the aqua tooter - Aqua Tutus Diving Club

THE AQUA TOOTER
On the web at http://www.aquatutus.com
July 2009
Since 1958... a publication from the Aqua Tutus Diving Club, a non-profit organization established to promote Water Safety
and to further the sport of SCUBA Diving.
AUGUST MEETING ENTERTAINMENT
At the next August 6 general meeting, we will present a program of the entries and winners of the California Beach Dive
Photo Competition (CBDC), sponsored by the Northern California Underwater Photographic Competition (NCUPS).
This fun one-day competition is held in Monterey annually in a
weekend in May, and next year is the 29th such event.
The CBDC is open to both still and video UW photographers of
all experience levels. Diving is done only from shore and prizes
are awarded in a number categories and skill levels, so the playing field and ability to win is very level. Entry is $75 and includes dinner, seminars and presentations, and ability to win
some of a large number of high-end prizes from the many
NCUPS sponsors (which the club works hard to nurture and
support); prizes include scuba and photographic equipment and
several major trips at exotic resorts and live-aboards. Nonphotographers can enjoy the dinner and show for $20.
The program will
illustrate the variety, skill levels, and
quality of the entries, like the one
here by Kendra
Karr, novice winner. I hope that
seeing the images,
the prizes, and the
weekend excitement
and fun will encourage “newbies” and
“oldies” alike to
join the CBDC next
Spring. Most importantly, you’ll just
get to enjoy the
beautiful and creative images that
photographers can
generate in one day,
and improve your
photography skills.
You can check out more info on NCUPS, the CBDC, and get a
preview of the winning images at “www.ncups.org”. Come and
see these great images and get involved in one of the great aspects of diving!
Aqua Tutus Diving Club's
next regular meeting:
Thursday, AUGUST 6TH, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Round Table Pizza
20920 Redwood Rd.
Castro Valley
510-733-9500
Upcoming Club Activity (local)
Aug 16 Silver Prince boat dive
August 21,22, 23 Salt Point, contact Connie K
Aug 28: Club dinner at La Cabana restaurant in Newark.
Call Patti Shannon.
check the club calendar
http://www.my.calendars.net/atdc_events
BOD MEETING SCHEDULE
No July meeting
Aug 20 Greg Gleeson’s house.
http://www.my.calendars.net/atdc_events
For the most current information
Silver Prince Boat Dives for Club members
planned for the summer.
See page 6 for dates and signup information
Salt Point State Park Campout
Friday, Saturday, Sunday August 21,22,23
Connie Klein is Point of Contact: [email protected],
925 689-4051
What’s Inside
Entertainment Report
July MEETING minutes
Silver Prince July 19 dive report
Truk Lagoon Dive report
Dive activity notices
Activity Calendar
Page 2-3
Page 3-4
Page 5
Page 7-8
Page 8
Page 9
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Entertainment Report
July 2009
Reported by Alan Throop
for food (they’ve been seen to 200’), the Navanax sea slug searching out the slime trail of its cousin nudibranch for a meal. The
video closed with an artistic image of the flowing “River of Silver” school of Jack Mackerel and Sardines in the Forests of Kelp.
At the July 2 General Meeting,
Mike Boom presented a several
of his usual well-produced video
shorts in high-definition, this
time with a theme on diving in
the temperate waters of California.
Earlier his year, Mike presented
a program on Fiji, where he
worked for four months as the
video pro for the live-aboard
dive ship Nai'a; the audience
asked him to return.
credit: Mike Boom
Mike has won numerous video competitions and his work has
been featured in underwater film exhibitions in various venues
around the world. Mike films, produces, and narrates his videos.
Two of these award-winning shorts shown here took first place
in some of these competitions, so we congratulate Mike and
share our appreciation for his work that we enjoy so much.
Mike opened the program with a HD multi-media video short
titled “Of Forests and Rivers” that was a wonderful overview of
the joys of diving in California waters. Most of this took place
off Catalina Island, as described in the next segment, but this
was nicely set to music and flowed smoothly to illustrate the
variety and beauty of the marinelife in the kelp beds, which are
credit: Mike Boom
often called “the redwood forests” of the ocean. Besides the
beautiful scenes of the rocks, kelp, and the god-rays of the sun,
Mike highlighted the large schools of Sargo, sardines, and
young Jack Mackerel. He had nice portraits of the stunning giant kelpfish, which
comes in different credit: Mike Boom
colors, along with
the
ubiquitous
Garibaldi, and the
less-seen bat rays,
horn sharks, flounders, etc. He also
had some nice
footage of Cormorants diving down
to 80’ to scrounge
July 2009 Page 2
Mike’s main feature was a documentary of an annual trip that he
makes with Alacosta Divers from Orinda, to stay at and dive from
the Boy Scout Camp at Emerald Bay on Catalina Island in the
late-summer each year. Alacosta owns four inflatables, brings
their tanks, and uses the comfortable tent cabins, cafeteria, and
fill-station of the camp. There are many great dive-sites within
just a short distance from Emerald Bay, including Ship Rock, Harbor Reef, Indian Point, Isthmus Cove, Eagle Reef, etc. Mike narrated the film at the meeting and did a great job describing the
footage. He showed interesting footage of the male Garibaldi aggressively defending
his
credit: Mike Boom
patch of eggs,
with some great
macro of the
embryos in the
eggs. The video
showed
the
many species
seen in these
waters:
lobsters, C-O Turbot, sharks, gobies, Sea Hares, and many more …
very nicely done.
Mike then showed an award-winning video short, “Green Water,
White Mirth”, that shows an encounter with two harbor seals on
the Aquarium/Hopkins reef. While usually friendly and curious,
these juveniles were over-the-top with their antics: pulling kelp,
scratching/rubbing divers, pulling at fins, scooting along the bottom on their backs to scratch an itch, etc. Mike said his filming
was made difficult by a seal
SeaLion_credit: Sean Baribeau
that was scratching his hood
during the whole
dive. … a really
fun video to
watch,
and
Mike’s humorous
narration
adds to the enjoyment.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Entertainment report —continued
Mike wrapped up with -as he says - a “palette cleanser” change-ofpace from the cold-water videos. It was called “Komodo - Beneath
the Waves”. He dove Komodo from a boat that Howard & Michelle
Hall were also on, scouting out sites for a new production. “Dragons
walk the earth here, but underwater there’s an explosion of life”. In
one area, there are over 260 species of coral and 1000 species of
fish. From the colorful nudibranchs, to the alien eyes of the manta
that spears a fish faster than the eye can follow, to the psychedelic
cuttlefish, and unusual behaviors driven by eons of evolution; this
ecosystem has color, motion, and dynamics that provide a feast for
the eyes and the mind.
General Meeting Minutes
Date: July 2, 2009
Reported by Alan Throop
Meeting called to order by Connie Klein, Secretary (in the absence of President Jim Driggers & VP Chris Stensager) at Round
Table Pizza in Castro Valley, CA at 7:30pm
Entertainment Program
Mike Boom presented a very well-received High-Definition video
program on cold water diving: in a kelp forest at Catalina Island,
and with very playful Harbor Seals near Hopkins Reserve in
If you would like to join Mike and Alacosta Divers on the Catalina Monterey. As a change of pace, Mike closed with a beautiful
trip this August or enjoy some of the short videos, check out Mike’s warm-water HD short video “Komoto - Beneath the Waves”. See
Entertainment Report.
website at “www.laughingeel.com”.
Alternatively, Aqua Tutus is invited to join Vaqueros Del Mar club Treasurer’s Report (Greg Gleeson)
diving Catalina off the “Conception” live-aboard on Sept 12-15 (see No financials, but the outstanding check was received.
Alan Throop; you need to sign up ASAP).
Many thanks to Mike for again presenting such an enjoyable pro- Membership (Debbie Driggers)
 Total Membership: 59
gram!
 Welcome to guests: xx.
Thanks to Steele’s Discount Scuba
5987 Telegraph Ave
Oakland CA 94609
(510)655-4344
for donated and discounted merchandise for the Aquatutus Diving Club
monthly raffles.
Training (Dennis Hocker)
 An Advanced Diving class will begin Sept 9 with a classwork
session before the Tahoe dives the following weekend.
 For more information on training contact Neil Benjamin
(510) 673-0073 [email protected] or Dennis Hocker
(510) 792-5606 [email protected]
CenCal Report
No report; no representative from the club.
Newsletter (Don Kelsey)
Don typically needs input by about the 20th for publication on or
about the 27th. Photos and articles are solicited, but keep jpgs to
less than about 100 kB.
Thanks to Don for the excellent job that he does in producing the
newsletter.
