A Q U A T U T U S D I V I N G C L U B August 2017 Since 1958... a publication from the Aqua Tutus Diving Club, a non-profit organization established to promote Water Safety and to further the sport of SCUBA Diving. MEETING SCHEDULE General Club Meeting: First Thursday of Every Month at 7:30 p.m. (except December) Location: Round Table Pizza 20920 Redwood Road Castro Valley, CA 94546 Board of Directors Meeting: Third Thursday of Every Month at 7:00 p.m. (except December) Location: Ricky’s Sports Theatre & Grill 15028 Hesperian Blvd San Leandro, CA 94578 UPCOMING CLUB ACTIVITIES Sep 7: General Club Meeting Sep 16: Club Dive: POC Kari Klaboe Sep 21: BOD Meeting (New Location) Oct 12: Club Social at Ricky’s For a complete listing of club activities visit Meetup or ATDC Event Calendar . IN THIS ISSUE Entertainment Report ................ 2 eScrip .............................. 4 General Meeting Minutes ............. 5 BOD Meeting Minutes................ 6 Good Buddy & Bone Award ........... 7 Club Social at Ricky’s ................. 7 Useful Links ......................... 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you presenters and newsletter contributors for making this Aqua Tooter possible: Ruth Chofree, Rik Cederstrom, Matt Warren, Helga Mahlmann, Kari Klaboe, Alan Throop and Gayle Hudson. Thanks to Steele’s Discount Scuba for sending member candidates to Aqua Tutus Diving Club. Steele’s is located at 5987 Telegraph Avenue Oakland, CA 94609 (510) 655-4344 SEPTEMBER MEETING ENTERTAINMENT Mike Carter: Antarctica Mike Carter, a professional photographer, will be entertaining us with his beautiful wildlife photos and fun stories of his rugged adventures. Mike tells us, “I had the opportunity to travel to the Antarctica peninsula on a grand photography expedition. In addition, we traveled to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. The wildlife viewing rivals the experience of observing the great migration in the Serengeti. I’ll share some of my best photos and tell stories of the adventure (most of which are true).” Diving the California Coast since 1955
Transcript
AQUA TUTUS
DIVING CLUB
August 2017
Since 1958... a publication from the Aqua Tutus Diving Club, a non-profit organization established to promote Water Safety and to further the sport of SCUBA Diving.
MEETING SCHEDULEGeneral Club Meeting: First Thursday of Every Month at 7:30 p.m. (except December)Location: Round Table Pizza20920 Redwood RoadCastro Valley, CA 94546Board of Directors Meeting: Third Thursday of Every Month at 7:00 p.m. (except December)Location: Ricky’s Sports Theatre & Grill15028 Hesperian BlvdSan Leandro, CA 94578
UPCOMING CLUB ACTIVITIESSep 7: General Club MeetingSep 16: Club Dive: POC Kari KlaboeSep 21: BOD Meeting (New Location)Oct 12: Club Social at Ricky’s
For a complete listing of club activities visit Meetup or ATDC Event Calendar.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThank you presenters and newsletter contributors for making this Aqua Tooter possible: Ruth Chofree, Rik Cederstrom, Matt Warren, Helga Mahlmann, Kari Klaboe, Alan Throop and Gayle Hudson.
Thanks to Steele’s Discount Scuba for sending member candidates to Aqua Tutus Diving Club. Steele’s is located at5987 Telegraph AvenueOakland, CA 94609(510) 655-4344
SEPTEMBER MEETING ENTERTAINMENTMike Carter: AntarcticaMike Carter, a professional photographer, will be entertaining us with his beautiful wildlife photos and fun stories of his rugged adventures. Mike tells us, “I had the opportunity to travel to the Antarctica peninsula on a grand photography expedition. In addition, we traveled to the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island. The wildlife viewing rivals the experience of observing the great migration in the Serengeti. I’ll share some of my best photos and tell stories of the adventure (most of which are true).”
