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Legends weekend at Portage Quarry,Ohio
Hobie - 8/13/2009 12:50 AM
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Category: Event
Comments: 1
Legends weekend at Portage Quarry,OhioLegends Weekend turned out to be the best event of the year. The weekend was full of great diving , as well as great people and lectures. The line up included Bob Meistrell, Dotie Frazier, and Robert Croft. The history behind these people was just unbelievable. They are all truly legends in the scuba diving community. All three of them are in their seventies and eighties. Being able to just sit, and listen to these pioneers tell of how things use to be was the highlite of the weekend for me. Dottie Frazier, now eighty seven spoke of how they didnt want her to become an instructor, and the things they did to try to get her to fail. Ms. Frazier used to be an underwater model, as well as a shop owner for many years. She is also the first women scuba instructor, holding cert. card #1. Bob Mistrell and his twin brother started Body Glove. Bob is still the President and CEO of the company. He holds the #1 cert card for a male.Bob and his wife had missed their plane in California, but still arrived in time for the meet and greet on Friday. Bob’s wife is truly a beautiful person, She would tell stories of Bill and Bob in their younger days, and tell of how things are now since Bill has died. I spent most of the weekend learning as much as I could about Robert Croft. This guy puts the L in legend. Mr. Croft is very humble and loves to just sit and answer any questions you may have. He broke the world record twice in his thirties. He dove to 240 feet on one breath of air. Free diving back then wasnt like it is now. After he rode a reel with a brake down to depth, he had to go hand over hand back up the rope to the surface. In todays freediving world things are different. Now after riding a giant weight to depth, the diver pulls a pin which catapolts them back to the surface. Mr Croft was studied by the Navy for six years. He could hold his breath for over six minutes. He could pack seven and a half liters of air into his lungs. The average person can pack in four liters. The Portage is a really nice place to dive with great visibility. If you didnt want to dive, then you could just lay around on their top notch beach with water slides. If you go to Portage, dont waste your money on any motel, Stay at the campground. They have camping for RV’s or tents, with really nice and clean private showers and restrooms. So I would recommend to anyone to go to Portage, It is by far the best Quarry in Ohio. 

Comments

Greg - 8/14/2009 2:33 PM
Awesome update, thanks for writing about this.