Current - Aqua Tutus Diving Club

THE AQUA TOOTER
On the web at http://www.aquatutus.com
June 2016
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.
July Meeting Entertainment
Entertainment for the July 7th General Membership meeting is a slide show of “The Monterey
Shootout, Presented by NCUPS” 2015 Winners.
The Northern California Underwater Photographic Society (NCUPS) and Backscatter (http://
www.backscatter.com) have partnered each year to
showcase Monterey diving with The Monterey
Shootout
(credit:
http://
www.montereyshootout.com/eventresults/2015.php)
The Monterey Shootout was originally
founded by Gayle Todd, Rich Todd, and Berkley
White and then evolved into the traveling event
known as the Digital Shootout. Unlike most photo
contests, the Monterey Shootout always focused
attention on education and inspiring new photographers. The first California Beach Dive Photo Competition was held in Monterey, CA in 1981. The
California Beach Dive Photo Competition has
evolved over the past three decades from a pioneer
in on-site event film processing to an advanced
adopter of digital submissions. This new collaboration of NCUPS and the Monterey Shootout is targeted to the inspiration of new shooters. The winners of the contest take home some valuable prizes,
but everyone goes home a better photographer or
videographer, making this an incredibility popular
and
successful
event.
(credit:
http://
www.montereyshootout.com/eventresults/2015.php)
This program will be enjoyed by your family, friends, and even non-divers. The images will be
impressive.
Be sure to come early, get good seats, enjoy
dinner, and meet new and old friends.
Aqua Tutus Diving Club's
next regular meeting:
Thursday, July 7th 7:30 p.m.
Location: Round Table Pizza
20920 Redwood Rd.
Castro Valley
UPCOMING CLUB ACTIVITY (LOCAL)
July 16:
North Monastery POC Oliver
Jul 23: Location TBD – POC Gayle Hudson
Aug (TBD): Point Lobos – POC Elaine
Sep 17: Breakwater Wall (or Wharf 2 ??)(cleanup
dive for beach cleanup day) – POC Gayle
Hudson
BOD MEETING SCHEDULE
3rd Thursday Every month except December,
Thurs, July 21st, Round Table Pizza
TOOTER PUBLISHING SCHEDULE
Tooter INPUT by 20th of month
Tooter will be published usually by end of month
THANK YOU PRESENTERS AND NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTORS for making this
month’s AQUATOOTER possible: Dennis
Hocker, Linda Muth, Helga Mahlmann, Kat
Smith, Kari Klaboe, Jim Driggers, Gayle
Hudson, Alan Throop, Jono Dove, Aloha
Joe Timmons
What’s Inside
Entertainment Report
Club Dive Report
June Gen Meeting Minutes
June BOD Meeting Minutes
Aloha Joe Report
VDM dive trip Notice
WORDS TO DIVE BY
June 2016
Aqua Tooter Page 2-4
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Pleasanton, California
June Meeting Entertainment
Reported by Kari Klaboe
At the June 2 General Meeting, Dennis Hocker, Director of Training and Lifetime Member of Aqua Tutus, presented on different dive scenarios and how
you might react.
each other for one minute under water before surfacing and waiting at the surface to reunite. Having a clear dive plan with your buddy also reduces
confusion under water. Additional items you may
want to include in your dive plan:
• Which hand signals will we use?
Titled “What do I do if…” this presentation covered
a range of topics from buddy separation to proper
equipment maintenance.
• What is the purpose of our dive?
To say Dennis is a talented diver and dive instructor
is an understatement. He took the 8 week—16 session
Aqua Tutus class in 1960 and went on to become a
Head instructor in 1963 at age 17 (youngest ever
SCUBA Instructor). He became a PADI instructor in
1975. Dennis continues to train divers on advanced
open water diving, rescue diving, enriched air, advanced enriched air and Technical Diving as well as
DAN O2 and other DAN training. Even though Dennis has trained many of the Aqua Tutus members, this
presentation was a great refresher for the more seasoned diver and a great introduction on how to deal
with dive emergencies for the newer diver.
• What will we do if we get separated? How
long will we search under water for each other?
• Who is going to the lead the dive on the way
out? Who will lead on the way in?
• What is the heading back to shore?
• Where do we need to exit at the end of our
dive?
