Ocean Explorers Society
Sponsored by Ocean Enterprises

Calendar
October 26  Night dive at Hospital Point October 27  U/W Pumpkin carving contest at The Shores
November 1st Club Meeting at Ocean Enterprises Nov 1 Diving history lectures at Stephen birch Aquarioum (see below)
Nov 9-11 Northern Channel Islands Trip

Nov 13 

 SDCD Meeting at Rock Bottom Brewery with CA Fish and Game
Nov 24 "We got the bird" dive at La Jolla Cove

Contents

Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be held 6:50PM, November 1st at Ocean Enterprises. Guest Speaker will be Pelican factory rep Ray Bullion. We'll meet at Appleby's across the street at 5:30 for dinner.

From the President
Welcome fellow divers. If you have been following the Rigs to Reefs efforts, I unfortunately have some bad news. Our illustrious govenor, Mr. Davis vetoed the bill after it had passed both houses. It was given very little coverage in the newspaper with a comment from one of the committee members that was reminiscent of comments ignorant people made during the Yukon approval proccess. It is truly sad that people who make decisions about our oceans cannot see the forest through the trees. This bill was good for big oil, but it was better for the planet.

Once again the leader of our state has unilatterally taken it upon himself to strike down a measure that the majority is in favor of. Stay tuned and remember these decisions come election time.

On other fronts, conditions have been better in resent weeks. About the time you're reading this I will be diving on the USS Hogan off Imperial Beach. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a 50+ visibility day like the last time I was on this wonderful wreck.

There is still plenty of room and time to jump on the Channel Islands trip.

Mark your calendars for the annual Christmas party on Saturday December 8, 6:00PM. We'll have the details next month.

Shore Diving

Night Dive: Friday October 26….Meet at Hospital Point at 6:30pm for Lobster Dive

Special Event: Saturday, October 27 -- Ocean Enterprises is again sponsoring the Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest at La Jolla Shores. This event has been going for a long time now, and it's always been a hoot. Every one who enters, gets a prize. Registration is from 9-10AM. Diving starts at 10AM. Judging and lunch go from 12-1. OE will announce the winners at 1PM and hand out prizes. The cost is a modest $10/person if you register before October 26; $15/person at the event. Registration includes a BBQ lunch. The carving rules are very straightforward. Bring your own cleaned pumpkin. You must use a dive knife to carve it, and the carving has to be done in the water. There are separate categories for pumpkins with props, and those without props. Lifeguards stationed at La Jolla Shores will do the judging. Prizes include a Seaquest Balance BC, Scubapro Twinjet fins, 38 Spl spear gun, Sherwood Oasis reg, and tons of other stuff.

Morning Dive: Saturday Novemberr 24, 8:00am for a "work off the bird dive". Meet at La Jolla cove @ 8:00 to dive the best spot. Breakfast will follow.

Boat Dives
November 9-11….Channel Islands Trip aboard the Vision out of Santa Barbara, cost is $413.00. Food, beverages and airfills are included, bring your own tank(s) and weights. We will be driving up Thursday night. Contact Mark for more information.

Flotsam
Congradulations to Brian Kinley on completing divemaster, and instructor certifications. Brian will be taking up residence on Grand Cayman at Bob Sotos Diving.

I went to the "Adventures of an Underwater Legend" talk by Jim Stewart. Jim was the first diving officer at SIO, and one of the first SCUBA divers on the California coast. I'm glad I went. Most of the pioneers of California diving are getting on in years and we won't be able to hear them first-hand for too much longer. I was heartened by the number of twenty somethings at the talk. They seemed to enjoy it as much as us (dare I say it?) middle age types. Jim was more than happy to regale us with tales of diving in Antarctica in wetsuits (brrrr); exploring Baja for the first time; and humorous moments in diving.

The last talk in this series will be Bob Wiley on November 1st; same night as the meeting. So if you're tired of hanging with us, go listen to Bob instead.See below for more info.

Diving the Internet, budget version: Ever hear of a country called Iceland? Not recenlty, I'll wager.Last time Iceland was in the news, Bobby Fisher was playing Boris Spasky for the world chess championship. Well, there is a dive operation in Iceland. Come prepared for 35 degree F. water, but the vis is 150 feet. Check out http://http://www.diveiceland.com/ for more info.

San Diego Council of Divers
November will have Paul Riley of DFG talking about local marine life. The SDCD Meeting will provide an opportunity for local divers to tell the SDCD what it should be doing for the diving community. Several Fish and game hearings have been cancelled because of the WTC attack so if you really want to have some input, then you should attend this meeting. So far, DFG has heard mostly from the sport and commercial fishermen. They don't like the idea of having any no-take areas. We have to applaud DFG for taking extra effort and reaching out to the entire community of ocean users.

