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I get back from the Bahamas on 23 Dec and I’ll have plenty of pics to post from that trip too 😊 Going on a Blackbeard cruise!
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Dec 12, 2017 04:25
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My dad hasn’t gone through his from the Philippines yet but he’ll send me highlights I can share.
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Dec 12, 2017 05:00
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If I ever get around to sorting my hours of GoPro footage I’ll be sure to post here!
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Dec 12, 2017 06:44
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Okay, here goes nothing... I am normally the world's biggest cold water diving evangelist, but I got a last minute opportunity to hop onto an Indonesia trip a couple weeks ago. We went from eastern Flores to Alor, 12 days of diving, and I ended up spending a bit over 42 hours underwater (40 dives). It was an amazing, awesome, ridiculous trip and I took about 550 pics that I thought were keepers. I'm so glad I went, and I had an incredible time.  Nudi porn  Snake eel and a cardinal fish  They called these guys "Chinese Dragon" nudibranchs, which seems pretty apt.  This was my favorite dive, a site called "Red Wall". It was sun corals and orange soft corals with huge schools of anthias flying down them in a screaming current. It was one of the best dives I have ever done.  The anthias at Red Wall  Dugong! We went to Sikka island (I think) to snorkel with this guy. He ended up getting a bit... amorous with some of the divers.  Harlequin shrimps are so pretty...  More nudi  The moray didn't really approve of me taking its picture  Hairy frogfish, about the size of a marble. A hairy, angry marble.  A hairy octo doing some sort of impression, maybe a crab? Its was walking on two legs and kept everything else tucked up like you see in the pic.  A fish trap. There were a bunch of these, I suspect for the aquarium trade.  Tons of little lion fish around a tube anemone  I love how each lion fish has its own little pocket  Bobtail squid  Wire coral goby  I found this little crab when I was looking for pygmy sea horses (I didn't find any, but this guy was super cute)  Sea apple!  These shrimps were just floating in a little cave. Kinda cool.  Another nudi.  Saddleback clownfish defending the nest!  This teeny harlequin shrimp jumped off a rock, and when I stuck out my hand he landed on my finger!  A Rhinopias scorpionfish. These guys are crazy looking.  Pretty little lion fish  This is my favorite pic of the trip. I am super happy with the composition, the detail and the subject.  Peacock mantis shrimp telling me to gently caress right off.  Another Red Wall shot. What an incredible dive.  Fusiliers  Cardinal fish against a basket star  A flying gurnard! I'd never seen these weirdos before!  Carpet anemone with saddleback clownfish and shrimp. I'm happy to answer any questions about the diving or the critters.
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Dec 12, 2017 07:39
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That Red Wall site looks tight as hell
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Dec 12, 2017 07:47
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Wow those are some amazing pics. Great closeups! I got somewhat motivated and edited these for the thread:  My dive buddy for scale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSs3V4lcaZc This was my dive buddy's last dive before she left back to the UK. The entire month we were there we hadn't seen any of these little guys. We asked to go off on our own to find them on the sandy bottom of Siaba Besar. The max depth was 15 meters and we were down there for 40 minutes searching before I managed to spot this one. We spent the next 30 minutes watching him go about his business. Totally worth it.
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Dec 12, 2017 08:25
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Icon Of Sin posted:I get back from the Bahamas on 23 Dec and I’ll have plenty of pics to post from that trip too 😊 Going on a Blackbeard cruise! I'll be in Nassau on Monday, and Bimini from the 20th - 24th, so we might have some crossover there.
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Dec 14, 2017 18:37
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Bimini is great! Enjoy that
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Dec 15, 2017 07:56
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It is nice down here. Couple of quick captures before I edit together a video.  
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Dec 22, 2017 21:42
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NYC-based fella here interested in getting SCUBA certified. Any recommendations on where in the area I should go to do that?