Be Aware: Be aware of your dive conditions and
potential dive limitations of your dive buddy. For
example, people who wear dry suits usually do
not swim as fast as those in wet suits. If your buddy is wearing a dry suit, make sure you swim at
their pace.
At what point do I initiate a “lost diver” whistle?
Dive Plan: Are you following your dive plan and
still unable to find your buddy? If you have followed your plan and still can’t find your buddy,
it’s appropriate to initiate a “lost diver” whistle.
A brief summary of some of the scenarios discussed
is provided below. However, the most important lesson that Dennis shared is that there is no perfect answer for any of the dive situations covered. It’s important for each diver to prepare for their dives, know
their own limitations when diving, and work on improving their dive skills so that they don’t become
complacent.
BUDDY SEPARATION
What do I do if my buddy and I get separated?
Dive Plan: At the beginning of each dive you and
your buddy should develop a dive plan, which
includes what to do if you get separated. Your dive plan, for example, may allow you to look for
June 2016
page 2
An additional note: When you make it to shore, look
for your buddy’s car to make sure they haven’t
left without telling you. There have been situations where a “lost diver” whistle has been initiated only to discover that the diver left the dive site
without telling their buddy. However, it’s extremely poor practice to leave a dive site without
checking in with your dive buddy. Ideally you and
your buddy should end the dive together. However, if you end your dives separately, you should
always check in with your buddy before leaving
the dive site.
EQUIPMENT
Is there “bad” dive equipment?
Currently there are no warnings about “bad” dive
equipment on the market. Bad equipment or
equipment that doesn’t work properly is usually a
result of poor maintenance.
What do I do if my power inflator valve is free flowing?
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Entertainment report continued
Unplug your low-pressure inflator hose. Does this
mean the dive is over? Not necessarily. Divers
should practice uncoupling their power inflator
hose and being able to orally inflate their BC.
What do I do if my mask strap breaks?
What most people do, have a spare mask. Dennis always carries a spare mask in the pocket of his BC.
An additional note: There were a couple of suggestions for locations where you can get prescription
masks, which was highly suggested by some of the
club members: Prescription Dive Mask in San Diego (1-800-538-2878) and Lens Crafters in Berkeley.
What should I do if my regulator is difficult to breathe
with, but I can still breathe?
Your tank valve may only be partially open. One option for troubleshooting is to pick up your submersible pressure gage and take a deep breathe, if the
tank pressure changes, that may be a sign your
valve isn’t all the way open.
An additional note: It’s suggested that divers try to
reach their tank valve knob while wearing their
tank. If you wear your tank high, you can possibly
reach your valve knob when your gear is on, which
allows you to open or close your tank valve, if
needed during a dive.
An additional note: If you have a weight-integrated
BC and need to check your tank valve, do not take
your BC off underwater to try to check your equipment. If you take off your BC, your BC will want to
sink (it’s weighted) and you will want to ascend
(you are no longer weighted). This is why it’s a
good idea to use a weight belt, even if you have a
weight-integrated BC.
An additional note: Regularly check your alternate
second stage to make sure it works. Sometimes divers only dive with their primary and don’t realize
that their second stage may not be functioning
properly.
What do I do if my dry suit valve malfunctions?
Similarly, you need to take care of your gear to prevent this from happening. However, you will need
to uncouple your valve and end your dive --- no
oral inflation possible.
SHORE DIVING
How to react to specific dive situations that occur during shore diving is difficult, as these situations are
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
highly dependent on the specific dive conditions encountered, abilities and experience of the divers involved, access to help by others (bystanders on a
beach, etc.), and many other factors. The suggested
“ways to react” provided below are really meant to provide suggestions for what divers should be thinking of
when encountering a similar situation, and are not absolute answers.
What do I do if I get entangled in something under
water?
You can usually see fishing line, so go around it. With
kelp, you can break it pretty easily.
Always carry a pair of medical shears which you can
use to help cut yourself free. Dive knives are not
usually effective as a cutting tool, unlike medical
shears which are great at cutting through a number
of different underwater entanglements.
Don’t turn around --- BACK UP. If you turn around to
try to disentangle yourself, you just further entangle
yourself.
What do I do if surface conditions have deteriorated
during my dive and I need to make an exit?
