A formal invitation.

[sanso]

DB SpringJam in March '07

Hey everyone!

I just ordered my first elios and am using this as an excuse to invite You, my esteemed fellow DBists, to a meet-up here in Konstanz (de) for some dipping into the [ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=78464+Konstanz,+germany&ie=UTF8&z=12&t=h&om=1"]big pool[/ame] and test-driving the local breweries ([ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=hoheneggstra%C3%9Fe+41,+78464+Konstanz,+germany&sll=47.685123,9.204695&sspn=0.010097,0.027037&ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=47.685203,9.208109&spn=0.005049,0.013518&t=h&om=1"]Ruppaner[/ame], [ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Konradigasse+2,+78462+Konstanz,+germany&sll=47.685203,9.208109&sspn=0.010097,0.027037&ie=UTF8&z=16&t=k&om=1"]Brauhaus Joh. Albrecht[/ame]).

I suggest a date sometime after March, 11th, since the people at elios have just started making my suit and I'd hate not being able to swim along. :t

All I want now is an uproar of people Yelling 'Yes, I'll be there!"

BTW: The closest Airports are Friedrichshafen (FDH, 45 minutes by bus or ship), Zürich (ZRH, an hour or so by train), Stuttgart (STR ~2 hours by train)

For cheap flights see (amongst others)
Flüge billigflüge billigflug bei billiger-fliegen.de
Air Berlin - airberlin.com - Fly Euro Shuttle!
Flüge ab 19,99 EUR mit TUIfly.com
Ryanair.com - CHEAP FLIGHTS - Fly Cheaper, Car hire, Hotels, Travel Insurance
http://fly-away.de


With greetings from the lake,

 

[sanso]

17.03.'07, accomodation

Hey everyone!

First day of the spring meet in KN will be Saturday, March 17th 2007.
Should anyone just come over the weekend (bdurrett? what about You?), I suggest coming a day early, so the fun can begin on Sat at sunrise But I guess for some of You it doesn't really make sense to hop over to Germany for just a weekend, but a week or so would make sense (at least).

That is why The Mrs and I have agreed that we will supply some accomodation for the upcoming meet-up - also for extended stays. (Yes, for free, and no, we won't charge You for anything.)

We have a queen-size mattress in a separate room and four single sofa/bed-convertibles in our Living room, plus the remaining area on the floor that You can fill up with Therm-A-Rests and the likes..
There won't be 24 hour room service, mind You. :t
All we can offer is a place to stay, whatever You find in our fridge and our company (Elvira, me and Goliath the cat for the occasional cuddle). I fear we don't even have Winnie-The-Pooh bedspreads..
But we'd gladly welcome You in our home.

Mundial, how long would You like to stay? There are a couple of things to do in and around KN...

This is the deal - who's in?

 

[M@trox]

who will be there ?

maybe on March 11 it could be a little to cold, or not ?

what about the germany guys and girls, already asked them ?

 

[josedesucre]

Man, I would love to, but of course it is a long leap for me.

 

[sanso]

who will be there ?

maybe on March 11 it could be a little to cold, or not ?

what about the germany guys and girls, already asked them ?

Well, Andreas will be there, and I will be there. That's how much I know right now.
Then, mundial and blackshell have mentioned thinking about coming.
Who are the germany guys and girls?

It's march 17th, (not 11th) the water is at 4°C, right now. brrrr

 

[rslomkow]

Curios a little bit about logistics here.

1) Is shore diving an option or do we need a boat?
2) Where is the water entrance?
3) Do you have a diving line that you are planning on using?
4) What is water temperature going to be like at the surface and at -20m?
5) What are the themoclines like?
6) What is "good" viability for the lake, and what is normal?
7) What kind of a schedule are we looking at? 8AM water entrance out by 17:00
8) What is there to look at? or is this mostly about diving into the dark and deep?

I am willing to dive most anything, but I am curious what kind of an adventure I am getting into and if I should even try to ask my girl to bring her wetsuit or just leave her to enjoy the Strand.

I am in Munich, but don't have a car (could rent one) and need to figure out how to get there and where to stay. (have girlfriend and little dog)

I am used to diving 9C in my 3mm for 2-3hrs at a time, but 4C is a bit cooler.

 

[sanso]

robin, please excuse my cutting Your post to pieces while trying to answer all questions.
And, all, please excuse the huge post.

