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.