the Alabama State Legislature next week. Due to the corruption, abuse and negligence that has occurred over the past several years, the Legislature has ordered the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) investigated by the Sunset Review Committee. The investigators have worked for the last several months preparing a report on the AHC. The report will show even more of the corruption of the employees of the AHC. This report will be given at a public hearing next week on Thursday August 25th at 9:00 am in the Star Wars room on the eighth floor of the State House in Montgomery. All interested parties should attend this meeting. The Sunset Review Committee can recommend that the AHC cease to exist as a separate agency and put their duties back under the Department of Archives and History and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. They will do a better job for Alabama's history and citizens. Please make plans to attend this meeting. Our legislators have done good work in making this happen and I appreciate their efforts. Representative Jim McClendon of St. Clair County is the main person for us to thank for this review. We need to keep him as our Representative. Let us now show our support by being at this meeting

Thanks,

Steve Phillips

Save Our Lost History

Southern Skin Divers Supply

4515 5th Ave. South

Birmingham, AL. 35222

205-595-3052

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August 1, 2005

Hello Divers,

We just wanted to let you know about some of the upcoming trips that Southern is running later on this year. Currently, we have sent a group of twenty divers with Mark Tant on the Belize live-aboard trip for a week. Southern has also had two group trips to Cozumel and our big wreck adventure to Truk Lagoon. In addition to all of those, we have also been to the Florida Panhandle and South Carolina a dozen times so far this year. Even though we have been busy on trips, there is still a lot of good diving left to do this year. We hope to see you on some of these.

AUGUST 18-20 SOUTH CAROLINA.

This is the low visibility river diving trip that we have been doing every month. We do not make any promises on what you will find but the last two times we have gone, every diver found at least one prehistoric Megalodon tooth. The Passport member price of $640 includes transportation from near Birmingham, tank rentals, air fills, food and beverages on the boat and hotel accommodations. There are still a couple of spaces available, so call the SCUBA School if you are interested in going.

AUGUST 26-28 SPEARFISHING PANAMA CITY, FL.

This is another exciting type of diving that we have been doing monthly. There are several spaces available for this trip. We have a good selection of spear guns and pole spears at the SCUBA School for those that are interested. On Saturday, after the first day of diving, we will take our catch to the Captain's Table restaurant and have them prepare our meal. The Passport member price of $395 includes two nights in a hotel and two days of offshore spear fishing.

SEPTEMBER 23-25 ADVANCED CERTIFICATION AND DIVES PANAMA CITY, FL.

Join Southern for 2 days of offshore wreck diving. If you would like to earn your Advanced certification the Passport diver price is $450. This includes classroom training, 2 nights in the hotel, 2 days of offshore wreck diving and certification processing fees with a worldwide recognized agency.

We are also currently working on two other trips for this Fall and Winter. In late October or early November we will be going back to the Big Island of Hawaii. Also, either the week before or right after Christmas Southern will be taking another group to Cozumel, Mexico. All Passport Members that are interested in one of these trips should e-mail or call the SCUBA School to give us an idea who wants to go.

Thanks,

Forrest Phillips

Southern Skin Divers Supply

4515 5th Ave South

Birmingham, AL 35222

205-595-3052

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July 2, 2005

Trip Update

Over the past few weeks we have enjoyed several group trips that we need to let you know about. Southern also has four upcoming trips that you might be interested in.

July 9th & 10th Panama City, FL.

Southern is taking a group of students on their certification dive trip. These students will do one day of diving in the Springs north of Panama City and then dive the gulf on Sunday morning. This is a great way for Passport members to get more diving under their belt. Call us if you are interested in going.

July 22-24 Panama City, FL.

Offshore wreck diving in this area is a lot of fun. We have taken several trips this season already. Just last week one of our groups enjoyed 70 feet of visibility on two of the dives. We also saw 2 Goliath Groupers between 100 and 200 pounds. Passport members can also earn their advanced diver certification on this trip for $415. This price includes 2 nights in a hotel (double occ.), classroom training at the Scuba School, 2 days of offshore boat diving and advanced diver certification with a worldwide recognized agency.

August 18-20 South Carolina Fossil trip.

The previous two trips to this location have produced an abundance of great fossilized sharks teeth. The Passport member price of $640 includes transportation from near Birmingham, tank rentals and air fills, at least 2 nights in a hotel, 3 days of diving, food and beverages on the boat. This is a very exciting type of diving. It usually is in low visibility but most people that try it consider it their favorite type of diving.