[...] curious what kind of an adventure I am getting into [...] ask my girl to bring her wetsuit or just leave her to enjoy the Strand. (have girlfriend and little dog)
I am used to diving 9C in my 3mm for 2-3hrs at a time, but 4C is a bit cooler.

I think I'm about just as curious. If You're ready to dive for hours in 9°C I guess, You'll cope with this as well.

There is, btw, a Thermalbad (uh, Thermal spa?) with saunas and all in Meersburg, not far away from two of the divesites, so we can get nice'n'toasty after freezing our butts off in the lake (I just found out that it will even be opened until 23:00 on the 17th)
Of course, Your girl is welcome here! Even without suit (uh, not what You think :naughty) The Strand isn't really inviting at the moment, unless she is equipped with a warm blanket and a supply of hot beverages - all of which we'll gladly supply.
Anyone not diving will be welcome company for Elvira, who certainly will not dip a toe into the water this time.

1) Is shore diving an option or do we need a boat?

I was thinking of two or three places in the area, all of which are easy shorediving. Will add links below.

2) Where is the water entrance?

?? right on the beach, why? Sorry, I don't understand the question.

3) Do you have a diving line that you are planning on using?

I don't have one, but Andreas has offered bringing some of his equipment.

4) What is water temperature going to be like at the surface and at -20m?
5) What are the themoclines like?

Think 4°C all over. Possibly a bit warmer on the surface by then.

6) What is "good" viability for the lake, and what is normal?

I'm assuming visibility here: I've seen 10m in late October, but it's said to be better during winter. We'll be diving in drinking water.

7) What kind of a schedule are we looking at? 8AM water entrance out by 17:00

It depends. Andreas said something about 30min max for unexperienced people (such as me). I think we won't be spending hours in 4°C water, so I'm guessing something like: One morning-dive, one afternoon-dive, go out afterwards...
I'd like to keep things relaxed, in any case.

8) What is there to look at? or is this mostly about diving into the dark and deep?

The Plätzle in Meersburg is said to be very nice to look at. Most if not all local kinds of fish, Süßwasserkrebse (sweetwatercrayfish?) and whatnot populating a wall and some slight overhangs...

how to get there and where to stay

Getting there:
There's a quite well-frequented board at asta.uni-konstanz.de for people needing/offering rides from and to Konstanz.
Train connections to KN are not as good, but if You find a ride to Friedrichshafen or Meersburg, You can easily take the boat to Konstanz.

Several possible solutions for the where-to-stay:
1. We try to keep the extra room we have cat-free, so it's fairly hypo-allergenic, so to say. also, we always have a jug of antihistamines in the house. Both for visiting friends and relatives who also are allergic to cats.
Goliath has a history of healing allergies, btw. a friend of mine was allergic to cats when he moved into our WG, but ended up having Goli in his room almost every night with no trouble at all.. -
A Visiting dog, especially that size, shouldn't be much of a problem either.

2. The tauchen Bodensee Tauchschule Bodensee / Meersburg across the lake also has rooms. Should You still not want to stay at our place, that might be an option, too. Thery're nice people - I got my scuba-certificate there.

3. The local hostel offers quite a deal for staying in KN, it is located in the old water-tower looking over the lake. - impressive

 

[rslomkow]

Sounds great!

I have it marked on my calendar and will come!

Sound like lots of fun, hope to meet some others there.

 

[sanso]

Update on divespots:
We won't be able to dive at the above mentioned 'Plätzle' due to new restrictions, but I found another spot that sounds even nicer. There is a wall in [ame="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=konstanz+wallhausen,germany&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.287373,81.914062&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=47.746928,9.132922&spn=0.010085,0.027037&t=h&om=1"]Konstanz/Wallhausen[/ame] (nicely visible on the picture) that is within walking distance from the local Divebase. This wall drops down to ~100m, so we should have plenty room below. More info on the area is here (german only).
The locals (scuba-) dive there every weekend anyway I was told, so we'll be happy, I guess.
This is, btw, right across the lake from the pressure chamber in Überlingen.

 

[deep thinker]

Hey bud, it seems like your get together is coming along waayyy better than ours and we all live less than an hours drive from each other. Wish I could make it dude have fun. AND YOU BETTER POST PICTURES ONCE IT HAS ALL GONE DOWN!!! will be watching the thread in the meantime though...

 

[sanso]

Aye aye, caper!

