Membership blog

Hello Dive Club Members and Visitors,

You may ask how can we run a club during a pandemic.  It takes volunteers who work behind the scenes to arrange for speakers on Zoom, process new membership applications electronically as well as collect dues electronically.  Speaking of dues......your dues will NOT be due January 1 for 2021 under the current circumstances but we are accepting donations to keep our basic services in operation. Please use Zelle to send donations to treasurer@usadiveclub.org. Thank you.

While the club will not have sponsored dives during this time,  members are going diving together on local dive boats and getting together in small groups outside for other activities.  Stay in touch and stay safe.  

Eunice & Stephanie

Hello November Divers,

We have made it through another hurricane season unscathed.  Wish I could say the same about the pandemic.  Hopefully you all have been safe and well.

Fall is here and the winds are shifting. Several dives have been canceled due to sea conditions but the water temperature is still 81 and the lobsters are out there. We've had 4 new members since the pandemic started but looking forward to meeting in person again and meeting our new members face to face.

I have seen a few underwater pictures of you diving at a grouper gathering and at the Blue Heron bridge.  Several of our members took off for a kayak trip that covered some of the Central Florida Springs & rivers.   Staying in touch with the club virtually and exploring the outdoors are safe and rewarding activities.  Keep wearing your masks and join us for our online meetings.  Best wishes, Eunice & Stephanie your volunteer membership coordinators.

Happy October Divers!

Thank you all who voted to update our bylaws making our club operations easier for all concerned.  Be sure to attend the October 1st General Meeting Virtually and you are welcome to attend the Board Meeting on October 8th.  

We have been diving on a non-official club basis, just dive friends getting together on local dive boats which are only allowing half the occupants. Other members have put together a lengthy kayak trip in north central FL with other friends participating when they can for the next three weeks.  

Don't forget that newly certified divers (in the past 12 months) can join our club for free!!  Our dues are $50 a year later.

Remember you still need to wear your masks.  Stay well.

Eunice & Stephanie, Membership Chairs

Hello Two Masked Members,

Here is an update on the local dive charters.  They are in business and several members are making reservations and diving together.  The rules are that masks and social distance is required while loading & unloading and between dives and it costs a little more.  That is because the boats are only taking half the number of people.  Divers report the water temperature is around 81 degrees and visibility has a minimum of 50 feels.  So make your reservations soon.  

Please feel free to invite guests to our Zoom meetings.  Make sure that they register with the meeting and you as their sponsor need to tell Roger so he can recognize their phone number.

Thank you all for sticking with your dive club through the months of Zoom meetings and stay-at-home orders.  Please wear your masks and wash your hands so we can finish this year in a healthier place.

Stephanie & Eunice

Hello Members from the Membership desk.  Our club continues virtual meetings to keep everyone safe. Please stay tuned to our Zoom meetings and be aware that someday we will meet in person again.

In the mean time hopefully you are doing your best to contain this deadly virus so we can one day safely greet each other in person.

Members continue "unofficial club" diving with local vendors who are themselves meeting local health guidelines.   Our next general meeting is July 9th so come join us "virtually" on Zoom.  Stay safe,  Eunice & Stephanie.

Month number 3 of staying at home has passed and finally some establishments are opening up.  The dive boat "Loggerhead" took 10 divers out in May with masks on before suiting up. Four of our members were on board.  Laura reported approximately 60 feet visibility.  She captured one shovel nosed lobster and several lion fish.  Other sea critters spotted were morays, one turtle, a single squid and a very different and rare file fish.  This was not an "official" club dive but that does not stop our members from enjoying the diving again.  We have one new member application from Alison Hodges from Hood River, Oregon.  Welcome aboard Alison!  She was on the aborted Fiji trip earlier this year and met our trip members.  Bear with us as we continue remote meetings until clearance is given for larger groups.  Stay well. Regards, Your membership chairs:  Eunice & Stephanie

If you live in Broward or Miami-Dade we are now  "staying at home" going on 6 weeks. Many of us are rediscovering old hobbies, learning new ones, spoiling our pets and/or drinking more than usual.  There are wonderful creative works online.  If you have not already seen Jimmy Fallon,  Sting & The Roots rendition of "Don't Stand So Close to Me", it is worth the search.  Another awesome work by the cast of Hamilton on Zoom for a little girl whose broadway tickets were cancelled is wonderful.  

But still there is a great deal of suffering and angst at homes and businesses. Positive stories abound with volunteers at food banks,  animal shelters and health care facilities.   We are torn between staying well and risk returning to work.  Let's hope we get over the curve by the end of April and see next steps put in place in May.  Stay safe and well and informed.  Best wishes,  Stephanie and Eunice (your volunteer membership chairs)

Dear Members and Want to be Members,

The best things about being in a dive club or any club at this time are the friends that you can connect with and support as they can for you.  Nothing brings people closer than a crisis of global proportion.  There are several wonderful concerts on line that demonstrate this.  Try this one to lift your spirits:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph1GU1qQ1z It is called "Playing for Change".  Other concerts and museums are doing the same.  

Please stay tuned to this website to learn when we will meet again.  Stay safe and well.  Yours Truly with best wishes,  Stephanie & Eunice

Happy March to everyone. We would like to welcome our new member Ed Blackburn. who is originally from NC and has been diving for 6 years.  We hope to see him on some local dives and trips. Hopefully the luck of the Irish will be with us in March and the seas will calm down enough to get some dives in.

Please join us the first Thursday of the month for our general meeting and don't forget that if you are certified within the year, your first year's membership is free.  

Best Fishes,

The Membership Chairs, Eunice and Stephanie

Hello from the USA Dive Club Membership Chairs!  Joining our great dive club is easier than ever.  Just download the Member Application from the home page and fill it out. Bring it to our General meeting with a check for $60 single or $110 for couples and give it to the person just inside of the door at our General Meeting at the Marriott Courtyard the first Thursday of the month.  Stay and enjoy the program.  We welcome new guests and new members.  

Besides our creative dive trips we have social events each month and encourage our members to get involved in the planning.  See you at the meeting.  Yours truly,  Stephanie & Eunice