Big tooth Don strikes again.

August 26-28 Spear fishing Trip, Panama City, FL.

Southern just returned from another successful spear fishing trip. Our divers were able to bring back flounder, amberjack, snapper, triggerfish and several lobster. My favorite part is taking our catch to the Captain's Table Restaurant in St. Andrews and having them prepare our meal. They really outdid themselves this time. We had the seafood prepared about 6 different ways and they served it to us on platters. The meal was absolutely amazing just like it always is. We are going back and the Passport Member price of $395 includes 2 days of offshore spear fishing and 2 nights in a hotel (double occ.).

Fish and lobster from one dive.

Jay and his amberjack

Thanks,

Forrest Phillips

Southern Skin Divers Supply

4515 5th Ave South

Birmingham, AL. 35222

205-595-3052

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June 20, 2005

Trip Update

Spearfishing trip, June 24 - 26 Panama City, Fl.

There are 2 more spots available for the Spearfishing trip this weekend. The passport diver price of $395 includes 2 days of offshore Spearfishing and 2 nights in a hotel. As usual, on Saturday evening we will take our fish to the Captain's Table restaurant in St. Andrews and have them prepare our meal. Call us at the Scuba School if you want to go.

Advanced Wreck Diving Trip, July 22 - 24 Panama City, Fl.

This two day wreck diving trip has been rescheduled due to Tropical Strom Arlene. Those of you that are interested can earn your Advanced Certification on this trip. We will do at least 4 offshore boat dives in 2 days on some of the wrecks. In the advanced class session at the scuba school we go over deep diving, underwater navigation, wreck diving, and night diving. We also cover the boating procedures necessary for this trip. The Passport diver price is $415 and includes 2 nights in a hotel, 2 days of boat diving, and an advanced certification with a world recognized agency.

Fossil Trip Update

We just returned from South Carolina on another Fossil diving trip. It was great. The water was warm and the conditions were good, but best of all we all found large Megalodon teeth. Everybody on the boat recovered lots of fossils. On Friday, Forrest was on the boat watching for the divers bubbles. While doing that he noticed that there was an animal swimming in and around one of the divers bubbles. The animal would descend for a couple of minutes and then return to the surface. As the bubbles and the animal got closer to the boat, Forrest realized it was a Sea turtle. When the diver, Steve Corvin, surfaced he had a strong current pushing him towards the port side of the boat. Forrest told him to swim hard. Steve started swimming on his back occasionally using the backstroke. Right then the turtle surfaced next to Steve. The turtle rolled over on to his back and started backstroking towards the bow of the boat, mimicking Steve. When Steve made it to the boat he told Forrest that something would climb on his back on the bottom and then release him and then do it over again.

Give us a call if you are interested in one of our trips.

Forrest Phillips

Southern Skin Divers Supply

4515 5th Ave South

Birmingham, AL. 35222

205-595-3052

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May 25, 2005

Trip Update

Southern just returned from a 2 day offshore Spearfishing trip to Panama City, Florida. We enjoyed good weather, good visibility, good company and some good eating. One Amberjack that Rick shot fed seven people. Our divers also took other amberjack, flounder, snapper, grouper and sheepshead. We even were able to enjoy a couple of lobsters that we took to the Captain's Table Restaurant in St. Andrews. Here's a couple of pics:

Upcoming Trips

We have trips every weekend in June, Passport members are invited to participate in these.

June 4th and 5th

Basic Checkout Trip

Mark is taking a group to dive one day in the Springs and one day in the Gulf. If you want to go give us a call.

June 10 -12

Wreck Diving Trip

Panama City, Florida

Join Southern for 2 days of offshore wreck diving. This trip includes 2 days of diving and 2 nights in a hotel (double occ). If you would like to earn your Advanced Diver certification, this is an excellent trip to do it on.

Passport Diver price $375

with Advanced class $415

June 16 - 18

South Carolina Fossil Diving

We will be diving various rivers in South Carolina looking for fossils just like we did last month. We are all pretty excited about this trip due to the success we had last time. The Passport member price of $640 includes 3 days of diving, transportation from Birmingham, tank rentals and airfills, food and beverages on the boat and hotel room (double occ).

June 24 - 26

Spearfishing Trip

Panama City, Florida

This is the same type of trip that we just returned from. Passport member price includes 2 days of offshore Spearfishing and 2 nights in a hotel. As usual, we will take whatever we get the first day and get the restaurant to prepare it for us.

