www.emeraldseadiveclub.org

In This Issue

Guest Speaker

Loogpla Cowden

Scrap books keep the dive memories alive

I take a couple of dive vacations and go on many weekend trips during the year. One of the most exciting moments is choosing the perfect destination, the charter operator and a quirky captain I thought might be a bandit, but who ended up taking me to the perfect wall and the look on my friend’s face when they made their first plunge.

Some of the best memories are made during planning. Unfortunately, vacations end and the realities of everyday life return. With a little planning, creativity and a few basic supplies you can preserve your dive vacation memories in a way that keeps the memories alive. Here are a few simple steps I find useful. They keep me organized in an easy-to- put-together exciting scrapbook of memories.

Before leaving I begin recording the trip with information from the internet, collect brochures, magazine, maps and I pack a camera with plenty of film and extra batteries.

During my travel I open myself to the new experiences and I don’t think about work or what I have to do when I get back! I collect memorabilia and keep my eyes open for collectible objects. I save my airline tickets, drink coaster, brochures, maps, menus, receipts from the places I visit. I have a short memory so I take simple notes of the areas, highlights of the day, my first reaction to new things, description of the food, people, scenery, and any comments that I might have made. All these things are valuable.

Here are some things I put into my scrapbooks: postcards, menus, hotel stationary, airline ticket, receipts, notes from my journals, stickers, decals, match books, business cards, anything of interest. As you are putting your scrapbook together don’t be afraid to cut items down or crop out distracting elements. With a little planning and your imagination your dive memories can last a lifetime. No trips ever have to end….Think of what you want to tell yourself about this trip in ten years. Enjoy.

At last count, there are five calendars left for sale. The cost is $5 to any member who has not yet purchased one and $12.50 for additional ones. They will be available at the February meeting (and every meeting after that until they are gone) so bring money and help support your club.

Everyone is encouraged to submit stories about their dives or any dive related topic.

The deadline for submissions is:

February 20

March 27

April 24

May 29

June 26

July 24

August 29

September 26

October 24

November 28

Open to all ESDC members. Photographs may be of above water dive related subjects as well as underwater subjects.

Each participant may submit a total of 12 photographs with no more than 3 submitted in any one month. Photographs should be those taken from October 2005 through September 2006.

Contest closes September 2006 and entries must be submitted no later than the October 5^th meeting.

Prizes and calendar price will be announced later.

Mary Lou Hernandez

Hello fellow members, I am your new secretary. My introduction to diving occurred in 1987 when I took a NAUI certification course. Unfortunately, life got in the way and I didn’t dive beyond the requisite dives. I continued to dream about having the time and opportunity to dive again when in 2002 I found myself vacationing in Hawaii. The resort offered a PADI certification course and I decided to go for it! I vowed to pursue diving and make diving more than once a year a reality.

Once I came back home I knew one way to keep my foot in the water was to further my diving education. I took my advance class with Gerry Dollar and also met Elena. Her enthusiasm for the Emerald Sea Dive Club and invitation to see what the club was all about helped me find the diving opportunities I was hoping for. Membership has helped me make new friends and experience some great new adventures. I recently returned from a club-organized dive to Thailand. I am looking forward to another great year with the Emerald Sea Dive Club and as one of the board members give a little something back to a club that has enriched my life.

photo by Willow Moore Mukherjee

It was a beautiful day for sinking an artificial reef!

I feel fortunate to be associated with this great, world changing project!  The BC Artificial Reef project has set the standards for the world (our own EPA, the UN, and other countries individual programs), and we all know how much the sea life loves the new toys we send down (new homes for many).

Willow Moore Mukherjee

Loogpla Cowden

On Jan. 14^th I had the privilege of being a part of the sinking of the Boeing 737 that our club has been apart of since 2003. This plane is sitting at 95’ off Chenaminus, Vancouver Island, BC, which is known as the "Xihwu Reef." I swear that you can almost swim to it. Our plaque is mounted in the main body of the cabin above the cockpit on the portside.

Gordy Hendrickson, my friend from Lighthouse Diving Center, and I caught the last ferry from Twassan to Duke Point on Friday Jan. 13^th. We woke up Saturday morning to find ourselves boat-less and to the bad news that our very own charter operator Ian, of Ocean Explorer, had suffered a stroke. Willow and her daughter spent their day shopping and enjoying each others company while Gordy and I witnessed the sinking from the beach. There were approximately 400 spectators and 175+ boats around the sinking. Needless to say, we did not dive the plane that day. Later that afternoon we went to Duncan, the nearest dive shop 20 kilometers south of our destination. We met at 6:00 p.m. for cocktails, dinner, auction, and dancing – it was a sold out event. Willow and I bid on a two-tank dive for four with Island Dive and Water Sport in Canada – We won…. Hooray!

We ended the weekend with a great day of diving at Snake Island, the home for the former HMCS Saskatchewan, a 366’ ex-Canadian navy destroyer. I tell you this dive was teaming and glowing with LIFE and worth going back any time. Our second dive was to the 157’ North Sea Rescue Tug, Rivtow Lion, sunk just one year ago in Departure Bay. I love playing hide and go seek on this wreck.

We are planning to join Howie and Larry Reeves of the Artificial Reef Society on March 4 & 5 to do the check out dive. For more information please visit www.divemaster.ca If you are interested in going please let me know.