Member’s Night:Thailand, Cambodia, Monterey and Galapagos
At Member’s Night in August, we were treated to three presentations from Ruth Chofree, Rik Cederstrom and Matt Warren.
Ruth has written a summary of her presentation, which follows my summary of presentations from Rik and Matt.
Rik CederstromRik’s presentation was from his trip to Thailand and Cambodia on islands located in the Gulf of Thailand. Some of the islands where he dove were James Bond Island (named for the location of one of the films) and Koh Trangol where we saw his photos of Christmas tree worms, a swimming Crinoid, stingray, glass shrimp, crown of thorns, baby octopus, seahorse, pufferfish, lionfish (in their native habitat where they belong), swimming flatworms and a Tridacna clam. A beautiful video of a whale shark showed the ecosystem of remoras and pilot fish that travel with the shark.
Rik showed us some photos that clearly show the need for eco-tourism in Cambodia. A beach was covered with plastic debris, a reef was bare due to dynamite fishing (Rik felt one of the explosions underwater!) and fishing nets and traps were abandoned after getting hung up on reefs. Rik told us of a sad story that occurred the week before he arrived. A large whale shark was photographed by divers and posted to a website. A couple of days later, the local newspaper posted pics of a dead whale shark in the local fish market. The fins had already been removed and sold and the rest of the carcass was cut up and sold by the next day. The dive shop called the market on the illegal practice but was told the shark was dead when they found it. Rik said the best way to deal with a problem is international publicity and tourist/eco-dollars. Rik said, despite these problems, the area is a great place to dive and the local residents understand the money spent on viewing marine life. Doing so will help to improve the situation and convince more Cambodians to get on the ‘eco-train.’
Rik called his trip an adventure of a lifetime, a combination of great diving, marine life encounters, and political/environmental awareness.
Matt WarrenMatt presented a video entitled “385 – The Ride,” which was filmed at San Carlos Beach and featured his music, “It’s About the Ride.” It opened with barnacles feeding but they appeared to be waving in time to Matt’s music! The footage moved to the kelp forest, with a school of Senoritas, a sea cucumber feeding and a pair of harbor seals interacting, one of which came very close to Matt’s camera.
Ruth ChofreeRuth presented her beautiful photos from Galapagos and wrote this summary of her adventure:
In August of 2006, I joined 11 other underwater photographers for a most exciting two-week dive adventure, led by Steve Rosenberg, to explore the Galapagos Islands…both above and below the waters. Steve not only had been diving the Galapagos since 1994 but wrote the book on it as well, entitled ‘Dive Galapagos.’
Our boat, Deep Blue, was built in 2004 and was our dive liveaboard. It had nine modern cabins, a spacious interior and outside space for relaxation and dive gear preparation. Our experienced crew of ten welcomed us aboard and showed us the best of the Galapagos, both underwater and on land. Antonio, especially, was our schooled, knowledgeable, and experienced divemaster.
On day one we left San Cristóbal Island for Isla Lobos where we did a gear check and from there we dove off Espanola Island, and on to North Seymour Island, with both dive and land tours. Day four through eight we dove off Wolf and Darwin Islands, which were filled with Galapagos sharks, eagle rays, silkies, “gangs” of schooling barberfish, king angels cleaning hammerheads, free-swimming eels, huge turtles, whale sharks, and snorkeling with the dolphins! Even SINGING dolphins! Plus bonitas, tuna and, did I mention, MORE whale sharks?! We dove the “amphitheater” of Darwin Island, where we swam down the sand slide, as Steve called it, and watched hundreds of hammerheads pass by.
Day nine we moved over to Isabela Island (the East Coast) and did both dive and land tours filled with birthing frigates, blue-footed boobies, hundreds of iguanas, and many other Galapagos residents.
