Farnsworth on 4th November 2012 - it was nearly perfect

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When I first chartered Dick Petter's boar he would only attempt a mid winter dive when the swells are often but not always smaller and the water is clearer.

I would suggest it as a winter time dive

SDM
 
Those are some of the best scuba/adventure stories ive read. I need adventurous friends like you had....
 
Those are some of the best scuba/adventure stories ive read. I need adventurous friends like you had....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writting a book...how many copies shall I reserve?

You live in Huntington Beach, so does Ed Mossbrooke...look him up, give him a call and have a visit..It will be time well spent

SDM

---------- Post Merged at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:53 PM ----------

Since I have been a long term diving bibliophile I thought it would be appropriate to use my contacts and check around for a copy of the book "Marineland Diver." Found one in the US!

$113.95..don't think you will be purchasing this copy!

Marineland Diver
by Jacobs, Jake
price: $113.95
Ships within 2 weeks
Edition: First Edition Binding: Hardcover Cloth Publisher: Dodd, Mead & Company, NY Date published: 1960
Description: Very Good + in Very Good jacket. VG+ in VG dj with 3" closed tear to front dj panel. Brodart cover on dj. Former owner's full page inscription on free endpaper else clean and tight.

FYI mine was presented with an inscription two days prior to it's release and is is mint condition, probably worth $200.00...But I wouldn't pay it!

If truly interested go to your local library and request a "PAL" or "inter-library" loan. They will locate the book at another library and have it sent to your library where you can check it out copy the chapter on Farnsworth for your file... then return the book to your library.

SDM
 
Sunday at Farnsworth was the best conditons I have ever dived in California. At 85 fsw I could see all the way up anchor line to the bow of the boat. And we could see down another 80+ feet also and far out in all directions. It really gave a nice perspective to the pinnacle. The purple hydrocoral was great, and the blue ringed top snail we saw (photo below) was my favorite.

(Sam I always appreciate your posts and read them all with great interest, please keep contributing.)

Below are a few photos from Sunday at Farnsworth and the west end of Catalina. Or you can click this LINK to see them and a few more bigger and better quality on my Smugmug account.

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diverrex & keithbt,

Just located in my file....Some more adventure stories about Harry Vetter and me in days gone by
enjoy..

Harry vetter
A little reminiscences --Harry Vetter

HARRY VETTER
Harry who? Vetter?
A friend for 60 years, diving buddy for many of those years.

Let me tell you about Harry Vetter....

Pioneer LA county Underwater Instructor ( ever wonder why LA Co types are referred to as "Underwater Instructors" rather than SCUBA instructors? The term SCUBA was not in common usage in 1954 when LA Co was established)

Harry also has the dubious distinction of being the last of the original instructors who taught the very first NAUI Instructor's course at Houston in August 1960, all the rest are now diving on the big reef in the sky; Dr. Al Tillman, NAUI #1 Al Jones #2, Dr. Andy Rechnitzer #3 are gone- all gone. Only Harry Vetter NAUI #4 remains.

During his recent two day visit from his home in Oregon Harry indicated he had contacted NAUI HQ and chatted with a clerk about a replacement card. The clerk could not comprehend that his instructor number was 4 and could not locate his records, after all, almost a half a century had passed since 1960.

A few days after his departure I contacted Cathy Cush at NAUI. She was unaware that Harry had contacted them or that he was still alive. She was very grateful for the historical link to the past. A fast review of NAUI records indicated Harry was the "Oldest Living NAUI instructor" and I as NAUI instructor #27 was "one of the oldest living instructors." A few days ago Harry and I received a very special one of a kind NAUI instructor card in the mail. According to a note it was the first two to be issued

Lets place Harry's distinction of NAUI Instructor #4 in proper prospective...1960 was 48 years ago, most of you were not alive or if you were you were probably too young to be interested in recreational diving.

Harry's visit produced a non stop 24X7 conversation of days, events and people of the past.

The many dives, summer and winter prior to the wet suit with only long underwear and GI sweaters for thermal protection, Churchill fins for propulsion, home made snorkels fashioned from a WW 11 gas mask hose and a piece of aquarium hose, the home made masks fashioned from a piece of fire hose ( see www portagequarry.com ; Legends of diving "The Mask")

The many trips deep into Baja for clear water teaming with game; the many fish and huge lobsters....

The time we came around a corner on the "old road" near what is known now as "La Mission" and were stopped by a huge bond fire in the middle of the road by what we thought were well armed Mexican bandits, but lucky for us they were military searching for escapees from the Ensenada jail.

The LA county and later NAUI classes we taught and the laughs we had...the 38 foot diving charter boat "Say when" (Say when are we getting there?, Say when will it stop rocking? Say when will we get back to San Pedro?)... the student who fastened his wet suit beaver tail over the railing and did a back entry and was suspended up side down....The arrogant self impressed gymnast who rather doing a "giant stride entry" attempted a hand stand entry in full gear, but for what ever reason did not let go and came crashing down on the side of the boat. Certainly got the attention of all on board and gave us cause for alarm.

The many locations we were the first to dive up and down the Baja and California coast, and the famous Farnsworth banks.

SDM
 
Horn shark is Heterodontus francisci now.

I remember my early days of diving Catalina... late 60s and early 70s. Blue sharks were in great abundance almost everywhere. When "Jaws" was released there was a lot of shark fishing going on. Add to that the impact of long lines and gill nets on the shark population locally until they were banned in areas of California waters. Blues apparently are a migratory species so heavy fishing elsewhere in the Pacific can affect what we see here.

I used to play a game of counting sharks on the way to dive sites or when crossing the Channel on a passenger boat. Today, I think I've only seen one blue shark at the surface from a boat in the last 12 years... and only a few when we used to do our shark dives way out in blue water (5-13 miles from the island).

The L.A. County Underwater Unit's OW course was truly a great one... really made a diver out of you.
 
Agree Sam (although I'd been doing freshwater diving for 7 years before I had to get certified upon moving to California to take the job on Catalina). My memory as to where the training took place is a little hazy as the area was new to me. The course was in August of 1969.

It made a "diver" out of you...as I recall Ron Merker was your basic and only instructor, in what year? 1968 or 1969?

Was it at the Newport tennis club?

sdm

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Cool to see the "red spotted starfish" image. Not sure if they have finally described it scientifically and given it a real name. It is quite limited in distribution and Farnsworth is where I usually film it.

Below are a few photos from Sunday at Farnsworth and the west end of Catalina. Or you can click this LINK to see them and a few more bigger and better quality on my Smugmug account.

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