Emerald Sea Dive Club,

We would like to inform your dive club of a Diver Observation Program that has recently been put in place as part of the Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program.  We hope there are divers who are interested in learning more about the study and who may be willing to provide insight to conditions in Hood Canal and help increase our understanding of this unique body of water.

During late summer and into the fall dissolved oxygen levels in Hood Canal decrease and it is during this time of year that observations of unusual fish behavior and significant fish kills in the southern portion of Hood Canal have been reported.  Weekly water sampling efforts monitor dissolved oxygen levels throughout the year and it shows that fish kills in 2003 and 2004 occurred when dissolved oxygen was very low throughout much of the water column.  There have been other instances when oxygen levels have dropped, but no reports have been made and we are left to wonder how marine life was responding.  The Diver Observation Program has been developed as a way of collecting and organizing the immense amount of information and knowledge that divers have of underwater conditions and the behavior and activity of marine life.  This is an important element to our understanding of Hood Canal and we greatly appreciate divers who are willing to contribute to the study. 

The program is set up so divers willing to participate can pick up dive slates from local dive shops, record their underwater observations and report the information back to the dive shop and the HCDOP.  Using an underwater data sheet developed for this program, divers identify the species present in designated depth zones and record abundance levels.  With this data we are looking at trends in the abundance and depth distribution of different species as the seasons and dissolved oxygen levels change.  The data will be used to compare trends and variability for different locations in the Canal and for different species.  

For those who are interested much more information about the overall Hood Canal Dissolved Oxygen Program can be found at the following website: www.hoodcanal.washington.edu. 

The information collected will be available for review on the HCDOP website.  If you have scheduled dives anywhere in Hood Canal grab a dive slate from a local dive shop.  All of the Hood Canal dive shops are participating.  If there is a lot of interest within your club maybe your group would want to organize a trip to the Canal with the goal of collecting data for the study.  The more people that are involved the clearer the behavior and movements of local fish populations become.  More participation allows the ability to recognize trends related to changing water conditions. 

Thank you for your time.  For more information please don’t hesitate to contact us at the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group.  We look forward to hearing back from you.

Greg Becvar

Jason Miller prearranged much of the following last year. Thank You Jason. I will send out more detailed info when confirmations are received.

The cost this year is $65.00 per person or $15.00 per meal for those that will only be coming up for the day. Breakfast on the first day (Saturday) is at 8:00 am, lunch is at noon and supper is at 6:00 pm. On Sunday use the same schedule. Final payment should
be made to Emerald Sea Dive Club no later than FEB 3rd. We will be lodging in the "J" barracks this year. Please bring your own bedding/sleeping bag and refreshments. There
is no alcohol allowed at the center, (if you bring any, keep it quiet and inside). We are also responsible for taking out any alcohol related containers in our own vehicles, do not place them in the trash containers in the barracks.


We use Point Wilson 1.3 miles SW for current predictions. The best current to dive is the slack before ebb.


3-10-06 8:56 am slack before flood 1:25 pm slack before ebb

 3-11-06 9:24 am slack before flood 2:42 pm slack before ebb 8:40 pm slack before flood

3-12-06 9:51 am slack before flood 3:43 pm slack before ebb

I would recommend that the briefing be 45 minutes prior to the slack. That will give people the window to check the current prior to splashing.

Picnic Point
Greg Becvar

John Laggart and I dove Picnic Point on December 30. The directions I had were not correct, so it took us an extra 45 minutes to find the right road to the park. John elected to carry all his gear over the walking bridge in one trip. I took two trips because I'm a wimp. We had never dove this site before so we decided to go down to 30' and start heading north. The stony shore became patches of eelgrass and as we went deeper it became sandy and very sterile. No fish, no crabs, no nudibranchs, not even garbage. The visibility ranged from 15-20'. We turned around and started heading back at around 55'. We finally saw a few tires dumped here and there. The only place we really saw any marine life was by those tires. We got back to the beach a little south of where we planned and then dragged ourselves back up over the bridge. The first thing I told John when we got back to the Jeep was, if I ever have a stupid idea like that again for Gods’ sake tell me!

1.  Port Authority Fleece Vest R-TEK - #JP79

2.  Port Authority Polo Shirt KP 60? 

3.  Jackets: black – 754-BK  gold –754-GD

4.  Jackets: All Season, men’s & women’s – black 779-BK

5.  Full Fleece Zip Jacket – available in black – 77-BK, midnight heather 77-MH

Available both men’s & women’s styles

Members can order directly from Dan Singley at www.thelogopress.com

Personally customized by Rodney Windhorst: lsvision@earthlink.net

rmigas@cbrichardellis.com if interested.  The BCD will be at the January meeting.

Ronald Migas
Facility Manager
C.B. Richard Ellis
4111 Adlerwood Mall Blvd.
Lynnwood, Wash.  98036

Telephone: 425-640-2701
FAX:  425-640-2501
E-Mail:  rmigas@cbrichardellis.com

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 Skip Stacy, 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!

Wednesday, February 1 at 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.

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 Rich Carton addcorich@verizon.net

Secretary/historian Mary Lou Hernandez hmarylou@hotmail.com

Treasurer Willow Mukherjee dr.moore@verizon.net

Activities Coordinator Skip Stacy skipstacy@aol.com

Newsletter Editor David Ripley esdcnewsletter@mindspring.com

Big Buddy Coordinator Greg Becvar tridoxia@yahoo.com

Greeter Shawn Miller shawnm1833@yahoo.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.