We moved on to the Gordon Rocks dive, South Plaza Island land tour, Santa Cruz Island dive and another land tour, winding up the next day at San Cristobal, where we were almost too exhausted to dress and go to our wrap-up dinner back in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Diving the Galapagos Islands is not for the faint of heart, for one must prep mightily before leaving, maintain cameras and gear almost hourly, and not require too much sleep time. Just glancing over my copious notes, I’d written that going on a two-weeks Galapagos dive trip was not for one of low energy, for peeling off my 7/5mm wet suit, fins, gloves, and hood several times a day (on bouncing seas) to go on a land trip took heaps of energy. And then, there were the hundreds of pictures to be downloaded and backed up.
This was truly one of THE most exciting and rewarding dive trips ever; however, ten years later, I still haven’t put together a “formal” Pro Show Gold show.
Meeting called to order by President Jono Dove at Round Table Pizza in Castro Valley, CA at 7:31 pm.
Speaker: Members Night
Guests: Dave Gustaf, Deb Tien, and Greg Kuftin
Entertainment (Gayle Hudson) 2017Sep: [TBD]Oct: [TBD]Nov: [TBD]Dec: No general meeting
Gayle has reached out to Clay Wiseman, California Academy of Sciences (Mesophotic Diving Work), and Steve Clabuesch (Diving & Boating Safety Officer, Institute of Marine Science at Long Marine Lab) for presentations in September, October, and November. Please check Meetup and the Aqua Tooter for entertainment updates. If you have any requests or suggestions for future entertainment, let us know at [email protected]!
Treasurer’s Report (Helga Mahlmann)We have $4,392.48 in our account and Helga needs to send in four CenCal memberships.
Membership (Debbie Muth-Driggers)75 members, including our newest life member, Renee Applegate.
Training (Dennis Hocker)• For newer members, one of the benefits of the club is
being able to dive with other members and work on training and skill building. Going diving is more important than more training.
• When we get more interest, we’ll hold another Advanced Open Water class.
For more information on training contact Dennis Hocker (510) 792-5606 [email protected] or Neil Benjamin (510) 673-0073 [email protected]
Newsletter (Lola Johnston)Newsletter went out! Contact Lola at [email protected] if you are not receiving the newsletter. Input due by the 20th of the month.
Web Goddess (Lola Johnston)• Everything is up to date! Content can be sent to
[email protected].• The online dive tag form is no longer available on the
website, the form is only available as a downloadable document.
Social Media (Gayle Hudson)• Facebook: 96 members. Participation is open to the public.• Meetup: 54 members. Participation is limited to club
members.• YouTube: We are looking for more video uploads and
recommend the video length be five to eight minutes.
Old Business• Constitution & Bylaws: Motion by Alan Throop to accept
changes to the Constitution & Bylaws. Seconded by Mike Barrett. Motion passed by membership.
New Business: None
Special Committee: None Past Dives• Breakwater in Monterey (Ken Johnston): Just a dive to
check out equipment. Club dive was supposed to be at Lovers 2, but the beach was closed. During one the dives, Ken found himself ascending in a jellyfish swarm — Dennis suggested taking your regulator out and purging to move them out of the way.
• Breakwater in Monterey (Matt Warren): Visibility wasn’t great, the temperature was 57 deg F. Saw a school of Blacksmith fish.
Good Buddy Award: NoneBone Award: Kat Smith who was nominated for being the POC of the club dive and forgetting that her BCD was in the shop.
Upcoming Activity and Dives2017August 19: Silver Prince boat dive in Monterey – POC
Kat SmithSeptember 9-12: Channel Islands trip with Vaqueros del Mar
dive club – contact Alan ThroopSeptember 29-October 1: Salt Point – POC Nancy GeartyOctober 21-30: Dumaguete Philippines – contact Dennis HockerNovember 11-18: Roatan Island, Honduras – contact Nancy
Present: Patti Shannon, Lola Johnston, Ken Johnston, Kari Klaboe, Dennis Hocker, Fritz Welss, Kat Smith, Myran Gist, Helga Mahlmann, Gayle Hudson, Alan Throop, Jono Dove
Meeting called to order at 7:01 pm by Vice President – Patti Shannon.