Web Goddess (Patti Shannon)
Nothing new to report
Photo by Russ Wiitala, Hopkins Reef
off the Silver Prince, July 19
THANK YOU NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTORS
for making this month’s AQUATOOTER possible: Alan Throop Mike Boom, Linda
Muth, Jeff Tindall, Russ Wiitala
Aqua Tooter  Pleasanton, California
Entertainment Director (Alan Throop)
Coming attractions:
 August: DVD on entries and winners from the annual California Beach Dive Photo Competition (CBDPC) in Monterey,
sponsored by No. Calif Underwater Photographic Society
(NCUPS)
 September: Bruce Watkins; topic TBD
 October: Members night
 November: Marc Shargel, topic TBD
Special Committees
Holiday Party Committee: Party planned for Sat, Dec 12, at La
Cabana restaurant in Newark. Committee not meeting now.
Old Business
Special plaque project by Jim Driggers is still in progess.
July 2009 Page 3
July General meeting minutes continued
New Business
None
Past Dives
 Fritz Welss and Kevin Gardner dove McAbee. Heavy kelp
and poor viz (6-8’). Kevin lost his mask and had to “kelp
crawl” back, with his camera (BONE ?).
 Larry & Linda Muth dove LaPaz and encountered many
large animals. They were particularly enthralled by Whale
Sharks. Very docile animals, in spite of their 40’ length and
5’ wide mouths. One passed just inches from Larry, but his
video was off (BONE ?); he was also tumbled into one very close encounters! They also encountered severalhundred Bottlenosed Dolphins, with them doing flips, loud
communication, etc. Linda got some good images. Vis not
great this time of year (~5-12’); better later in the year but
not as many large animals.
 Alan Throop reported on the June boat dive. Dove Carmel
Outer Pinncles cals and Nice dives; see Tooter article.
 Linda Muth reported on the club Coral Street dive. Flat
conditions, 30’ viz, low tide. John DeBoer enjoyed.
 Guy Alcala did shore dive at Pebble Beach with a friend
who lives there and could get them in. Difficult entry, with
lots of rocks to climb over. It was a long kick to get to any
depth (~30’). Looked for wrecks, but found none. Viz ~1530’.
 Driggers (?) dove with NCUPS at Pt. Lobos. 4-5’ swells;
~10-60’ viz, depending on location, ~3-5’ viz in cave.
 Guy Alcala described the topo map and navigation course
at San Carlos Beach that he and a friend have developed.
Course starts at the anchor by the wall, runs ~ 1000’, and
has ~8 way-points. He offered to organize dive ~October
for this.
Bone Award
Nominations:
 Larry Muth for having his camera turned off for the close
Whale Shark encounter.
 Kevin Gardner for loosing his mask and having to do kelp
crawl
 Winner was Larry Muth
 July 4 - Aug 3: Club diving in Chuuk. Two weeks only recreational; two weeks technical & recreational. Dennis Hocker organized.
 July 19: Monthly Silver Prince boat dive. $75, 2-tank dive, depart 10AM. POC = Alan Throop
 No BOD meeting in July --- most members are diving in
Chuuk!!
 July 25: Club dive at Breakwater. POC = Alan Throop.
 Aug 15: Devon Thompkins seminar on camera housing care &
service. By NCUPS, Foster City. Call Alan Throop.
 Aug 16: Monthly Silver Prince boat dive; need at least 6 divers.
$75, 2-tank dive, depart 10AM. POC = Alan Throop
 Aug 20: BOD meeting. Greg Gleeson’s house.
 Aug 22-23: Club dive at Salt Point. GET RESERVATIONS
NOW at Woodsite campsite. POC = Connie Klein.
 Aug 28: Club dinner at La Cabana restaurant in Newark. Call
Patti Shannon.
 Aug 30 - Sept 6: Dive with Alacosta Divers & Mike Boom at
Catalina Island. 510-635-7723.
 ~Sept 8: ADVANCED DIVE CLASS begins, with class work.
Tahoe altitude dive the next weekend. Contact Dennis Hocker.
 Sept 11-13: General club dive at Lake Tahoe, with some Advanced Class dives also. Call Dennis Hocker
 Sept 12-15: Boat Dive on “Conception” live-aboard at Catalina
& So. Islands. $500. Call Alan Throop ASAP.
 Sept 27: Monthly Silver Prince boat dive; need at least 6 divers.