Passport Diver price $395

July 9 - 16

Cozumel, Mexico

We are taking another group trip to Cozumel. This trip is very similar to the Spring Break trip we did 2 months ago. The Passport diver price of $1,550 includes a week in a beachfront resort (double occ). roundtrip airfare from Birmingham to Cozumel, unlimited diving, breakfast daily, airport transfers and taxes. This trip will be available for the next few days so call the Scuba School if you are interested.

Southern Skin Divers Supply

4515 5th Avenue South

Birmingham, AL. 35222

205-595-3052

http://www.ssdsupply.com/

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May 18, 2005 - Passport Club Old Fossils Find Fossils

We've added pics & logs from the recent Truk trip here, added a new newsletter, & updated some other stuff with more coming soon.

To Everyone Interested,

The following is an email that I received and my response. This is a typical email that I have been receiving from collectors, hobbyists and historians from all over the country.

Steve;

I read your remarkable story on the SSDS web site about being arrested for pleasure diving in 2003. The archaeological community has become increasingly aggressive in its bid to control everything in the world more than 100 years old that is on or under ground or water. They are not only attacking pleasure divers, they also are waging a fierce war against civil war artifact collectors and against coin collectors and collectors of antiquities from all lands. They have become very effective at convincing naive legislators to introduce and support bills that assail the liberties and property rights of ordinary law abiding citizens. Of course, you know a great deal about this through your experience with the AUCRA.

I am a collector of ancient coins. The Archaeological Institute of America has gone on record as being committed to the elimination of the collector market because they argue that without a market there would be no place for looters to sell their wares and this would put an end to archaeological site looting. One would think that an idiot could see the folly in that position, but apparently some legislators do not.

Last Fall, an obscure provision was attached to HR 1047 which was a massive trade bill that was destined for passage. The provision affecting us was couched in terms of protection of antiquities from Iraq. It had appeal to lawmakers who felt obligated to respond to the sensationalized reports of museum looting in Baghdad, which we now know were wildly exaggerated. Unfortunately, the bill was so vaguely written and so misguided in its aims that it threatens to restrict the importation of antiquities, including coins, that never were in Iraq at any time in history.

Last summer, I founded a national organization of Ancient Coin Collectors for the purpose of opposing this sort of legislation and to develop a strategy for opposing the archaeological community's arrogant and elitist views. We have had some success, but we fall short on the influence scale because we simply cannot muster enough constituents or money to be heard in Washington. We are beginning to realize that we need to find common cause with others whose rights are threatened by the archaeological community, and you seem to be a prime candidate.

I have not had time to research your situation and find out where it stands today from a legal perspective. I hope that common sense prevailed and the case was thrown out. I hope also that your recommended replacement bill was passed by the Alabama legislature. I would be very interested to know whether you have found any chinks in the armor of our common enemy. You have been fighting this longer than we have and your advice and insights would be valuable to us. I sincerely hope that your efforts have been fruitful.

With best regards,

Wayne

-----------------------------------
Wayne G. Sayles
Executive Director,
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
P.O. Box 911, Gainesville, MO 65655
wsayles@accg.us
http://accg.us
417-679-2142

Wayne,

I just read your email and have been thinking this morning about the people who are opposing the public interest in access to public lands. I now know much more about the people who have spoken against us than I did two years ago, and most of these people have a financial interest in restricting divers and relic hunters from being involved in their hobbies. I have also been thinking about the people who have been my digging buddies for the last thirty-two years. My three digging buddies all have college degrees in history, and one was a college history professor in Tennessee. Any one of us knows more about Civil War relics and history than any of the people who speak and act against us, yet we are considered the bad guys.

We are not in the business of selling relics or getting paid for issuing permits, we simply love history and learning more about our ancestors. We like to spend our time walking the woods or diving in the rivers while trying to find and save lost relics. Of course we pay our own expenses and we are not trying to make money at what we do for fun. When someone else decides to write a book on relics telling how they were made, where used, who used them, or anything else about the relics, they come to us. By us I don't mean just our small group, but instead the thousands of relic hunters and divers who pursue such hobbies. We are the people who save the history before the relics rust away or are destroyed by development or nature, and we are not looking for any type of government financial aid or help. We want nothing more than to be left alone and not harassed by the academic and government elitist types who seem to have a burning jealousy of us, and a financial interest in having exclusive rights to our history. I don't know why they are so against the citizens who actually find and preserve the relics, as we are also the same people who have filled the museums of the world with the relics that all see and enjoy. We lend or give our relics to the museums and other displays, and often speak to schools, civic organizations and historical groups about history and our hobby. We are the good guys, yet we are portrayed as villains and called looters, pot hunters, scavengers and depicted as destroyers of history. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In Alabama, we are battling against The Alabama Historical Commission (AHC). The people who have spoken against us to the legislators, or written to the papers, are almost without exception people with a vested interest in denying access to public lands and waters to the citizens of our country. They are insiders who are granted special permission or can actually sell permits to the public for access to our lands. Under the current laws and regulations, only a professional archaeologist can issue a permit for someone such as me, or any other citizen, to look for any relic or artifact over fifty years old in the waters of Alabama. There are twelve pages of professional archaeologist's names and addresses listed on the AHC webpage who are not divers or historians, but they are the only people who can get these permits. This law was written for one purpose only, and that purpose is to financially benefit professional archaeologists.

