Alacosta Blurb
July 2004
Maintaining an icy distance between abalone
and diver for over 40 years
General meeting: Due to the Independence Day Holiday ,
the July meeting will not be held on the first Monday of the month. Rather, the
July general meeting will be on Tuesday,
July 6th, 2004 at 8 p.m. in
Room 6 of the Orinda Community
Center
If you have suggestions for entertainment for upcoming meetings, please contact Membership Coordinator Chris Fryer at cfryer@hansonbridgett.com.
General meetings are usually
(but not this month) held the first Monday of every month from
Garden Room
Executive board meeting: Executive board meetings are
usually held on the third Monday of the month at
The July Eboard meeting will be held Monday, July 19th at Roy Benedict’s home in
Old Dives:
Nudibranchs at the
Breakwater….
Kevin Dalley and John Beland reported that on Monday, June 28, they snuck off for a couple of dives in Kevin's last few days of unemployed freedom. Kevin reports: “We dove Pt. Lobos in the afternoon, with 20-25 foot visibility. There were the usual large numbers of rockfish, with anemones hiding crabs. After Point Lobos, we traveled to breakwater for a night dive. Out near the end of the breakwater, we heard explosives all around us. The squid boats were nearby, scaring sea lions with loud noises.
In the sandy bottom, we discovered a large nudibranch crawling into a tube anemone, eating it. The nudibranch was about 6 inches long, and covered with orange cerata. The next one we saw was swimming through the ocean. We found 3 or 4 more of these creatures crawling over the sand. After reaching land, and the Internet, we determined that these nudibranches were Dendronotus iris.
Later in the dive, we found a long thin fish, about 1/4 wide, 6 inches long. It was scared of us, and backed into a narrow hole. We're still working on the identification of this fish.
After the dive, we retired to a pub, and returned home by
UPCOMING DIVES:
Catalina 2004: Sign-ups have begun for the annual trip to Catalina on September 11 -18, 2004! Please send your $150 deposit now to hold your spot on this great trip.
What: Fantastic Diving, great scenery, adventure, eating, sleeping, camping (sort of), drinking, hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, star-gazing, music, card games, reading, relaxing, hot showers, photography, the best company, and just plain fun!
Where:
The trip is run strictly on a break-even basis, and if the trip costs less than anticipated participants will receive a refund. Total trip cost is anticipated to be approximately $675, but check with the trip leaders for an update on that figure. Trip costs include accommodations, three ample catered meals per day, all air fills, charter boat transportation R/T between Marina del Rey and Emerald Bay for you and as much stuff as you can fit in your car, 2 or more boat dives per day from club inflatables, unlimited shore diving, occasional night dives, and lots of fun! Kayaks are available in camp for use at a nominal fee. Costs not included in the total are transportation to and from Los Angeles/Marina del Rey (carpooling encouraged), hotel room the night before the boat leaves in Marina del Rey if desired, personal diving gear (if you don't own you need to rent, including tanks and weights), and adult beverages. If you are willing to haul a club inflatable and/or engine, you get a further break on the cost: call the trip Co-Chairs if you are willing.
Accommodations are in wooden floor tents. There are
bathrooms with outdoor (but enclosed) hot showers next to the sleeping areas,
and electricity and a secured camera battery re-charge area in the main lodge
for photo buffs. There is also a large walk-in refrigerator and an ice-maker in
the lodge and divers are encouraged to bring their favorite beers, wines,
sodas, and snacks to share at happy hour and other beverages, adult and
otherwise, of choice. It is highly recommended to rent any needed gear for the
week before coming to Catalina: there is only one dive shop on the
Catalina trip
Co-Chairs are Rocky Rockafellow,
Mike Daily and Gary Schleimer; please contact one of them for more trip details,
including an update on the cost of this year’s trip and when final payments are
due. Rocky can be reached at jrockafell@comcast.net.
Point Lobos, Sunday, July
11th: Susan Carter will be leading a club inflatable boat dive
and picnic to Point Lobos, hopefully to dive Bluefish Cove (weather
permitting). We will meet at the Point Lobos gates at nine am SHARP. If you
want to come: it is very important that I know you are planning to attend, so
we can plan on having enough space in the boats. In addition, you either need
to have a reservation or need to get on someone else's reservation slot. Therefore, if you haven’t already RSVP’d
for this dive, please do so by contacting me (Susan Carter) at 415-647-9036 or
by email at Susan.Carter@ucop.edu or
still15320@aol.com. Currently there
is at least one slot left for persons without reservations (and possibly more),
so contact me if you are interested. We will finalize buddy teams both at the
July meeting on Tuesday as well as by email on July 7th to all that
have RSVPd.
Yet Another Van Damme Ab Dive: August 20 – 22nd: Join Trip Leader Mike Daily for yet another great weekend of tank diving, ab diving, camping, and eating, at Van Damme State Park. There may be campsites available to reserve, try http://www.reserveamerica.com/jsp/commonpage.jsp?goto=/usa/ca/vand/newindex.html
Australia: Susan Carter is leading a dive trip of a lifetime to Oz in October/November
of 2005. This will
be a nine day special expedition trip to dive the very far northern reefs of Australia Guinea
Highlights of
diving this remote area during Australia Great Barrier Reef , offering a great chance
of encounters with megafauna, as Brydes Whales, Manta Rays and Whale Sharks are
all regular visitors to this region. Massive congregations of reef animals
gather to commence breeding, setting off the food chain reaction that attracts
larger pelagics to the area. Turtle breeding, Coral Spawning, and huge fish
aggregations are other features.
The dates for
this trip are as follows: On Monday, October 24, 2005 we depart Cairns , Australia Lockhart River November 2, 2005 , with nine nights on
board. The Undersea Explorer follows this itinerary only two times per year.
Please note that the expeditions incorporate "live entry" or
"drop dives" and drift dives where the vessel is not moored. Hence
these expeditions are considered to be for the more experienced diver.
A ten percent
deposit to hold your spot ($240 USD), is due no later than August 1, 2004 , so let me know right away if you are interested!
Final total cost of the trip will be more or less $2350 p/p including airfare
to Lockhart River but not including airfare to Cairns and return to the US, but
could be less if the dollar gets stronger against the Aussie dollar.
For more
information, or to hold a spot, email Susan at still15230@aol.com or Susan.carter@ucop.edu
Alacosta Calendar
July 19, 2004, Monday, EBoard, Roy Benedict’s Home
August 20-22nd,
Ab dive and camping weekend, Van Damme State Park
October 24 –
Alacosta Divers Officers and
Executive Board Members:
Officers: Mike
Daily, President; Kevin Dalley,
Vice President; John Beland,
Treasurer; James ‘Rocky’ Rockafellow,
Secretary and Immediate Past President;
Chris Fryer,
Membership Coordinator; Susan Carter,
Blurb Editor
Executive Board Members: Mike Elliott, Simon Kisch, Bill McDowell, John
Purnell, Gary Schleimer, Rob Vermuelen
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Blurb
Alacosta Divers, Inc.
Editor: Susan Carter/still15320@aol.com/415-647-9036