Diving the Wreck of the S-37 by John Moore

After hearing for years about a very old submarine wreck in very shallow water off Imperial Beach, I finally got coordinates a couple months ago. Actually, I got coordinates from two different sources and the numbers were pretty close, so I was relatively confident. However, I was also told that the wreck was literally just outside the surf zone on a pretty exposed beach... so conditions had to be perfect to dive this thing.

Here's some good history and info from the California Wreck Divers site: http://www.cawreckdivers.org/Wrecks/S37.htm

Yesterday, the ocean was nearly flat and pretty clear, and the R/V Thermocline was graceously offerred, so we headed down to Imperial Beach to check it out. Racing down from Point Loma towards the coordinates (which are REALLY close to the shore!), I had this James Bond kind of image going... as the boat hit the shore at top speed and launched into the air...;-) OK, so the site is close, but no, we didn't get all that close to hitting the beach!

Found a blip on the depth finder on the first pass. And thought maybe we could see a shadow from the surface. Dropped in and it was definitely the sub.

It's old (sank in 1945). And COVERED in barnacles. The deck area is really, really thick with barnacles (in places, seemingly feet thick). The starboard side has fewer and a bit more algal growth. She lays way over to port. She's about 220' long and about 20' wide at the widest point. She's pretty much perpendicular to shore, with the bow pointing seaward. There are a couple areas with protrusions from the deck, the largest of which is probably the conning tower. There are lots of small openings and a couple larger openings, but nothing that we found which looks like it leads to a real interior that isn't filled with silt. If you can figure out how to get into this thing, you're smarter than I am... and if you go into this thing, you're significantly more foolish than I am. It's really, really small and the bottom there is really fine silt. It'd be an easy way to kill yourself. (Note the warnings on the California Wreck Divers site also.)

It was fun to look around the outside, though I really wish it weren't so covered in barnacles. It would be much more interesting to see the structure itself. But there's still plenty to look at and lots of little holes to peer in. I can't see anyone wanting to dive it all that often, but it's fun simply to have done it.

Several warnings:
1. Please don't figure out how to get inside it.
2. It's in 15-25 feet of water at high tide, pretty close to shore, on an exposed beach. This would not be a fun dive site with any kind of surf at all.
3. The bottom is fine silt... with implications for diving with any surf as well as implications for anyone attempting penetration... (Yesterday, when we had 50+ foot vis off Point Loma, the vis here was about 5 feet near the bottom and 10-15 feet on top of the wreck; I've talked to people who've dived it under less perfect conditions who said that it was a braille dive...)

 

Science on UCSD TV

Wednesday, November 14 at 7 PM
Perspectives on Ocean Science: Drugs from the Sea Explore the discovery and understanding of marine symbionts that may provide novel sources of new drugs with Scripps Institutions' Margo Haygood.

Wednesday, November 21 at 7 PM
The Evolutionary History of the Human Species: Eminent evolutionary biologist Christopher Wills takes you on an exploration of human evolutionary history and how it is derived from both the genetic and fossil records.

Wednesday, November 28 at 7 PM
Seven Wonders of The Cosmos: The Fleet Science Center's Dennis Mammana takes you on a journey across the universe to marvel at seven of the most spectacular phenomena in existence... from the collisions of massive galaxies to the wonder of starbirth to the delicate majesty of a total solar eclipse--and everything in between.

Wednesday, November 28 at 8 PM
The Universe is Rated "R" -- For Violence: From time immemorial the cosmos has comforted humanity with its seemingly placid constancy. From solar flares and thermonuclear burning engulfing the surfaces of neutron stars, to particle beams and collisions of literally extragalactic proportions, Dr. Rothschild will explain why the universe could be Rated "R" for violence.

UCSD-TV airs on Cox Cable Ch.76; North County Cox Cable Ch.58; Time Warner
Cable Ch.18; Del Mar TV 3; or UHF (no cable) Ch. 35. For a complete program
schedule, please call 534-3535 or visit http://www.ucsd.tv.

Diving Exhibit at Stephen Birch Aquarium
A new exhibit, "San Diego's Underwater Pioneers," will explore the history of diving in San Diego. Historic SCUBA diving artifacts and equipment will also be on display, contrasting today's SCUBA gear. "San Diego's Underwater Pioneers" is curated by esteemed author and underwater photographer Eric Hanauer...." Here's their website showing a few items on display:
http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/whats_new/wetweekend/pioneers.html

Mini Review: I was inspired toward diving by Lloyd Bridges playing Mike Nelson, and Jaques Cousteau. This is their dive gear. It looks very primitive compared to what I'm diving. This isn't a large exhibit. You can probably examine everything in less than an hour. The exhibit is big on quality. There are lots of cameras, some famous, and representative divers from several decades; plus one well outfitted modern specimen. Sorry guys, but DIR didn't figure into the exhibit. If you're a new or old diver, I highly recommend going.