$75, 2-tank dive, depart 10AM. POC = Alan Throop
 Oct 10: Monthly Silver Prince boat dive; need at least 6 divers.
$75, 2-tank dive, depart 10AM. POC = Alan Throop
 Dec 12: Club Holiday Party at La Cabana restaurant in Newark.
~6:30-7:00. Call Patti Shannon.
 Dec 19 - Jan 3, 2010: Club diving in Cozumel. Call Patti Shannon
 July 1-18, 2011: Club diving in Philippines, at two Atlantis Resorts locations. Slots filling up. Call Dennis Hocker.
Raffle
Thanks to Steele’s Dive shop for discounted items for the raffle.
Here is a list of the raffle winners for the July meeting
Goodie bag with fill card – Larry Muth
BC clip – Jeff Tindall
Mesh bag, sea buff, wetsuit soap, Caribbean fish card – Janny
Lee ( new member –joined this night)
Aqua seal – Elaine Berger
Seal cement – John McPartland (new member- joined this
night)
Guage retractor – John Deboers
Upcoming Activity and Dives
 July 4: Mike Boom on Beachhopper. Special diving off Pt.
Lobos 510-635-7723.
July 2009 Page 4
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Summer Boat Dives aboard
the Monterey Silver Prince
An update from Alan Throop
We had our second inter-club summer boat dive on July 19
aboard the Silver Prince . Boat photo from
http://www.mbdcscuba.com/boat.htm
We had 7 divers: Alan
Throop, Elaine Berger, Fred Wade, Don
Kelsey, John deBoer,
Russ Wiitala, & Rich
Kindall.
The Wave Action
Model (WAM) strikes
again! WAM predict
3’ swells and a great
trip to Carmel bay. Captain Dennis and other boats also thought
it would be a good trip … but we got 8-10’ swells … the WAM
is a good guide, but you can’t depend on it! The trip wasn’t as
bad as many before, but it affected divers badly.
We dove the Inner Carmel Pinnacles for the first dive, but only 4
of 7 divers made it into the water. Russ, Rich, Fred, & John reported a good dive, decent viz, with lots of macro and an interesting topography. We’re looking forward to images from Russ
& Rich.
sun was shining, the seas were flat … the way it should be! A
couple of divers still couldn’t make it in, but those who did enjoyed a very nice dive. The topography is very nice - a patchtype reef with some sand, large rocks and plateau reefs, shallow
canyons, kelp and lots to see. The water was green and viz low
until you got below ~ 20’ and then it opened up very nicely to
20’-30’. Russ & Rich again reported some hopeful images.
These dives have been set up to allow divers from different clubs
to meet each other and enjoy Monterey area dive sites not allowed by shore-diving. The trips are two-tank dives, departing at
10AM on Sundays (a nice schedule) and arranged through the
Monterey Bay Dive Company, which provides Al 80 tanks,
warm drinks and soup, bagels, snacks, etc. The cost is $75 per
person.
The next dives are scheduled for August 16, September 27, &
October 18. We need at least 6 divers to go and will max out at
10, so please sign up early so that the trip doesn’t get canceled.
So far, we do not yet have enough for the dives to go.
Call or send a check for $75 each, payable to “Monterey Bay
Dive Company”, to Alan Throop who will coordinate the dives.
Note the date or dates that you want to attend. Please include
your e-mail and phone number. You can sign up for any or all of
the dates. I will hold the checks until the date of the dive, and
will return or void the checks if the dive is cancelled for some
reason. You will need to sign waivers for the group and the boat.;
tips are not included.
Call or send checks to: Alan Throop, 2393 Sheffield Drive, Livermore, CA 94550; [email protected]; 925-455-8895
For the second dive, we moved back into the Bay and chose to
dive at Aquarium/Hopkins. The marine layer was burned off, the
Photo taken by Alan Throop
Aqua Tooter  Pleasanton, California
July 2009 Page 5
Guidelines for AquaTooter Input
Salt Point State Park Campout slated for
Friday, Saturday, Sunday August 21,22,23
Connie Klein is Point of Contact: [email protected],
925 689-4051
Please get your reservations in soon. This park is currently
slated to close as of September 1 so expect it to be busy.