The AHC was recently audited by the state Examiners of Accounts, and shown to be missing just a few million dollars of state monies. They also were shown to have lied to the auditors, and were exposed in the hiring of an employee that had no duties, but whose total compensation was over $100,000.00 dollars per year. Gross neglect of the properties in the care of the AHC was also itemized in this audit. One property alone has had over two million dollars spent on it, with no sign of where any of the money went. At this same property, $88,000 dollars has been spent to hire an archaeologist to use ground penetrating radar to look for graves. While this money was wasted paying an archaeologist, several state parks have been forced to close that could have remained open for as little as $25,000.00 dollars per year. The shameful thing here is, this property is all about, and only about, preserving the relics of one great man, and he is buried in Washington, DC. The family heirlooms and relics are still in the house where the heating, cooling and climate controls of the house have been turned off since 1999. While this property has been closed to the public since then, the AHC still has four full-time employees at this site. No one can seem to account for the waste or theft of the two million dollars.

Another contract issued by the AHC to a professional archaeologist was at The Teague House, their own headquarters and main office in Montgomery. Built in the 1830's, this house is one of the South's finest examples of late Greek revival architecture where $55,000 dollars was paid to do an archaeological excavation in the yard of this house, yet the front door won't open, and the roof has leaked for years with no money spent on repairs. Archaeologists don't fix roofs or doors.

One of our opponents, who is just one example of many, is MacDonald Brooms who works full time for Troy University. He has written to the newspapers and attended the public hearings in order to oppose our proposed legislation. He worked for the AHC in the past and is another of the professional archaeologists who is referred business from the AHC. In 1981 he wrote a letter to the Alabama Gun Collectors Association saying that no dug relic should be displayed at any shows or displays, and told collectors that the state could confiscate collections. He also claimed that all Indian relics are the property of the state.

The big money that is controlled by the AHC is not reflected in any of the records of the AHC. What I am referring to, is the job referral services performed by the AHC in sending business to the twelve pages of professional archaeologists listed on the AHC webpage. It is wrong, and should be illegal, for a state agency to refer business to anyone, especially to handpicked insiders. These contracts are offered to archaeologists to gain their support in opposing our proposed legislation. Furthermore, at least one of the directors of the AHC benefits from referrals from the webpage. Craig Sheldon, who teaches archaeology for Auburn University in Montgomery and also does work affiliated with the AHC, is an active director of the AHC. In addition, his wife Elizabeth is listed on the twelve page list and receives business in this manner also. I don't think he should be allowed to be a director.

Bill Drinkard is the chairperson of the Board of Directors of the AHC and is heavily involved in the formation of the Foundation of the AHC that was discussed in the audit. The Foundation is used to hide money and is not thought to be legal under state law. Mr. Drinkard has said that the audit is just a witch hunt and tells people to just wait till the smoke clears and things at the AHC will get back to normal. Mr. Drinkard, as chairperson, is the overall leader of the AHC, yet Mr. Drinkard is a convicted felon having been found guilty of stealing $15,000 dollars of state funds, and has since been pardoned by the Pardons and Parole Board of Alabama.

Elizabeth Brown is the acting executive director of the AHC, currently filling the job that was previously held by the now-fired Dr. Lee Warner. Ms. Brown was the acting director before Dr. Warner was hired, and she was in charge of all daily operations when the current law that outlaws diving in Alabama was passed in 1999. No divers were aware of proposed legislation before that law was slipped through.

