Emerald Sea Dive Club Newsletter

October 2005

In This Issue

Guest Speaker

President’s Column

Editor’s Column

Dues

Other Stuff

How to Contact Us

Our Next Meeting

Dive and Event Calendar

GUEST SPEAKER

Simon Geerlofs

President’s Column

Loogpla Cowden

Show and Dive

INVASIVE TUNICATE IN WASHINGTON WATER: INFO… INFO… INFO….

To Sponge or not to sponge. As I dive into our beautiful water I wonder how much of the sea life is our friend or our enemy. Beginning at 7:15PM we will have slides in place or our normal meeting. A special feature presentation of the "Invasive Tunicate" presented by Simon Geerlofs of the Washington Sea Grant. At 8:30PM we will head on down to the Edmonds U/W Park for a night dive. Please enjoy the following news article courtesy of the WA Sea Grant:

ECOSYSTEM HEALTH: Aquatic Invasive Species & Ballast Water

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Scuba Divers Monitoring for Aquatic Invasive Species

Whether you enjoy underwater photography or hunting for crab, chances are your favorite diving activity is threatened by aquatic invasive species (AIS). Also called "nuisance" or "non-native species", AIS are plants, animals, and microbes from foreign places that prey on or disrupt the lives of native marine organisms.

Northwesterners are familiar with common land-based invasive species, such as Scot's broom and Himalayan blackberry that dominate the landscape and overgrow native vegetation. The same thing can occur in aquatic environments. Imagine diving in the underwater equivalent of an abandoned, weed-choked, back alley lot. There wouldn't be much of interest to look at. Poor quality diving experiences spell trouble for our local dive community and are also indicators of reduced environmental health in Puget Sound.

Washington Sea Grant Program is working with scuba clubs, agencies, the dive industry and individual divers to recognize and report aquatic invasive species. In part, a continuation of a 2002 project with similar goals, the current effort seeks to focus divers' attentions on two particularly troublesome invasive tunicates, Didemnum sp. and Styela clava. Both of these tunicates are present in Puget Sound and both have caused economic and environmental harm in other places. Tracking their spread is a critical component of control and eradication efforts.

Studies reveal that AIS in the Pacific Northwest are rapidly increasing in range and numbers. The more divers who can help prevent new AIS introductions and can report AIS sightings to the authorities, the greater the chance of thwarting these potentially harmful organisms.

Project contributors include the Russell Family Foundation, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, the Puget Sound Action Team and Washington Sea Grant Program.

Come early to get a seat. Please bring you dive gear to the meeting and plan to join in!

Emerald Sea Dive Club Elections

October is the beginning of our election cycle.

Board officers serve for one year. They usually meet an hour before the general meeting each month (though that is their choice and can be changed) to take care of the club’s business. Each board officer has one vote on the board, though all ESDC members are welcome to attend the meetings and have their voices heard.

The process:

October meeting -- We nominate candidates for the 2006 board.

Also, start thinking for who you want to vote for as Member of the Year 2005. This person is anyone you feel has contributed the most to the club through their hard work and commitment to the activities that make the ESDC the outstanding dive clubit is.

November meeting – Election: We vote on the nominees (absentee ballot is available). Write your choice for Member of the Year in the space provided.

December Holiday Party -- Winners are announced. Think about serving on the board for a year. The club needs you. If not, serve the club by participating in the election.

AN OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE ON THE BOARD:

The president presides over board meetings and general meetings, listen to everyone's ideas and adds them to the meeting agenda, makes each meeting run on schedule, shakes hands, is friendly, gets to know club members, and represents ESDC if needed. "President" may sound grand but, in reality, each board position is of equal importance and the president only has one vote.

The vice-president recruits guest speakers.

The treasurer keeps track of club funds. This person takes in money and deposits it into the bank, pays bills, and reimburses members for authorized expenses. It is also the responsibility of the treasurer to send new members their membership cards either at the meeting or via mail. All of the club’s financial information is entered into the computer using Quicken. With Quicken, reports are generated each month for the board meeting and yearly for the membership meeting. Comparative reports are also generated to compare previous spending patterns and predict future needs (i.e. Christmas party expenses). In addition to attending monthly meetings the treasurer will spend two to three hours per month on bookkeeping tasks.

The secretary/historian’s job is to take notes during the board and general meetings and distribute them to the board; and anyone else who is interested. This person also updates the club bylaws when the board makes changes. When the club receives new members the secretary also updates the membership roster.

Activities coordinator maintains an up-to-date clipboard, adds new dives hosted by members and the dive planning committee to the clipboard as well as notifying the newsletter editor and the web master of new dives. Activities coordinator also encourages members to become active dive host by promoting the $50.00 drawing for hosting dives.

The newsletter editor is responsible for putting together the newsletter and sending it out to the membership. If you are creative and well-organized and enjoy writing, editing, and "hunting down the story" you will enjoy this position.

Web master maintains ESDC web-site.

Big buddy coordinator gets together with new members and either takes them for local dives or pairs them with another club member in order to make them feel welcome.

Editor’s Column

David Ripley

Photo Contest:

Open to all members of the ESDC.

Prizes: $100 for first place… $75 for second place… $50 for third place

Contest closes on October 5.

To date we have 72 entries. The majority of these are posted on our website. There will be a complete set of entries available at the November meeting.

Voting opened to all members of ESDC. Everyone needs to vote for their favorite twelve photos on or before the November meeting. Submit your votes by e-mail to the newsletter or at the November meeting. Keep in mind that any one photographer can have no more than three photos selected for the calendar.

Calendars will be available at the Christmas party. Cost for the first one is $5. (Every member can purchase one calendar at the $5 price whether they attend the Christmas party or not).

If you want additional calendars please let me know by the November meeting. The cost for those will be $11.45 each plus tax. After that individual calendars can be ordered at a cost of $20 plus tax.

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

or at esdcnewsletter@mindspring.com

Deadline for submissions:

October 24—for the November newsletter

November 28—for the December newsletter

Bon Voyage—to all of the divers leaving for Thailand and Hawaii. We hope you enjoy fantastic diving in warm, clear water, that you dive and travel safely and return with great memories, outlandish stories and unbelievable photos.

Other Stuff

Membership Dues

$30 for a single membership $47 for a family membership

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.

Winning $50.00

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.

Continuing Education Reward

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.

ESDC Mailing List

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!

Our Next Meeting

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Alfy’s Pizza

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.

How to Get to Alfy’s:

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.)

Board Officers, 2005

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

Board Appointees, 2005

Big Buddy Coordinators Skip Stacy skipstacy@aol.com

Wendy Drucker astromoi@earthlink.net

Greeter Shawn Miller shawnm1833@yahoo.com

Web Master Phil Morgan-Ellis pmorg@olympus.net