Upcoming Entertainment (Gayle Hudson)2017 September: Photographs of Antarctica by Mike CarterOctober: [TBD]November: [TBD]December: No General Meeting
Gayle is contacting someone at Backscatter for the November entertainment and she is still in contact with Clay Wiseman and Cal Academy. Please contact Gayle at [email protected] if you have any requests or suggestions for future entertainment.
Treasurer’s Report (Helga Mahlmann) • We have $4,469.56 in our account.• CenCal dues for new members to be sent out once Helga
can coordinate with Debbie.• Recurring Club Fees: The board discussed the possibility
of charging recurring annual club fees to our debit card. These fees would include our post office box, website hosting, and Meetup.• Motion by Helga Mahlmann to allow recurring annual
club fees to be charged to the club debit card. Seconded by Kat Smith. Motion withdrawn by Helga.
• It was decided by the board that this will need to be addressed by the membership at the next general meeting, as the fees exceed what the board can approve.
• Alan Throop to present motion at September general meeting.
• Recurring Payments: Board to present motion for annual club fees at every September membership meeting. [This item is to permanently stay in meeting minutes.]
Membership (Debbie Muth-Driggers – not present) • Debbie emailed a Membership update to the Board in
advance of the meeting.• 79 members: 61 regular members, 8 associate, 10 life• Four new members: Deb Tien, Greg Kuftin, Doug
Kuenning, and Linda Philips
Director of Training (Dennis Hocker) • No specific training on the schedule. Contact Dennis if you
want to request training.
• Bill Chinook mentioned interest in a Rescue course. Ken Johnston, Kat Smith, and Kari Klaboe also communicated interest.
Web Goddess (Lola Johnston)Website hosting fees will be due soon. Item to be addressed at September general meeting.
Newsletter (Lola Johnston)Content is due by the 20th, email [email protected].
Social Media (Gayle Hudson)Meetup: 56 members, 31 pendingFacebook: 100 members
Special Committee Holiday Party: Date for the 2017 holiday party is set: December 9, 2017. La Cabana is confirmed.• Dinner tickets worked well last year and we will use them
again this year.• Alan Throop to draft a list of volunteer tasks and a flyer.
CenCalCenCal is moving to a digital newsletter.
Old Business• Constitution and Bylaws: We need to coordinate with
Helga on what items need to be addressed with finalizing the revisions to the Constitution & Bylaws.
• Board Retreat: Tentatively scheduled for the second weekend in November.
• ATDC at Ricky’s Sports Bar: The Board discussed the facilities available to ATDC. Discussion ensued. Pros, cons, and additional thoughts discussed are summarized below• Pros: Several people prefer the food and beverages
at Ricky’s over Round Table, several like having a separate room at Ricky’s for meetings, most agreed the staff at Ricky’s are very accommodating and easy to work with, several agreed that those seated in the back of the room at Ricky’s may have a better view of the presentation screen than at Round Table because the room is longer, several agreed they like the larger room and the chairs at Ricky’s;
• Cons: Several agreed that the room size is much larger than Round Table and may be difficult to fill, most agreed the food at Ricky’s is generally more expensive than Round Table, one person noted that a few club members have mentioned there are not many vegetarian options at Ricky’s;
• Additional Thoughts: It was noted by one person that turning the tables at August general meeting seemed to help address some of the issues with seating that people have noted. However, one person mentioned
that the seating was not comfortable for them.• Social at Ricky’s: Alan Throop volunteered to
schedule a club social at Ricky’s so that more members can visit the restaurant. The social is tentatively scheduled for October 12.
• Board Meetings: Motion by Jono Dove to have BOD meetings at Ricky’s for the rest of the year. Seconded by Kat Smith. Motion postponed so that Jono can contact Tina to see about scheduling Board Meetings.
New Business• Club Dives: No August dive, but September will be Kari
and October will be Gayle. Kat Smith reminded the Board that a requirement of being a Board Member is to POC two dives. This has not been happening and the responsibility of coordinating club dives has been left to a small subset of the Board.
• Officer Elections: Kat Smith volunteered to help coordinate the upcoming Officer Elections. Patti Shannon to mention elections at next general meeting.
• Renee Applegate: The board was extremely sad to hear about Apple’s passing. Bill Chinook proposed that we have a club dive to honor Apple. We will discuss a club dive and other suggestions at the next general meeting.
Upcoming Events2017August 18: Silver Prince boat dive in Monterey – POC
Kat SmithSeptember 2: Club Dive at Breakwater in Monterey – POC
Kari KlaboeSeptember 9-12: Channel Islands with VDM – POC Alan
ThroopSeptember 29: Dive and Camp Gerstle Cove/Salt Point –
Contact Nancy GeartyOctober 14: Club Dive at Lover’s Point – POC Gayle
HudsonOctober 21-30: Dumaguete Philippines – contact Dennis
HockerNovember 11-18: Roatan Island, Honduras – Contact Nancy
GeartyDecember 2: Channel Islands Again – Contact Nancy
GeartyDecember 9: Club Holiday PartyDecember 21-Jan 6: 14th consecutive Cozumel Christmas in
Mexico trip – POC Dennis Hocker – Divers are welcome to stay for part or all of the trip.
2018June 28 – July 8: Papua New Guinea – POC Dennis Hocker
MeetingsNext Membership meeting: September 7, 2017Next BOD meeting: September 21, 2017
Meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm.
WHAT IS A “POC”?The “POC” is a Point of Contact for a club dive.
Any member is welcome to plan a dive and put in on our Meetup calendar. You don’t have to be a dive master, or the director of training, or a board member to do this. Any club dive is done with the expectation that there will be people there to help.
» See our website for other Frequently Asked Questions.
BEGINNING PHOTOSHOP FOR UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHERSThis and other tutorials can be found on our website’s tutorials page.
BONE AWARDKat Smith who was nominated for being the POC of the club dive and forgetting that her BCD was in the shop.
GOOD BUDDY& BONE AWARD
CLUB SOCIAL AT RICKY’S SPORTS BAR TO CHECK OUT AS CLUB MEETING LOCATION!!When: Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 6:30p.m.Where: Ricky’s Sports Theatre & Grill15028 Hesperian Boulevard, San Leandro, CARSVP: Meetup
We are considering moving our meeting location to Ricky’s. Besides just a chance to informally hang out with friends, this social is a chance for the general membership to check it out. It’s within 8 min of Round Table, has more room, better beer, and a variety of food. Come see how it works out for you, so that you can vote on the move with knowledge.
No host anything, so you can come anytime to just say HI, to just have a drink, or to have a meal there. Folks will likely be there from about 6:30-9:30, so just stop in anytime. Bring a friend who might be interested in diving and wants to talk with us.
There will be a separate open door off the parking lot, or just go in the main door and ask for Aqua Tutus group. Please join us and sign up so we have a rough count.
SUBMISSIONS NEEDEDDive pictures, stories and videos needed for the website, Tooter, YouTube channel and social media sites. Visit our photo submissions page for details.
PUBLICATION SCHEDULESubmissions due by the 20th of each month. The Tooter is published by the end of each month. No publication for December.
USEFUL LINKSInternet Resources for the Bay Area Diverhttp://www.garlic.com/~triblet/swell/
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaryhttp://www.mbnms.nos.noaa.govhttps://www.facebook.com/MBNMS
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institutehttp://www.mbari.org/https://www.facebook.com/MBARInews?fref=ts
California Marine Sanctuary Foundationhttp://californiamsf.org/index.html
Pacific Grove Hyperbaric Chamberhttps://www.facebook.com/PGHyperbaricChamberhttp://californiamsf.org/pages/donate-pgh.html
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