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Dec 22, 2017 22:10
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PHOTO DUMP INCOMING These are all from dive sites around the Exumas and Eleuthera. I was with Blackbeard cruises, on board the Morning Star for 5 days out of Nassau. Disembarkation sickness is definitely a real thing  It isn't a dive for me unless one of these comes to check me out. Bahamas, Carolinas, whatever.  Looking up out of the Nassau Blue Hole. This was ~85ft down into the Hole itself.  Sunsets over the open ocean are beautiful  The Nassau Blue Hole has a small cavern that goes back into the bedrock ~40ft or so before it gets too small for divers. No branches or anything, but there is a sphinx in the entrance   I don't really know what these these coral are, but they're intriguing at the very least.  Trumpetfish!    Looking over the edge, on one of the wall dives we did.  Some brain coral, with a few bits eaten out of it (likely by local fish)  A younger spotted moray eel!  Reef life is gorgeous, and something that I miss out on (being primarily a wreck diver in coastal NC)  I'm a sucker for 2 things: marine fans, and shark silhouettes.  The only picture I could get of a nurse shark and her young one (maybe?)  Majestic sea flap-flap #1!  Atlantic spadefish! The ones in the Bahamas seem to have darker bands than their western-atlantic cousins. In coastal NC the bands tend to fade as the spadefish get older.  Parrotfish!  A Queen Triggerfish!  Spotfin butterflyfish!  A lionfish. They were extremely prevalent on some of our sites, but according to the boat's divemaster they are less prevalent than they were previously. So...progress?   A sleepy loggerhead, being a good big buddy to a remora under his right fin!  A lobster I found on a night dive.  Another lobster, on a different dive.  A bicolor damselfish, along with a few wrasses.  A lone spotfin butterflyfish!  The best pic of a shy queen triggerfish that I could get.  I think this was a Nassau grouper?  Soft flower coral, open and feeding in the slight current.  Another spotted moray, peeking its head out at these weird bubble-breathers that were nearby.  Coral heads that managed to catch my eye.  The reefs themselves are gorgeous  Different corals, living on top of each other.  This coral lives on a sunken plane near the dive site the boat staff called "Cut and Run"  More soft flower coral! I never knew that I had a soft spot ( ) for this type of coral, but I love it all the same. I have no idea what kind of coral this is, but it's gorgeous all the same.  A yellow-spotted stingray, near the Nassau Blue Hole.  An arrow crab, walking over the top of a soft flower coral.  More brain coral!  Another marine fan.  A Nassau grouper!  A grunt that wanted to have a staring contest with me. 
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Dec 22, 2017 22:21
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Can anyone recommend a good dive shop in Okinawa? I’ll have a few days free in January to head over. I’m a relatively inexperienced diver with my Open Water only, can’t speak Japanese.
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Dec 26, 2017 23:13
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A Banana posted:Can anyone recommend a good dive shop in Okinawa? I’ll have a few days free in January to head over. I’m a relatively inexperienced diver with my Open Water only, can’t speak Japanese. One of my former campers (I was a marine science camp counselor last summer) lives there and recommended Kadena Marina, Scuba & Sea Shop. That’s the only lead I’ve got, unfortunately. e: probably on the marine base, enter at own risk. Icon Of Sin fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Dec 27, 2017 |
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Dec 27, 2017 03:18
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Time for more cold water evangelism! A couple of pictures from a few weeks ago in Monterey, CA: Kelp crab  White spotted rose anemone  A fine scale triggerfish! I'd read about these guys, but never seen one before. They're super rare here, and much more common down in Baja.
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Jan 16, 2018 07:07
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Hell yes. What was the water temp?
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Jan 20, 2018 20:57
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MrYenko posted:Hell yes. What was the water temp? 54F/12C. Not bad. Winter typically has warmer water, since there's less upwelling, but and the kelp dies back due to the shorter days.
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Jan 20, 2018 22:28
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DeadlyMuffin posted:54F/12C. Not bad. What kind of exposure protection were you wearing? That’s almost twenty degrees colder than I’ve ever dove in. Because I’m a spoiled Florida fucker.
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Jan 21, 2018 00:01
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MrYenko posted:What kind of exposure protection were you wearing? That’s almost twenty degrees colder than I’ve ever dove in. Drysuit, although there are people who dive around here in 7mm wetsuits. With the right gear it really isn't bad, although it's more *stuff* to deal with. Coldest I've done is 46, but that wasn't really so different. I love how different cold water diving is. I feel very fortunate, frankly, to live only an hour or two from wonderful diving.
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Jan 21, 2018 00:06
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Kelp forests and Alaska are two of my cold water bucket list items... I need to get dry-suit certified.
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Jan 21, 2018 00:35
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I did Point Lobos in a 7mm farmer John. I was fine, but my wife was blue after an hour. If I did it again, I'd go dry.
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Jan 21, 2018 03:38
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In San Diego I used a 9mm chest/7mm legs/5mm arms “semi-dry” suit, the kind with the horizontal zip across the chest and integrated hood. Getting in and out of it was a massive pain, but it was fine near the surface. You still get cold as hell at 100ft. If I had stayed there I would have done the course and gotten a drysuit.
