General meeting: The May general meeting will be on Monday, June 7, 2004 at 8 p.m. in the Garden Room at the Orinda Public Library.

If you have suggestions for entertainment for upcoming meetings, please contact Membership Coordinator Chris Fryer at cfryer@hansonbridgett.com.

General meetings are generally held the first Monday of every month 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 p.m. and are usually preceded by a potluck at 6:30 pm.

The June Eboard meeting will be held Monday June 21st at Roy Benedict’s home in Oakland, located at 492 Chetwood Street, Oakland. All Alacosta members are welcome to attend EBoard meetings. Call Roy at 510-451-3279 to RSVP and to find out what to bring to share at the potluck.

Old Dives:

Abalone for Easter

By Kevin Dalley

On April 9-12, Alacosta did their annual April abalone dive at Van Damme. The turnout was good, unless you limit the count to the divers. There weren't enough people to assemble an inflatable, but 4 of us went after abalone in Van Damme cove. John Beland took his kayak out, following John Diola, Tom Whitaker and Kevin Dalley. Then

John Beland returned to shore to look for his abalone license, before discovering that it was already in his kayak. We brought back many abalones. There were many 8 inchers within a short distance from shore.

Meanwhile, Jim Kirby picked up some abalone in his boat. John Hessler also brought a few.

We were prepared for a large abalone pre-Easter dinner. The abalones were tenderized with a passion surpassed only by Mel Gibson. The wine flowed freely, with a little beer and whiskey added for variety. Charlie and Marge Cleland brought plenty of food. Rennie Kirby and Roy Benedict also showed up. Peter, Susan, and Josh Lasell made a brief appearance, but left without risking ocean exposure.

Most people left on Sunday, though John Beland and Kevin Dalley picked up a few extra abalones on Sunday, and stayed at Van Damme until Monday.

Spring in Coz….

The Blurb hasn’t received an official report, but unofficial accounts of the Alacosta spring trip to Cozumel were very positive! Simon Kisch led this trip, and conditions were apparently very good. We hope someone present will file a trip report soon, as all the Blurb has heard is wild rumors and innuendo…still, it does sound as though a great time was had by all!

UPCOMING DIVES:

Catalina 2004: The dates for the annual trip to Catalina will be September 11 -18, 2004. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend. Catalina trip Co-Chairs will be Rocky Rockafellow and Gary Schleimer. Contracts have been received from Emerald Bay and Ms.Christie (the Charter that carries us to Emerald Bay) and it appears that the trip costs will not increase from last year. It is anticipated that sign ups will start at the May or June meeting.

Van Damme Ab Dive: June 11^th – June 13^th: Kevin Dalley will be leading this cold water dive to celebrate King Kamehameha Day….There will probably be both tank and ab diving, and of course, a GREAT pot luck on Saturday night at the campground. Email Kevin at Kevin@kelphead.org for more information. It appears that there are no campground reservations still available at VanDamme that weekend, but check with Kevin to see if there is availability.

Point Lobos, July 11^th: Susan Carter will be leading a dive to take the club inflatables to Lobos for a day of fun, picnicking and diving on Sunday, July 11^th. Email Susan at Susan.carter@ucop.edu if you would like to go but didn’t get a Lobos dive reservation; club members have lots of slots, so there should be room for all that want to attend. If you do have a slot, mark your calendar, and look for email to be sent to the Alacosta list serve in mid-June with more information and details. As usual, plan to meet at the Lobos gate no later than nine am!

Yet Another Van Damme Ab Dive: August 20 – 22^nd: 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 plans to lead a dive to Oz in November of 2005. If you are interested in going, email Susan at Susan.Carter@ucop.edu or still15320@aol.com.

New Interactive Web Site: Alacosta now has an interactive website. You can post dive reports. Users are allowed to modify the web site themselves, adding items, including

Images, and even to sign up for dives on-line. Check out www.Alacosta.org

Report from the Easy Passage: Long time Alacostans Steve and Kathie Smith recently sent greetings along with their summer plans aboard their boat, The Easy Passage. Those of you stuck at desk jobs don’t want to hear this wonderful itinerary, so just suffice to say that they are cruising up to Alaska and then down to the Queen Charlotte Islands in Canada, where they plan to enjoy scenery and great fishing for most of the summer.

Alacosta Calendar

June 7, 2004, Monday, June General Meeting, Orinda Library

June 21, 2004, Monday, EBoard, Roy Benedict’s Home

June 11 – 13, 2004 VanDamme Ab Dive and camping weekend

July 11, 2004 Lobos Club Inflatable Dive

August 20-22^nd, Ab dive and camping weekend, Van Damme State Park

September 11 – 18, 2004; Catalina Trip, Emerald Bay

November 2005 Australia

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

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The Blurb

Alacosta Divers, Inc.

Editor: Susan Carter/still15320@aol.com/415-647-9036

101 Appleton Ave

San Francisco, CA 94110