www.emeraldseadiveclub.org

In This Issue

Guest Speaker

 The Summer time Blues……

Diving more and diving more often give you access to gained experience and to become familiar with your equipment and skills. During these times please remember to stay within your training limits.

Before trying new situations, such as night diving, drift, current, deep or wreck diving please get additional training, continuing education, or dive under the supervision of a dive instructor. We have a lot of qualified instructors and dive masters in our club.

Remember to practice using your skills RIGHT, and on a regular basis with your dive buddy. It is always good to know that your buddy has the same habits and skills as you. And also important to consider, is that the individual you dive with my not know your signals. So practice the skill often.

Lastly, I’m sure you’ve heard the expression that you should use the right tool for the right job. The same applies to diving. Your diving equipment are your tools.

When you’re planning a dive, part of the planning process should involve a comprehensive look at all aspects of the dive and make sure that you have the right equipment for that dive. For example, if you choose to do a current drift dive you will need to stream line your equipment and not have anything dangling from your body such as flash light, goody bags, etc.

Diving more often is a sure way to reinforce your personal safety. Dive Again!

Open to all members of the ESDC.

Each member may submit up to three photographs per month through October 5.

Bring them to the club meetings where they will be displayed for all to see and/or e-mail them to me and I will forward them to Phil so he can put them on the club web site

Considering top three for yet to be announced but undoubtedly spectacular prizes to be awarded at the Christmas Party.

Also considering creating a calendar for 2006 using the top twelve photographs.

If the calendar is created any one contributor will be limited to no more than three photographs.

In order to open the competition to more members, photographs may be of above water (diving related) subjects as well as underwater subjects.

Voting to be done by all members of ESDC casting one vote each for their top twelve choices.

Deadline for submissions is October 5, 2005.

If you have questions, comments or suggestions contact David Ripley at the club meeting

or at esdcnewsletter@mindspring.com

Deadline for submissions:

June 27—for the July newsletter

July 25—for the August newsletter

August 29—for the September newsletter

September 26—for the October newsletter

October 24—for the November newsletter

November 28—for the December newsletter

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I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new member:

Marty Leonard

and encourage him to become an active participant of the Emerald Sea Dive Club.

Bruce Bury

Hello to all,

Well there was Greg, Larry, and I at Langley Tire Reef for the first dive at 7:30a.m.. We collected an assortment of small scuplins, sea anemones, small crabs and one kelp crab, chitons, and a Stimpson’s starfish. Greg caught a plain midshipman that we were able to get into our largest container. We went along the outside wall and rocks for the first dive. My maximum depth was 34' with a 62 minute bottom time. I started with 3600psi in my 130 and came back with1850psi. We saw gunnels that we could not get to because of the rocks.

As the three of us were returning, we saw Linda, Skip, and another club member in the parking lot. We gave them some of our containers and they went out while we were on our surface interval putting the critters into the larger buckets I brought with me. Larry was cold from the first dive and opted out of the second dive. Greg and I got back in at Langley for the second dive and planned our dive to go out on a heading of due North just between the two pilings that are located West of the wall. Maximum depth was 60', bottom time of 40minutes. When we got to 60' we changed our heading due East and then due South, where we surfaced next to a sailboat anchored NE of the wall. Greg and I headed for shore due East and followed the shallows till we got back to the boat ramp, staying out of the boat lanes on that side. On that second dive we had collected a shaggy mouse and a three lined nudibranch, two soles, and a couple of small jellyfish and a black eye gobie.  

Greg and I got our gear put away and put all the critters plus the critters that Linda and her dive buddy collected into another large container and made our way to the Sealab. (Linda and her dive buddy at the next meeting can tell us what they collected for the Sealab, I don't want to steal their thunder). The Sealab front door was opened and we put all the critters into the tanks. I sure was surprised to see there were kelp greenling, kelp perch, and sailfin scuplins amongst all the specimens that were collected previously. Wish I had a camcorder to record all the critters in the tanks.