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Jan 21, 2018 04:42
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MrYenko posted:Kelp forests and Alaska are two of my cold water bucket list items... I need to get dry-suit certified. I haven't done Alaska, but British Columbia is beautiful.
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Jan 21, 2018 05:55
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DeadlyMuffin posted:Drysuit, although there are people who dive around here in 7mm wetsuits. With the right gear it really isn't bad, although it's more *stuff* to deal with. How do you deal with the brain freeze? I’ve done a few dives around that temperature and had brain freeze nearly the whole time even with my 5mm hood.
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Jan 22, 2018 00:24
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Red_Fred posted:How do you deal with the brain freeze? I’ve done a few dives around that temperature and had brain freeze nearly the whole time even with my 5mm hood. I've got a 3mm semi-dry that kept my head good and warm down to around 45-50F. I was also wearing a 3mm shorty under a 5mil, with 5mil gloves and booties. It wasn't uncomfortable, but I definitely had the feeling of "I can't stay here for too long otherwise I'll get too cold".
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Jan 22, 2018 00:27
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Red_Fred posted:How do you deal with the brain freeze? I’ve done a few dives around that temperature and had brain freeze nearly the whole time even with my 5mm hood. A really thick hood. Mine was 12mm on the sides when I got it, but it's squished down to much less than that now. I do occasionally get that feeling right when I descend, but it passes after ~30 seconds. Icon Of Sin posted:I've got a 3mm semi-dry that kept my head good and warm down to around 45-50F. I was also wearing a 3mm shorty under a 5mil, with 5mil gloves and booties. It wasn't uncomfortable, but I definitely had the feeling of "I can't stay here for too long otherwise I'll get too cold". Before I got my drysuit I'd dive in a full 7mm with a hooded 3mm vest underneath. I was okay, but definitely cold at the end of the dives. I love my drysuit, I don't think I could go back.
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Jan 22, 2018 02:54
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Two weeks in bonaire starting tomorrow. Been. While since I have been warm and I am looking forward to the time off work and some shore diving.
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Feb 2, 2018 23:58
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Ropes4u posted:Two weeks in bonaire starting tomorrow. Been. While since I have been warm and I am looking forward to the time off work and some shore diving. Jealous! Haven’t been there since 2012. Where are you staying?
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Feb 3, 2018 01:33
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Pirate Radar posted:Jealous! Haven’t been there since 2012. Where are you staying? We have rented from a place called beachcomber villas for the last three years. The old owners moved back to Canada and this will be our first visit with the new owners, so we will see how it goes.
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Feb 3, 2018 11:18
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Ropes4u posted:We have rented from a place called beachcomber villas for the last three years. The old owners moved back to Canada and this will be our first visit with the new owners, so we will see how it goes. How are you handling truck and fills? The only time I did Bonaire I did an all inclusive thing, but I'm looking at other options if I go back. DeadlyMuffin fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Feb 3, 2018 |
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Feb 3, 2018 18:49
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DeadlyMuffin posted:How are you handling truck and fills? The only time I did Bonaire I did an all inclusive thing, but I'm looking at other options if I go back. We rent a truck from easy one rental who meets us at the airport the day we arrive and the day we leave, the owners are nice and the trucks serviceable tiger, grand tiger, manual shift, four doors. ~$750 for two weeks The apartment is ocean side across from Klein Bonaire and combined with our dive package from from Dive Friends Bonaire runs about ~2500 for two weeks. This includes unlimited nitrox or oxygen tanks. We tried two boat dives once in three years and will never do it again. The owners of the apartment are now Dutch and live down stairs, there are two apartments upstairs with access to a reef in the front yard, there are also rinse tanks on the property but we usually rinse at the dive shop. Out normal day is wake up eat breakfast at the apartment, dive, eat lunch, dive, rinse gear, get fresh tanks at one of the five or six drive through locations, cook dinner, sleep, start over. We cook all our meals with the exception of a night at the sushi place and a few lunches at the food trucks. 
Ropes4u fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Feb 3, 2018 |
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Feb 3, 2018 23:41
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Icon Of Sin posted:PHOTO DUMP INCOMING Great shots and one of my favorite dive operations. Who was your DM?