Check your equipment, how much air do you have
left? If you need to exit through surf, you will want
to have your regulator in during your exit.
Check your surroundings, are there bystanders around
that may help you? Are there other divers around?
Are you in a remote location?
Check yourself and your buddy, how do you feel? Are
you exhausted? Does your buddy look fatigued?
How strong are you? How strong is your buddy?
The stronger diver should exit first. If conditions
are bad and you are exiting through surf, you and
your buddy should not exit at the same time, as you
both may get caught in the surf and are then unable
to help each other. One diver should exit first and
prepare for the second diver.
Before exiting, stop just outside the surf line and develop a plan for exiting.
If conditions are really bad, you can take your BC off
and let your buddy hang out to it while you exit.
Without your BC and tank, you have more mobility
and are less encumbered by equipment. Your buddy
will then send your BC, then their BC, and finally
they will exit. This is one option that may or may
not be appropriate given the dive situation and the
divers involved.
June 2016
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Entertainment report continued
What do I do if I get stuck in a long-shore current?
Any time you dive a location you need to familiarize
yourself with that location. It may involve reaching
out to local divers or dive shops, so that you can
understand how to safely dive a new spot. Typically, you can’t swim against the current.
scarce, even at 8:15, but there was parking on the
street. We learned that you can park on the street
(coin operated meters only) and still buy a parking
ticket at the parking lot dispenser - for those without a
bucketful of quarters in their cars.
Set a compass heading for in and out, so that you
know which direction is your exit. This is true for
all shore diving and should be done on every dive.
What do I do if I start to exhibit signs of decompression sickness while flying?
Recommended practice is to wait 12 hours before flying for a single day of diving and 18 hours before
flying for multiple days of diving.
Notify the flight attendant immediately. Don’t panic,
it’s likely not life threatening if you’ve been out of
the water for a while and is likely a mild case.
In general, maintaining your health is important with
diving. Being in good physical health reduces your
risk for a number of dive health conditions. Also,
it’s important to hydrate before diving, as 95% of
the people who get undeserved DCS hits are dehydrated. Second leading cause is rapid ascent; try
not to exceed 30 feet a minute rate of ascent and
don’t be bashful about doing extended Safety
Stops.
And in general, it’s important to GO DIVING! Practicing your dive skills regularly is the best way to be adequately prepared for the different dive situations presented.
Many thanks to Dennis for a wonderful presentation!
And Alan for the photos.
Club Snorkel and Dive, June 18th
Reported by Alan Throop and Jono Dove
Photos by Alan, Linda, and Gayle
The ATDC snorkel was a blast! In all - there were 13
snorkelers and 15 dive club members present. Jim
Driggers did a great job as POC for the event and prepared a truly exhaustive and interesting list of skills to
practice following the snorkel from Macabee to
Breakwater.
It was a great dive day, with wonderful sea conditions and good visibility. We met at San Carlos to
park, with pleasant temps for suiting up. Parking was
June 2016
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Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Club snorkel/dive continued
We suited up for the snorkel/free-dive and walked
down Cannery Row to McAbee beach to enter the water. There was a small but nice long-shore current
from McAbee to San Carlos that helped us leisurely
drift along, allowing us to enjoy the water, bottom, the
unusual view of the Cannery Row buildings, kelp, and
marine life.
Many practiced their free-diving skills and took some
nice pictures (Gayle H). The depth was only 15-20',
with good viz and calm seas, so the diving was fun.
Some explored the kelp and others explored the open
rocky bottom that was covered with life. Some found
the big "pipeline" in shallow water near our exit point at
San Carlos. The nice sandy and patch-reef there was a
good place to practice some free-dive skills and sail
through the clumping groves of kelp.
Dennis Hocker provided some instruction for landing on
rocks during rough water and what to do when in between large waves and rocks (be a dish rag - not a log;
hug a rock when a large wave is approaching and minimize the distance between your body and the rock so
that when the wave does hit - it doesn't knock you
against the rock).
We spent some time in and near the wash rocks, practicing skills and looking for "washing machine" moments
where one could practice being a dishrag.