  Greg and I went to the Admiralty Tire Reef parking lot and left a written message for the others that we were going back to Langley because I had left my mask and fins on the boat ramp wall and would do Langley as a fun dive no collecting. (We didn't want to do all that traveling back to Camp Casey again). I guess we'll know at the next club meeting if anyone else showed up and dove the Admiralty Tire Reef and collected critters and put them in the tanks in the Sealab afterwards. Sorry, but I was in a hurry to get the critters to the Sealab and knew I had forgotten my gear when I was seven miles from Langley. The good news my gear was still there when we got back and Greg called me the Luckiest SOB he has known. (For more about this ask Greg for the background).

We did the third dive checking out the tire reef at its deepest part first, then coming back along the wall and catching a ride with the current. Maximum depth was 39' with a bottom time 36 minutes. I started with 2410psi and ended with 1210psi.. Visibility on all three dives was 15' if you were not behind me as I looked for critters under rocks, stirring up the sediment. By the way there were a lot of egg yolk jellyfish in the water, sizes were from egg size to dinner plate size. I did see what I thought was a Dogfish but just out of positive ID range, it was moving fast and about 6-8' off the bottom. I did see a couple of small lingcods but they stayed along the bottom as they swam away.

One more group of specimens that Greg and I collected from the second dive were some squid eggs that were separated from the two egg nest sites with one of the egg sites being eaten by a Sunflower star.

 It was nice to use the hot shower in the restroom at Langley for 25 cents and put fresh clothes on. Greg and I ate in Langley at a Greek restaurant, good food they serve there. We caught the ferry at Clinton, cleared my truck out, hosed off the salt on the truck and soaked my gear in the tub. I was happy to have Monday off to sleep in. See you all at the next meeting.

  Your friend and Emerald Sea Dive Club buddy,

                                                        Bruce Bury

Steve Berthinier

Hello all. We had a good turnout for round three of the emergency critter restock at Fort Casey April 24^th. Ron, Tod, Autumn, Buck, Tina, Jack, Jill, Cami and I showed up to once more brave the great unknown Camp Casey waters. Autumn was our beach support. Thank You So Much Autumn! The weather people forecasted the usual doom and gloom and when we got there the sun was shining.

We used the Marrowstone 1.6 for currents…AAAAAHHHHHH No. No. NO. It was WRONG! It was only off by about 45 minutes. As we were gearing up, Ron and Tod were the first guineas, I mean brave souls in the water. The rest of us watched from a safe distance and there appeared to be no current. At least, there was no thrashing and screaming. So, the rest of us finished gearing up. Buck was brave enough to be my buddy. Guess he didn’t read Jason and my escapades last year, smirk, giggle, …Cry. We entered next and the surface seemed calm. When we descended there was a slight current. I thought "Cool, just before slack". Jack and Jill were next. Tina and her friend Cami were last in. In hindsight I think they did it deliberately so they could look and listen for screaming from those that went before them. Too bad we outsmarted them and hung on and hid out. I noticed that in a matter of minutes the current was picking up, not slowing down. Within ten minutes Buck and I were swinging from kelp fronds to move about. We both got the hang of it and continued the dive. We passed Ron and Tod and they seemed to be dealing with current o.k., so far. They managed to make a 40 minute dive! In this mess! They made it back o.k. and got some good critters. Tina and Cami couldn’t even get out very far to dive. By the time Tina had her fins on they were screaming down the shoreline! Sort of……without so much screaming………. O.K.! They were NOT screaming. I stand corrected. Better? Tina and Cami actually managed to keep a cool head and work through the current. They both praise all they learned in Mike McGrath’s rescue class for getting through it. I know! Cheap plug. What can I say? I am a sucker for free air. It took Tina and Cami almost 15 minutes to wade/crawl out of the water, and they had probably only got 10 ft deep! Jack and Jill were under for about 30 minutes and finally got tuckered out and came to the surface. They were able to come to shore near the point heading for the ferry. Meanwhile, swinging through the kelp like a bad George of the Jungle parody, were Buck and myself merrily looking for critters. We got pretty good at opening jars with one hand while clinging to kelp with the other.

About 45 minutes into our dive we were in amongst the undercut rock where we were sheltered from the current and it was Nice. Then I thought "Say, I bet everybody of right mind is out of the water and wondering where we are". Boy, did that HURT ! I should know better than to try and think those higher thoughts! Seeing as how I was diving in a 1+ knot current looking for critters, that much thinking was really hard. So we started working our way in. Thanks to the great navigation of our team we came up at the intake. Yes, we were the last ones. They were still getting gear off the beach after recovering Tina, Cami, Jack and Jill so nobody noticed us at first. We managed to get our fins off even though the current was ripping, even knee deep!