Dive Exhibit Lecture Series
Commemorating the opening of their newest exhibit, San Diego's Underwater Pioneers, The Stephen birch Aquarium will host an exciting lineup of speakers who will share their experiences, triumphs, and accomlishments in the fascinating world of underwater exploration.

The fee for each lecture is $8.00 ($6.00 for members)
RSVP 858/534-7336

Thursday, November 1st, 7:30-9:00PM, "Wreck Diving", Bob Willey

Here's the Birch Aquarium at Scripps website for additional info
http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/

Dive Travel

Cayman

I got this offer a couple of weeks ago. These sound like good prices, but I'm not familiar with either the condos or the operator.

Ocean Frontiers - Grand Cayman - Cayman Islands Revised Fall Special Dive packages.

These heavily discounted rates are only available at Royal Reef Resort from now until December 22nd 2001:
5 Star Condominium Packages:

Villa (2 bedroom 2 bathroom Sleeps 4-6 people): US$1599 for 7 nights
Suite (1 bedroom 1 bathroom Sleeps 2-4 people): US$999 for 7 nights
Studio Room ( Sleeps 2 with mini kitchen/fridge): US$699 for 7 nights

visit: http://www.royalreef.com for floor plans and photos. These rates are not listed on line.

Diving Packages:
*Unlimited 5 day Dive Package= US$599
(5 days of unlimited diving, must be scheduled in advance. Shark dive upgrade for US$50)
*Best of Cayman Package = US$499
(1x One Tanks Dive, 4x Two tank dives, 1 night dive, 1 stingray dive, 1 Shark Class/Dive)

visit: http://www.oceanfrontiers.com for photos, maps, info. These rates are not listed on line.

Contact me if you are interested in these packages.

 

Fiji

Frances San Clemente is organizing a trip to Fiji. The price will be about $1799, week of Mar 23-30. Looks like she has about 15 people interested so far. This includes airfare from LAX but not some of the transfer fees, etc. Once the "interest list" is compiled, she won't send out any more "general interest" emails, so if you think you might be interested at all, let her know so she can keep you posted on specific details. You may contact Frances at ppaquita@pacbell.net

Accomodations are at Marilin Bay. Check out www.marlinbay.com for details. Overall, this looks like a nice trip.

Channel Islands
See the boat dive section for info on our Channel Islands trip.

Australia
Paul Lee and a few other members are planning an Australia trip for the middle two weeks of January, 2002. The trip would include a 4 or 5 day liveaboard out of Cairns, a two day white water rafting trip, and sightseeing in Sydney for a few days. The live aboard runs about $500, the rafting about $200, and Sydney depends largely upon accommodations. Airfare prices now are around $1350 from Los Angeles, (But Paul says he can find some for much less). Anyone interested should contact Paul Lee at PaulLeesd@earthlink.net for more information.

Mexico
Laura Mankoff is organizing a trip to Chinchorro Banks in Mexico. Dates: Wednesday, December 26, 2001 through Wednesday, January 2, 2002 This is an all inclusive (except alcohol) resort. Very laid back. Beautiful accommodations with air conditioning, TV's (no phones), and pool. They have two great boats and Laura will make sure we get the bigger boat. Boats are camera friendly. I think there may still be a couple of spots left on this trip.

Price is $1245 + $100 transportation fee. Its a four hour drive from Cancun to Maya Ha. The resort van picks us up in Cancun. American from Miami is best route.

Price includes all meals, 5 days of diving or land tour (kayaking trip, day trip to one of the ruins). There is one day nothing is planed but a kayak trip would cost $75 per person and includes lunch and a tour of one of the local forts. Air Fare not included. Let Laura know if you want us to get your airfare. The more seats the better fare they can get. (bulk) vs. economy.

Water temp was 78-82 degrees and air was in upper 70's. Very pleasant. Did wear Chammyz on the boat, but was never uncomfortable. No gloves are allowed. Spaces may still be available. A nonrefundable deposit of $200 is required to hold your space.

For Sale

- Assorted small women's 3mm wetsuits $25/ea
- Brand new Palm VII never used, in box, $150
- Web TV Plus Internet Terminal, with wireless keyboard $75
Contact Jon and Eileen Parkhurst at 858-792-1077 or emonzon@home.com

Membership
OES Info
OES members can receive $30 off the regular OE price for specialty classes.

Subscriptions to Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine are available through the club for only $10. See Mark Clausen for details.

Club T-shirts are still available for $13.00.

Renewal rates are $20 single; $30 for a family. Send your renewal to Mark Clausen; 1862 Willow Way; Vista, CA 92083.

For more information: