www.emeraldseadiveclub.org

In This Issue

Guest Speaker

Dive Club Vision:

We have a number of successes to celebrate this month.

It was great to take a break from writing the President’s Column last month. Thank you all for being patient.

For more than ten years ESDC has sponsored the Critter Dive for the City of Shoreline by collecting the marine critters for the tide pool show and tell for many non-diving communities. We are hosting this event again in June and July in partnership with the Seattle Aquarium at the Richmond Beach Park. This event has been a favorite of the dive club. AKA "practice picnic & BBQ" We need divers and BBQrs!

Ron Migas will be leading our summer time picnic this August and Jill Keeler will be leading our Holiday party this winter. Many of you expressed interest of being on this committee.

The Big Buddy Program is in high demand and ramping up with joy! Won’t you share your passion? Six of our dive buddies will be participating in the rescue course this fall. We are looking for dive masters or rescue certified divers to participate. These are some opportunities for you to be involved—please join in. We’ll be glad you did.

Did you know that our Web Master lives in Costa Rica? YES…. "COSTA RICA PHIL" He and his wife Debra have been living there since January 2006.

During the month of July I am traveling to the Great Lakes to scout and dive the wrecks from the 1800’s. My goal is to have this be one of the future ESDC adventures. Please standby.

Last month we hosted and entertained divers from the Lake Erie Wreck Diver Club, Cleveland, Ohio. Many of you came to greet and dive with our guests. I want to express my sincere thanks to each and every one of you for your warm welcome and for being the beautiful people you are! I am very PROUD to be a part of your life and a member of the ESDC.

Here’s what one diver had to say: An excellent trip to the Pacific Northwest (Seattle and the San Juan Islands!). Marty, George Balas and I did 10 dives in 4 days. One day of shore diving and 3 days of boat diving. We saw a giant octopus, huge crabs in EROTIC mating action, sea lions, ling cods, wolf eels...We had great weather and a GREAT time thanks to Marty and the local Emerald Sea Dive Club! I am resting this weekend!  Jacques.

Rock on Babe!

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

The deadlines for submissions are:

June 26

July 24

August 29

September 26

October 24

November 28

photo by: Bob Bailey

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.

The photos can be submitted to me via e-mail to edscnewsletter@mindspring.com

or by hard copy at any of the meetings.

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.

Everyone is encouraged to submit a paragraph or two about themselves. How and why you got interested in diving, where’s your favorite dive site and what you enjoy most about diving are all subjects you could include. Don’t be bashful, tell us about yourself.

Camp Casey Experience

Norman Gregory

I am always interested in reading the stories of dives-gone-bad in the DAN magazine so that I can learn from them and avoid making the same mistakes that someone else made.  Johanna and I submit the following article so that others can learn from our misadventure and hopefully be safer divers because of what they read above water rather than what they learned the hard way in the water.

After having a great dive at the Langley tire reef, Johanna, I and Clarice (my non-diver wife) headed up to Ft. Casey to try our hand at critter collecting.  We arrived long before when I had predicted the slack would be and yet the water was already near calm. 

 I tried to reach Keith, the holder of the critter taking permit, to ask him to come early but was unable to.  We ate some lunch while we waited and then on Bruce’s (to our surprise) and Keith’s arrival and after we signed the dive release forms, we got into the water.  On entry to the water the current was still at slack and we headed out without problem.  Soon after we arrived at the critter collecting area we noticed that the current was starting up but tried to make use of the last bit of slack we had by collecting what we could. 

 We did well maintaining buddy contact despite about 10 ft of visibility, the increasing current, and trying to look for critters.  The current started picking up pretty rapidly and began to push us out from shore rather than parallel to shore, as we had expected, so we agreed to head in. 

Shortly after trying to swim in it became apparent that I couldn’t carry my critter bag against the current so I stopped to empty out a large rock and anemone.  Johanna turned and came to my aid.  She had one hand holding onto my BC and the other grasping a large rock outcropping as I tried to clear the large rock from my critter bag.  In the process we lost everything out of the bag including Bruce’s bottles.  We made eye contact and quickly agreed that they were not worth going after. 

 Johanna turned toward shore and headed in carrying her critter collection bag and I started to follow only to discover that my collection bag was caught behind a rock and being pulled to the end of its tether by the current.   I knew that I had adequate air but was aware that my breathing was quickly getting out of control and I wouldn’t have air for long.  

 I released the clip to the bag and tried to swim after Johanna. I was making minimal progress and eating air like crazy so I chose to surface and lost track of Johanna.  I made it to shore in a condition such that I had to strip all of my gear off and only then could barely stand after a long swim against the current with loud prayers asking that Johanna be OK.  Once on shore I heard that Johanna’s bubbles were moving toward the north and toward shore.  When she was able to speak she told me that she had crawled the entire way in.

 The worst thing for both of us was the recognition that we would have to abandon our partner who we knew was in trouble.  In my old volunteer firefighter days we talked about the adage that one victim is always better than two.  In other words, if you are going to become a second victim don’t try the rescue – protect yourself.  It sounds great in theory but we can both now tell you it is an awful decision to make in practice. 

 What went wrong:

• Really we made one bad decision – we were so anxious to collect critters that we went into the water not accounting for the period of time prior to Keith’s arrival that the current was essentially nonexistent.
• The second mistake we made was not immediately returning to shore once the current started to pick up.  Instead we tried to cheat Mother Nature when we should have headed to shore with the first sign that the current had returned.
• In the rush to get into the water Johanna did not set her compass to shore.  This resulted in increased anxiety and a dependence solely on depth and air gages.  During her crawl back she described hearing some sort of a horn.  She thought that it was maybe the ferry horn and feared that if she lost her grip she would be pulled into the ferry lane by the current. Hence, she traveled northeast towards shore instead of directly east or southeasterly, increasing the distance and time to shore.  In review, Johanna now believes that she was hearing her own regulator being overworked by her breathing.

 What went right:

• We both kept our heads about us – the decisions we made were rational and indicated high anxiety but no panic.
• The decision to leave our goodie bags behind (I will reassess where I carry my emergency scissors – they would have been very hard to get to had I not been unable to unsnap my goodie bag (read "anchor")).
• The decision on my part to surface and not to go back to look for Johanna – I would have added an out of air emergency in short order to our situation if I had stayed on the bottom.
• Johanna’s decision to go take care of herself and not search for me allowed her to get to shore alive.
• Having a shore watch could have been a life saver – Bruce could have gotten his gear and gone for Johanna if he had seen her bubbles not moving and a call to 911 would have gotten help to me if I had been unable to overcome the surface current on my own.

Martha Hoch

My dive buddy, Rich, and I showed up at the Sunrise parking lot at 9:30 a.m. as mentioned in the newsletter calendar. I hadn’t picked up the e-mail that indicated that the meet time had been changed. Not knowing this we went about setting up our gear and waited for Loogpla and the others to arrive. At about 10 a.m. we figured that something must’ve come up and she cancelled the dive. We decided to dive anyway.

We splashed at about 10:45 a.m. and had a slight current pushing us south. Once aligned with the tree we descended and headed out to the wall and continued south. Visibility was about 15ft and murky. We immediately saw buffalo sculpins, ratfish, a couple of red Irish lords, scads of scallops and a nudibranch egg mass along with a host of other creatures. Our first wolf-eel encounter was a small youngster still wearing his spots. He ventured out of his den a wee bit but chose to remain inside for the most part. Farther along we came across a pair of wolf-eels. The male was grey, but the female was still in spots, although much larger than the previous one we saw. She immediately came all the way out of her den to check us out and enjoy a belly rub. It looked like she may have thought we were going to feed her. Once she realized we didn’t have any food she swam off.

I thought it strange that she didn’t go back into her den to rejoin her partner. Perhaps she was in pursuit of lunch.

We headed back along the top edge of the wall and had a slight current pushing us north. Rich discovered a mosshead warbonnet and I found a small GPO tucked in his den. As we came into the shallows we entered a kelp garden teaming with several types of perch.  

Hiking back up to the parking lot we met up with Loogpla, Joanna and Greg. Joanna and Greg were geared up to go on their dive. Loogpla chose to sit this one out and provided shore support.

Rich and I agreed that this was the best dive we’ve had in awhile. In addition to the wonderful sightings, we also lucked out in that when we did our dive we were the only divers on the wall! What a fortunate opportunity it was to dive Sunrise by ourselves without having to share it with other divers from shore or boat.   

Loogpla Cowden

After breakfast Thursday morning Marty and I, along with George and Jacques began day one of our four day adventure in the Pacific Northwest. The first dive was at the Edmonds U/W Park. It was a very low tide, a great opportunity for everyone to check out their weight and say "hello" to the Puget Sound. We dove the Cathedral - this area was gleaming with sea life and massive ling cods and cabazons. Every time I looked over at George he was giving me the "arm length signal" with an amazed grin on his face as he pointed to the ling cods. Marty was curious of the cabazon that was sitting still. Before I could show him that it was sitting on eggs he began to pat the fish and to his surprise he found himself fighting and defending himself from the cabazon – it was so funny!

I just got my dry suit back from DUI and my neck seal did not fit properly and it began to leave a bruised mark on my neck. Later that afternoon we resumed our dive at Seacrest Cove 2 where we met seven ESDC Divers. Elena DiPardo graciously let the guys borrow her tanks and Jerry Dollar generously lent one of his computers to George who was furiously upset that his computer detected trouble during air travel and began to log dives when he took it out of the pelican box. Great day of diving. WOW!

We slept in Friday morning, then off to south sound where we met with five more ESDC divers to dive with Bandito Charters. We arrived early with enough time to tour the Tacoma Glass Museum – nice place. Our first dive was the Maury Island Barge – interesting site, nice and easy. If you have not dived this site I recommend that you try it. Marty had promised the guys that they would see Pacific Giant Octopuses and wolf-eels – indeed we did at Sunrise Beach. By this time my neck is very sore, but I was not going to give up diving, no way…..

Knowing we had to catch Deep Sea Charter at 7:00 a.m. the next day we decided to spend the night in Anacortes and along our way we stopped to have dinner with Elena – Thank you for the golden duck it was very yummy! Late to bed… early to rise...

The guys went to breakfast; I slept in until it was time to board the charter Saturday morning where we met up with eight more ESDC divers. Then off to the San Juan we go, all twelve of us! We did a couple of drift dives in the morning and we ended the day with a nice leisurely dive and a glass of wine with the Deep Sea Crew. After the first dive George’s regulator blew a hose on the first stage. Talk about sadness…but we were saved by Bob Bailey who came prepared with an extra regulator—thank you Bob for your generosity. We ended our evening with great food, excellent conversation and good friends. Late to bed…early to rise…again.

The guys went to breakfast Sunday morning; I slept in until it was time to board the Charter again. By this morning my neck is looking very bad I made one dive on Sunday morning and I knew I had to give up diving for the day! While Marty was diving with George and Jacques, I spent my day lounging aboard the 46’ dive vessel cruising and enjoying the fresh air. By the time the third dive came around 5 divers dove it while seven got a sun tan and enjoyed the beautiful San Juan. A special thank you to Elena, Jerry and Bob for your generosity and sharing your dive equipment. Thank you Kevin Casey for organizing the Bandito Charter. Thank you Eric Sarchet and Ryan Smith for your encouragement you showed George and Jacques at the Underwater Park and for putting the lines out at the Cove 2 for us to go on a tour. Most of all, my appreciation to all of you for your love. It’s a total privilege to be a part of your lives.

Evening Phone: 425-316-9973

Day Phone, Ron 206-617-7238 (Cell)

Camp Patterson is located on the Northwest side of Silver Lake, and is part of the

Thornton A. Sullivan Park. The facility includes two sheltered areas, restrooms, and a large grassed area for games and activities. The main park has a public swimming beach, public dock for fishing with playground equipment for the very young.

As with all Everett Parks, there is NO ALCOHOL or PETS allowed in the facility.

Please plan to join the club for food, games, friendship, dive stories and of course FUN.

more information to come……………………………….

Seattle Underwater Sports

June 14 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

$45 plus tide and current tables for approximately $15

Become an expert on advanced dive planning! This hands-on workshop will
teach you how to predict the currents with confidence using the most precise
tool available: the NOAA tables. You become skilled on how to :
choose the optimal day and time to dive
determine the exact time of slack at any location or dive site
determine the speed of the current at anytime of day
calculate the duration of slack.

In addition, the workshop will explain how
tides and currents are monitored, dispel common myths about dive planning
and tides and introduce you to the dynamics of Northwest currents.

Class text book: 2006 Pacific Northwest Tide
and Current Tables -Pelagia Publications. Available at Underwater Sports.
For more information visit www.pelagiascuba.com , call 206-618-2538 or sign
up at Underwater Sports.
Presented by Mischi Carter

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

FREEDOM ORDER – Have the ESDC logo embroidered on blankets or any article of clothing.

Personally customized by Rodney Windhorst: lsvision@earthlink.net

Be sure you have your ESDC membership card with you when you go shopping at dive shops—you just never know. If you find a dive shop that offers you a discount for being an ESDC member 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 or Loogpla Cowden, loogplacowden@att.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, June 7th 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 Moore-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.