We didn’t do too badly for the conditions. We got a buffalo sculpin, several gumboot chitins, several different nudibranch, and small crabs, a couple of California sea cucumbers and green urchins. Not bad for the currents we had. We were all glad that we made it out in one piece. Several people commented that it was quite the life experience! See "Life flashing in front of you!" Thank you Ron, Tod, Jack, Jill, Buck and Cami for even getting in the water with us. Thank you So Much to Autumn for being our beach support! Well done all! The lab is starting to look pretty good. Let’s keep contributing as we can! Remember to check with Keith before heading up so he can ready the lab or let you know if he can’t be there.

I just want to say that you all missed one doosey of a dive. To everybody that showed up……. It was my privilege and pleasure to have done this dive with you all. Thank you.

Steve Berthinier

Hello All! Once more fearless Divers from Emerald Sea Dive Club exploratory team, set off to the wilds of the Great North. Eleven sluggish divers met up at Elena’s even as the roosters pulled their feathered tushes out of bed we headed north. We caught the 10:15ish Ferry from Tsawwassen, B.C. We had a good time chit chatting on the ride over. There were only 3 of us that were on the first exploratory club trip up to Quadra Island. Half the people had little or no experience diving in Canadian waters. Were they in for a treat! We all managed to make it to Madrona Point our first dive of this adventure. Something to wet our appetites.

The weather was good to us. We had little wind and no surf to speak of. Me, Glen, Sid, John, Tina and Mike P. entered the water. Elena is still out for her shoulder. Jack, Jill and Brian sat out. That’s right! We got to meet the ever patient and understanding husband of our fanatical diver Jill. Great guy. Sabina sat out still recovering from her flight back from Germany. Yes, all you wanna be hardcore divers, Glen and Sabina had barely got off the plane from Germany and they were heading to Quadra for Diving! HA! Tough act to follow, eh?

Anyway, we entered the water pretty much directly off the point and headed down slope. We quickly ran into a group of walls running about 30 to 40 feet deep. We all moved from one wall to another checking out the nooks and crannies. Found one very shy Octo in the wall. LEAVE ME ALONE. I AM TRYING TO SLEEP HERE! It seemed to say. So, being NW divers, we all took turns shining our lights in its bedroom.

Tina and I headed down slope hoping to find a second wall. No such luck. We leveled out at about 75 ft. There were sea whips as shallow as 50 ft and there were skate egg cases all over. As we headed back up slope we ran into more of the wall. Working along the wall we spotted a bed of orange sea fans along the top of the wall. We continued to snoop in every nook and crevice while heading in when I spotted an octopus hiding in a good size den. We backed off and suddenly it decided to come out and check US out. "Whatcha guys doing?" it seemed to say as it watched us for a little while. Then it flashed a little white and went for Tina. Now she was there when the octopus attacked me at Keystone Jetty so she was not taking any chances. As the octopus moved toward her she went up in the water. The octopus was not pleased and huffed back to its den and slammed the door. Wow!

We continued up slope and ran into a nice eelgrass field. We noticed a dendronotus rufus nudibranch and watched as it stuck its face into a tube dwelling anemone and ate it. Way cool. As we worked our way through we began to notice rufus all through the eelgrass. I almost shouted "Stampede". We even got to watch one lay eggs. Then……I looked up……. and saw the top of the eelgrass was full of hooded nudibranch. They were all over. Some were pretty big too. I watched several as they sat on the grass and waved their hoods into the current looking for lunch. Then we watched several hooded nudibranch lay their eggs as well. Their eggs looked like bright orange bells hanging from the underside of the eelgrass. That was the first day of diving.

We were lucky the first day at Quadra. Slack was not until almost 9:30! We got to sleep in….smirk. We got up to some of Deb’s good food. We also noticed that a young cat is slowly adopting Deb and working on training Deb. After breakfast we loaded up and headed for the boat where Earl was waiting. After several trips up and down the pier and even one back to Abyssal Lodge we headed out to "Row and Be Damned". Pink and orange are still the colors of choice up there. We counted nine Puget Sound king crabs in one spot. Jack and Jill spotted three more crabs together at another spot. We also saw cushion stars, lemon peals/orange peals, and assorted dorids.

We quickly settled into our buddy teams: Jack and Jill, Tina and I, Glen and Sabina. We also picked up a pair of Lars. Lars P and Lars J. dove and stayed a couple of days with us. Then we had the Gypsy divers. Sid, John, Mike P. and Christen (an Australian diver who joined us at the end). All of them sort of shuffled each other and we were not sure who would be buddies until they hit the water. One time Mike P. even managed to sneak in with Jack and Jill for a diver triad. We also adjusted teams as people sat out dives due to illness. No they were not that sick and tired of us. Just sick in general. We ended up doing Copper Cliffs twice, Row and Be Damned, Middle and Start of the Road and the Que Cove.

Que Cove is off to the right as you leave the dock before you pass the little island. It is the corner of the ferry cove on the opposite side of Whiskey Wall? Confused? Guess you will just have to go with Loogpla and see for yourself. The visibility was great, 40 to 50 ft for almost every dive. Elena couldn’t have picked better currents. What little current we had was easy to swim into or go with. Yes!

Mike P. and Christen (the Aussie) managed to find the wolf eel on Copper Cliffs wall and get it to come out!

I fed an octopus in the Que Cove. At first it was pushing out with its tentacles like "I don’t want any junk mail" and we had this bizarre pushathon with a poor little Rock crab. Back and forth, in and out. Hey, Stop that. Get your mind on diving! I think it was house building when I crashed in. It was pushing debris out when I started the great food fight. Finally the octopus must have stopped and tasted the crab because then it was "MINE!" and in went the crab. I counted my fingers and Tina just laughed and shook her head at me. That’s o.k. When we were heading up the incline at Que Cove we were poking in the rocks when I noticed movement below Tina. All I saw was elbows and tentacles as this octopus comes boiling out from underneath Tina! She looked down just in time to see it boil out in front of her and jet off inking us all the way. It went down slope and sat outside cussing us out for a couple minutes before it went into the rocks. We never did figure out what we did to piss it off so much.

We had walls of pink anemone. Walls of orange cup coral. Lemon/Orange peels all over. One wall dive all we seemed to see were flabalina nudibranch. I think everybody got to see at least one Puget Sound king crab. Jack and Jill even saw a very young lions mane jellyfish!

Oh yeah! The small jellyfish were all over through the water. We saw them down to about 30 ft. We saw nanomia bijuga, pleurobrachia bachei, lobate ctenophore, haeckelia beehleri and clione limacina to name just a few. Yeah, I know. What’s with the Latin lesson? It seems, to really I.D. critters so there is no confusion you need to use their scientific names. Example, painted greenling and convict greenling are the same fish. While researching this article I have noticed several times where one book has a different common name than another.

Cheng-Hui Wong

Hello, you all.  A diver friend of mine, Bob Lew, has asked me to do a dive
for 120+/- second grade students at Camano Island on June 7^th. Splash is
11am for a 20 minute dive. Of course I will be there for I am honored to be part
of kids' fun activities.
I was also told that we need at least two more divers to do the job.  Can
someone be available to come and help on Tuesday, June 7th? Please let me
know so I can have Bob Lew e-mail you the directions.
Thank you and you all have wonderful dives......Cheng

Cheng-Hui Wong

I just finished taking a Rescue Diver class certified by NAUI through Starfish Diving in Seattle. The instructors were Cheryl Fisher and Bob Bailey. The class topics included how to recognize problems and prevent accidents before they happen, how to deal with distressed divers above and below the surface, how to keep from getting into trouble by recognizing events that can cause accidents, and how to rescue ourselves by becoming self-sufficient divers.

We also took the DAN O2 course and DAN Basic Life Support …… which includes accident management, first aid, CPR, and training on using an AED. At first I thought it was really not necessary to take these again, for I was trained 3 years ago by the YMCA on first aid, CPR and DAN O2 …… but throughout the class I realized that the technology is constantly changing and this time there were many new skills and new concerns to be learned and to be self-protected, especially on medical and legal issues.

The fun thing was the 2 days of open water exercises ……. of course this was my after thoughts. While I was doing it, these dives were the most physically demanding thing I have ever experienced.