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Feb 5, 2018 20:44
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EugeneDebsWasCool posted:Great shots and one of my favorite dive operations. Who was your DM? Thank you! Justin was our DM, along with Captain Breezy, 1st mate Drew (he's a funny bastard, we loved him), cook Jen (how she managed to make that much delicious food in that tiny kitchen, I'll never know), and I don't recall the last one (ship's engineer) but he was from Alabama and had a beard worthy of being a sea captain.
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Feb 5, 2018 21:36
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Icon Of Sin posted:Thank you! Nice! I actually taught Justin how to dive when he was 10 and I was his Instructor for most of his courses including Instructor. I referred him to Blackbeard so I hope the little poo poo did a good job.
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Feb 5, 2018 21:40
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EugeneDebsWasCool posted:Nice! I actually taught Justin how to dive when he was 10 and I was his Instructor for most of his courses including Instructor. I referred him to Blackbeard so I hope the little poo poo did a good job. Hahahaha, wow. He did great! That entire trip was awesome, I was on the fence about asking them for a job as a divemaster but ultimately made the
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Feb 5, 2018 21:47
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Icon Of Sin posted:Hahahaha, wow. He did great! That entire trip was awesome, I was on the fence about asking them for a job as a divemaster but ultimately made the Glad to hear he did a good job. I worked Blackbeard for a few weeks when I first became an Instructor in 2003. Even at 18 I couldn't take living in the engine room. He's having an awesome time though. I've gone out to NC twice to dive the U-352 and the weather has been poo poo both times and we weren't able to go out. I need to try and get out there again this summer.
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Feb 5, 2018 21:58
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EugeneDebsWasCool posted:Glad to hear he did a good job. I worked Blackbeard for a few weeks when I first became an Instructor in 2003. Even at 18 I couldn't take living in the engine room. He's having an awesome time though. I'm in Wilmington, and last summer I played the game of "watch the forecast and only sign up if it looks good in the next few days" and managed to get out 2/3 of the time. The ocean here is fickle and easily angered, but if you get more than 12 miles offshore from Wilmington the views can be utterly breathtaking. I went out to the John D. Gill and could see the wreck sitting 90ft below us, ditto the Hyde for our second dive where I was on the deck at 55ft and could clearly make out the dive boat above us (and see all the resident sand tigers coming to check out these weird bubble breathers). I've got an Instagram (@nc_wreck_diver) if you want to see more pics from around here/diving the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher/the Bahamas.
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Feb 5, 2018 22:10
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Icon Of Sin posted:I'm in Wilmington, and last summer I played the game of "watch the forecast and only sign up if it looks good in the next few days" and managed to get out 2/3 of the time. The ocean here is fickle and easily angered, but if you get more than 12 miles offshore from Wilmington the views can be utterly breathtaking. I went out to the John D. Gill and could see the wreck sitting 90ft below us, ditto the Hyde for our second dive where I was on the deck at 55ft and could clearly make out the dive boat above us (and see all the resident sand tigers coming to check out these weird bubble breathers). I've got an Instagram (@nc_wreck_diver) if you want to see more pics from around here/diving the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher/the Bahamas. I live in Chicago right now and Lake Michigan can be a pretty fickle bitch too so I know what you mean. I'll definitely get down to NC again and try to hit the wrecks. I'll add ya on IG right now.
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Feb 5, 2018 22:19
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GoPro shot from one of today’s dives on bonaire. 
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Feb 12, 2018 02:32
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Had my orientation for PADI open water course yesterday. There's a decent amount of homework study and since the class will be mostly on work days, scheduling the group was a pain in the rear end because some rear end in a top hat has every evening booked a month in advance. Still, looks like a lot of fun and would give me some cool opportunities when traveling. I don't need to decide now, but what equipment does it make sense to buy vs rent every time? There aren't really any worthwhile locations here so I'd be only diving a few times a year max when on vacation.
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Feb 13, 2018 14:21
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mobby_6kl posted:Had my orientation for PADI open water course yesterday. There's a decent amount of homework study and since the class will be mostly on work days, scheduling the group was a pain in the rear end because some rear end in a top hat has every evening booked a month in advance. Still, looks like a lot of fun and would give me some cool opportunities when traveling. Outside of your mask, fins, snorkel, and booties, I’d say a dive computer. Not entirely necessary, but I prefer diving with a computer whose display and settings I’m familiar with. If you aren’t diving terribly often it may not be worth it, though. There are cheap-ish ones out there (Suunto Zoops/Oceanic Veos and Veo 2s) so you don’t have to go full fancy (like a D6I or a Shearwater).
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Feb 13, 2018 15:12
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