7. February 2010 by alpenadiver.

Well, looks like we made it through another Northern Lower Michigan winter, and it’s Super Bowl Sunday.  Finally the days are getting longer, although the mercury isn’t rising fast, only 3° F as I type this but what the heck spring is just around the corner.  Soon it will be time to get the boat ready for another dive season, all my reg’s are in the shop getting serviced.  This year has to be better than last, had a bum shoulder, and didn’t get much diving in.  However I may get to travel to Guam at the end of February until April, so like the last time I was there I will be getting in some of that awesome warm water diving.  Until next time, get out and go diving.

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17. November 2009 by alpenadiver.

Well, the 2009 Dive season has come, and gone.  Boats are winterized, and covered or stored away for the winter.   Now what to do ?  time to attend some dive shows.  On Friday Nov 20th I will be heading to the Shipwrecks and Scuba show in Huron, Ohio.  I will be manning a booth promoting the Thunder Bay Underwater Preserve / National Marine Sanctuary, showing some awesome videos of the wrecks contained within the Preserve.  I hopefully will get to slip away from the booth, and attend some of the presentations offered.  If you are going to be in the Sandusky / Port Clinton Ohio area on Saturday Nov 21st, stop by the booth.  Here is a link to the highlights / presentations going on at he show.

http://www.bayareadivers.net/2009ss.shtm

Hope to see you there.

Alpenadiver

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30. September 2009 by alpenadiver.

Awesome News, one step closer to protecting our maritime resources, Thank you Congressmen’s Stupak, Kildee, McCotter, and Ehelers.  On to the Senate.  This story can be found on our local radio stations website -

http://www.watz.com/wire/localnews/07572_House_Votes_To_Approve_Sanctuary_Boundary_Expansion_055350.php

House Votes To Approve Sanctuary Boundary Expansion
Wed, 30 Sep 2009 3:55:55 EDT

The US House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday extending the boundary of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The expanded boundaries will include waters off Alcona, Alpena and Presque Isle Counties in Michigan and east to the international boundary with Canada.
U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) introduced H.R. 905, which passed the House 286 to 107. The bill was co-sponsored by Michigan Congressmen Dale Kildee (D-Flint), Thaddeus McCotter (R-Livonia) and Vernon Ehlers (R-Grand Rapids).
“Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a place dedicated to highlighting and honoring our state’s rich Great Lakes shipping history,” Stupak said. “This expansion will help protect and preserve this Michigan treasure, while providing communities with the benefits of increased tourism, a key source of economic growth in our state. I was pleased to work with my colleagues in the House to pass this legislation and ensure continued success of the sanctuary.”
“Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is a wonderful resource for families from across the country to learn about Michigan’s rich history. By authorizing an expansion to the sanctuary, we will help preserve this local treasure and well as improve its draw for tourists, helping to boost our local economy. I am committed to preserving the Great Lakes so that our families can enjoy them for years to come and I am proud to have joined my colleagues to introduce this legislation,” said Kildee, a senior member of the House Natural Resources Committee.
“Our Great Lakes and maritime heritage are state treasures,” McCotter said. “Thanks to the hard work of my colleague, Representative Bart Stupak, their unmatched natural beauty and archeological sites will be preserved in this sanctuary for future generations of Michiganders and all Americans.”
“I have personally visited Thunder Bay. It is a beautiful place, and a treasure spot in the Great Lakes. I have been involved in protecting shipwrecks and other maritime treasures since I was a member of the Michigan Legislature. Thunder Bay is a nationally known attraction, and I am pleased to join with Mr. Stupak in protecting the history hidden beneath the waters of the lake,” said Ehlers.
H.R. 905 expands the area covered by the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary to 3,722 square miles of water and 226 miles of shoreline, up from 448 square miles of water and 115 miles of shoreline. The expansion adds an additional 180 shipwrecks to the sanctuary. The legislation also directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to produce updated charts of the newly designated areas and apply the protection and preservation provisions in the existing management plan to the newly added areas.
Thunder Bay was declared Michigan’s first Great Lakes Bottomland Preserve in 1981, and in 2000 became the Great Lakes’ first National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary is a federal-state partnership with a focus on preserving the large collection of underwater cultural resources, consisting of more than 100 shipwrecks spanning more than 200 years of Great Lakes shipping history.
In 2005, NOAA and the state of Michigan established the Great Lakes’ Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena, Michigan to allow visitors to learn about Great Lakes’ maritime history, explore shipwrecks via live satellite feed, and see how archaeologists continue to preserve these historic sites.
To continue this positive outcome, the Thunder Bay Sanctuary Advisory Council, a 15-member group representing local fishermen, business leaders, educators and government officials passed a resolution recommending the sanctuary be expanded. The sanctuary designation in no way impedes recreational boating or fishing in the area.
H.R. 905 now awaits consideration in the U.S. Senate, where Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) has introduced companion legislation.

