Tarpoon SCUBA Diving Center: The Oldest Dive Store in Florida

Commenter El Pollo Real in this post mentions his father's fondness for the scuba diving scenes in the James Bond movie, Thundeball; I responded with a brief memory about link between the movie and the shop where I took lessons and the shop's owner but, of course, my faulty memory couldn't dredge up the name of either. Thanks to brother John, I can now tell you the name of the shop - Tarpoon - and the owner - Mike Kevorkian. Thanks, John!

Here's the shop today, or at least on the day the Google Street View van came to town, thanks to the magic of Google Mappery:


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That's where I got my equipment, too, and back then, before environmentalism ruled the world, Tarpoon's where you'd go to get the best spearguns around. Our class met after shop hours. We sat in folding chairs with our books while listening to the instructor's lecture about what we need to know about scuba diving. I don't remember where our pool work was done but we'd have one night of classroom work, one night of pool work, for three weeks and then an open water dive. I took lessons with my best friend at the time, Kenny Diaz, and I don't remember why but I missed the scheduled open-water dive. Was I sick? I just remember that Dad took me on a cold and rainy January day and he waited for me in the truck while I went out with another class that I didn't know. The day was rough and the visibility limited and I had a nose-bleed from ruptured sinuses as I went deeper than I'd ever been before - 30 feet! - and the color of the blood in my mask - don't worry, it wasn't much - was green because of the absorption of the red portion of the color spectrum at that depth. (Ruptured sinuses? Maybe I had missed my scheduled open-water dive because I had been sick and my sinuses were still stopped up.) We went through the drills - the hand signals, the buddy breathing, I don't remember what else - and then were through and headed back through the waves to the dock. Dad was waiting there for me there. I was tired, cold, hungry, but glad and proud of my accomplishment, of being NAUI certified diver.

Everglades Holiday Park To Change

It's rare you get a chance to witness the government in the early stages of committing folly but here's your chance: like Tom Sawyer's Aunt Polly, Broward County intends to "sivilize" Everglades Holiday Park.

The amenities aren't much at Everglades Holiday Park: weathered boat ramps, chickee huts and wooden benches. The rustic souvenir shop sells bait, beer and toy alligators.

There are no color schemes or elaborate park maps, only a welcome sign with a sketch of where to park: airboats to one side, guests to the other.

It's a slice of Old Florida, much the same scene that has greeted visitors for more than two decades. And that's the way the regulars -- hunters, fishermen and bikers -- like it.

``The Everglades is one of the last places that's untouched by man, and we should keep it that way,'' said park manager Clint Bridges.

Broward County officials don't share that sentiment.

They want to take it over and make it over, including providing more parking, walking paths and a learning center in place of the campsite.

Oh my, yes. A learning center. As if a few hours spent at the park isn't a learning experience in itself. Just not the kind of learning the government wants you to have.

I'm sure Broward County operates some very lovely parks. But Everglades Holiday Park is one of the last remnants of old Florida, an original. See it in its natural state while you still can.

Anglers Divided Over Florida’s New License Program

A new law in Florida requires a license to fish from shore. I, too, share the desire to fish where I want - which happens, oh, every 10 years or so - without fear of getting busted by The Man. The libertarian in me decries government control of this enjoyable, and often frustrating, activity, but, really, I don't mind too terribly much; it's close to a pay-as-you-go system, the cost isn't too high and the proceeds are supposed to be earmarked for a good cause: fisheries management. But I like this guy's priorities, too:

Fishing from the jetty at the southern tip of Miami Beach, Claudio Cruz, 60, said he supported the new license, too, on one condition: if it helped the authorities keep drunks and hooligans from where he fished, so as not to distract him from the bikini-clad women doing yoga.

I call that a good use of licensing dollars.

Brother John's Scuba Diving Pictures

My brother John was kind enough to send me his latest scuba diving pictures. He says they're not the best quality - he's using a thing called "film" to capture his images and he claims this "film" is of low quality. Whatever this "film" is, the pictures aren't bad and I enjoyed looking at them.

Here's a sample:

In this last picture, John tells me there's a big - and he means big - moray eel tucked up in the shadows. Can you see it?

Yeah, right up there towards the top in the middle of the picture, you can kinda see him with his usual moray-eel-with-his-frightening-jaws-agape pose.

Looks like they had a great time. Good for them.

Scuba Diving John Pennekamp National Park

I got an e-mail from my brother John and his and his wife's scuba diving at John Pennekamp National Park off the the Florida Keys. This being the blogosphere, I've hijacked his pictures. It's not like he's gonna blog about 'em.








Looks like a grand time.

It's been a lot of years since I dived Pennekamp - shoot, it's been a lot of years since I've dived anywhere - but it looks as beautiful as ever. Maybe the visibility isn't as crystal clear as it once was but then maybe that's just my memory.