Tom Maher is the state archaeologist of Alabama. Mr. Maher is not from Alabama, and has no background in Alabama history. When Mr. Maher spoke at one of the public hearings that we had concerning the current diving laws, he lied and said that he had never had anyone arrested. In fact, he signed my arrest warrant. He and Ms. Brown were the AHC people who had me and Perry Massie arrested in Selma for relic hunting in the river. Ms. Brown identified and charged me with finding a Confederate ammo container on my arrest warrant, but actually the container is a Prince Albert tobacco can. She also knows nothing about Civil War relics and very little about Alabama history. In 1999 and 2000, Tom Maher told me, and several other divers, that the law that was passed was all about shipwrecks, and would not affect relic hunters who were not diving on shipwrecks. He specifically told me that Diving and finding relics in the river at Selma is permitted. When I was arrested at Selma and reminded him of this, he then asked "do you have it in writing?"

The real reason Perry and I were arrested was an effort to confiscate my Civil War collection, a collection that I have built over the last thirty-two years. While I have found a great deal of this collection personally, about half of my collection is "bought" relics and most of those relics were bought by me from state museums. I had intended to lend my entire collection to the state museums anyway, but they could not sell any of my relics. I was charged with a felony and my boat and equipment were impounded. Since I was arrested, the authorities in Dallas County have been trying to get me to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. They offered to drop all charges and give back my boat and equipment if I would just plead guilty, and allow them to save face for arresting me when they should not have. I can't do this because that action on my part would validate this bad law.

I want my day in court, but so far I can't seem to get there. I have filled a motion for a speedy trial but my case has been continued yet again, this time until August 1st , almost 2 years since I was arrested in Oct. of 2003. The DA in Selma now says that they have not had time to prepare for my trial, all the while continuing to use the law to persecute and harass me.

They harassed Perry Massie until he agreed to pay a fine for a 'violation', which is not a crime in Alabama. He did not plead guilty to violating the law that we were charged under. His legal expenses were about $60,000.00 dollars, he found no relics, and it was the first and only time he ever dived in Alabama. He had come to Alabama to film a TV show to be broadcast on his show on The Outdoor Channel. The AHC should not be allowed to continue to use their agency to harass and persecute the citizens.

The AHC staff has been found guilty in the audit of lying, gross negligence, misappropriation of state funds and illegal operations. Now they are supposed to be hiring an Executive Director to come in and try to fix things in this corrupt agency. In the last week I have been told by several people that the folks in charge at the AHC don't want to hire anyone, that there is not enough money to pay an Executive Director, and they want to just leave the people in charge who are in charge now. …….They want us to leave the crooks in charge. Are we dumb enough to let this happen? Is the Attorney General of Alabama going to allow the AHC staff to get away with the crimes they have committed against Alabama?

In Montgomery this week I found out that our bills, HB125 and SB128 will probably not come up for a floor vote this session. The legislators have been filibustering over other issues, and even though our bills have come out of committee, they probably will die where they are. The colleges of the state oppose us due to their vested interest in contracts to their archaeology departments, and in teaching archaeology students who want government jobs and contracts referred from the AHC. These colleges have much influence with the legislators since they provide offices, secretaries and paychecks for a large portion of the legislators.

Our next action will be in court if we can get there.

Steve Phillips

Save Our Lost History

www.ssdsupply.com

4515 5th Av. So.

Birmingham, Al 35222

205-595-3052

Steve;

Thank you for sharing the distressing details of your experience. I can assure you that there are many who understand your plight all too well. We are struggling to find a way to expose archaeology for what it is. Several months ago, I posted an article on our ACCG web site that speaks to the same issue that your story of AHC corruption does. It is entitled "Archaeology: a wolf in sheep's clothing." You will find it at

http://accg.us/issues/editorials/pro/wolf

The examples in my article relate to antiquities, but the methodology of classical archaeologists and American archaeologists is identical and is a reflection of their globalist views and fanatical support of the UNESCO convention of 1970. I think the AIA and The AHC are simply two heads of the same monster and they both are part of a massive conspiracy that is only a stone's throw from National Socialism or Totalitarianism. They are so far out on the fringe that it is hard to tell if they are the extreme left or the extreme right. Indeed, I think they defy categorization.

It is not just access to public lands that they want to control, they also want control of private property. Archaeologists Jon L. Gibson and Joe Sanders, in the Society for American Archaeology Bulletin, wrote: "We suggest that just because sites happen to be on private property should not make them privately owned. We also maintain that archaeologists must challenge one of American's most precious rights - the right to do as you please to your own land - if we are going to have any chance of preserving our diminishing heritage....First, we must press for legislation that places an archaeological lien on private property with significant archaeological sites. Second, archaeologists must be the ones to choose which sites are to be protected. We can not entrust this selection to a governmental board or legislated process, which would give land owners the final word on whether a site will be protected.....Archaeologists must be more than just stewards of the past. They must serve as the public conscience. They must act on society's behalf even when society is insensitive or objects."

