Alacosta Blurb
Maintaining an icy distance between abalone and diver for over 40 years
May, 2003
Guest Editor Susan Carter put this month's Blurb together, so don't blame Kevin!
Entertainment needed
Alacosta is looking for entertainment for future meetings. Contact Vice
President John Beland if you have entertainment ideas. John's email address is
jwbeland@att.net. His phone number is 510-482-9341.
Upcoming meetings:
General meeting
The May general meeting will be on Monday, May 5th. Alacosta Member Tracy Grogan will present a slide show on Papa New Guinea diving. Check it out if you are thinking of joining us there in 2004!
General meetings are held from 8-10 PM at:
Garden Room
Orinda Library
24 Orinda Way
Orinda, CA 94563
Executive board meeting:
Executive board meetings are usually held on the third Monday of the month at 8
PM and are usually preceded by a potluck at 6:30 PM. All Alacosta members are
invited.
The May executive board meeting will be on Monday, May 19th, at a not yet
determined location. President Mike Daily will have to skip that meeting in order to celebrate a wedding anniversary (his own: we don't know how many it has been, but we do know it has been many. Congrats are in order to Mike and Diane!).
Upcoming dives:
Talk to the dive chairs early. Please sign up in advance. All people who sign
up are responsible for fees at the dive. People who don't sign up for the dive
may be excluded from the dive and shunned for life. On camping trips, each
diver is responsible for finding its own campsites. The chair will attempt to
organize campsites, but no guarantees can be made. There is a $5 per day fee
for use of the club boats. Personal flotation devices should be brought for all
dives using club boats.
RUSSIAN RIVER CANOE TRIP AND WATER FIGHT
John Beland is chairing this Club outing and sends the following information:
Well, it's time once again for the (semi) annual Russian River canoe/kayak trip.
It's scheduled for Sunday, May 25. That's the middle of Memorial Day weekend,
so most folks should have Monday to rest and recover. We'll do our usual run
from Asti to Alexander Valley campground--about 11 river miles.
Canoes (and perhaps kayaks--I'm awaiting a return call from Trowbridge) are
available for rent from Trowbridge Recreation (http://www.trowbridgecanoe.com).
Make sure you reserve your preference ASAP since Mem Day weekend is very popular
on the river. An alternative, if you're willing to cartop a boat, is to rent
from California Canoe and Kayak (CCK) (http://www.calkayak.com/rentals.html).
I'm not sure about their reservation policy(language is vague on website), and
you may have to pay for a second day.
Of course, if you've got your own boat, bring it along. Be warned that you may
still have to pay $5 parking plus $5 launch fee, though we'll try to minimize
that. Editor's note: if you are wise, you will also bring a large water gun, strictly for self-protection of course. Any eight-year-old boy can tell you which model to buy at your local variety store.
John will send out a notice about the exact time and meeting place details as the date gets closer. Please let him know if you plan to come.
Cozumel, May 2003
Some folks are going to Cozumel May 3-10th, 2003. Price will be $835 per person plus airfare, less if the club fills at least 12 rooms. Non-diver price is $657 p/p. To join the trip, call Marilyn Johnson at InterOcean Tours at 510-638-3448.
Northern Scotland, May 2003
Kevin Dalley is supposed to lead a dive to northern Scotland in early May, 2003, although when last heard from by the Guest Editor he was still in England, showing off the Manchester telescope to Prince Charles. If you want to join him at the Scapa Flow, bring your dry suit. Unfortunately, this dive is about the same time as the Cozumel
trip. Real divers dive in kelp. Kevin's email address is kevin@kelphead.org.
Wakatobi, July, 2003
Some divers are discussing an Alacosta trip to the Wakatobi Dive Resort at
Wakatobi, Indonesia, in July 2003, although this one doesn't seem to have gotten passed the talk about it stage.
Monterey Dive, July 19, 2003
Susan Carter is planning to lead a club boat dive to Monterey on July 19th, and desperately hopes that her doctors will clear her to dive by then! She is leaning towards going to Lobos, but is open to input as to whether folks prefer a Lobos Launch or a Breakwater Launch. If were are going to do Lobos, we will need to make reservations on May 19th, so give Susan your final input before then, and she will send an announcement prior to mid-May as to the consensus. Contact Susan at still15320@aol.com if you have a preference.
Boat Party, Date TBD
At the last Eboard Meeting, those present agreed that the club needs a Boat Party this summer, but we didn't settle on a date. If you are willing to volunteer your house/driveway/garage for such an event, please suggest a date that works for you to any Eboard member! Ideally we would have the Boat party in June or July to give time to make any necessary repairs/engine tune-ups/whatever prior to Catalina (in fact, we may need two boat parties).
Catalina 2003
Catalina 2003 will be held September 6th - 13th, 2003 at Emerald Bay. Susan Carter and John Purnell are Trip Co-Leaders. Mark your calendars and plan to join us for a great trip! The deposit to hold a space on the trip will be $150. If you haven't put in your deposit yet, now is the time to do so! You can bring your checks to the May General Meeting.
The EBoard has established the following payment and deposit policies for the Catalina trip:
1. Deposit will be $150. Deposits will be accepted as long as space remains on the trip on a first come, first served basis. The estimated trip cost is $675 and the balance of $525 will be payable no later than the August Eboard meeting. As in past years, this trip is being run on a cost-only basis, and if the actual cost is less than $675 per participant (as it was last year) participants will receive an appropriate refund after the trip. We will consider the trip full when we have no space for divers on the inflatables (somewhere around 20 divers: there is no real limit on the number of non-divers).
