Alacosta Blurb
September/October
2004
Maintaining
an icy distance between abalone and diver for over 40 years
General meeting: The October
general meeting will be on
Entertainment, in
addition to election of officers and EBoard members (which is always
entertaining) will consist of a Catalina slide show presented by John Diola, with contributions from Mike Daily. Other Alacostans with 35 mm
slides from Catalina 2004 are encouraged to bring them to the meeting and John
will be happy to add them to the show. This
slide show will be a travel log and not just underwater photos.
General meetings are held the first Monday of every month from
Garden Room
Executive board meeting: Executive board meetings are
generally held on the third Monday of the month at
The October Eboard
meeting will be held Monday, October
18th at Bernie and Lib Ann Cappelli’s home at 224 El Toyonal, in
Nominations of
Officers and EBoard Members for Fiscal Year 2004 – 2005:
At the September EBoard meeting, the following nominations were made for Alacosta Officers and EBoard members, to serve for 2004 – 2005.
(Editor’s Note: the
following list is not official, as the Blurb editor has not received minutes
from the September EBoard and was unable to attend. In particular, readers may
notice that only four potential members of EBoard are listed, although there
are six positions available. Thus, nominations from the floor (i.e.
Volunteers!) are encouraged, and if anyone was nominated but not listed, the
Blurb apologizes and suggests they run for Secretary in order to have more
complete minutes for next year’s election!…)
Elections will be held at the October General Meeting! Additional nominations will be taken from the floor/general membership prior to the vote…Members are encouraged to volunteer and/or nominate themselves…..
President: Susan Carter
Vice President: Kevin
Dalley
Blurb Editor: John
Diola
Membership chair:
Jack Cash
Secretary – (no
nomination made, nominations from the General membership encouraged)
Treasurer: John
Beland
Immediate Past
President: Mike Daily
EBoard:
Lynn Morton
Simon Kisch
Rob Vermeulen
Mike Dixon
Treasurer’s Report
(as of August, 2004)
Catalina Fund:
$872.91
Boat Fund: $2487.96
General Fund: $3709.62
Total: $7070.49
The
Wow! The Blurb actually received two reports
on Catalina 2004. First, we present Mike Boom’s version, which focused on
the diving… (as originally reported on the Bay Divers List serve, and the
Editor would like to thank Mike for not mentioning the Chili Dogs.):
Just got back from a week-long dive trip to Catalina with Alacosta Divers, many of whom are on this list. We stayed at the Emerald Bay Boy Scout camp, sacking out by night in platform tents, eating Boy Scout cafeteria food by day, and running out to Ship Rock, Bird Rock, Eagle Reef, and other notable dive spots in between times. We had four club inflatables along with (usually) reliable outboard motors that zipped us out and back in speed if not style.
I was amazed at the water: 71 degrees surface temperature,
viz anywhere from 40 to 80 ft., and bright blue water filtering cathedral rays
of light down to divers sporting among the kelp blades below. A big change from
last year, when we had green water, viz of 5 to 10 ft., and temps in the high 50s.
Most of us, of course, dressed this year for northern
suits. We sweltered above the water, but when temps hit 59 or 60 down deep
the dry suits seemed a little more practical. And it allowed us to do shallow dives of an hour and a half or so in complete comfort. Or at least as much comfort as our continent bladders would allow.
We had the usual cast of southern
One of my favorite sights was large schools of silvery swimmers: sardines and anchovies streaming through the kelp, sometimes herded by barracudas or the omnipresent kelp bass. It's an amazing feeling to find yourself surrounded by a river of living fish flowing around you, silver flashing tributaries of different species in confluence, suddenly reversing direction and disappearing with a flash. I was also entertained by lurking lobsters everywhere, occasionally digging through sand for their supper, waiting for the roles to be reversed when lobster season opens later this fall.
Surface activity was almost as eventful. I woke up one morning with five mule deer bucks noisily munching on fallen olives in back of the tent, one about five feet from my head. I flushed out a covey of 100-200 quail one afternoon, and marveled at a trio of small foxes checking me out at twilight.
