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Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 2, 2024 20:21:05 GMT -8
Greetings everyone. I’ve just joined after lurking around for a short while. I work on top of the ocean but have been exploring beneath the surface for some fifty years. In the past I spent a number of years in the dive industry but now it’s just for fun. Recently I’ve become very focused on acquiring and using vintage gear, and streamlining my gear. I currently live in S. Florida and am in the process of moving to Belize. I’d love to hear from any members in S.Florida and perhaps to get together for a dive or a chat. Thanks for letting me join!
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Hello!
Mar 3, 2024 12:20:58 GMT -8
Post by antique diver on Mar 3, 2024 12:20:58 GMT -8
Hi Matt, Welcome to the forum! Where in Belize are you going?
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Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 3, 2024 12:27:47 GMT -8
Hi and thanks. We have a house in Placencia.
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Post by antique diver on Mar 3, 2024 12:37:29 GMT -8
Hi and thanks. We have a house in Placencia. Sounds great... I have actually been to Placencia once, but that was in about 1983. I'll bet it's changed a lot!
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Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 3, 2024 12:44:01 GMT -8
Yes, the world has changed since 1983 but in Placencia probably not too shocking. Better roads, more houses but still laid back.
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Post by vance on Mar 5, 2024 8:59:41 GMT -8
Hi Matt,
Welcome! We will all be interested in seeing photos and reading about your exploits.
Please check the stickies in the tech section concerning how to post photos on the board. I believe that most of us are using Imgur and Flickr accounts for photo hosting.
Cheers, Phil
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Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 5, 2024 10:15:36 GMT -8
Thanks Phil, and will do!
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Hello!
Mar 5, 2024 15:13:18 GMT -8
Post by SeaRat on Mar 5, 2024 15:13:18 GMT -8
Welcome, Matt. I’m on the other side of the nation, in Oregon. We have some pretty interesting diving here, in both front and salt water. But I confine my diving now mostly to a couple of local rivers. I’m interested in hearing about diving in Belize. And we are all interested in what vintage diving you will be doing.
John
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Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 5, 2024 17:16:35 GMT -8
Hi John, and thanks. Belize has its portion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, shared with Mexico and Honduras, and several outlying atolls which provide some of the best reef diving there. Also numerous cays and patch reefs within the barrier reef. While I have done some diving there already there is much left for me to explore in Belize. I am fairly new there. I have admired the benefits of and been curious about double hose regulators for some time but am only now getting involved. I’ll be starting with some beach dives and go from there. While the double hose is new for me most of my other dive gear is pretty vintage, by habit and preference. I like dive gear to be streamlined and minimalist, and the idea of just using a tank, double hose and back pack is appealing. However, I often have to use AL 80’s on dive boats and perfectly neutral buoyancy is the way I am most comfortable underwater so I will need to experiment some and will probably end up using a back inflate bc or wing that I can mount the tank low enough on. Not sure my usual bc jacket will work for that but I have some ideas. Anyway, as you can see I am just at the beginning of my journey with double hose regulators and I look forward to learning more.
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Post by nikeajax on Mar 6, 2024 11:50:15 GMT -8
Ahoy Matt, welcome shipmate! Belize is interesting, my wife and I went to Ambergris Caye a while back. One of things I can mention, as some of the stuff I remember is worthy of a Raymond Chandler novel, was trying to find dinner after we landed. We went to a bar, as that was the closest thing that was open: the walls of which were completely covered in Jägermeister bottles. Trying to be friendly, I asked one of the bartenders, "So, what do you do for fun around here?" In all seriousness he replied, "I like to get drunk..." "OK, sure, but what else?" "Just get drunk!" My wife and I gave each other one of these looks I guess when you live in a place that's so rich in history and beautiful, you can become jaded and numb. Looking forward to having exchanges with you about vintage gear The whole place was sorta like being in a "Clutch Cargo" cartoon, mysterious and tropical: that's a good thing! Jaybird
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Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 6, 2024 18:57:33 GMT -8
Ahoy! Well, that was an odd and interesting first impression of Belize! San Pedro / Ambergris Cay is a little too busy these days for us. But we have enjoyed visiting there. We have a place down in Placencia, which is a lot more laid back. There is a lot to do besides diving, particularly if one enjoys the outdoors and nature. We are currently still based in South Florida but looking forward to making the move down there in the near future. As for vintage diving and gear, I am starting off with a Royal Aquamaster regulator with an spg on a banjo and an alternate second stage from the hooka port. I dive in fairly warm water and either don’t use a wet suit or sometimes go with a shorty. My other gear leans towards vintage anyway - full foot fins and a simple mask. I will need to figure out buoyancy compensation with respect to tank height and regulator position. I don’t use much weight normally but just the difference in the cylinders buoyancy from full to less full may bother me without a bc. I do have an old USD Kam-EZ Pak which would work alone or with a horse collar, or I might use a back inflation bc. Not sure yet. I will see how it goes, I do have a collectors personality and like the gear I grew up with so… 🤷♂️ Matt
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Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 6, 2024 18:58:42 GMT -8
By the way, I love your illustrations! 😃
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Hello!
Mar 7, 2024 10:26:31 GMT -8
Post by nikeajax on Mar 7, 2024 10:26:31 GMT -8
Hi Matt! If you don't know Clutch Cargo, you either love him or, as most people, hate him. It's weird animation, and people get sorta squicked out by the mouths: Try to think of it as more of a comic strip... The thing I like most is that the gear they use, is all real and very accurate: Clutch uses a US Divers Mistral, and if I remember correctly his mask and fins are USD Squales. He flies around in a 1929 Bellanca C-27 Airbus, which is kinda boss, as I'm also a vintage aviation enthusiast JB
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Hello!
Mar 7, 2024 16:43:58 GMT -8
Post by Matt Hedrick on Mar 7, 2024 16:43:58 GMT -8
Haha, that was entertaining! I’d never heard of Clutch Cargo before… Yeah, the mouths are a little weird but it was still fun!
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