The reservation url is: http://www.reserveamerica.com/
campgroundDetails.do?
subTabIndex=0&contractCode=ca&parkCode=salt
Please reserve for "Woodside Campground". Note that this is
not a site-specific reservation--sites are first-come-first serve. If
you like, you can forward your reservation number (along with
which day/days) to Connie's email and she or a helper will attempt to reserve your slot on Friday or Saturday Morning in
person. Aqua Tutus will post a note at the Woodside Campground entrance noting which sites are occupied by whom. For
further information on Salt Point State Park, please go
here: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=453
Of course, we're all hoping the abalone hunting is successful!!
The Tooter is created using a PC running Windows
7RC, MS Office 2003, and Adobe PhotoShop Elements 3.0
 For Text documents, please use file formats compatible with Windows XP, Vista or 7RC, and MS Office 2003. WORD .doc format works, but
not .docx (Office 2007 format)
 For Photos, please use J PEG format, and reduce
the file size to under 100KB
I use PhotoShop Elements (v 3.0) for file size reduction. With the image open select image/
resize/image size and reduce the image size,
and/or change the resolution, in the Image size
dialogue box. Other photo management programs probably have similar tools.
 Provide separate J PEG images, even if your pictures are embedded in a WORD document. This
makes it easier for me to layout the story for the
Tooter. Sometimes the images inbedded in WORD
do not copy reliably into the aquaTooter Publisher
document.
If abalone diving is not your cup of tea, Gerstle Cove is a wellprotected reserve for scuba or snorkling.
Please save Saturday nite at 5:30 pm til ? for our pot luck dinner. Once again Connie is planning a Blackberry Cobbler and
homemade ice cream, two camp stoves for your cooking needs
and paper plates, cups and plastic ware. She hopes to get site 31
for the Pot Luck...the usual...but as mentioned above, this is not
a guarantee. Please bring your pot luck dish, chairs for each
member in your party, and some wood for our group fire. Hope
to see lots of Tutors and their families!!
Summer Boat Dives aboard
the Monterey Silver Prince
Dives are on Sundays, and will be two-tank dives leaving at
10AM (no early-morning drives!) from K dock (near boat ramp
near the Harbormaster’s office).
MBDC provides Al80 tanks, warm drinks and soup, snacks, etc.
The cost is $75 per person. We have had some wonderful dives
off this boat the past two summers.
J uly 19:
August 16:
September 27
October 18:
Advertise in the TOOTER
Club members may advertise “dive equipment for sale” at no
cost. Just send your requirements to the editor for listing
[email protected]
Ads must be renewed (just email Don to advise) each month or
will not appear the following month
DIVE EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
Dive equipment for sale. No longer diving. Good bargains on a
variety of diving equipment that is older but in good condition:
tanks of several sizes, BCs, horsecollars, regulator setups, wet
suits, weight belts, etc. Seller will refund cost if any equipment
fails service inspection.
For a list of equipment and asking prices, please contact Christy
& Dick Baxter (Pleasanton); 925-373-0314;
[email protected].
Call or send checks to: Alan Throop, 2393 Sheffield
Drive, Livermore, CA 94550; 925-455-8895
Dive The Phillipines 2011
Jul 4-18, 2011
Contact Dennis Hocker [email protected]
July 2009 Page 6
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
First Truk Lagoon Report –
Will We Survive?
As told by Jeff Tindall
It was Independence Day, July 4, when the first wave of Aqua
Tooters left on an odyssey to explore the Japanese wreckage
from the American attacks of Operation Hailstone during World
War II. One begins to realize the extent of World War II when
looking in books on the war and this operation is rarely mentioned. However, it was the turning point in the Pacific theatre
for the war.
The trip started full of ironic instances and, at one time, we
wondered how many divers would be left. This was the technical portion of the diving trip, exploring the bombed and torpedoed wreckages of fallen Japanese sailors and ships, still loaded
with equipment such as trucks, tanks and planes. Some of the
holds also contained potentially hazardous ordinances of torpedoes, air bombs and artillery.
The odyssey began on the live aboard boat “The Odyssey”. We
arrived at night, and started diving the next day in Truk Lagoon
in Micronesia. A sinister cloud started to form over the group.
Only after a day and a half, I was confined to breathing life giving 100% oxygen for a form of DCS called skin bends. My
room mate, Mark Johnson, life time member of Aqua Tutus,
was soon after also breathing oxygen for dizziness and some
nausea. The crew of the Odyssey threatened to just turn on an
oxygen bottle and fill our room because we were using so
much. Two divers were down only after one and half days. Pattie was wondering how many more were to come. Are there
dark days ahead? Both Mark and I were confined to the cabin
which ironically was numbered the unlucky Japanese number,
4. Number 4 is unlucky in Japanese, because it sounds close to
their word for death.
So much for the drama.
There is a right and a wrong way
to dive into wrecks.
Greg
Gleeson caught me on film diving
into one wreck. (Photo attached).
Not only is there a wrong way to
enter wrecks, but there is also a
wrong way to dive. The first day
I did not use good diving practices even thought I was within
my computer guidelines. On the
second day, as I was suiting up,
the Captain, Jay Jay, asked me if
it was normal for my stomach to be bruised. I said “no, why?” I
looked down and saw a
marbling of color that
looked like bruising and my
skin itched. (See photo first day of skin bends).
Skin bends are caused by a
capture of nitrogen formation under the skin. The
stomach area, where there is
fatty tissue, is one of the
Aqua Tooter  Pleasanton, California
slowest areas to out gas. He said “you’re not diving” and back I
went into the cabin with oxygen for an hour and a half. The bruising color and itching disappeared. The next day I was ready to go
diving but some lingering color reappeared. (As seen in the second day picture - not touched
up). Diving was out again
and I was back on oxygen.
The crew said they had never
seen the skin bends reappear
once they had gone away with
oxygen treatment. The following day I did start diving
again, but carried a deco bottle to accelerate the out gas of
nitrogen.
So why did this happen? Let’s take a look at the first six dives
shown in the dive composite profile picture. The first three dive
profiles show a fair amount of bounce diving, although mostly
within the half pressure curve. The pressure difference is from the
deepest point to upper peak before ascending. The difference was
within one half of the deepest pressure. Within this range, you’re
safer from micro-bubble formation. The dives were fairly shallow,
for about an hour each. This depth of diving starts to load the
slow tissues with nitrogen. The next few dives had a more controlled profile.
Skin bends apparently occur on this boat trip quite often. What
tends to happen, as explained by the 2nd Captain, Todd, is that the
diver sees the 10 foot hang bar off the back of the boat and heads
for it to do the safety stop. Notice in the first five profiles the accent rate is quick to the 10 foot level. So I was doing what you
should not do. The slow tissues need more time to out gas. So to
avoid skin bend problems (and not miss any dives - even more
important), the accent rate should start with deeper stops and a
much slower accent rate. The last curve is similar to a correct profile, but too late for me.
For the remainder of the trip, I paid careful attention to controlled
accent rates, as seen in the deep dive profile (on the next page). It
is actually easier for deep dives because we have a decompression
profile that we follow to avoid problems, independent of the computer. Also the deep dives are more concerned with fast tissue
loading. The deep profile shows a 200 foot dive (OK, it’s really
217 briefly). The accent rate was: the first half pressure stop, 110
feet, was done at a rate of about 60 feet per minute; the first stop
was for a minute or more at 110 feet, then basically 10 feet for
July 2009 Page 7
First Truk Lagoon Report – continued
every minute. At 50 feet I did a gas switch to 50%. We normally do this at 70 feet, but according to my program, I would
not have enough gas. I stayed for a minute or more at 50 feet.
The profile I used required a 3 minute stop at 40 feet, a 5 minute stop at 30 feet and a 6 minute stop at 20 feet and a 1 minute
stop at 10 feet.
to a jellyfish sting, which were plentiful in the water. Mark was
also back diving the next day.
The Japanese curse was lifted and the first wave of Tooters enjoyed and finished a successful odyssey. Let’s see what the next
wave of Tooters experiences bring.
More Photos by Russ Wiitala,
off the Silver Prince, July 19,
Inner Pinacles
There was some discussion about this profile which came from
a decompression program called, Departure. Arnie used a program call V-Planner and it showed less time at the 40, 30 and
20 foot stops and more time like 8 minutes at the 10 foot stop.
Greg also used the Departure profile and added extra time at 10
feet. Mostly, our computers cleared at our 30 foot stop or early
in our 20 foot stop. There does not seem to be a “this is the
right program to use” for decompression.
So the decompression plan I ended up using turned out to be a
combination of Neil’s comment to get to one-half pressure and
start your stops, the Departure profile to 10 feet and then Greg’s
method to burn the rest of the deco gas at 10 feet. This technique seemed to work for me for the rest of the trip.