2. In the event a participant has to cancel after having paid the deposit, he or she will receive a refund of any amounts paid, including the deposit, if they cancel no later than August 25, 2003. If a participant cancels AFTER August 25, 2003 they will forfeit their entire deposit of $150 (but will be refunded any additional amount of the trip fee balance they paid) unless they find a new participant to take their slot on the trip (In other words, the deposit is transferable but non-refundable after August 25, 2003).
3. Participants are welcome to come for less than the full week, and if you are only at Emerald Bay part of the week you will only be charged the island use fee, tent and/or cabin fees, and meal costs for those dates you are actually on the island. However, for the purposes of calculating the share of costs of the Ms.Christie portion of the trip for persons who either don't utilize the Ms. Christie charter (because they bring their own boat) or who only come down for part of the week (which would probably mean using public transportation in at least one direction), there will be only three categories of participants, as follows: 1. If you ride the Ms.Christie out and back you pay a full participant's share of the Ms. Christie cost as part of your actual trip costs, unless you are a non-diver, see below. 2. Any person who does not ride the Ms.Christie charter both out and back, either because they take a ferry in one or both directions, bring their own boat, leave early, come late, or whatever, will be charged HALF of the full participant share of the Ms.Christie (regardless of whether they actually ride in one direction or not), to cover club costs for transporting club gear, including the inflatables and safety equipment, on the Ms.Christie. Non-divers who ride the Ms.Christie in one or both directions will be charged half of the regular participant share of cost for the Ms.Christie.
The trip cost includes transportation to and from Marina del Rey on the Ms.Christie, for you and as much gear as you care to bring, accommodations, island fee, all meals, diving off of the club inflatables, air fills, tips, and club liability insurance. The only 'extras' you will need to worry about are the costs of travel (most folks come by car since they have lots of gear that can't be easily transported by plane) to and from Southern California, a hotel room for Friday September 5th if you don't want to drive all night (the Ms.Christie leaves Marina del Rey at 8:00 a.m. sharp on Saturday 9/6/03), and the cost of whatever adult beverages and/or happy hour snacks you want to bring with you. We will return to Marina del Rey in plenty of time to drive home to the bay area on Saturday September 13th (around noon or one p.m.). Car-pooling will be encouraged. In addition, if you agree to haul a club inflatable and/or engine to and from Marina del Rey in your vehicle, your trip costs will be reduced.
If you do plan to take your own hard-hull boat you will have to make arrangements to reserve, and pay for, a mooring at Emerald Bay. Contact the trip leaders in advance for more information about mooring fees and reservations. We will prepare a complete list of things to take and do on Catalina as the trip approaches. In addition to bringing the $150 deposit to the May meeting, you can mail it to the Trip Co-Chair and Club Treasurer, John Purnell, at 101 Appleton Ave., San Francisco, CA 94110. BE SURE to mark "CATALINA 2003 Deposit" on your check, and make it payable to `Alacosta Divers'! If you have questions, feel free to email or call the trip leaders: Still15320@aol.com, or call John and Susan at 415-647-9036.
Papua New Guinea
Alacosta divers may dive in Papua New Guinea in 2004.
Madagascar
Alacosta divers may dive in Madagascar in 2006.
Old dives
April Van Damme Dive:
Alacostans free dove for abalone at Van Damme Park April 11-13th. Unlike some previous years, when the April trip has been blessed with good weather, this trip was characterized by the same spring storms that have been making an appearance in the Bay Area. Mike Daily's assessment of the conditions can be summed up in two words: “It Sucked!” However, Trip Chair John Beland was somewhat more positive based upon the conditions Friday. (Conditions deteriorated rapidly by the weekend, which just illustrates the value of playing hooky).
John's trip report follows:
I drove up Thursday afternoon and met Peter Lasell at Booneville for
lunch and a pint or two. It was a sunny afternoon to set up camp. Friday was partly
cloudy and warm, w/ relatively calm seas. Jim Kirby and I took advantage of a
break in the weather to get our limits of abalone Friday afternoon, then had a nice,
if somewhat late, ab feed that evening, while the rain started up. It rained off
and on all Friday night and into Saturday morning. About the time the coffee was ready,
the heavy rain mixed w/ hail started up. Van Damme cove was rough and brown.
It was time to bail. Some of us took a little detour to Hopland for lunch and another
pint or two on the way home.
Calendar
General meetings are usually held the first Monday of every month
from 8-10 PM at:
Garden Room
Orinda Library
24 Orinda Way
Orinda, CA 94563
Officers: Mike Daily, President
John Beland, Vice President
John Purnell, Treasurer
Susan Carter, Secretary
Kevin Dally, Blurb Editor
James `Rocky' Rockafellow, Immediate Past President
Eboard Members:
John Drake, Mike Elliott, Chris Fryer, Simon Kisch, Bill McDowell, Rob Vermuelen
Alacosta Calendar
May 5, 2003 Monday General meeting
May 3-10 2003 Saturday-Saturday Cozumel
May 2003 northern Scotland
May 19 2003 EBoard
June 2 2003 Monday General meeting
July 7 2003 Monday General meeting
September 6-13, 2003 Catalina
July 2003 Wakatobi
2004 Papua New Guinea
2006 Madagascar
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