User avatar
JES
Plank Owner
Posts: 1341
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 11:23 pm
First Name: Joseph
Location: Fleming Island, FL

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:47 am

Karl, thanks for the picture. How about a listing to help put some names with the faces.

Thanks again! 8)
NAVED Master Diver #108
'Anima Sana In Corpore Sano’

User avatar
simonbeans
VDH Moderator
Posts: 1035
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 2:00 pm
First Name: Allan
Location: Rochester NY

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:06 am

Here are a few of the "characters" of the Legends Vintage group:

More to follow.

Herman and Henry
Image

Luis
Image

Rob
Image

Ron
Image

The "old Teckie look", David Haas and Luis
Image
Check out my website: www.vintagescubastuff.com

User avatar
Mudhog
Lung Diver
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:17 pm
Location: Central Iowa

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:25 am

Bout the last pic, nice to see a couple of guys diving the no-snag streamlined way!
Wish I could have gone but it would have been a disaster as I'm still getting over bronchitis and even two hours in the pool yesterday was a push.
With a grin on my face and bubbles at my back!

User avatar
simonbeans
VDH Moderator
Posts: 1035
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 2:00 pm
First Name: Allan
Location: Rochester NY

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 11:10 am

All the vintage guys were streamlined. No f'n BC sort of helps. Here are more:

It was DACOR weekend so Greg and David using my Dart

Image

Image

What is Swim Jim looking at? This was below the swimming area and maybe he was watching . . . . . . .

Image

Rick the Peanut King on the plane

Image

Don't ask what Bryan was up to

Image
Check out my website: www.vintagescubastuff.com

User avatar
USdiver
Master Diver
Posts: 352
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:14 pm
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 11:28 am

We just wanted to send a note of thanks to all who attended Portage this weekend. Lilian, Alexander, Alfredo and myself had a great time (as expected) and really enjoyed diving our eclectic blend of vintage (me), mixed (Alexander) and modern (Lilian and Alfredo) equipment. Having the whole family along was kind of special for me too, and little by little I hope to get everybody on a double hose eventually. (Maybe Bryan will sell a "family pack" one day).

Here's the family (and Robohips, too!!!)
Image

We did several dives with only swimming suits or partial wetsuits on, it was that warm in the top 25 or so feet. Nothing quite like diving without a wetsuit, using only the tank harness and j-valve with a double hose for the ultimate in underwater freedom.

Here's to the next outing.

George

p.s. Gary, thanks for the wonderful concert on Saturday night, and a special shout out to Jeff for hosting the Legends of Diving weekends.
Too DAAM Many double hoses, It's not a hobby, it's an addiction.

User avatar
1969ivan1
Plank Owner
Posts: 1646
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 12:15 pm
First Name: rob
Location: CINCINNATI, OHIO