It's just four people right now - we'll have to wait and see who else makes it.
I'm still waiting for mundial and blackshell to tell me when they'll hit my place. Mundial did write something like 'Tell me when and where and I'll be there' - Mundial, You hear me?
And blackshell? Well, she's in Bern, Switzerland - that's almost too close for any excuse (almost). Blackshell, what's up? You comin'?

I think if You just define the when and where, a get together is most likely to happen at all. You could try and give them two dates (maybe in a poll) and the date with the most votes will be it. - Or just make it two meets!

BTW: You England people. I just looked this up: ryanair will fly London Stansted to Friedrichshafen on the 16th for 1.79 GBP and back on the 20th for 2.39 GBP.

 

[M@trox]

Hey Richard !

I think i will come ! will be very cold but need to dive !!!
But i have a problem: "Where to stay!"
You offered some places to sleep in your house would there be one left for me, maybe ?
ach komm, du sprichst ja deutsch.
War bisher nur in Überlingen zum TAuchen, will auch mal die gegenüberliegende Seite kennen lernen!
also ich komm aus würzburg und bräuchte evtl. eben noch ein Dach überm Kopf!
Hattest du da nicht was im Angebot ?

Wenn Andreas sein Seil mitbringt brauch ich ja nix weiter mitbringen, oder ?

Freu mich schon drauf !


Greetz

Joe

 

[Diving-Kai83]

Hi Sanso I´m a friend of Jo aka M@trox, we both did our AIDA ** and *** courses with Andreas Falkenroth so we both now him pretty well. He asked us per email if we wanna come to dive with you guys at the 17th of march.
I would love to come and I think I WILL come to the bavarian sea to dive with you.

Im coming from Bad Wörishofen (thats between Memminen and Munich) and I have the same prob like Joe has. I dont know where to stay over the night. So I politely want to ask you, if we could stay one night in your house if there is still place for us and you are still offering a bed or couch.

Oh bye the way... I make delicious Spagheti

Wäre cool wenn es klappen würde!!!

Greee, the Kai

 

[Morg]

Wow this meet is turning out great eh Sanso?

I still hope your going to plan another one in the summer. I would love to come out and dive with everyone.

 

[sanso]

Joe, Kai,

You're set. So far we have a couple (rslomkov+1+dog) staying in the spare room and could fit You two with Andreas in the living room.
Spaghetti sound great.

Morg, let's wait what this turns out to be, but I'm confident.

Am sick, will stop 'putering now,

Sanso

 

[sanso]

Bring 'em on!

Hah. Our flat is full, but people now come to sleep in their cars (VW-Busses, i.e.) it seems - The news about this meet up is spreading further and further; I think I triggered a landslide.

And - even better - I'll be able to participate! Last night I tried on my new suit that has just arrived, and it's as nice'n'snug as I could only wish for. :inlove
Hooray for elios to deliver on time!

BTW: Their new black coating is way cool. I was able to put on an opencell-suit without lube or talcum.

 

[jaybocca]

Well the guy who is sleeping in the bus, thats me. Since I am all new to this Forum I better introduce myself.

I am studying Electronic Engineering in Darmstadt right now. Apnoe I have only done in the ocean so far, so I am keen to get to know some people and spots around Germany. I really would like do apnoe more intensive, but I guess as you guys know, its kind of difficult to find people living close by to come along and the swimming pool isn't the same as the Ocean/Lake.

@ sanso: I wondered if it might be possible to hook up my VW bus to the power, since the second battery in it is a bit weak and the "Standheizung" (auxiliary heating) therefor has its problems firing up. That would be wicked.

 

[sanso]

Power for jaybocca? can do.

 

[sanso]

BTW, do any of You have a spare rubber belt that You could bring along? I only have a nylon belt that's about 20 Years old and would like to get a rubber belt soon..

 

[sanso]

Cars?

The question of local transportation was just brought to my attention.

It is possible to get nearly everywhere around here by bus, but looking at the number of people and the gear, a couple of cars might be handy. But I don't have one.
Who of You will be coming by car and be willing to take us to/from the divesite (~10km one way)?
For all I know, Jaybocca is coming with his bully and waterenthusiast might be able to borrow a car. ( Yes, I just got a message that he might come as well )
rslomkov? M@trox? Diving-Kai83?

I'm starting to get excited - will head for the divespot in Wallhausen tomorrow to see what things are like over there.

P.S.: When will You people be arriving? I know that rslomkov+SO+dog will be here Friday afternoon/evening - how about the rest of You?