On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 17:48:40 -0500, Jeff Kell <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Reef Fish wrote:
>
>> I think his appropriate name for Jeff now is really "Balloonfish"
>> for the above reason.   But I digress.  :-)  At any rate, this
>> is my introduction of all the FISHES in Scuba-SE, to you Richard.
>
>Well, I'm back to more of a "Cornetfish" now :-)

I was wondering myself, not having seen you in many moons, whether
you were still Big Tuna or reverted back to a pipefish.  NOW we know,
from the Cornetfish's mouth.  :-)


>> 1994  mini Cozumel NEDfest.  Only Jeff and da Feeesh.  :-)
>> 1996  Atlanta NEDfest.  Jeff, Mike Wallace, Feeesh, et al
>> 1998  mini Cozumel NEDfest diving Punta Sur, Barracuda
>
>Somewhere in there was the Pat Miller / CZM + East Side week where we
>fought an interesting "shore-entry-to-boat-boarding" episode (no pier
>and sizeable swells) followed by the Playa Bonita "90-ft to bottom" that
>turned into almost double that :-)  The saving grace was the dolphins
>and turtle at El Islote, making that a reverse-profile day.

The fateful El Islote THREE boats in the Coz99NEDfest attempted to
go after the Maracaibo dive -- only ONE boat made it to the
Maracaibo, and found the ledge at 200 fsw <BG>, and never made
it to Islote.
>
>> Jeff and others undoubtedly can fill in OTHER mini or maxi
>> NEDfests I overlooked,

Actually I overlooked a whole bunch, including the FIRST NEDfest,
shortly after the term NED came into existence, circa 1993.  That
was also the FIRST Cozumel NEDfest, in which I hired a private
boat and a private DM, and Marcia, her husband Greg, and Sue and I
had our first NEDfest, later joined by a couple more at the same
Bahia Room #49.


>> such as the Redneck Riviera mini-NEDfest
>> in which a DM mistakening tied the boat to a dumpster thinking
>> it was a barge.  :-)
>
>Ah yes, partly my fault in not adequately researching a 6-pack captain
>with a reasonable DM.  Wasn't Scooter and/or Jim Greenlee there too?

Scooter and his SO, who forgot to bring one piece of vital gear. :-)

>And there was also a mini-fest at Myrtle Beach, featuring a long but
>worthy trip out to the USS Vermillion.

THAT's the NEDfest I wasn't on.  A wreck was never my cup of tea.

But we DID have our mini-NEDfest at Destin where I met Jeff's ex,
now better known as the "she-Devil".   :-)

Ah, such wunnerful nostalgia.

>
>> So, Richard and other newcomers, as you can see, MANY of us are
>> around the Atlanta area, or are within driving/striking distance
>> of it.
>
>> Perhaps YOU can organize an Atlanta NEDfest, as Rixter did in
>> 1996, and it may draw some Scuba-SE members who had never
>> attended any NEDfest, as well those who added many of them.
>
>Yep, as we've lost (or they've left) a large contingent of the Atlanta
>area crew from the old days.
>
>Jeff

Well, we've lost a few, but we have also picked up several Hotlantans,
such as Al and Richard; and also David Hale who's close enough to ATL
as Mike Wallace was, to be in the former Atlanta NEDfest.

-- Bob.