The first day (5/21) we did search and recovery dives. The instructors had set up a course and "lost" several items. Each team of two students was assigned an item that they had to find, and we had to decide which search pattern to use to find it. At another part of the dive site, each team had to go look for a heavy object (a cinder block), and when they found it they had to bring it to the surface using a lift bag …….. it was actually a fun thing to do. The purpose of these dives was to help us practice how to plan and carry out an underwater search, and to give us practice at how to safely ascend while carrying out other duties.

The second day (5/22) we were to search for an unconscious victim in the water at about 20’ fsw, lift them up, on the surface call for help, perform rescue breathing while towing to shore, drop all BCDs, weight belts and fins, pull victim up to the beach and provide DAN O2 to victim. We had three victims in the water, and each team had to rescue each victim at least once. The victim’s conditions were: breathing and conscious, breathing and unconscious, and not breathing and unconscious. Based on these conditions we had to choose how to tow the victim to shore and what type of mask to use to provide oxygen.

It takes judgment, strength, and skill to achieve all these tasks……for example, when my teammate (about my size) and I were towing and breathing on the surface on the way in to shore, this part was hard work but manageable, thanks to the buoyancy on the surface. But pulling a 230lb/6’1’’ victim from the shoreline to the beach was next to impossible …… but we managed it with some help.

Another rescue to mention ……. one time my teammate and I went into the water and did not know there was another victim down there for another team. I was totally aiming straight for the bubbles and went down to the wrong victim. I don’t know how long he had been there, but there was a sun star on his tank. I moved away the star fish and turned to hold onto the victim’s regulator, at the same time I realized he was not my victim. The evaluator was there pointing to me the direction of my victim ….. who was actually 10 feet away, but the viz was only about 5-8 feet. When I started to swim to that direction, I was almost head on with the team who were looking for their victim …. I can see one of them had her eyes opened as wide as her mask; she must have been so surprised that I was about to take away their victim ……

Over all, I had wonderful instructors for this 2-week long class. These are very important skills and knowledge for me as a diver to understand what potential emergencies could happen, and what I can do not only to help someone else, but also to help myself not become a second victim at emergency situation. Even more important is that they taught us what we can do to prevent accidents from happening in the first place. It wasn’t until I had my hands-on experiences that I truly understood the limit of my training, my skill and my strength.

If nothing else, from here and on I will be more alert to dive equipment maintenance and dive planning and aware of what is going on around me during the dive to reduce the risk of being a victim myself someday.

Wendy Drucker

As divers we have all been taught, "Don’t touch anything. Don’t bother the animals—we are merely tourists in their world." As members of the Emerald Sea Dive Club we have rare opportunities to interact with the marine creatures on our collection dives at Camp Casey and Richmond Beach. We justify these special collections because they enlighten non-divers, teaching them to respect the life below the waves, and because we take care that the animals come to no harm.

These notes are my personal observations and are intended for our many new members, and for everyone else who needs them.

1. When you remove a creature from its home you are responsible for its well-being during the collection and on the return to shore. At Richmond Beach we are collectively responsible for the creatures on shore and during their return to their homes.
2. Critters collected at Camp Casey are in good hands with Keith Ludeman, the resident marine biologist. At Richmond Beach it is we who have to take care of them after they are brought ashore.
3. Handle the creature very gently. If you can’t get it into your bag or jar without harming it, just leave it alone.
4. If you have to uproot it or forcibly pry it off a rock, you may hurt it. Just leave it. At Richmond Beach visitors will be able to look at critters such as limpets, chitons, and anemones in the tidal pools.
5. California sea cucumbers (the big orange-brown ones) do not fare well in the Richmond Beach touch pools. Aquarium volunteers have reported them washing ashore dead after we leave. I no longer bring these poor guys in.
6. Grabbing fish is great fun for us but bad for the fish. You can trap or net a fish, but if you have to seize it with your hands and grip it, you are probably hurting it. Their bones and organs are no match for your strength. Just because it swims away doesn’t mean it isn’t mortally wounded.
7. Large crabs are not suitable for kiddies’ touch pools. Think little fingers and big pinchers.
8. Think about the mix you are creating in your bag. If you want to bring in a Pycnipodia (sunflower star) leave it for last to collect. There are plenty of them. If you put it in your bag at the beginning of the dive it might eat some of your other catches. Same for other large starfish. (If you have any crabs in your bag, the stars will often willingly cling to the outside for the swim in.)
9. The water in the touch pools at Richmond Beach warms up quickly. Cold sea water has to be added frequently. These critters cannot tolerate warm water. At the end of your dive, instead of stripping off your gear and heading for the food, take a turn hauling in buckets of cold water. The beach volunteers try, but it is much easier for someone wearing an exposure suit. Also, someone in a suit needs to take the animals back to their home.
10. Your first concern is, of course, your personal safety, and your buddy’s safety. But beyond that, your primary consideration as a collector must be the life and well-being of each creature you take. You volunteered—they did not!

A note from Fran. Please DO NOT bring back Sand Stars because they are too fragile. Sand Stars are found at 50’+. Please be kind to the animals; our intent is NOT to harm.

Did you know that when you show your ESDC membership card at Starfish Dive Shop you receive a 10% discount? Did you know that if you show your ESDC membership card at Northwest Sport Dive you get a free air fill? Be sure you have your ESDC membership card with you when you go shopping at dive shops—you just never know.

If other shops give you a discount please let us know and we will publish their name.

You could win a $50.00 ESDC check by hosting club dives. Every time you sponsor a club dive your name "goes into a hat" and twice a year a raffle will be held and one person from each drawing will receive $50.00 from ESDC as a Thank You for sponsoring dives, friendships, and fun! Remember, a club dive is a dive approved by Greg Becvar, Activities Coordinator, and placed on the clip-board and on the ESDC web site. This is a great way to meet club members and have lots of fun. Book your dives today! Remember: the more dives you book the more chances you have of winning.

When you take a class that furthers your diving experience, such as Advanced Open Water, Rescue, Dive Master, etc., show The Board your certification card and you will receive a congratulatory $15.00. This offer is only good one time per calendar year.

E-mail Jason Miller, our mailing list moderator, jason.t.miller@comcast.net

to be put on the ESCD yahoo group mailing list

(www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ESDClist) where you can communicate with other members regarding various dive topics, find dive buddies, or let everyone know about a

planned dive that did not make it to the newsletter or clipboard in time. Join the list so YOU won’t be left out!

4820 196^th SW

Lynnwood WA

425-775-5459

Board meeting, 6:00 p.m.; everyone is welcome to join. General meeting, 7:00 p.m.

Heading north on I-5: take exit 181B (196^th St SW/Alderwood Mall Pkwy). At the top of the exit there is a stop light, turn left. At the next stop light turn left onto 196^th St SW proceeding to 48^th. Alfy’s is on the south side of the road. (Alfy’s is 4 blocks down from The Rock.)

Heading south on I-5: take exit number 181 (Lynnwood). At the top of the exit there is a stop light, turn right onto 196^th St SW, proceed to 48^th. Alfy’s is on the south side of the road. (Alfy’s is 4 blocks down from The Rock.)

President Loogpla Cowden loogplacowden@att.net

Vice-President Steve Berthinier resoyrua@verison.net

Secretary/historian Rose Lyn Tadlock tadloro2002@yahoo.com

Treasurer Cheng-Hui Wong chengwong@comcast.net

Activities Coordinator Greg Becvar tridoxia@yahoo.com

Newsletter Editor David Ripley esdcnewsletter@mindspring.com

Big Buddy Coordinators Skip Stacy skipstacy@aol.com

Wendy Drucker astromoi@earthlink.net

Greeter Jared Averill jared_averill@hotmail.com

Web Master Phil Morgan-Ellis pmorg@olympus.net

Visit our web site: www.emeraldseadiveclub.org

Write us: Emerald Sea Dive Club

PO Box 73

Edmonds WA 98020

Contact any of the board members via telephone or e-mail www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ESDClist

₪ Greg Becvar

360-659-2853

tridoxia@yahoo.com

₪ Bruce Bury –PADI rescue

425-788-8063

bury1of6@aol.com

₪ Jason Miller –Rescue

425-778-7548

Jason.t.miller@comcast.net

₪ Skip Stacy – rainy days

425-775-2410

₪ John Laggart –weekday dives

jmnlaggart@msn.com

If you are interested in being included on this list please contact the editor.

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