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:36 pm

Portage was AWESOME this year! We had a great time, but we did miss our friend Fred Morrison very much this year. The turnout was really good. I did not get a final head count but I would bet that there was at least 30 double hose divers in attendance. A lot of the regulars were there like Allan, Bryan, and Karl. This year however there were several new folks that came like William from Indy and a good friend of Allan’s from W. Va.
All sorts of awesome gear was displayed and “used!” On Saturday Greg, Jim Bach, Karl, and I all dived Divairs on the same dive. I think it was Greg that said 4 Divairs in the water at one time has not probably been done since 1970. I must agree unless you count a few fatalities. This old stuff is dangerous after all. Ron was running around with his hydroglove drysuit in the 90 degree heat almost passing out waiting on Greg to get ready. The water was not much relief to him since it was a balmy 80 degrees to 22 feet or so. Many of us ended up doing our dives in swimsuits since the water was so warm. On several dives Ron and I dived Broxtons with one hose assemblies. The one hose is a little short and stiff but the coolness factor is definitely there. Karl of course stole the show with all sorts of goodies! I know he had a nice Bunns Sensivair and a few other items that I will let some of the other folks talk about. I will just say that we had a blast! The Fees had the largest contingent and proud Dad was converting his boys to the vintage side quite nicely. Allan and Dave Haas did every dive together and took tons of pics. I hope that we get to see all of them. Bryan was a hit with the HELLO KITTY FX as usual. Terry Stevens entertained us all with a fantastic story of how his WONDERFUL wife bought him 2 Voit regs at an auction house for 20 bucks! You should have seen the drool coming from out our mouths. Rick Green came armed with nuts for all as usual. We would starve without him I swear! Gary Reese had to travel a little lighter this year since he was doing a gig at the stage on Saturday. I think he only brought 10 regs and 2 wetsuits this year and he was still the best dressed in the water. The Cow Jerry Lang was racing all over the quarry making deals for gray diaphragms and anything else he could, but fled the quarry at 1AM Saturday to avoid the constabulary. Dacor Jerry came this year and brought a sweet DACOR prototype 2 hose reg. I did not get pics but I hope somebody posts some here. Portage Jerry was working his butt off as usual and did not even get in the water, poor guy. Alec and his wife Diana came down and got in the water quite a bit this year, but Alec still gave his Sea Hunt presentation for the crowd on Saturday. Henry and Herman came in the green toaster and dived like animals. Roger Vanfranko dived, sold gear, dived, sold more gear, and dived some more. I think Roger made everyone there, especially Capt Logan, very happy with some neat dive gear. I think he still has a sweet green Broxton for sale…….I ran out of coin or I would have bought it. I know I am forgetting a bunch of other divers in the group, but the weekend was blurr that raced buy way too fast.
As usual Jeff and the quarry staff made our lives wonderful for 3 days. The air station was top notch with guys and girls manning the fill station that know what a j valve is and how to fill it. The legends were outstanding and some really rare Dacor stuff was there. Robert Olson, Valerie Van Heest, Victor Worst, and of course Robert Croft were awesome. We are so lucky that Jeff makes these folks available to us. Monica was running all over taking care of people and saving lost wet suits for certain people (Bryan). Jeff was on the microphone selling Chicken dinners so hard Saturday that only 8 dinners were left on Sunday. Of course the 2 fat kids Bryan and I got in line at 9AM to make sure we got ours. That chicken is always better the second day mmmmmmmm! Jeff and the Quarry do such a great job for us.
Image

User avatar
JES
Plank Owner
Posts: 1341
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 11:23 pm
First Name: Joseph
Location: Fleming Island, FL

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:05 pm

simonbeans wrote:...Don't ask what Bryan was up to

Image
It's just too tempting. I must ask, what was Bryan up to?? :wink:
NAVED Master Diver #108
'Anima Sana In Corpore Sano’

User avatar
Bryan
Plank Owner
Posts: 5279
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:40 am
First Name: Bryan
Location: Wesley Chapel Florida
Contact: Website

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:18 pm

JES wrote:
simonbeans wrote:...Don't ask what Bryan was up to

Image
It's just too tempting. I must ask, what was Bryan up to?? :wink:
One of our senior members needs a walking stick to help with mobility. They were close to the water and dropped it in. When it hit the bottom it got a little dirty so I was simply cleaning it off before I returned it......Every time I go diving I get accused of some act of Piracy, destruction of property, marauding of marine life etc....I just dont' get it???
Doing it right should include some common sense, not just blindly following specs and instructions. .Gary D, AWAP on SB

swimjim
Master Diver
Posts: 1694
Joined: Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:28 am
First Name: Jim
Location: Belgium WI

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:42 pm

I really enjoyed the "Portage Quarry Experience" this year. I logged bottom time in the hours rather then minutes. The viz wasn't the greatest, but the water temp made up for it. I was content enough at the silo to just sit on the ledge and watch the goings on. I was clad in a swim suit and tank, reg, mask and fins. It does not get better then that.
It was really nice to see the gang that I have met at previous events. This year I added a few more people to the mix. US Diver and family, Palliden(sp?) and son and Slonda. Good people all. Ron was an absolute hoot. He dove in just swim trunks more then I did and that is an accomplishment!
This is just the weekend I needed. Laid back and easy. Big thanks out to Jeff for holding the event! Super big thanks to Gary for your show on Saturday night. I only caught half an hour or so, but I really enjoyed it.
I'm wading through my video and stills. I'll put something up on Vimeo in about a week or so. I cannot wait to see some of the stuff the other guys got. Especially Karls photo's of when I was turning off Robs triples. I could hear Karl laughing when I had my fingers on the valve. Ha.