Eventually, we made our way through lots of kelp, visited briefly with a friendly harbor seal, and
practiced some free diving. Dennis located
the large pipe that leads to the metridium
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
June 2016
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Club snorkel/dive continued
and lack of surge. There were also many juvenile fish in
the kelp, but not a lot of larger fish.
fields. Without depth gauges we are left to figure a
free dive depth of approximately 25 feet, practicing Dennis, Bo, and Michael spent this second dive doing
some training for their Advanced Enriched Air certifiseveral times over.
cation, while Alan and Jono went diving with Kat
After an hour and 15 minutes, we made our way in for Smith. We hung out mostly in Middle Reef and found
an attempt at a quick turnaround for some scuba div- a Monkey Faced Eel living in a small pipe (Thanks to
ing.
Dave Chervin for teaching the lesson: ALWAYS look
in the pipes!).
Following the dive, Jono went with Dennis to Breakwater SCUBA to meet Bob Hollis of American Underwater Products fame and Bob Olson of Nitrox Solutions.
We finished out the day with a visit to Gianni's for
some "Garfield food", pizza, lasagna, beer and camaraderie.
Some divers had seen and photographed some unusual
creatures that we tried to identify from various marine
animal books. Many just enjoyed talking about the
great experiences of the day. These post-dive gatherings are (almost) as much fun as the dive themselves.
Those who missed this snorkel-dive event missed a
great time and dive opportunity. But don't worry ...
we'll do this again ... just don't miss it next time!
Many thanks to Jim Driggers for suggesting and and
acting as POC for this dive.
Some opted for a tank dive after the free-dive, where
many decided to practice their training skills, as suggested at the last club meeting. Some just toured the
nice central reef, given the great dive conditions. This
area abounds with patchy rocks-and-kelp, mixed with
sandy patches that allows the sunlight to steam
through the kelp in beautiful scenes. Depths ranged
from about 30' to 15' nearer the shore.
Many small pipes that are left over from the old canneries criss-cross both this patch reef and that under
our free-dive path. Some were fortunate enough to find
some monkeyface eels (pickle fish) and other animals
in breaks or end-sections of these pipes. There were
also a lot of crevices for marine life to hid in. This was
a great place to just explore, given the great viz, light,
June 2016
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Dive trip to Club Ocellaris
in Anilao Philippines
Club member Ben Tetzner has arranged a 14 day dive trip to Club Ocellaris in Anilao Philippines. From
November 3 to November 17, 2016, Ben and others
will be staying at Club Ocellaris.
The dive package has been arranged with Reef and
Rainforest and includes 14 nights air conditioned accommodations, 3 meals per day, 4 dives per day (3
day dives & 1 night dive), tanks, weights, roundtrip
airport transfers and all hotel taxes.
The cost of the dive package is $2276 per person.
Airfare between San Francisco and Manila on Eva
Air is going for $685.
If you are interested in joining Ben on this trip, contact Reef & Rainforest at (800) 794-9767.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
General Meeting Minutes
Date: June 2nd, 2016
Reported by Kari Klaboe
Meeting called to order by President Mike Barrett at
Round Table Pizza in Castro Valley, CA at 7:32 pm.
Speakers: Dennis Hocker
Guests: Ralph Bell (Jim’s class)
Entertainment (Kat Smith)
July: 2015 Monterey Shootout results
Aug.: Member’s Night
Sep.: TBD
Oct.: Dave McGuire – Shark Stewards
Nov.: Larry Muth – Turks & Caicos
Dec.: [no general meeting]
Please contact Kat if you have any requests or suggestions for future entertainment.
Treasurer’s Report (Helga Mahlmann)
• Account Balance: $4,006.33
Credit Card: Activated the debit card for club account and gave it to Jim so he can set up automatic payments for Meetup.
Membership (Bernhard Sterling)
Membership: 67
Training (Dennis Hocker)
• Medic, First Aid, CPR: Class date is June 11 and if
you are interested email Dennis. Anyone who is planning to do the Rescue course will need to take this
course.
• DAN O2: Cancelled.
• Enriched Air: If you are interested, please email
Dennis.
Fall Classes (tentative): Advanced Open Water
and Rescue Diver (late fall or next spring). Rescue requires Advanced Open Water certification
and current CPR training. Please email Dennis if
you are interested.
No questions will be taken from the floor for
Dennis’ June presentation. For more information
on training contact Dennis Hocker (510) 7925606 [email protected] or Neil Benjamin
(510) 673-0073 [email protected]
Newsletter (Don Kelsey)
Newsletter for May came out. Input due by the 20th.
June Tooter out in early July, when Don gets back from
Maui.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Web Goddess (Patti Shannon)
Currently looking for a club member to take over
website responsibilities.
Social Media (Jim Driggers)
• Meetup: 70 members, 13 upcoming meetups, 144
past meetups
Facebook: 55 members (open to the public)
Old Business:
Dive Tags: Board is developing a form to collect
information. Bernhard will send out to active
club members. The opportunity to order more
than one will be available. Every club member
will get one free.
New Business:
• Elections (Board Members at Large): Three
people nominated, motions seconded and vote passed
by club.
ο Gayle Hudson
ο Myran Gist
ο Sheila Donney
Reef Check Kickstarter: Dave announced Reef
Check’s Kickstarter campaign to fund remote dives to
locations like Big Sur coast and Northern Channel
Islands.
https://www.kickstarter.com/
projects/2033378493/marine-ecosystemassessment-of-the-big-sur-coast
Special Committee: No new information
Past Dives:
• Monterey Diving: Logan and Kari went diving in
Monterey.
• Abalone Diving (Timber Cove): Logan went on
his first abalone dive.
• Silver Prince, Monterey: Fritz had a beautiful
day diving the Silver Prince with only four other divers. Flat, no wind, 35 to 40-foot visibility. Saw lots
of sea stars and the kelp was unbelievable. Water was
54 degrees.
• Class Dive, Monterey: Jono went diving with
Dennis, Mike, and Bo. This was a training dive for
their advanced enriched air certification. They initially tried north Monastery, but made their way to San
Carlos Beach. They saw the barge, lots of feather
worms, and red crabs (tuna crabs) all over the place.
• Van Damme and Salt Point: Austin went abalone diving and it was great --- lots of abalone. He used
a dry suit, which he found out you should not use to
free dive. During his dive, the pressure pushed in the
June 2016
page 7
June 16, 2016
Membership meeting minutes continued
Next BOD meeting:
valve for his suit and the seals filled with water,
which potentially could have been a disastrous dive
situation. However, he was able to ascend and end the
dive.
• Stillwater Cove, Jenner: Dave dove Stillwater
Cove and there was 20 to 30-foot visibility. Dive conditions were calm and the kelp was really thin.
Reef Check Dives, Point Lobos: Dave done with
Reef Check and saw sheepshead crab and rockfish.
Meeting adjourned at 9:05 PM
Bone nominations:
• Logan Bell – forgot his
fishing license when he went
abalone diving
Bo – not using a snorkel when
swimming out to 13 at Breakwater, forcing him to scuba
out.
Bone Award: Logan and Bo
Upcoming Activity and
Dives
2016
June 4-5:
Dive Exposition, Long Beach, CA
June 10:
NCUPS Meeting – Mark Bloom is doing a 3D presentation
June 11: Medic and First Aid class with Dennis
June 18: Tentative Club Free Dive at McAbee
Beach POC Jim Driggers
July 10-24: Chuuk - Dennis is going one more
time! If you have any interest/desire
to do wreck diving. No better
place to do wreck diving. About 50
Japanese vessels are there. It doesn't
get better. Space available.
July 23:
Location TBD – POC Gayle Hudson
Aug. (TBD): Point Lobos – POC Elaine
Sep. 17:
Wharf 2, Monterey (scuba cleanup
dive for beach cleanup day) – POC
Gayle Hudson
Sep. 10-13 VDM Channel Islands POC Alan
Dec. 10 Club Holiday Party
Dec. 19-Jan. 2: End of year trip to Cozumel – contact
Dennis or Patti if you are interested.
2017
June 24-July 8: Caribbean Explorer II, St. Maarteen,
Saba, St. Kitts - POC Dennis
Meetings
Next Membership meeting: July 7, 2016
June 2016
page 8
Bo’s photo by Alan
Aqua Tutus Diving Club
Board Meeting Minutes
Date: June 16, 2016
Reported by Kari Klaboe
Present: Kat, Fritz, Alan, Helga, Kari, Gayle, Don, Larry, Jim, Bernhard, Jono
Meeting called to order at 7:06 pm by Vice President
Jono.
Treasurer’s Report (Helga Mahlmann)
Account Balance: $4,086.33
Up-Coming Entertainment (Kat Smith)
2016
Jul:
2015 Monterey Shootout results
Aug: Member’s Night
Sep: TBD
Oct: Dave McGuire – Shark Stewards
Nov: Turks & Caicos - Larry Muth
Dec: No General Meeting
Kat researched having Mark Blum give his 3D presentation. Mark’s presentation needs to be longer than our
typical meeting presentation (90 minutes). Kat to look
into having Mark as a special event (possibly on the
weekend) and also potentially inviting the Alacosta Dive Club to join us.
Membership (Bernhard Sterling)
Membership: 69 (10 life, 46 regular, 5 associates)
Director of Training (Dennis Hocker – not present)
Webgoddess (Patti Shannon – not present)
Social Media (Jim Driggers)
Meetup: 71 members, 8 pending, 14 upcoming
Meetups, 146 completed Meetups
Debit Card: Club debit card requires two signatures,
which prevented club members from connecting the
debit card to our Meetup account.
Motion: Helga. Change bank requirements for
club account to only one signature on the
checking account and debit card. Motion Seconded: Jim Driggers.
Motion Amended: Kat. To limit single signatures to purchases of $499.
Motion Withdrawn: Helga.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
BOD meeting minutes continued
Facebook: 55 members
Newsletter (Don)
June’s newsletter will go out early July when Don
comes back from Maui.
Special Committee
Holiday Party: Date set - December 10, 2016.
Alan sent out a sign up list for volunteer opportunities
related to party planning. Ask at next general
meeting for volunteers to help with party activities.
[no action needed] Jim and Debbie to set up a cart on
square to pre-pay for raffle tickets.
Constitution and Bylaws: Don emailed the Constitution and Bylaws to the Board.
Newsletter Editor (Don) will do an information merge
as an addendum to the Bylaws.
President (Mike) to update club positions (assigned &
elected) once a year with Newsletter Editor (Don).
Jim Driggers to set up a Google Docs folder for our
Constitution and Bylaws updates.
CenCal [no update]
Old Business
[no update] Guest Flier: Alan is working on creating
a guest flier to be handed out to new members at
club meetings.
[no update] Club T-shirt: - Nick, Jono, and Patty
Baugh are all interest in helping to create a club
shirt.
Dive Tags: Electronic form for the dive tags created
by Jono. Bernhard to send out an email to the club
roster with the electronic form. Kari to collect
forms.
New Business
Bank Signatories: Greg is still a signatory for our
club account.
Motion: Jim Driggers. The President, Vice President,
and Treasurer will be authorized signees on the
account with only two signatures required for the
checking account. If one of the signees are incapacitated, the backup signee will be first the Secretary and second Membership. Motion Seconded:
Larry Muth. Vote: Passed
Debit Card:
Motion: Kat Smith. Rescind debit cards for the club
checking account and remove Greg Gleason as an
authorized signer on the account. Motion Seconded: Gayle Hudson. Vote: Passed.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Round Table: Need to reserve banquet room for
2017 meetings.
Entertainment Laptop: Helga to register for TechSoup and club to purchase Office Suite for laptop.
Social Media Director: Jim Driggers tendered his
resignation. Gayle Hudson nominated as new Social Media Director. Nomination accepted by
Gayle.
Website Admin: Formally ask Patti for the website
password so we can create an email distribution list
for the club.
Upcoming Events
2016
June 18: McAbee Beach (snorkel dive and scuba dive
skills practice) – POC Jim Driggers
July 10-24: Chuuk - Dennis is going one more
time! If you have any interest/desire to
do wreck diving. No better place to do
wreck diving. About 50 Japanese vessels are there. It doesn't get better.
July 23:
Location TBD – POC Gayle Hudson
Aug. (TBD): Point Lobos – POC Elaine
Sep. 17:
Breakwater Wall (scuba cleanup dive
for beach cleanup day) – POC Gayle
Hudson
2017
June 24-Jul. 8: Caribbean Explorer II, St. Maarteen,
Saba, St. Kitts - POC Dennis
Dec. 19-Jan. 2: End of year trip to Cozumel
Meetings
Next Membership meeting: June 2, 2016
Next BOD meeting:
June 16, 2016
Meeting adjourned at 8:28 pm.
June 2016
page 9
Elaine Berger Does the Big Island
By Aloha Joe
AquaTutus member Elaine Berger is extremely adventurous and spent a week camping on her own at
Spencer Beach campground about an hour north of
Kailua Kona while she attended a professional conference at one of the local resorts.
A busy lady, she brought her diving equipment and
slipped in 6 SCUBA dives in various forms during
the week and a number of snorkeling experiences.
She started her tank diving experience in Hawaii
dragging Aloha Joe and a friend, Steve Butterfield,
on a shore dive at the famous “Death Hole”.
http://californiadiver.com/diving-with-kona-honu-divershawaiis-famous-manta-ray-dive/
If these 5 dives were not enough, at the end of her stay,
Elaine decided to wear Aloha Joe out with a night dive
from the Kailua Kona pier. Seen on this night dive
were a small shark, shrimp, hermit crab, 4 conchs, numerous eels, 2 octopi and a partridge in a pear tree.
Elaine would have remained in the water seemingly
forever if Aloha Joe had not sucked down his tank to a
vacuum, or close to it.
However, she also
took some time to
relax in Aloha Joe’s
easy chair.
She followed with the 2 night “Manta Dives”
http://
www.konahonudi
vers.com/mantaray-night-snorkelor-1-tank-mantadive.htm
and 2 “Black Water Dives” from the 46 feet long Kona Honu dive boat.
June 2016
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Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Vision
10
13
6
5pm 9/13/16
Be on the boat no later than 11pm 9/10/16
Last year, the trip was sold out by the middle of June. If that happens again, Bill can take
names for a waiting list, but we won’t overfill the boat with extra divers because it just
gets too crowded. And those bunks in the back are really bad! General information
about Truth Aquatics can be found at: http://www.truthaquatics.com/
To secure your reservation, make a check out to “VDM” for $595 (see The Fine Print below*), bring it to the meeting on May 11, or mail it to:
Bill Delameter, VDM Treasurer
711 Catalina Drive
Livermore, CA 94550
*The Fine Print: Receipt of your check will be considered a commitment for the trip. Refunds for
cancellations will be based on our ability to fill the empty spot, which we will make every effort to
do. VDM determines the price per diver so that we break even on the charter. We don’t make a
profit, but we can’t afford to take a big loss either. In the past, we’ve been able to give refunds for
cancellations that are made 2 weeks or more prior to the trip, but last minute cancellations and noshows cannot expect a refund.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
June 2016
page 11
WORDS TO DIVE BY
Skill of the Month: Drop Your Weight
Without Dieting
by Jim Driggers
If you carry weight in BCD weight packages, have
you ever practiced pulling the pockets and dropping
the weight? I know I haven’t.
I also know it’s one of the skills I should practice, so
this article is for me as much as anyone else. And
since I dive mostly from the beach when I’m in California, it should be an easy skill to practice. One of
the advantages of beach diving is that it’s usually
pretty easy to control how deep you are by how far
you swim from the beach.
This is a skill where you definitely want to talk with
your buddy about practicing the skill before you
submerge. My plan is to practice dropping my
weight pockets after my buddy and I have completed our safety stop, we’re in about 10 feet of water,
and have a sandy bottom beneath us (to make it easier to find dropped weight pockets).
You could just as easily practice the skill at the start
of the dive, but I’d rather do it at the end. That way
if there’s any unexpected problem with getting the
pockets back into the BCD, I won’t have to abort the
dive or spend the dive holding my weight pockets.
surface. When it’s your turn to recover the weight,
you’ll likely have to put some air into your BCD after
picking up the weights to regain neutral buoyancy for
your ascent. At the surface, give the weight back to
your buddy and be ready to help him or her reintegrate
the weight back into the BCD if necessary.
Both descend and then trade turns or continue practicing as discussed before the dive.
While this skill may seem simple, I suspect the challenge presented by thick gloves will make locating and
grasping the pull tabs or buckles more difficult than
first imagined. That’s why it’s a good idea to practice
this skill a few times on dry land while wearing your
BCD with empty weight pockets and dive gloves.
So for your next dive, I hope you join me in practicing
ditching weights from the BCD. The best thing is we
don’t have to change our diets to drop the weight.
Jim Driggers is not a dive master or dive instructor. He
does have rescue and advanced nitrox diver certification and has logged over 100 dives in California waters
and 300 dives in tropical locations. The advice in this
column is based on his experience and diving education.
Before the dive, my buddy and I will talk about doing the exercise, which of us will practice first, and
confirm when and where we’ll practice. The person
going first should signal he or she is about to begin
and confirm their buddy is ready to recover the
dropped weight.
The person going first then drops both weights from
their BCD and rises to the surface. Some BCDs
have pockets that have to pulled out and away from
the BCD before dropping. Other BCDs have downward opening pockets for which you simply unbuckle a clasp and let gravity automatically pull the
weight out. As always when ascending, be sure to
exhale and look up. You don’t want to hit your head
against anything floating on the surface.
Your buddy, meanwhile, should recover your
dropped weight and make a normal ascent to the
June 2016
page 12
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Calendar of Events
See the latest meeting minutes,
or
http://www.meetup.com/Aqua-Tutus-Dive-Club/
Or
http://www.aquatutus.com/
for the current schedule of ATDC Events
ATDC Dive Training
Advanced Open Water Class Calendar
Class diving completed on Sept 19th
• Dates are tentative, depend on participation, check
the webpage
• Classroom sessions held at Dennis’ house, 38962
Larkspur Street, Newark, CA
• For more information contact
• Neil Benjamin: (510) 673-0073
[email protected]
• Dennis Hocker: (510) 792-5606
dennis@ rxscuba.com
What is a “POC”
The “POC” is a Point of Contact for a club dive.
Any member is welcome to plan a dive and put in
on our web site calendar. You don’t have to be a
dive master, or the director of training, or a board
member to do this. Any club dive is done with the
expectation that there will be people there to help.
ATTENTION , ASPIRING PHOTOGRAPHERS AND WRITERS
WANTED—DIVE PICS AND STORIES
FOR THE TOOTER.
Send your input to Don at
[email protected]
http://reefcheck.org/rcca/rcca_home.php
2016 OFFICERS/BOD/Volunteers
President
Mike Barrett
[email protected]
Vice President
Jono Dove
[email protected]
Secretary
[email protected]
Kari Klaboe
Treasurer
[email protected]
Helga Mahlmann
Membership Chair
Bernhard Sterling
[email protected]
Training Director
[email protected]
Dennis Hocker
Entertainment Chair
Kat Smith
[email protected]
Newsletter Publisher
Don Kelsey
[email protected]
Social Media
Gail Hudson
[email protected]
Board Members @ Large:
Shelia Doney
[email protected]
Myran Gist
[email protected]
Gail Hudson
[email protected]
Past President
Oliver Edwards
[email protected]
Web “Goddess”
Patti Shannon-Hocker [email protected]
FIND Oliver’s Tutorial
BEGINNING PHOTOSHOP FOR
UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHERS
at
http://www.aquatutus.com/articles.html
Then click on “Beginning Photoshop For Underwater Photography -- by Oliver Edwards” for the download
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
June 2016
page 13
Aqua Tutus Diving Club
P.O. Box 11952
Pleasanton, CA 94588
North Coast Diving since 1958
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
http://www.mbnms.nos.noaa.gov
https://www.facebook.com/MBNMS
News from the Monterey Bay
Aquarium Research Institute
http://www.mbari.org/
Keep up with California Diving,
read
California Diving News
http://www.cadivingnews.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MBARInews?
fref=ts
News from the California Marine
Sanctuary Foundation
http://californiamsf.org/index.html
News from the Pacific Grove
Hyperbaric Chamber
https://www.facebook.com/
PGHyperbaricChamber
http://californiamsf.org/pages/donatepgh.html
Protecting the unique habitats
and cultures of islands worldwide
http://www.seacology.org/
Don’s timeshare is now available for
2017. Book now while it is still
Available at a great low price.
Big Island, Hawaii
Kona Condo for Rent
June 15- June 29, 2017
$450 per week,+$14 tax
One-time $50 registry fee
covers one or all weeks.
Weeks run Thurs to Thurs
Contact Don Kelsey
925-820-8362
[email protected]
Resort details at www.thekonabillfisher.com
June 2016
page 14
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California