Too much fun. Now I'm back at the digital grindstone getting ready to accumulate enough money and free time for the next vacation. I'll have visions of kelp waving in clear blue water to drive me on.
Editor’s note: nice to
hear about the diving. Now, the traditional, people-focused, tidbit filled
report that we have come to expect after each year’s Catalina trip…from Kevin Dalley:
Alacosta Divers arrived in Marina del Rey ready to travel to
Gary Schleimer chaired the dive,
surviving the disappearance of other dive chairs. The water was warmer this
year than usual, ranging from 67-71 degrees by Kevin Dalley's thermometer, though quite a few degrees cooler by
most calculations. Amazingly, the kelp was still alive and only slightly
decaying in the heat. Alicia Daily
practiced her diving skills in her first dives after her certification classes.
Somehow, she survived the increased visibility and the warmer waters without
complaint.
The bat rays were out in force at Doctor's Cove, just a short walk from the new
scuba shack at
John Diola's camera dropped off the
boat at Ship's Rock, sinking to the bottom of 70 feet of kelp covered
bottom. Simon Kisch dropped down
on top of the camera and retrieved it in 30 seconds. The kelp was thick this
year, often preventing the anchor from being pulled up. At yet another
Ship's Rock dive one boat had all 4 divers--John Beland, Peter Lasell, Mike Boom, and Lynn Morton—check on the
anchor position during the dive. Nevertheless, the anchor was stuck and
required John Beland to loosen it
through free diving to 90 feet (or was it 20 feet?).
The poor quality of the food kept people diving more than usual for Alacosta.
Usually, the diving falls off as the week progresses. This year, the
divers kept on diving until the last day. John
Kelly continued to scare divers by buzzing them while wearing his mini tank
while wearing one of his limitless supply of striped shirts.
UPCOMING DIVES:
Big Sur Jade Festival:
This festival will be happening Oct. 8-10. This is a festival that features
local artists working with Jade and other rocks. Divers can legally take Jade underwater
around Jade Cove, but you must brave carrying your dive gear down a 600 foot
trail, but the rewards could be great ($$$$).
The Jade Festival is a long drive south, 57 miles south of
Van Damme Ab
Dive/Camping weekend:
Kevin Dalley will be leading an abalone dive camp trip to Van Damme the weekend of October 15-17, Friday-Sunday. The plan is to do an abalone dive and a scuba dive on Saturday, with a potluck, including abalone on Saturday. Van Damme State Park does not take reservations after October 10th, and thus campground reservations are not needed for this trip. Campgrounds are available on a first-come first serve basis and participants are responsible for obtaining their own campsites. Please RSVP to Kevin at 510-531-3303 or at Kevin@kelphead.org. Please let Kevin know if you are going and expect to use a club boat. Alacosta campsites will be listed on the bulletin near the check in booth.
Point Lobos,
Traditional New Year’s Day Dive, January 1, 2005: Susan Carter will be
leading the traditional Club inflatable dive to Point Lobos. Divers interested
in going should mark
Cozumel 2005: Simon Kisch will be leading a club dive to Coz in April 2005. Details to follow in an upcoming Blurb…
Catalina 2005:
Based upon responses to the survey, the Catalina 2005 trip dates will be
Australia Australia
Alacosta Calendar
October 8 – 10th,
2004, Friday to Sunday, Jade Festival,
October 18th, 2004, Monday, EBoard, Bernie and Lib Ann Cappelli’s Home
October 15 – 17, 2004, Ab dive and camping weekend, Van Damme State Park
April, 2005;
September 4 - 11,
20045; Catalina Trip,
October 24 –
DUES ARE NOW OVERDUE!
Alacosta dues for 2004-2005 were due in July. Dues are $30 per year, $15 per
additional family member. If you haven’t yet renewed your membership, now is
the time to do so! You can bring your check (made out to Alacosta Divers) to the
General meeting. Or send the check, payable to Alacosta Divers, to:
John Beland, Alacosta Treasurer
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