What have I learned? Using a computer at recreational depths
does not ensure that you will not suffer from some form of
DCS. In the diving we did, even though the dives were within
the recreational limits, the dives contained bounce and were
repetitive. The computer was never in violation. Your computer is not an assurance that there will not be a problem. Every
dive is a decompression dive, even if it is within the recreational
limits. Your accent rate needs to be controlled in every dive.
Dennis commented that there were no lasting or dangerous results from skin bends. Todd commented that skin bends is an
early warning that if you continue with the same diving practice, there may be a more serious issue later. We will have Dennis comment on these issues at one of our meetings.
The appearance of color and itching in my skin disappeared
with the application of oxygen. Symptoms of DCS ease with the
application of oxygen. In Mark’s situation, Marks’s dizziness
did not ease with the application of oxygen, even after a couple
of treatments. However, after a day of rest, he felt back to normal. We think Mark’s issue of dizziness was due to a reaction
July 2009 Page 8
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Check
Calendar of Events
http://www.aquatutus.com/activities.htm
for the latest calendar
2009
August 6
Aug 16
Aug 20
August 21, 22
August 28
Sept 12-13
Sept 12-15
Sept 17
Sept 27
Oct 15
Oct 17
October 18
Nov 7
Dec 12
Dec 19-Jan 4
2010
2011
Jul 4-18
NO JULY BOARD MEETING
Membership Meeting, Roundtable Pizza, Castro Valley 7:30pm
Monterey, Silver Prince dive boat, contact Alan T
BOD meeting , 6:30 dinner/7:00 business
Salt Point (Get Reservations in now) Contact Connie K [email protected]
La Cabana Dinner, 6:30-6:45 Contact Patti [email protected]
Tahoe Weekend, Saturday-Sand Harbor, Sunday -DL Bliss State Park
VDM Conception Boat Dive Catalina, Santa Barbara (3 good days of diving)
Board Meeting
Monterey, Silver Prince dive boat, contact Alan Throop [email protected]
Board Meeting
Macabee to San Carlos Snorkle, possible camping at Jefferson Campground, contact Jim D
Monterey, Silver Prince dive boat, contact Alan Throop [email protected]
Monastery Entry/Exit Seminar (Dennis Point of Contact)
Holiday Party at LaCabana, Newark
Cozumel, contact Dennis Hocker [email protected] or Patti Shannon [email protected]
Phillipines, Contact Dennis Hocker
[email protected]
ATDC Dive Training


An Advanced Diving class will begin Sept 9 with a
class work session
Tahoe certification dives the following weekend, Sept
12-13.
Check
http://www.aquatutus.com/activities.htm
Dates are tentative and depend on participation.
 Classroom sessions held at 38962 Larkspur Street,
Newark, CA
For more information contact
 Neil Benjamin: (510) 673-0073
[email protected]
 Dennis Hocker: (510) 792-5606 dennis@ rxscuba.com
JOY IS....... OWNING A PIECE OF PARADISE
FOR ALL OF YOUR HAWAIIAN REAL
ESTATE NEEDS
CONTACT:
JOY JOHNSON, RS, ABR. 808-960-1705
2009 Club Officers/Volunteers
President
Jim Driggers
[email protected]
Vice President
Chris Stensager
[email protected]
Secretary
Connie Klein
[email protected]
Treasurer
Greg Gleeson
[email protected]
Membership Chair
Debbie Driggers
[email protected]
Training Director
Dennis Hocker
[email protected]
Cen Cal Representative:
Entertainment Chair
Alan Throop
[email protected]
Newsletter Publisher
Don Kelsey
[email protected]
Board Members @ Large:
Bruce Hammell
[email protected]
Scott Harrison
[email protected]
Larry Muth
[email protected]
Past President
Greg Gleeson
Keep up with California Diving, read
California Diving News
http://www.cadivingnews.com/
Aqua Tooter  Pleasanton, California
Web “Goddess”
Patti Shannon
ATDC Web page:
[email protected]
www.aquatutus.com
July 2009 Page 9
For quick access to Chuck Tribolet’s
Internet Resources
for the Bay Area Diver
http://www.garlic.com/~triblet/swell/
News from the Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuary
Keep in touch by surfing over to:
http://www.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov
For updates on the Joint Management
Plan review process, surf over to:
http://www.sanctuaries.nos.noaa.gov/jointplan/
For Cencal updates and calendar
http://www.cencal.org/
Aqua Tutus Diving Club
P.O. Box 11952
Pleasanton, CA 94588
North Coast Diving since 1958
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California