Jim

User avatar
1969ivan1
Plank Owner
Posts: 1646
Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 12:15 pm
First Name: rob
Location: CINCINNATI, OHIO

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:33 pm

Jim's video skills are legendary! I cannot wait to see what he comes up with. Please let me know how much I owe you for a DVD and I will send it toot sweet!

User avatar
Ron
Site Admin
Posts: 1748
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:51 pm
First Name: Ron
Location: Puget Sound, Washington
Contact: Website

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:16 pm

Hey all,

I just finally made it back to old Georgia. Man, what a weekend! I drank beer, went diving, and hung out with tons of cool people. So who's stoked for Bonaire? 8)

You have to love diving with a double hose, a basket harness, a 72, a j valve, and a watch. I think my swim shorts are faded! I miss Portage already...
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

User avatar
Herman
VDH Moderator
Posts: 1315
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:45 pm
Location: Raleigh NC

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:55 pm

Henry and I got home about 4:30 this evening. We had a great time and it was good to see friends old and new. Portage is nice but not if it were not for the fellowship of the rest of you guys (and ladies) the trip would not be worth the 20 hours of driving I did.
Herman

User avatar
Skin Diver
Diver
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:45 pm
Location: Central Florida

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:32 pm

Jeff Rice and the entire staff at Portage Quarry deserve high accolades for another tremendous Legends of Diving presentation for 2010. It’s only right that it’s all about the legends of diving but, part of me believes it’s also about the quality of fellowship and camaraderie that’s always present during these legends events. From the looks of the turnout, I’m not alone in anxiously looking forward to them each year.
On a personal level, I’m sincerely grateful to Jeff Rice and others at Portage for their steadfast cooperation and support and for allowing me to perform Saturday evening. I thoroughly enjoyed entertaining and truly miss doing so on a regular basis and the performance was hoped to be a way of contributing and saying thanks to Jeff and those attending for all the great memories Portage and the Legends have provided to us all.
Please know I’m truly grateful for all the compliments received and a special “Thank You” for that profound gesture of support nearing the end of the performance, when it looked like every vintage equipment diver present at the event, began marching toward the stage. What a relief, no one appeared to be carrying tomatoes.
The group photo will soon have a special spot on the wall of the studio.

Thank You All!

User avatar
Ron
Site Admin
Posts: 1748
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 5:51 pm
First Name: Ron
Location: Puget Sound, Washington
Contact: Website

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:03 pm

I particularly enjoyed your performance of "Already Gone" Gary. I found myself, along with Bryan and Roger, singing along. Top notch stuff!
The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. -JYC

User avatar
Greg Barlow
VDH Moderator
Posts: 525
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:26 pm
First Name: Greg
Location: SW Ohio

Re: August Portage Legends Weekend

Mon Aug 16, 2010 11:48 pm

As all of my friends have written, it was an awesome time! Due to my work schedule, I have not been able to attend the Sand Dog events. So, the Legends Weekend is always very special for me. As you can see from the pictures, we all had a wonderful time. I made a total of 15 dives, 10 of which were on a double hose.

I also had the opportunity to dive with Ron's Swimaster MR12 II that he has meticulously tuned. That reg ranks up there with the best on inhalation effort, and was very pleasing to the eye as well. Too bad that the majority of today's regs don't have that visual attraction.

George's family is always great to have around. He and Lilian have two of the friendliest boys that I have had the pleasure of meeting. I look forward to seeing the two of them diving with vintage gear in the near future. That is, as long as it is Voit gear...

I'll post a few of my snapshots in a day or two. They certainly are not the photographic quality that my dive buddies have posted.

Again, for those of you who missed the oppotunity...You missed an outstanding experience!

Greg Barlow
Greg Barlow
PADI Assistant Instructor
TDI Adv. EAN
TDI Decompression Procedures
IANTD Full Cave
NSS/CDS Full Cave

Return to “Vintage Dive Trips or Gatherings”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests