Current - Aqua Tutus Diving Club

THE AQUA TOOTER
On the web at http://www.aquatutus.com
July 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.
August Meeting Entertainment
Entertainment for the August 4th General Membership meeting is “Member’s night”.
Everyone is
welcome to participate.
Members are encouraged the share either slide shows
or video of recent dives. Please bring a thumb drive
for your presentation. Presentations we will be in order of submission, or notification of submission.
Please keep presentations to 10-12 stills, for photography or 5 mins for video.
If you would like to present, please email Kat
([email protected]) with the following information:
• Presenter name,
• dive location,
• photography or stills.
• In the subject line of the email please enter Aquatutus Members night.
The information you provide will be added to the list
of presenters. If you sent an email to Kat but did not
get a response please ping her and she will make sure
to get you added to the list. If there is a lot of interest
we will extend Members Night to the September
meeting as well.
This has always been a lot of fun over the years. We
have many photographers and videographers of all
levels in the club. We all appreciate and enjoy seeing the variety of pictures and videos that are shown.
So open up your favorite photo and video files and
join us for a fun evening of sharing memories.
Aqua Tutus Diving Club's
next regular meeting:
Thursday, August 4th 7:30 p.m.
Location: Round Table Pizza
20920 Redwood Rd.
Castro Valley
UPCOMING CLUB ACTIVITY (LOCAL)
Aug. 20:
Sep. 17:
Lover’s Point, Pacific Grove – POC Elaine
Berger
Wharf 2, Monterey (scuba cleanup dive for
beach cleanup day) – POC Gayle Hudson
BOD MEETING SCHEDULE
3rd Thursday Every month except December,
Thurs, August 18th, Round Table Pizza
http://www.meetup.com/Aqua-Tutus-Dive-Club/
or
http://www.my.calendars.net/atdc_events
For the Latest on Club Activities
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
AQUATOOTER POSSIBLE
Helga Mahlmann, Alan Throop, Susan
Brown, Kat Smith, Kari Klaboe, Gayle Hudson
VDM Channel Islands dive trip
$595, 3 days on the Vision, in the northern
Channel Islands. Still has spots open.
See Page 5
July 2016
What’s Inside
Entertainment Report
July Gen Meeting Minutes
VDM dive trip Notice
IN THE NEWS
Aqua Tooter Page 2-3
Page 3-4
Page 5
Page 6
Pleasanton, California
July Meeting Entertainment
Reported by Kari Klaboe and Gayle Hudson
Jason Knight took Honorable Mention 1 in Beginner
Macro Unrestricted for this unique image.
At the July 7 General Meeting, club members enjoyed a
wonderful program highlighting the 2015 Monterey
Shootout winners. The program, which consisted of a
video compiling the photography and video submissions from the shootout, was created by the Northern
California Underwater Photographic Society (NCUPS)
and Susan Brown coordinated with Aqua Tutus to show
the video at our July meeting.
The Monterey Shootout is an annual photography and
video competition organized by NCUPS and Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo in Monterey, California.
While one of the main goals of the competition is to
highlight Monterey diving, the organizers are also focused on learning and offer a variety of presentations
by professional photographers aimed at expanding underwater photography skills. The competition is only
open to amateur photographers, but
skill levels include beginner, intermediate, and advanced photographers. The 2015 competition lasted
36 hours, and final prizes were
awarded in four different categories: wide angle traditional, wide
angle unrestricted, macro traditional, and macro unrestricted.
Monterey’s harbor seals were well
represented in the winning submissions, which included a stunning
black and white photo by Joe Platko which won first place in the Advanced Wide Angle Unrestricted
category, and a comical trio of harbor seals wonderfully photographed by Douglas LaFarge which
won first place in the Beginner
Wide Angle Traditional category.
July 2016
page 2
Often-time club member Scott Harrison was first place winner in Intermediate Macro Unrestricted category
with this shot.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Entertainment report continued
All of the entries and winners for the 2015 Monterey
Shootout are posted on the competition’s website:
http://www.montereyshootout.com/eventresults/2015.php. In addition to still images, there are
some very captivating videos, so go check out the website.
The 2016 Monterey Shootout is scheduled for August
26 to 28, and additional information on the competition
can be found at: http://www.montereyshootout.com/
schedule/.
If you are interested in learning more about the competition organizers, please see their websites below:
Northern California Underwater Photographic Society
- http://www.ncups.org/
Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo - http://
www.backscatter.com/
Training (Dennis Hocker)
Tentative Advanced Open Water: Dennis is looking for anyone interested in an AOW course in
October or November. Please email Dennis if
you are interested.
For more information on training contact Dennis
Hocker (510) 792-5606 [email protected] or
Neil Benjamin (510) 673-0073
[email protected]
Newsletter (Don Kelsey)
Newsletter came out. Input due by the 20th.
Web Goddess (Patti Shannon)
Currently looking for a club member to take over
website responsibilities.
Social Media (Gayle Hudson)
• Meetup: 71 members, 14 upcoming meetups, 149
past meetups
Facebook: 59 members (open to the public)
Many thanks to Susan Brown and NCUPS for a great
program!
Meeting called to order by President Mike Barrett at
Round Table Pizza in Castro Valley, CA at 7:31 pm.
Old Business:
Dive Tags: Every club member will get one free dive
tag, but each member must fill out a Dive Tag Request Form with the information they want on
their tag. Additional dive tags can be purchased at
a cost of $4/tag. Email Kari Klaboe
([email protected]) for a Dive Tag Request
Form. Forms should be submitted to Kari electronically or at a general meeting.
Speakers: NCUPS – 2015 Monterey Shootout Results
New Business: No new business
Guests: Nancy (new NAUI instructor), Mark (certified
with Jim), Jim, Alexis
Special Committee: No new information
General Meeting Minutes
Date: July 7th, 2016
Reported by Kari Klaboe
Entertainment (Kat Smith)
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: $3996.39
Membership (Bernhard Sterling)
Membership: 69 plus Oliver finally renewed his
membership!
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Past Dives:
• Belize (Rebecca Doubledee): Rebecca had a
great dive trip to Belize. She dove Blue Hole and
Turneffe Atoll, and on her last dive she dove with
whale sharks. She also got engaged on this trip! Congratulations Rebecca!
• June Snorkel Club Dive (POC Jim Driggers):
We had 13 divers and 15 Tooters total. The group
started at McAbee Beach and snorkeled to San Carlos
Beach. Visibility was between 15 and 20 feet. After
the snorkel, club members suited up and completed
one scuba dive. Most dive groups practiced dive skills
like mask removal, BC removal at the water surface,
weight belt removal at the water surface, etc. During
the dives, club members saw a juvenile monkey-faced
eel, baby abalone, and rock scallops.
July 2016
page 3
Membership meeting minutes continued
• South Monastery Beach, Carmel (Oliver, Bo,
Lee, Kari, Gayle): First dive at Monastery for Lee
and Kari, and Lee’s fourth dive in cold water. Visibility was extremely low and there was quite a bit of
surge, but Oliver presented a very detailed dive site
summary for those new to the Monastery and demonstrated safe entry and exit from the beach. Thanks
Oliver!
• Breakwater, Monterey (Gayle, Kari, Lee): Visibility was really low due to a plankton bloom and
generally poor conditions.
• Morro Bay (Dave Chervin): Dave volunteered
with Reef Check for a three-day live aboard out of
Morro Bay. There were four to six foot seas during
the dive, and they were washed out of a couple of
sites near Point Sur. They dove a number of sites
along Esalen (reserve areas). During the dive, Dave
had to employ a number of the dive skills practiced
during the June club dive: getting in out of your BC
in water, losing a weight belt, and getting your snorkel tangled and having to use your backup mask to
untangle it. Thanks for sharing your practical application of our dive skill practice Dave!
• Maui, Hawaii (Don Kelsey): Recently, the water
around the Hawaiian Islands has been rough. Don
went on a family dive trip and his grandchildren were
certified during this trip!
Hawaii – Big Island (Elaine Berger): Elaine met
Joe Timmons, one of our long-distance club members
and a Lifetime Member of Aqua Tutus. She did a
Blackwater dive, which is a night dive about four
miles off the shore. During the dive, you are basically
suspended in “black water,” with only a tether (rope
line) providing you a sense of orientation. As you are
suspended there, little critters migrate up from the
bottom to feed and you can watch them as they come
up. Elaine also dove Death Hole (also called Toilet
Bowl), which is a pretty infamous spot in Hawaii. Joe
and other seasoned Hawaii divers helped her navigate
the dive.
Upcoming Activity and Dives
2016
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 16:
North Monastery, Carmel – POC Oliver
Edwards
July 23:
San Carlos Beach, Monterey – POC Gayle
Hudson
Aug. 20:
Lover’s Point, Pacific Grove – POC Elaine
Berger
Sep. 17:
Wharf 2, Monterey (scuba cleanup dive for
beach cleanup day) – POC Gayle Hudson
Sep. 10-13 Northern Channel Islands with VDM –
POC Alan Throop
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:
August 4, 2016
Next BOD meeting:
June 16, 2016
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM
Bone nominations:
• Jim Driggers nominated by wife Debbie for using
his non-prescription dive mask, when his prescription
mask was available, just buried underneath all of his
gear.
•Oliver for being REALLY late on his 2016 membership renewal.
Bone Award: Jim Driggers
July 2016
page 4
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
Vision
10
13
6
5pm 9/13/16
Be on the boat no later than 11pm 9/10/16
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*) and mail it to:
Bill Delameter, VDM Treasurer
864 Alden Lane
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 no-shows cannot expect a refund.
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California
July 2016
page 5
IN THE NEWS
While in Monterey, Alan picked up pamphlets
that looked useful, so he wanted to share with
us.
Helga sent Yahoo BA Diving group threads
on two subjects of interest. Lots of details on
the web.
A US court just ruled that Navy sonar
harms whales and dolphins
The ocean's about to get a lot quieter.
JOSH HRALA 19 JUL 2016
The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in California has ruled that the low-frequency active sonar
(LFA) systems used by the US Navy for training
missions violates the Marine Mammal protection
Act, and negatively impacts whales, dolphins, and
walruses who rely on sound to navigate the seas.
The ruling also finds that the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) – the body that gave
the Navy clearance to use the LFA – needs to do
more to avoid the destruction of marine mammal
populations and environments.
For more of the story, see
http://www.sciencealert.com/a-us-court-ruledthat-navy-sonar-harms-whales-and-dolphins
This is a product brochure, but has good relevant information about caring for dive gear.
See the current version at
http://i.mcnett.com/rich/rich_files/
rich_files/192/original/m-essentials-guide2014-web.pdf
Lionfish move menacingly into
the Med
5 July 2016
A lionfish invasion of the Mediterranean is under way, with the species colonising almost
the entire south-east coast of Cyprus in less
than a year, according to a new report.
The arrival of the Indo-Pacific predator, which
poses a threat to local eco-systems, is linked to
sea-surface warming and recent enlargement of
the Suez Canal, which links the eastern Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
For more of the story, see
http://www.divernet.com/home-diving-news/
p306196-lionfish-move-menacingly-into-themed.html
July 2016
page 6
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
Gayle Hudson
[email protected]
Board Members @ Large:
Shelia Doney
[email protected]
Myran Gist
[email protected]
Gayle 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
July 2016
page 7
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
July 2016
page 8
Aqua Tooter Pleasanton, California