And just like that, the 2018 Annual Underwater Safari Hunt is in the history books. Wow! All the hype leading up to it and the animal introductions and the stories, and then it is all over for another year. Man, where does the time go?
Let’s just mention though, this Safari Hunt didn’t get underway without its fun little stories and anecdotes, like Sisco, chasing a bowling ball, a bowling ball not sinking, Dan in the lake in his clothes, and a monkey finding Justin Walkinshaw. Don’t worry, if those stories aren’t covered in this post, trust me, they will be! They are all part of what makes up the fun both with our Extreme Sports SCUBA family and our Extreme Sports SCUBA events. And without the people and the sense of humor that we have, it might be boring, but with us, it’s NEVER boring! Mark my words!
The Annual Underwater Safari Hunt
So I had someone mention that they didn’t know that this was a fundraising event. We have a fishbowl drawing, $1/ticket for prizes. The money that is collected through the fishbowl drawing goes to help fund the Newton County Rescue and Recovery team. Now don’t worry, we plan on doing a whole post on them to make them known to the public, but for right now check out their Facebook. Thanks to everyone, we were able to raise $1,040 for NCRR. Thank you!
The Adult Hunt
In true Extreme Sports SCUBA fashion, there was some confusion on when the actual hunt started. Some places it said 1pm, other places it said 1:30pm, then some said 1 and some said 1:30. Also in true fashion, we didn’t get started at 1. I’m not sure we got started by 1:30. By that point I quit watching my watch. I can for sure tell you that the majority of everyone was geared up and in the water by about 1:20. It’s all good and makes for some fun and interesting stories.
Grady went over the rules, the main one being that the hunt would last 45 minutes or an air supply in your tank of 500 psi. You also had to surface with your buddy you went down with. This year we had 27 participants to find 10 hidden animals.
The Kids Hunt
After the adult hunt got started, then it was time to kick off the Kids Hunt. Now the fun thing about the kid’s hunt is everyone is a winner! With the help of Terri Schrader and Addison Willoughby, the kid’s rings were placed in the water. Then we gathered up all the kiddos and they went hunting for a ring for their prize.
Once they got a ring, they turned it in for a fun prize.
Back to the Adults
So this year the animals were hidden by Dan La Due, Rachele Lord, and Chuck Beaver. At 30 minutes no one had surfaced with any found animals. We had quite the laugh about that. Finally just after we noticed that it had been 30 minutes our first divers surfaced with an animal. Our first surfacer was Calder La Due followed closely by Ava Gregg and then the rest.
Justin Walkinshaw didn’t find an animal… his animal, in fact, found him. Dan had tied the big black gorilla to the boat lift with some fishing line he found. Justin was diving past the gorilla, didn’t see it and the fishing line got wrapped around his pony bottle. When he surfaced I actually had to cut the fishing line off his pony bottle. Yes, he had a dive knife on him, but this is a good example of why to carry one on you (or scissors) while you’re diving!
6 of the 10 animals were found during the hunt.
Justin Walkinshaw won a Dive Travel Kit
Emma La Due won Dive Hood and Socks
Ava Gregg won a Pair of Seawing Nova Fins
Calder La Due won NRS Shoes
Kim Brungard won a SCUBAPRO Mask
Justin Maupan won a Save a Dive Kit
I mentioned only 6 animals were found, so we drew for the rest of our winners.
Tyler Pullen won a SCUBAPRO Dry Bag
Tiffiny Bond won a SCUBAPRO Flashlight
Joey Everhart won SCUBAPRO Accessory Kit
Austin Bond won a SCUBAPRO MK11/C370 Regulator
Final words
Other stories of the day were the poor cupcakes that melted. They looked horrible but still tasted great.
Grady burnt his nose so he put Addison’s bag of ice on his nose.
And Justin Walkinshaw had a designated driver taking him home.
Most excellent blog.