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26. September 2009 by alpenadiver.

Well, on Sept 9th, I went in for my surgery, although it was going to be Arthoscopic my Acromium Inpingment was worse then the Dr. thought.  So it turned out to be regular surgery, and know I have a nice 4 inch scar on top of my shoulder.  Physical Therapy is now taking place, and brother does it make the incision area ache.  However my shoulder for the most part feels better then before the surgery.  So next spring it will be a busy dive season, I have a lot of catching up to do.

Later

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18. July 2009 by alpenadiver.

Well as the title states, I finally get to take a NAS class, For the last year every time I try to sign up for the class, there was always a wedding or some other family function.  Well not this year, the last three days of my vacation will be spent in the classroom.  Studying, and Learning about underwater archaeology,  and the proper way to document underwater shipwrecks.  This class is going to be great.

If your wondering what NAS is here is there website: http://www.nasportsmouth.org.uk/

Two years ago, I had the privilege to sit in a NAS Instructors class given by Chris Underwood, this two day observation of the principles, techniques, discipline.  Had me hooked, know I’m just counting down the days until the class.

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27. June 2009 by alpenadiver.

Well it’s that time, the water up here in Alpena is, as usual cold, and clear.  The diving is great, I need to get the dust off my dry suit, put away the wetsuit, and hit some wrecks.  If you have never dived Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, here is a video of just one of our pristine deep wrecks The Kyle Spangler:

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19. May 2009 by alpenadiver.

I know this has nothing to do about scuba diving, but I figured I needed to post something…

So I’m going to write about Windows7, I personally have been running the operating system since the beta version came out, and just recently installed the Release Candidate on my HP DV9700z laptop, which came pre-installed with Vista which is nothing but a dog.  However I must say Windows 7 is a total opposite of the failure known as Vista.  I’ve been abusing the install, and I have yet to get any type of crash or blue screen.  I can also access my home network at least twice as fast as Vista.  The only drivers I had to download from HP were the chipset drivers, all other hardware was recognized by Windows 7 during the install, boot time is twice as fast as vista, and the new taskbar is awesome.  So I know for sure that when Windows 7 is released I will be purchasing the Operating System.  If after reading this, you may want to give Windows 7 a try it free, and can be downloaded from Microsoft the operating system will run until June 2010.

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12. May 2009 by alpenadiver.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything since March.  Maybe I’m not cut out to be a blogger, or maybe I just need to post more often.  Well anyway spring is here in Northeast Michigan, so it’s time to ready the boat for another season, oh to live someplace where you don’t have to winterize or wrap a boat for winter.

Oh yea, on May 5th NOAA held a reception for visiting Marine Sanctuaries, they held a sanctuary summit meeting here in Alpena.  I met quite a few fellow dive enthusiasts from all over the U.S.  I hope they all had a wonderful time here in Michigan.

Anyway enough whining from me.  I’m off to work on my Boat.  Hopefully it won’t be another two Months before I post something.

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12. March 2009 by alpenadiver.

On February 24th 2009, NOAA released there Draft Management Plan for the Thunder Bay Underwater Preserve and Marine Sanctuary.  The plan covers everything from Resource Protection, Education and Outreach, Research, and Operations.  There is also a Public comments meeting set for March 24 2009.  The Draft management plan can be downloaded from the Sanctuary’s website located here: http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/management/mpr/welcome.html

Also here is link to the Great Lakes Maritime Database, which contains over 12,000 entries on Great Lakes Ships. http://www.alpenalibrary.org/special/tbrc/tbrc.html

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11. February 2009 by alpenadiver.

Well I was just sitting here contemplating if I should work on a webpage, but instead I looked out the window, and seen how much of our Northern Michigan snow has melted, and it’s going fast.  So I counted the days until Memorial Day, and when I can start un-winterizing the boat for another dive season, I sure hope the days go by fast.

This weekend the regulators will go in to get checked, and rebuilt.  My two aluminum 80’s need to get hydro tested, and my double 95’s, and deco bottle need a visual.  Thunder Bay Scuba set aside a day because I’ll be in.

However  I know the wrecks through out the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary are waiting patiently for the summer dive season, so If your looking for some wreck diving this year check us out, we are waiting for you to join us.

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