FrogmanBob

Just another diver's Tumblr I'm a mature (physically - not always so mentally!) bearded bald diver in the southeastern US.

[hannesktz]

[frogmanbob]

They need a couple rolls of Flex Seal tape, that's what they need.

2026 Jan 27

[misforgotten2]

O Holey Night …

Better Homes and Gardens Treasury of Christmas Ideas - 1966

[frogmanbob]

I gained a pound just seeing this picture.

2025 Dec 7

[policediversblog]

[gasmaskdaddy]

You're a diver. It's not just what you do, what you've trained to be - it's who and what you are, heart, mind, and soul.

So having to wait to dive is almost painful.

20250623

[frogmanbob]

Painful just begins to cover it.

Diving is life, and life is diving. Nothing compares to getting under water, getting away from everything "up here". Yeah, yeah, depending on the kind of diving you may still have someone topside talking to you - but if you're doing that kind of diving there's probably really good reason for the talking. It's not the usual bullshit that people spew for any reason, or no reason at all.

<strike>Calgon</strike> Kirby Morgan, take me away!

20250623

[nostalgicamerica]

I'd eat there. I'm certain I've eaten at worse places.

[frogmanbob]

I always ask at the front desk, or the little hole in the wall with the two inches of bulletproof polycarbonate, at the hotel/motel/bedbug hovel into which I'm checked, where the locals go for dinner. It's almost never a chain restaurant, often doesn't have a web site, sometimes the neighborhood's a little sketch - and I can't say I've ever been anything other than pleasantly satisfied with the outcome.

20250623

[iknowmorethanyou]

Follow For More ❤️

[frogmanbob]

I'm not superstitious by nature, but the way things have been going the last few months I'm more than willing to share this "just in case"!

20250514

[bearditorium2]

George & Cosmin (Romania)

[frogmanbob]

The first thought I had when I saw this was:

"The Techno Twins, Klaus und Dieter, got all growed up!"

For those not in the vibe about Klaus und Dieter: https://youtu.be/VAqpi5yCmf8?si=POSw6L4C34Q7uwYh

2025 April 7

[wahroh]

Quack quack. Waddle waddle.

[frogmanbob]

Well, damn - I just had the best conversation I've had in a couple of weeks with this dude who said nothing but "quack". He really liked French fries and was totally digging every word I - wait a sec. I was drunk? No. WAY!

2025 April 7

[frogmanbob]

Diving the way it was done back in the day. Ran across this on "one of the other social media platforms", so I grabbed both the post and the picture from inside it.

For those interested in old-fashioned hardhat diving there is at least one recreational diving certifying agency offering a recreational (I note that twice because they make it clear that it's *not* a commercial dive cert) standard dress course. I suspect demand for this cert is not particularly heavy, so the courses are infrequently scheduled. There are also, if memory serves, a couple of locations where you can do a one time "try dive". I know the recreational standard dress cert requires a SCUBA or commercial cert or military dive experience - not sure about the various try dive opportunities.

2025 March 19

Edited the next morning to add: If you're interested, check out https://www.classicdiving.com/programs/ and https://diveamarkv.com/

[grumpyseaman]

SS United States to be Featured in Mobile Harbor Tours Before Final Sinking

The SS United States, now docked in Mobile, Alabama, will be the highlight of special harbor tours before its transformation into the world's largest artificial reef. Blakeley State Park is offering 11 guided tours starting March 14, providing the public with a rare opportunity to see the historic vessel up close. The two-hour tours will explore Mobile's harbor while showcasing the 1952-built liner, which still holds the transatlantic speed record.

As part of its final preparations, the ship will undergo cleaning and environmental safety measures before being sunk off the Gulf Coast of Florida. The tours will include educational segments detailing the vessel’s rich history and significance. Tickets range from $36 to $39 for adults and $26 to $29 for children. The ship will remain in Mobile for several months before its scheduled deployment as an artificial reef near Destin-Fort Walton Beach.

[frogmanbob]

Already looking forward to diving this one.

2025 March 7

[hazmatwetsuitsther]

[frogmanbob]

I could most definitely go for a front-zip Viking. Gearing up for a solo dive toward the end of the day you can get lucky and find someone to zip the shoulder on a standard suit, but you're taking a chance when you finish the dive that there's nobody nearby to unzip.

2025 March 6

[tidewalker77]

How unfortunate this is so true.

[frogmanbob]

This is true.

But along the way, we will attend weddings, celebrate birthdays - and the births of children. We will listen to music, we will make music, we will sing loudly and off-key. We will be alone, we will be together, we will be there for each other. Tomorrow will come, no doubt, and we will not know exactly what it holds. There will be uncertainty and questions. But we will live. Oh, yes - we will live.

2025 Feb 26

[217truckdrivinman]

[frogmanbob]

One of the drawbacks of everything being web-enabled.

2025 Feb 26

[hannesktz]

[frogmanbob]

When I saw this pic I thought about one of my "cute-ish" captions, something like "Taking a selfie at work" maybe, but everything I could come up with was either "duh - obvious!" or too convoluted to be humorous.

But then it hit me - this picture doesn't need a cute caption. This is one of those pictures that says the proverbial thousand words. Just as when you see a Mark V diving helmet you automatically just know there's serious diving going on, or when you see/saw one of the old Gemini or Mercury spacesuits you know/knew someone was going hella high up, you see this picture (or ones like it) and you know this guy is working in a hazardous environment (or training to do so). The mask is so very "gas mask" ("intense gasmaskness"?), with heavy black rubber, the two lenses, and the filter sticking waaay out to the side, and the rubberized or otherwise coated protective suit adds to the "you just know" vibe.

2025 Feb 12

[hannesktz]

[frogmanbob]

Didn't I say "take off your boots"? Didn't I?! And now look - the bouncy castle isn't bouncy anymore.

2025 Feb 10

[ilikedrysuits]

[frogmanbob]

Red Diver: So, I was totally y'know hanging out at the Galleria, right?

Blue Diver: Yah, the Galleria is tubular!

Red Diver: Totally bitchin' fer sure! Anyway, Supe calls me, says there's a job he needs me to do like super-fast. Someone dropped some tools off a barge on some bridge project. So I go and get on the boat and I like make the dive, right?

Blue Diver: Oh fer sure!

Red Diver: And like the bottom is this grody mud and silt and it's all gag me with a spoon, y'know?

Blue Diver: Yah, mud is grody to the max! Gnarly!

Red Diver: Fer sure gnarly! Anyway, I like find the tools and Supe's all happy, but the next time he calls with that problem I'm going to be all OK fine fer sure fer sure no way!

Blue Diver: Totally!

2025 Jan 27

[frogmanbob]

Hey Bob I just came across your blog today and so much of it resonates with me. I’m a cold water diver here on the west coast of Canada, Vancouver. Would love to chat with you! Thanks

Glad you found me, man! Also happy that you find it to be "on your frequency", so to speak.

[frogmanbob]

Love your page. I’m shy of my open dive for nitrox, drysuit, and basic diving.

First, thank you! Second, congratulations! Get out there and get it finished - open water, then nitrox, then dry. Then keep diving! Get that bottom time, challenge yourself (safely!), and stay wet.