This audacious proposal was published in a peer reviewed journal of the archaeological community. It pretty clearly reflects the extent to which they covet power and control over anything historical. The same ideology is responsible for the Silverado Canyon issue and countless similar episodes:

http://www.canyonlife.com/Tibor.folder/Archeology.html

I hope that you get your day in court soon, and I hope that you can show the AHC to be part of a nation wide conspiracy that is trampling all over our constitutional rights to further their own parochial interests. I am not in any way an expert on diving, underwater salvage, or Alabama law, but if you need a witness at your trial that will testify to the scope of the archaeological conspiracy, either by deposition or in person, I will happily do so at my own expense.

Regards,

Wayne

-----------------------------------
Wayne G. Sayles
Executive Director,
Ancient Coin Collectors Guild
P.O. Box 911, Gainesville, MO 65655
wsayles@accg.us
http://accg.us
417-679-2142

Here's a link to our proposal for a working law to replace the current AUCRAp. See it =====>HERE

March 3, 2005

Update on Alabama Diving

I wanted to keep you up to date on the struggle in Alabama between the Public and the power grabbing bureaucrats of the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC).

John Trott and I have been going to Montgomery each week to help keep our proposed laws on track. The House subcommittee appointed 4 people to represent the AHC, the Department of Conservation, the Department of Archives and History and the Public. I represent the public. This group has been instructed to work out wording that will be acceptable to the involved parties about diving and finding relics and artifacts in Alabama waters.

The Department of Conservation and the Department of Archives and History and the Public are pretty much in agreement on fixing Alabama's bad diving law. The AHC is not in agreement with the other parties. The AHC has submitted new wording that is worse for the public than our existing law. I don't think the AHC will work with the Public. They are power grabbers and only want the insiders to be able to find and keep isolated finds. I want our history that is lost in rivers to be saved by anyone who can.

Last year I told you about some retired men from Mobile who were arrested for looking on International Paper Company land about 2 miles from Blakeley park near Mobile. They were not violating any law but were arrested and harrassed anyway. There was some park ranger from Blakeley Park that told the Conservation officer to arrest them. The prosecutors tried to get these 2 men to plead guilty to a misdemeanor. They refused to plead guilty and hired a lawyer instead. On February 17th their case came up before judge Pitman in Bay Minette. He threw the case out immediately and said they had done nothing wrong. George Davis and Jimmy Alonzo are the names of the two men who were harassed and unfairly charged with a crime. I hope the Department of Conservation and other law enforcement officers will read the laws that they are wrongly enforcing and will stop allowing themselves to be used by the socialist bureaucrats who work for these government agencies like Blakeley Park and the AHC. I am attaching the proposed new wording that our Save Our Lost History group has written that is being considered in our legislature now. It is a well thought out piece of legislation that will be good for the public as well as the state if we can get this passed. The state employees of the AHC never plan to save any relics from the waters of our state. The only people who are given permission to find anything over 50 years old are insiders. There is currently no Oversight Committee to oversee the employees of the AHC as far as permitting goes. Our proposed law will have a good Oversight Committee that will control any salvage of historic shipwrecks. No permits will be necessary to find isolated finds or to do recreational diving. Please keep calling and contacting the legislators so we can get these freedoms back.

Sincerely,

Steve Phillips
Save Our Lost History
4515 5th Avenue South
Birmingham, AL. 35222
205-595-3052

You can read Alabama State Bill 128 in its' entirety by clicking HERE (requires the free Acrobat Reader which can be installed from here if you need it)

State House:	Room 736 11 S. Union Street Montgomery, AL 36130 (334) 242-7855	Business:	P.O. Box 930 Cullman, AL 35056 Phone: (256) 734-0456 Fax: (256) 734-0466
Home:	221 Fairway Drive Cullman, AL 35057 (256) 734-6348	Email:	zeblittle@earthlink.net

State House:	Room 733 11 S. Union Street Montgomery, AL 36130 (334) 242-7854	Business:	136 Hartington Dr. Madison, AL 35758 Phone: (256) 837-8374 Fax: (256) 837-4355
Home:	136 Hartington Dr. Madison, AL 35758 (256) 837-8374	Email:	senbutler@aol.com