Thanks SBers for another Great Invasion

The Admiral and I would like to thank ScubaBoard for allowing us to again host this years Invade the Keys. It was yet another memorable event and one which I actually got to dive in this year. The Eagle night dive was amazing.

It was a pleasure meeting so many new SBers at this years event and of course the regulars. I hear tell the 400 chicken wings I cooked were again mediocre, so I'll just keep trying.

This event will continue to grow do to the participation of you the SBers and I hear tell next years event will be even bigger and better. So we look forward to next years event and hope to see this event grow to record numbers.

Good Diving,

It was an awesome time, your crew is top notch gary. We had a blast and I will be coming down to dive with you more often!

Capt Gary,

You and the Admiral are great hosts. I think everyone had a great time. I know we did. I never did get my kayaks in the water... but... I have the rest of the week to do that.

Here are a few shots taken... I haven't seen what's in ScubaKat11's camera. I know she took a lot of pictures.

It was nice seeing old friends, attaching faces to names, and meeting new friends.

See you on Thursday and Friday...

Al

Gary--Huge thanks to you, Brenda and your crew for making this weekend absolutely seamless.
brenda, as always, had every detail down and ready, was always right there with answers to questions---I doubt there's a more organized person on the face of the planet.
Republic IV crew (Since that was the only boat I was on all weekend)--The captain and each crew member were seemingly tireless in keeping us all safe and happy, and accomodating 20+ divers opinions and requests on every dive........I know they were up from before sunup to long after our parties were going making sure the boat was ready, hauling our gear and tanks, etc etc. Thanks to each of you.
Dive shop crew--the same goes for those in the back room, filling tanks non-stop for all of us (I can't imagine what the official final count of tank fills was from the weekend.......), putting up with nit-picking over Nitrox percentages (thanks, guys!)---again, from sun-up till late hours, your efforts made the weekend simple and easy for every diver.....

As always, a thank you to all the behind the scenes work that average boarders like me know nothing about---Jenny organizing and providing the goodies, Howarde & Michelle handling the t-shirt, and I'm certain there are nameless others who made this happen.

Thanks to all for another year of great memories!

I Agree With All . The Conch Republic Rocks I Mean Hard Core Rocks . You All Didnt Miss A Beat . Made My 2nd Trip To The Keys . Something That I Will Never Forget . And For The Capt Of The Boat ' Forgive Me I Am Bad With Names The Older Gentleman ' He Made The Trip Well Worth It And Very Informative On All My Dives. IF I Had A Question HE Could Answer It With Out Missing A Beat . And To The Staff At Conch You All Are The Bomb . I Will Only Dive With Your Group When I Come Down .

Gary and Brenda as usual you out did youself, you crew was top of the line and the Party was outstanding ...... We love you man
Kim P

I had an absolutely WONDERFUL time diving this past weekend at I:II!!! All my dives were on the two Conch Republic boats. Captains Danny & Jim along with DM's Jennifer, Clint & all the rest of the support staff were utterly fantastic- making sure that I had every thing that I needed for every dive, including replacing my high pressure hose overnight. Everyone was extremely safety conscious (we even had 2 safety divers on our night dive on the Eagle) yet we were treated like adults & responsible divers...while being encouraged to have fun & enjoy our dives. There were always 2-3 staff members at the dock to help with the unloading & manage the fill requests- tanks were off loaded & the filling started within minutes of docking. Brenda was always able to answer the inevitable questions with a click of the mouse & accommodated several boat changes for me & others when the inevitable requests were made. Each boat had an up to date printout of who was on board as it left the dock & the crew was empowered to change our itinerary if we requested & voted on it. GREAT safety & dive briefings with lots of historical tidbits thrown in. In short, CR did an AWESOME job! I'm looking forward to everyone's trip reports & pictures in the other thread from all the boats soon- I think we are just too beat to write it all up. Thanks again to Conch Republic for their superb service! :fruit:

What can I add to the above ? They said it all

Thank You for a wonderful time.

Rick
Theresa
Shawna

Gary and Brenda...
You did a great job again this year... I really don't know how you can continue to get better every year (of course, after this year, you don't have too!)

Thanks for such a great time!

To your crew... Absolutely excellent service... above and beyond the call. Thanks to everyone who made the event such a success!

Where do I sign for next year?

Ditto on what everybody else said...
And now a plug for Gary and Brenda. They have been voted the past two years as the best Dive op in the Keys by Scubadiving Magazine. Even though there is a link on their web page, I never heard a peep about the voting all weekend. Here is your chance to share your positive experiences and contribute to the voting process.
http://www.scubadiving.com/ratediveoperator?m_nLocationID=13536

Conch Republic rocks.

And not to leave Brent out, even though I did not get a chance to dive on your boat, I have heard similar comments from those that did!